Hello Inner World,
I’m laying in bed here at my hostel in Zagreb, Croatia. Tonight is my last night before I move on to a new city within this country. In Zagreb I have found some of the most beautiful & loving people. I had the opportunity to experience Zagreb from a more intimate perspective rather than a touristy one, which is exactly what I’ve wanted to experience on this journey. To connect with locals and learn from them and understand the world the way they experience it. I have to say that I got to experience that here.
Zagreb Main Center
From the moment I arrived I felt welcomed; and it all started with ONE girl… I arrived last Sunday morning to Zagreb from Budapest. I checked into the hostel and as I’m inquiring about the hostel and city to the girl in the reception desk, boom, out of nowhere this blonde girl appears behind the reception desk & instantly takes over the conversation. She had a presence about her that simply lit up the room. And before you knew it, she had grabbed me and began showing me around the hostel, chatting up a storm & I loved it. It was effortless and within a matter of minutes I felt so comfortable. I knew she was the type of person I could “kick it” with. Still, I never expected that we would become as close as we have. She literally took me under her wing from the moment I arrived, and has been my angel in disguise. Looking out for me every chance she has, ensuring that I’m comfortable and good. It comes so natural to her.
Check in
I remember after hanging out with her the first two days, I was already thanking my angel for bringing her to me because I know she had. The ironic thing was that on the third day of me being in Zagreb and us hanging out, she surprised me with a beautiful note & gift as her way of saying thank you for what I did for her. That caught me completely off guard. The whole time I had no idea that I had done anything remotely inspiring or anything that could have impacted her in any way in this short amount of time that would make someone go out of their way to show appreciation. If anything I was the thankful one, feeling that she had been placed in my path for a reason but little did I realize that she too felt the same way. Which is why I always say this and now I can further back it up with each experience i’m having on this journey… Everyone crosses your path for a reason, when you meet someone it is not a coincidence there is a reason whether you know the reason or not… So many things in the Universe have to align in order to make the connection of two people or more meeting at a precise moment in time…
The other cool thing that happen was when I sent my best friend a picture of us at a Cafe and she hits me back saying”…did you see your angel today?” (that was the day I had thanked my angel). I was like “what are you talking about Susse?” and she said “…your angel is in the picture, she’s next to you giving you a kiss” and then she described her to me and I knew she was right, and that further confirmed my feelings.
Another example is this entire trip of mine has been pretty unplanned, all based on intuition. Decisions of where I’m headed to next are based on what transpires within the places I’m at. I didn’t know anything about Zagreb or Croatia for that matter prior to starting my journey. I recall looking at the map and Croatia called out to me originally.When I was in Budapest I was invited to visit Romania, and I remember going back and forth thinking that probably I’d just go to Romania from Budapest. But something inside of me just wasn’t feeling it. I kept going back to Croatia, I recall even taking out my pendulum necklace at one point and asking if I should go to Romania and each time I asked it said no and when I would ask about Croatia it would say yes. So there was how my decision came about .
Barbecue in the woods, fun times
Going back to my time here in Zagreb, my friend Marina took me under her wing and showed me the city, she had me hang out with her different group of friends throughout my stay here.Which afforded me the opportunity to experience the local life here by her sharing her world and friends with me.
Last night her friends Marko and Armano, whom I had previously hung out with, decided to cook for us girls. Marko did the cooking and Armano opened up his home and arms to us, well really me because Marina and them are all really good friends. It was truly a special night to be in a new country with people I don’t know and who really don’t know me, yet here they are opening themselves and their home to me as if they’ve always known me. Marko went out of his way to look up and cook a separate vegetarian dish just for me and it was delicious and so very welcomed.
I had shared with Marina the prior day that I was craving a home cooked meal that I felt I hadn’t really eaten well since Prague. To my surprise last night I got a home cooked meal and the experience of sharing it with very cool people. I was so intrigued to learn about what people do in different parts of the world and last night was one of those more intimate moments where I learned some more. We shared a great meal and good drinks. After dinner we stayed in the kitchen and shared funny stories, well I can’t lie they did most of the sharing & I did most of the listening & we can’t forget how much laughter we all experienced together.
Dinner is served
One of the funniest things that happened was at one point Armano & Marko were talking to me about the traditional Croatian shot called Grappa. They were like you have to try it just a little bit, so you have the experience of the culture. So Armano goes in the kitchen closet and brings out a glass bottle with clear liquor and as he is walking over I say that looks like water. They all laugh, yea it does but it’s not. So he pours a shot and I go to smell when Marko & Marina tell me “don’t smell it, just don’t smell it or it is going to make it harder to drink.” Marko kept implying how terrible it was going to taste and they were dying to see my face as I took the shot. Still, I proceeded forward to smell it because I’m like a doggie in that way, I like to smell things. And it my surprise it had no odor. I said, “guys this doesn’t smell like anything!” They are like “just drink it…” so I take a sip regardless of their warnings of how strong it is and when I take a sip: It tasted like water. Again I said, “guys seriously this is water” ( I thought I was going crazy) I hand over the shot to Marko and tell him here you take it and he again proceeds with caution and sips it when he busted out laughing oh shit it is water. “Bajaja!!!” we all die of laughter as we look at Armano and he frantically comes over like no its impossible, that can’t be. Oh crap it is water laughing and dumbfounded he was. In the end we realized he had two identical bottles in the closet one was Grappa and one was water… Amazing!
After spending some time chatting it up, we all went into the living room area and Armano put for us the Andrea Bocelli Live concert from Tuscany which was awesome. Such a surreal experience to sit back and observe them all in their element. It was really cool watching Armano’s passion & excitement pour out of him as he watched the concert & at the same time being so attentive with all of us. Ensuring we had everything we needed from drinks, to dessert, to blankets and more. He simply wanted each of us to be as comfortable as possible. It was truly an honor to have been welcomed into their lives & home the way I was. I also learned that people in Croatia don’t go out to dinner much (unless it’s a special occasion) unlike us back in the states; who go out all the time. Instead here in Croatia people cook at home and use that platform as an opportunity to get together and share with one another. It is a much more rich and intimate experience than going out all the time to have dinner.
Later that night after a few hours, we all went out dancing around 1:00am. And of course I had a ball, because those who truly know me, know my love of music and dance. Not only did I have fun dancing but I had fun watching people at the club. It’s a different experience then the clubs in Atlanta or even Miami, for that matter, where most guys don’t really dance, they just do a two step move because they are more concerned with looking cool than having fun. But here in Zagreb oh no, it was quite the opposite. Guys here were all over the place. Jumping up and down, bouncing , spinning, singing, grinding but most of all just having fun no matter how they looked. It was fun to simply observe that. The night had been a success!
I feel truly blessed that I met these three individuals because they are some of the most genuine & open people I’ve met. They simply give to give because they enjoy the experience of sharing with others and it was a good reminder to not only observe that, but to be at the receiving end of that.
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