Week 1 in Croatia

I arrived in Dubrovnik, Croatia, 1 week ago to teach a Study Abroad class from RIT.  Myself, 7 students, and a bunch of video equipment has all arrived safely.  Everyone is set up in their own apartments and we have all adjusted to life in a new country. We have managed to buy food (just look at the picture on the box), make it to class (although Thursday night is student night at the bars, something I did not realize when I scheduled my class on Friday 10am), and get money out of the ATM machine. 

I miss Bill and Maya more than I thought I would! I was so uptight the week before I left, I guess it is part of the separating process, but now, every experience I have, I wish I could share with them.  I can survive without them, but I still feel the missing part.  

Lesson 1 - Love is Stronger than you think.

Sometimes I hang out with the students, and I try to get in touch with my younger self, she is in there somewhere! But it is hard to escape the fact that I am the "Grown-up in charge". I am curious how the experience is going for them, since they have classes with Croatian students. I try to pry bits and pieces from them. Donny slept on the beach, Brian climbs every mountain, Kevin is the expert on olde town.  I give them lots of space to make their own discoveries.

Discovery #1 - Slow down your pace to Croatian time.  The girls apartment had no internet, the land lady said she would get it installed. At the end of week 1, the girls demanded to know where their internet was. Zoran (Study Abroad liason) inquired about it and found out it takes 20 days to get connected.  

Discovery #2 - Croatian students tell a lot of GAY jokes. How should we react? What is totally unacceptable in our culture, is the norm here.