Croatian and Croatians

                               

  Dobro došli u Zagreb! I assume that my first Croatian lesson occured right on the famous Dolac market in the centre of Zagreb on my first day in Croatia when I started to feel starving after my two-day trip for EVS program.
- Dobar dan!
- Dobar dan! (Good afternoon. They might say it for the whole day regarless time)
Silence in between, a lady weighing potatoes for me.
- Četiri kune. (Not sure if I got the price right and give her 10)
- Hvala. (Thanks.)
- Doviđenia.
- Doviđenia.
  In my atempt to be nice and friendly I managed to learn my first Croatian words and came to a conclusion that 1 year is enough for having even a decent talk, not only buying food.

  Croatian is everywhere. You see 'Zlatar' and 'Ban Jelačić trg' on our way to work, you hear our Spanish pal practising Croatian numbers for the fifth time in the kitchen cooking pasta:
- Nula. Đedan.
- Jorge, it's jedan.
- Đedan.
- Try it like 'yes': jedan.
- Jedan.
  One small victory in this endless fight with foreign sounds.
  It's not only Croatian that is heard on every corner. Here we're in the bus going to Studentski centar.
Me (trying my best):
- Gdje je Studentski centar?
- Entschuldigung. Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Really? German? Here?
- Ja, natürlich. Wo finde ich Studentski centar?
  And then, in the very evening our apartment turns into chaos: Spanish, Italian, English, skyping in Romanian, Croatian 'Volim te' videoclip on music channel. Aaaah! I'm going crazy. Can I still speak Ukrainian? 'Слава Україні! Героям слава!' Ok, it works.
  As soon as I stopped panicking every time being asked in Croatian, I started to pay attention to Zagreb people. Here is a lady next door. She seems to be in her 50-s, but she kindly asks us if we need anything in perfect English. Here is Roman, a so-called 'head of the house', who very emotionally reacts to me being from Ukraine in the light of latest events. Here are our colleagues: 'Hello dear! How was your trip? Do you wanna some coffee? How do you like the city so far? Let's make a party!' Open-minded, easy-going and supernice. And it's not only about working with other people, it's about being really cool. And here is our team: 5 of us, from 5 different countries, who are used to 5 different lifestyles and yet, being ready to start a new page in a lifebook.

  I'm sure that my stay here will be as emotional and cool as it has started to be so far!
Kisses and hugs, Juliya.