Hello again! This week was full of travel, I believe I left off on Saturday. Over the weekend, our group traveled to Split, Zadar, and Plitvice National Parks on the way to Zagreb, the capital. I loved hearing the famous sea organ in Zadar. On Sunday when we arrived in Zagreb, my friends and I attended a local mass. We couldn’t understand what the priest was saying most of the time, but it was interesting to be part of a local cultural experience that was similar to my own beliefs.
We started school again on Monday at the University of Zagreb. We took the train to classes, and afterwards got to explore the big city. It reminded me a lot of Chicago back home. We also heard a seminar about the fertility rates in Croatia compared to the economy. The speaker compared Croatia to different countries, and explained how the decreasing birthrates in Croatia would eventually cause issues.
Tuesday, we went to the Central bank of Croatia. Here, we listened to another seminar about the Croatian economy given by a local banker. He explained the Phillips curve in terms of how it’s applied to Croatian monetary policy, and how international issues affect local decision making. I knew that President Trump’s policies affected the entire global economy, but I didn’t realize how much his local decisions could indirectly affect everyone else. We learned some more about the benefits and drawbacks of Croatia switching to the Euro, and then went back to the hotel to pack our bags to leave for Opatija the next day.
On Wednesday, we left for Opatija; another coastal town in Croatia. This was a full travel day, so we got a break from school. For my class, this was also the day that we switched professors for the trip, because the Croatian professor that was teaching us economics needed to stay in Zagreb to teach. On the way to Opatjia, we stopped in Slovenia to visit its capital, Ljubjiana. There’s a famous castle there that gives you a nice view of the city and the Slovenian Alps. We ate lunch in the town and then finished out bus ride to Opatija.
Thursday started with an ocean side walk to class at the University of Opatija. After learning, we ate lunch near the main town and has a boat tour around the coast. Not much else happened that night, as our final exam was the next day. Students studied in the lobby of our hotel and went to sleep.
Friday was a calm morning. I didn’t do so well on the first test, so I was trying to mentally prepare myself on the walk over to the university. This was my favorite walk of the places we has studied; it was calming to watch the rolling waves hit the shore as I walked toward my last assignment of the schoolyear. Everyone in our class performed well on the exam, including myself. We spent the rest of the day lounging by the rocky beach, de-stressing in the hotel sauna, and enjoying local seafood for dinner.
Saturday, our group left for Venice. I’ll save the details about that for my next blog, but when I am currently writing this on Monday, our group has just split into two. More on that next time!