Why hello, Croatia!
I got off the ship in the morning, walked around, and noticed how expensive things are in Dubrovnik. I was wary of the ATMs, since we’d heard that they’re kind of sketchy there. Apparently the ATMs themselves are fine, but mean people attach devices that take all your information when you withdraw money and use your card to get all kinds of money. I emailed my parents and they were nice enough to monitor my account and make sure I wasn’t getting any excessive charges. I took out some money in the morning. Finally a new currency- KUNA! The conversion rate is a little odd. 5 kuna to every American dollar. So things would be 200 kuna, and only 40 American dollars. Alright, I could do this- just divide by 5! We found a grocery store and bought some chocolate and cereal to use as emergency snacks on the ship.
We went back to the ship and I met in the union for my FDP today- an orphanage and hospital visit. We were asked to bring backpacks so we could transport the toys we were bringing, so the toys were distributed and we were on our way. It was so pretty driving there! We passed by the old city and the old city walls, and drove along the coast. SO PRETTY! Croatia really is beautiful. On our FDP, there were only 2 guys! I know the ratios are pretty bad to start with on the ship (less then 200 guys to 500 girls), but it was still worth noting! I think girls just tend to like children more, in general. :) The only downer was that we were told it was illegal to take pictures of children under 18 in Croatia without the consent of the parents, and since we were visiting orphans…yeah. No pictures. :(
The orphanage was NOT ordinary in any way. It was gorgeous! It was located on the coast with all the villas and huge homes, but it is for the kids. It’s so green and the ocean is so blue, and the brick was so red. It was so pretty! There were 31 children at the orphanage, but when we were there all the young ones were sleeping and all the old ones were in town or at the beach. That left the middle kids! There were about 40 of us, and not even 10 of them. They sure got lots of toys! All of the kids aren’t necessarily parentless- many of them have abusive parents and parents with mental problems, drug problems, and so on. All the kids had different stories.
We played with the kids for awhile under a green, leafy canopy. I made a friend named Martina. She is 8 years old. She’s so cute! She knew a little English from school, but didn’t understand everything I said. When she didn’t know what I meant, she would just say “yes, yes.” We found a little bracelet making kit in the toys, so a bunch of girls gathered around a table with two of the little orphan girls. Martina and I made bracelets for each other, then exchanged them just before we left. I also braided her hair before I went. Martina was so cute! And now I have a little bead bracelet that she made me. It’s so much more meaningful than even an expensive souvenir! It’s so personal.
Then we went to a hospital. We got a tour from the head pediatrician- she was great. In Dubrovnik, 100% of the pediatricians are women. In all of Croatia, it’s about 75% women. The hospital we visited was really interesting. In the hospitals in Croatia (that one especially), mothers of patients can sleep in the hospital for FREE if their child is under 3 years old, or if their child is chronically ill. There are literally beds next to the hospital beds for the moms. Our tour guide told us that she had a daughter in the hospital 6 years ago, and she got to stay in the hospital right next to her daughter for 15 days. The pediatrician talked about the care they give, the doctors, they have, and how there is such a shortage of doctors. They have the opposite problem as us- they have jobs and no qualified people to fill them, and we have plenty of qualified people but no jobs! The two biggest problems in Croatia she said are allergies and obesity, at least that she sees. She does work primarily with the allergy patients, so that may be what she meant. We got a walking tour of the hospital and got to see cute little babies! We saw one baby and mom, and the pediatrician told us that the little baby boy had a twin sister, but she didn’t make it. They were born 2 or 3 months prematurely, and he suffered some severe neurological and lung damage, so he’s going to have a tough life. He was so cute with his buggy little baby eyes!!
Stay tuned. :)
I got off the ship in the morning, walked around, and noticed how expensive things are in Dubrovnik. I was wary of the ATMs, since we’d heard that they’re kind of sketchy there. Apparently the ATMs themselves are fine, but mean people attach devices that take all your information when you withdraw money and use your card to get all kinds of money. I emailed my parents and they were nice enough to monitor my account and make sure I wasn’t getting any excessive charges. I took out some money in the morning. Finally a new currency- KUNA! The conversion rate is a little odd. 5 kuna to every American dollar. So things would be 200 kuna, and only 40 American dollars. Alright, I could do this- just divide by 5! We found a grocery store and bought some chocolate and cereal to use as emergency snacks on the ship.
We went back to the ship and I met in the union for my FDP today- an orphanage and hospital visit. We were asked to bring backpacks so we could transport the toys we were bringing, so the toys were distributed and we were on our way. It was so pretty driving there! We passed by the old city and the old city walls, and drove along the coast. SO PRETTY! Croatia really is beautiful. On our FDP, there were only 2 guys! I know the ratios are pretty bad to start with on the ship (less then 200 guys to 500 girls), but it was still worth noting! I think girls just tend to like children more, in general. :) The only downer was that we were told it was illegal to take pictures of children under 18 in Croatia without the consent of the parents, and since we were visiting orphans…yeah. No pictures. :(
The orphanage was NOT ordinary in any way. It was gorgeous! It was located on the coast with all the villas and huge homes, but it is for the kids. It’s so green and the ocean is so blue, and the brick was so red. It was so pretty! There were 31 children at the orphanage, but when we were there all the young ones were sleeping and all the old ones were in town or at the beach. That left the middle kids! There were about 40 of us, and not even 10 of them. They sure got lots of toys! All of the kids aren’t necessarily parentless- many of them have abusive parents and parents with mental problems, drug problems, and so on. All the kids had different stories.
We played with the kids for awhile under a green, leafy canopy. I made a friend named Martina. She is 8 years old. She’s so cute! She knew a little English from school, but didn’t understand everything I said. When she didn’t know what I meant, she would just say “yes, yes.” We found a little bracelet making kit in the toys, so a bunch of girls gathered around a table with two of the little orphan girls. Martina and I made bracelets for each other, then exchanged them just before we left. I also braided her hair before I went. Martina was so cute! And now I have a little bead bracelet that she made me. It’s so much more meaningful than even an expensive souvenir! It’s so personal.
Then we went to a hospital. We got a tour from the head pediatrician- she was great. In Dubrovnik, 100% of the pediatricians are women. In all of Croatia, it’s about 75% women. The hospital we visited was really interesting. In the hospitals in Croatia (that one especially), mothers of patients can sleep in the hospital for FREE if their child is under 3 years old, or if their child is chronically ill. There are literally beds next to the hospital beds for the moms. Our tour guide told us that she had a daughter in the hospital 6 years ago, and she got to stay in the hospital right next to her daughter for 15 days. The pediatrician talked about the care they give, the doctors, they have, and how there is such a shortage of doctors. They have the opposite problem as us- they have jobs and no qualified people to fill them, and we have plenty of qualified people but no jobs! The two biggest problems in Croatia she said are allergies and obesity, at least that she sees. She does work primarily with the allergy patients, so that may be what she meant. We got a walking tour of the hospital and got to see cute little babies! We saw one baby and mom, and the pediatrician told us that the little baby boy had a twin sister, but she didn’t make it. They were born 2 or 3 months prematurely, and he suffered some severe neurological and lung damage, so he’s going to have a tough life. He was so cute with his buggy little baby eyes!!
Stay tuned. :)
Dubrovnik
Kitten!!!
200 Kuna!
Orphanage
Bracelet from Martina :)
Hospital sign- try to figure out the words!
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