Wednesday we started off well rested and with good coffee & conversation...for an hour and a half...and headed on over to the classroom to work on presentations. Monica & Pavlina (the Czech Republic students) and all of our Montana group brought presentations to give that day. They talked about agrotourism in their country, and we each talked about ourselves and an aspect of Montana (MSU, Extension, Tourism, Agriculture, and Small town Culture). It was great for everyone to get to hear about different cultures and learn new things.
Thursday we had completely off, so we made the most of our free time! We decided to find some good food and go to the zoo, which is right by the campus, so easy to walk to. There is a beautiful park with plenty of neat buildings, pathways, and little lakes between the campus and the zoo, so we trekked through and enjoyed nature for a while (it's almost like central park in NYC, but in Zagreb...and not as busy!). On to the Zoo! Of course there were lions, tigers and bears, and plenty of other animals...we did see some fellow North Americans--black bear, prairie dogs, squirrels, skunks, porcupines, sea lions, and alligators--we did NOT see our infamous Jackelope though! I was also kinda sad not to see any elephants :( but we found out they used to have them...one died from a disease, and the other from sadness of being alone :( Overall, we had a really good time...it was fun walking through the little zoo...I think we all felt like kids again! Thursday night, we rode over to Zoran and Nina's apartment, where Nina had prepared a fantastic dinner and pancakes for dessert!
Friday morning we met up with all of the students and professors once again to drive up a winding mountain road to the Center for Mountain Agriculture. At the center, they do a lot of grasslands research, and have a small Charolais herd that they do research on as well. We toured their new and old facilities, and then headed to the classroom to give our presentations for our case studies from last week. At the end of our presentations, we had a "graduation ceremony" from our Case Studies in Agriculture course...and received official certificates :)
We returned to the city, and rested up...as all of the students wanted to go out and celebrate one last time before parting ways. We met up down at the city center and headed over to a popular local pub that also has a brewery. Probably our most favorite part...the Meter of Beer...pictures below (the number of these we utilized that evening will NOT be disclosed)! It was great to go out with all of the students and tell stories, and just have a good time. We really enjoyed meeting all of them and will definitely be staying in touch!
Saturday morning, we finally got to go to the big market up at the city center. They have hundreds of vendors: linens, fruit, vegetables, flowers, meat market, handmade crafts, etc. It was like a giant farmers' market...I think we got all of our souvenirs taken care of!
Saturday night we went back down to the city center for one last dinner and ice cream, and saw everyone crowding around a big screen in the square watching a big soccer game...big sport over here! Headed back to the apartments and everyone packed. This morning, Zoran & Nina picked up Marty, Ben, Jon, Brooke, and Nikki...and all of their luggage...and drove them to the airport to head back to the States. We all had a great time on this trip together, and have lots of memories to share. I will be staying here for the next three weeks on my own, and learning even more about Croatian agriculture. I'll sure miss everyone, but know that I'll enjoy my stay here.
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