Balkan Bound: Lokrum Island

           Sorry it's been a few days since my last blog, but classes have begun and the readings to go along with it have begun pilling up. And I've realized that trying to understand all that happened in the Balkans during the 1990s in just 6 weeks will definitely be far more difficult than I imagined due to the immense complexity of the situation. But I know that this will definitely pay off in the end and give me a greater respect for all of the countries we are traveling to. So while were not in the classroom learning or doing our homework we still have plenty of time to experience Dubrovnik.
          Yesterday we took a boat ride to go to Lokrum Island which is an island off the coast of Dubrovnik. This was one of my favorite things we have done so far. Upon arriving at the island we immediately saw peacocks, and not just a few but peacocks galore. I can honestly say that I have never seen anything like this before it was awesome. So after spending ample time taking pictures with/of these peacocks we decided to venture further into the island and discovered an ocean cove where we proceeded to climb on the rocks to get great views and pictures like any good tourist would do. Then we decided it was time to go see the fort on the top of the hill of the island. Little did we know but this hill was going to be one of the biggest ones we would have to climb thus far in Dubrovnik, and for a city with stairways instead of sidewalks this is a big feat. After spending time admiring the fort we realized it was time to head back because the last ferry left from the island in 40 min and we didn't want to miss it.  Well, I'm pretty sure you all know where this story is going so I'll go ahead and say it, yes we did get lost. We unfortunately made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up going down a new path that lead us to a dead end. Even more unfortunate than taking the wrong path was taking a wrong path that went downhill which meant we now had to take the same path to go up. At this point we had 20 min left so we booked it. I have never seen all of us move this fast going up hill, but I believe the hunger and the fear of being trapped on the island was a major motivating factor. Somehow we ended up finding our way to the ferry and made it with 5 min to spare!!! So no camping on the island for us! Once we arrived safely back on land we grabbed some food and called it a night.
        Today after class most of us ventured over to the soccer field for a game with the locals. I do have to say that my soccer skills are not quite up to par with the local Croatians so I only played for a little bit, but watching it was just as fun. There were a few men playing who were 70+ years old, and let me tell you they were amazing they definitely did not let their age deter them. Although this was just a friendly pickup game they take their soccer very seriously here and the enthusiasm on the field was incredible. English as well as Serbo-Croatian shouts were being thrown all around the field. The game lasted for well over an hour and a half but it was so fun that no one even realized how long it had been. This was a great way to interact with the culture of Croatia first hand.

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