Just got back from Dubrovnik. And I definitely have a few things to say, of course.

Once again, I will go in order.

The past few weeks I've been sleeping at Lauras house because my host parents were in the U.S. visiting their daughter in Florida (lucky butt) and they were having the shower redone so I needed to stay somewhere where I could properly stay clean. So I've been with her nonstop and we have not had any groundbreaking fights....so I think we are pretty.

Anyways, I was invited to go to Zadar with Dani and my old host family. And I went. And I loved it!
Being with them that weekend made me realize how much I for sure miss them. I mean I lived with them for like 4-5 months. They were there when I was the awkward weird new exchange student who was clueless and lost. They were there through that and they were apart of my everyday routines. It's weird to think about how much of a difference people can make on you.
There's also some drama going on with my last family that is making everything a little more stressful and chaotic, so when I first got in the car with them, I could feel the tension pretty darn well. And so I did my happy loud oblivious Emma-act I seem to pull off pretty well. The tension definitely lightened up a little. It was nice to laugh and talk to them.

Also this was around the time my sister, Sara, was being induced for labor. Basically, she gets diabetic during pregnancy which maybe had something to do with if the baby didn't come on it's right then, it'd be too big later to give birth too.
So I'm off in Zadar on Saturday eating ice cream and hanging out in the sun and then I'm like, whoa, my sister had her baby. Well I assumed she did, so I found an internet cafe and messaged my parents but they told me she was still in the hospital not giving birth yet and her facebook status proved that she had yet to go into labor seeing as how she was complaining about being stuck with IV's. By the way, whatever nurses can survive being there while Sara is going through labor...more power to ya. That has got to be some skill. I'm surprised none have sent her their payments for therapy. Sara is scary when she's mad. That's all I'll say.
But anyways I found out she hadn't started pushing yet so I was like ohh ok I'll continue on my day and whatever. But I get back from Zadar and find out Sunday that she had the baby in the A.M. I believe. It's one thing to hear about it and another to see it.
I mean it's a pretty big deal, right? But I couldn't really be all like whoa yaa whoa and jump around and all because it's just difficult to imagine that there is this life going on without me in my family. I mean it's hard to juggle what is going on in my time and then deal with what is going on with everyone elses time. But as soon as I saw facebook pictures of my 2nd niece Sofia, I started crying. It's soo amazing how that happens. I'm not a crier. I hate it because it's messy and inconvienent and attracts extremely unwanted attention. I usually just say suck it up. But there are times where I break down. I'm a girl, I don't really have much of a choice with these stupid hormones running through my body. But I cried when I first held Ava. And I cried when I saw Sofia and realized it'll be a few months before we can properly meet.
But the pictures are enough, so Sara, if you are reading this you better be uploading a new picture right at this moment. I WANT PICTURES!

Also, I've gotten back into the swing of my bands. I haven't really had time or the oppertunities to really download or youtube new and upcoming bands like I used to. I haven't really been to any concerts either which is driving me insane. But now I'm getting back into it and I miss it. Just sitting here listening to The Drums makes me want to be home and laying in bed in my basement doing nothing but listening to music and making my room a little more messy than it already is of course.

Anyways, as soon as I got back from Zadar, I went on over to the apartment and took my clothes for Dubrovnik. And goodness those construction workers made a real mess of the apartment!
There was dust covering every single thing I could see. My door had been closed but there was dust in my room. How in the world did that happen!?!
And it smelled like wood and sweaty men and uncleaned dishes so I opened the windows and hopefully that helped my host parents out a bit. The kitchen had been raided. I wanted a snack while I was there but there was nothing to eat at all and all the dishes were dirty in the sink, on the floor, on the table, everywhere. I was afraid to use the toilet because the idea of a group of men using the same toilet without being very clean kind of disgusted me a bit. But the new bathroom looks cool. It's very different though, but I'll deal for the next month I have to live with my family :(

I packed everything up and the next day we were on a flight to Dubrovnik. The flight took only about 20-25 minutes and is usually like a 8 hour drive maybe. So it was nice that it was so fast. The first day was warm with half sun and half clouds. We walked the town, ate lunch, ran to get our swim suits, and swam in the worlds coldest water ever. Dear lord, side note, but I may have been ready for the beach, but my body sure wasnt ready for the swimsuit that typically comes with the beach.  Goodness gracious.

Anyways, the first day in Dubrovnik was sunny and warm. We swam, and isuse boze! That water was freezing! But it was so clear. We swam until we couldn't feel anything anymore than got out and went back to the 1 star hostel (gee thanks for splurging rotary) and changed into something to walk around in. We got some dinner and went back to our beach, which happened to be very private and uninhabited and hung out until our hostel curfew of 12 :(! Next day was not so sunny. It rained. But we got up early anyways and walked the old city walls. Which was like super dooper long but it was super dooper pretty. We finished the walk then got some lunch, did some souvenir shopping, hung out at the hostel for a bit, then went out later at night to explore the old city. Which it was beautiful. It's surronded by these century old walls with old stone buildings and smooth stoned roads. It was pretty with the rain covering the roads and then the lights reflecting off of it. It was so nice. But I realized that flip flops+ smooth stone= slippery situation. So while everyone was running around taking pictures, I was doing some funny walk, balancing for the life of me. It was exhausting for me but then I made it through and I was okay. Wednesday was a little sunnier. It didn't rain, but there were a few clouds. We got up and all ready and some went to an art gallery and the rest of us walked to the old city again. It was something you could just walk around everyday and still be amazed by how pretty it all was. We did some more shopping too, had lunch (on rotary : D!) Then some of us put on swim suits and headed to our little beach. There was a huge tide that day and there was one place by our beach where the waves would hit the rocks and come splashing up to the shore. It was cool looking. So a few of us stood right there and got hit by freeezing nippy noodles water. Then we changed later in the evening, found some food and went to another beach to just hangout and watch the tide. The day we left, Thursday, it was beautiful and warm! I couldn't believe it, it sucked. Especially because our flight was actually suppose to leave at like 9 in the evening but then Rotary decided we would take an earlier flight at 1 because 9 is obviously too late and past our bedtimes (sarcasm). But overall the entire trip was nice. Dubrovnik was pretty. Not too expensive either, I mean compared with other touristic cities. But I think Dubrovnik is just as pretty as Zadar. People sort of overlook Zadar, though. But it's probably cheaper to go there and just as pretty. Maybe there's more to Dubrovnik, I'm not sure, but there's not that big of a difference.

But I came back, passed out at Laura's for one more night, then came back home the next day to my host parents freshly back from the U.S.

Our maid cleaned up the entire mess the construction workers made, apparently it took her two working days to do it. And my host mom was still cleaning a little more of it on her own. I asked my host dad if that was ok for them to do, and he said it was pretty typical. Whoa. I'd be pissed if that happened to my house. But I came home and my host mom brought me back some lemon head candy (one of my favs) and a t-shirt from Bubba Gumps (apparently she loved that restaurant).
She told me that before she went to the U.S. she was a little skeptical. Apparently she didn't think it was really that great and that the people were a little weird and the crime was bad or something. She said she would only go so she could see Tina (her daughter). But after she went and came back, she said she loved it. She said she didn't want to leave and now she was depressed.
It was nice to hear that people are still willing to change their minds every now and then. So I appreicated it.

On the bus from Zadar to Zagreb with Dani, we talked about our shitty college situations. Apparently she didn't get any of her scholarships either and she wants to go to Boulder and it's expensive so she doesn't know what she is going to do either. And we talked about changing over the year. Let me tell you a little about Dani. When I first met her, I thought she was a little intimidating. She was all serious and sophisticated and mature. I was this loud mouthed, hyper, unaware girl. It was a weird mesh. But she has cooled off and loosened up this year. And she said this one thing to me while we talked about our future plans and college and what to do next.
She said that she has learned this year that when it comes to your future "There's not one right answers"

Bingo

I've been pissed about my effed up college situation. I still am. But it's ok. Because as long as I'm happy. As long as I have people that love me. And as long as I'm okay with my life, everything will be fine. I don't have one answer, I've known that. But sometimes I forget. It's nice to be reminded.

Also, side note, another interesting thing I heard. I was telling some exchange girls who stay in another town called Varazdin about my newly born niece. And that led to me telling them about my other niece and my sisters age. You know, I guess it's not so typical and people generally judge, whatevers. But when I said how old my sister was when she had her kids, people usually ask about the dad or the job. But one girl, Emily, asked "Is she happy?"
I sure hope so, was my answer. But it was refreshing, and interesting. She actually cared about my sisters feelings instead of the typical judgmental view where people are more concerned with the financial situation or something, which I can sometimes fall into( I won't be hypocritical or lie)

Anyways there's nothing really new.
Laura's got herself a croatian boyfriend. I'm queen of the single life. And everyone is happy and good.

Croatia is going well. I've learned, I've experianced, I've seen.
I'd say it's a successful exchange at this point

Later, the brand new shower is chanting my name. And there is green smoke floating from my dirty clothes I'm currently in.