Croatian Update #6

February 8, 2009....hi there folks...another late blog update...i guess this is just the way..but ts only 2 behind....things here in my life have been crazy busy...plus, for some reason it just keeps raining here...which is not good for morale....anyway...here's the fifth update showing christmas in graz, austria and zagreb, croatia....fun places to be for the holidays here in europe...

as i look back across my year, it has been pretty darn amazing...12 countries..some for the first time, some for return trips....i was hoping to put together a holiday card with pictures from each stop, but it hasn't happened...maybe when i get back...it was hard year as my grandmother  passed away at the start of the year and my dad went thru lung cancer, but is now free and clear...i spent two months in the states, which i haven't done in quite a while and hung with many people on the east and west  coasts....its a pretty charmed life i get to lead and i thank each of you for your role within it :)  

okay...enough remembering...the past three weeks here in croatia it has  been raining pretty regularly....BUT today the sun is out and i hope i  get to the park to take in some sun and walk around before the flights  tomorrow to africa...three of them :)  but below are some shots of things that have been going on...hope you enjoy the story and pictures....

the day after thanksgiving me and some friends went to graz, austria to do

a little shopping...what a fun day we had...we were in IKEA forever :) 

and then went to the quaint town that was all set up for xmas....walked 

around lovin the xmas market and festivties and then it started to snow...

it was quite perfect :)

the first three shots are from austria - a huge ferris wheel....no we didn't ride it...way too cold and it made some awful creaks...didn't want to tempt the fates...instead we opted for mulled wine and pretzels...the second shot is some of the buildings all decked for the  holidays....austria just seems to be a country that has it all together.. the last shot from that day...me with a pretzel and a beer...imagine :)
back to croatia we head, the rest of the shots are from zagreb...which  has gotten quite dressed up for the holidays...they have the entire main  square, and the smaller ones as well, shining with lights and trees and  vendors selling croatian crafts and food and drinks....plus there is a big tent in the middle of town serving sausages and wine and beer....and  they have lots of live music...its been awesome....this country is about  90% catholic so this holiday is one of their biggest and they definitely have fun celebrating....

so the following shots start off with the sculpture choice this update -  zagreb actually has a full scale model of the solar system....and what you see is the sculpture of the sun...i have seen jupiter as well...but am  planning a solar system walk for the four inner planets with my 8th grade and therefore will find the others when i get back....then the holiday pictures start....the first is the main fountain in the main square that they have turned into an advent wreath....so cool...and then there follow some of the decorated buildings....
sretan bozic i nova godina - means merry xmas and happy new year....that's the main post office...the next shots come from the main square...you can see the big tent and the lights around all of the light posts and the xmas tree in the middle of it all :) there is also a shot of one of the main booths of the xmas market...i  have gotten a bit addicted to the gingerbread...am even freezing some for  when i get back....so good....

So unfortunately I cannot keep blogger happy and it keeps changing what i copy and paste...so i am a bit angered...this is sooooooooooooo not easy to use at the moment...i might be changing where i keep this as it makes me angry every time i use it....but for the moment this is my update...maybe blogger is against macs...i just don't know....the last shot is one of me with a beer here in croatia...but its not for you to see this time around...

i hope each of you had a great holiday season and i wish you all a happy valentines day....drop a line when you wish and if you want to be added to the update list directly, please email me at danid7@yahoo.com....

talk soon and peace out....dani

Croatian Update #5

January 11, 2009 - Okay, here's another late one....this one is from a bit later in November....including the great shots from All Soul's Day....enjoy :)

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hey there all...happy thanksgiving to those celebrating it....i am 
actually celebrating..we had a big thanksgiving dinner at school yesterday
and no...i did not have turkey...and no, they did not have tofurkey, but i 
did have some mashed potatoes, stuffing and corn....plus the families got 
together and made many different desserts...we even had pumpkin pie in the
house...many people were very excited :)  today i am headed over to a
friend's place with 12 other folks...everyone is bringing their favorite 
dish from thanksgivings past....so it should be a good time....

before i go any further...some folks have sent me emails asking for my 
mailing address this year...my folks moved so the lancaster avenue address
is no longer available...and i am not headed to the states this year...
so if you are interested in sending a card...which i am very interested in
getting, please mail it to this address in croatia

The American International School of Zagreb
Dani DiPietro
Vocarska 106
10000 Zagreb
Croatia

if you are sending anything, be sure to take it out of packaging and that
it doesn't look super new...is that possible???  if they think i am 
getting new expensive stuff in customs they charge me for it....it usually
takes a week or so for flat mail to make it....so all of you with kids and 
the traditional xmas/holday card....please send them on....as for me, it
will be an electronic xmas/new years greeting per normal....but i promise
if you send me mail, i'll send you a postcard from my journey...

so on with the update...sorry it has been a while since the last one...so 
many things....just after the last update i sent out it was halloween
and more importantly here all souls day...i have included some pictures
from both....we also had UN day in our school as well....there are  
pictures from that event as well....and i went to budapest with the middle
school speech and debate team...and they did really well :)

the pictures are as follows....the first shot is actually of street 
performer here in zagreb...he is in the main square every saturday and 
sometimes sunday with this musical instrument..an organ grinder...all he 
needs to make the picture complete is a monkey on his shoulder....he's  
great and always tips his hat to the ladies....from that picture we go to UN day...here are a few of my fellow teachers, 
who are croats...i thought you might like to see some traditional colors
and costumes of the region i am living in...the first woman is vlatka...
she is my croatian teacher as well...and she is wearing a traditional 
costume for the fall harvest celebrations here...everything she is wearing 
is hers....she has some of the strongest pride in her country of all...she
is a great teacher because of that...the next three folks are also in 
traditional dress and colors...the woman on the left - adrienne is in a 
traditional costume from the island of rab...the man in the middle is in 
a traditional dancing costume from the mountains (josef) and the woman
on the right, deana is in the croat colors for the flag and the national
soccer team....it was cool day where kids dressed in the traditional 
costumes of their native countries...i actually had red, white and blue on
and one little girl from the states came as a cowgirl...cute....

the next five shots are from the big cemetery i sent you pictures of 
before...its the biggest of zagreb and everyone in town comes to it on 
the day of all souls...plus the night...we went at night so we could see
the thousands of candles in the cemetery....i have actually never seen so
many candles in one place in my life...we were there around 9pm...and the 
place was packed with people, flowers and candles....people go to 
celebrate the lives of dead family and friends...its a very cool thing to 
experience...and its somber...i couldn't get over all of the candles there
and the one section, where there are many around the crucifix, those are
for people not buried in the cemetery...they are in rememberence of people
who have died as well...i added one for my grandmother who passed away 
this past year....a purple one...i think she would have appreciated it...

the next shot is of some of the goofy folks i hang with...this was 
halloween...it wasn't really a halloween party...it was a super hero party
and it was crazy to see some of the creative costumes....these folks 
are other teachers...and we had a blast :)

the next few shots are from budapest...and the trip i took with the middle
school debate team...they did awesome...we took 10 kids...eight of them
made it into final rounds of the competitions...out for approx 55 kids 
competing...and we had one team take second for duet acting, one girl 
take 1st for an interpretation of her own speech, another girl take 
second for her interpretation of a published piece and the debate team 
placed first....but the best of all was when the ten kids took the best
sportsmanship award....so exciting....the first shot is of the view from 
my hotel window...pretty spectacular, doncha think :) i also included a 
picture of the kids....then we took a night trip on the danube, and 
even though the pictures are a bit blurry, i think you can see just how
beautiful this city is at night....

the final two shots are back in zagreb...the first is one of my favorite
sculptures in the entire city....i think its of either a famous writer
or a famous politician...but i love that they have him leaning up against
the post...and there were roses on him for some reason this day when i
took the shot...and the final picture is me holding the candle that i 
dedicated for my grandmother on all souls day...

okay...that's all the news fit to print...i will be sending out one more
update before the holidays and am traveling to austria to get some things
and visit a xmas market...should be fun....i hope all is well with you
and drop me a line if you get the chance....

talk soon...happy thanksgiving again....

Croatian Update #4

January 11, 2009 - Hi there folks...well, i have fallen behind on all of my updates here, so I am trying to bring things up to date on my last day of vacation *sniff*....so below is my update from around voting day in November....enjoy and sorry its so late :)

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hey there all...how is everyone doing??? i hope those in the states are 
getting ready to vote for the big election...i am not saying which way you
should go, but i do hope everyone gets out and takes part...as for those
outside of the states, i am sure you can't wait for all of the hulabaloo 

to come to an end....i guess we'll see soon what happens...

here in croatia it has gotten chilly...the leaves are turning colors and
falling off of the trees in bunches....this weekend we "fell back" in time
and now it gets dark around 5pm....which is a bummer when you don't leave 
work before then..recently i have been staying late at school on weekdays
so i have less to do on the weekends...but this week will be a crazy one
as it is the end of the quarter and halloween all rolled into one...i 

found out i am headed to budapest next month with speech and debate (ms), 

so that should be fun...and i am headed back to austria over thanksgiving

as well...stock up on ikea things and shop at the christmas market....
should also be fun...more on my first trip to austria below...it was an 
adventure filled with many things....

the only other big news i have is that i am headed to africa over xmas 
this year to visit my friends greg, di, kelsey and alicia....they started 
living in ghana this year...so i figured it would be the perfect time 
to visit....getting my visa has been a struggle and now i have my yellow
fever vaccine up to date again....gotta love that....but everything seems 
to be coming together....wish me luck with the finalization of the visa
and my passport's safe return back to me....yep, i had to send it away to
be taken care of....a bit stressful, let me tell you...but hopefully all 
will go fine....

onto the pictures...this week i have included some shots from croatia and
some shots from my trip to vienna...it was a fast five hours up to vienna
and i know i will go back and see what i missed the first time around....

the shots from croatia include another sculpture shot, as promised....this
one is about a folk singer and is located just above the main market in
the centar of town....he was persecuted for what he sang about....imagine
that... the next shot is from a cool museum i visited recently...the 
mimara....this is shot out of one of its windows...nice groundswork...
they actually had a rembrandt, 2 degas, 2 botticellis, and a few other 
amazing pieces....with very few guards...it was crazy...plus they had a 
great photography exhibit and a modern art room....there was also some
book signing thing going on and we got to see traditional folk dancers
and singers....very cool....
the next three shots come from the main zagreb cemetery....i went to visit
on a beautiful sunday when the leaves were changing colors....it was crazy
busy...but i have been told next weekend...nov. 1st...day of the dead here
is when the cemetery will be insane...this is a very catholic country...
and everyone goes to the cemetery to visit their deceased....i hope to get
there to see all of the flowers and candles...it should be pretty 
impressive....it is a gorgeous area and very well kept up...the second
shot is a memorial to the fallen of one of the wars here....but the reason
i have included this shot is because of the cross of chestnuts in front 
of the memorial..these nuts have shown up everywhere here in zagreb, every
street corner...they even had a festival for these nuts in the past three
weeks as well...who knew....anyway....loved this cemetery...can't wait to
wander around in it again....if i make next week i will be sure to send 
out some more pictures from that visit....

onto vienna....wow...what a place...its is a beautiful city...a bit stuffy 
for me at times...and i definitely was not dressed appropriately...as
shown to me by viennese looking me up and down and shaking their heads...
whatever....it was pretty and i will go back...very clean...and very easy
to get around....its a classy place....the first shot in vienna is of the
fountain in front of the opera house....at this point we had been there 
overnight and i had already left my passport in the first restaurant we
ate at....stoooooooopid....but the owners held onto the passport/bag and
we had stolen a menu for our german teacher to use in class...so it was
very easy for me to get back an retreive it....also by this point, another 
one of the traveling crew realized she had left very important medicine
in croatia...and we had to get some for her that morning....did i tell you
it was an adventure of a trip????  we had five independent, traveling-
oriented women together...and we made some real stupid errors...it was
amazing....we stayed with friends of my director....so that was free...
which is good because vienna is expensive...although we thought we lost
one of the dogs of the houses...nope...another goofy move....anyway...

we wandered around the city center...visited two art museums...the 
albertina and the belvedere...and my director had her purse stolen, right
outside the romanian embassy...ironic doncha think....she was not feeling
well and stayed in the car outside the belvedere...and two guys pulled a 
scam on her to get her out of the car checking her tire...they grabbed her
purse, which had her passport in it....which meant she couldn't come back
with us over the border...this did mean i got to drive a very nice audi
back to croatia....very quickly....what a ride....but....as i said it was
an interesting trip....

the second vienna shot (hahahaha) is of st stephens....wowowowow...what 
a beatuiful church....it was very crowded though....so i was inside of it
for a very short period of time....the third shot is of the brahms hall
where we saw the vienna boys choir perform...a dream of mine....it was a 
small version of the boys...but very impressive none-the-less...the next 
shot is of the center of town as night is starting to fall...it was 
stunning....


the next shot was taken outside of the city....we went to this cute town
where we could go to a flea market and buy polish pottery...many of our
crew spent some dough....then it was back into town to have hot chocolate 
at demels and wander past the hapsburg....okay....if you haven't heard
there are these two places that fight over who invented the sacher torte,
a dry, tasteless chocolate cake in my opinion...we had it at both places
and i have to say i didn't like it....i also tried the hot chocolate in 
both places...much better...although demels beat out the sacher hotel by a 
landslide....demels also had amazing ice cream....demels won in my opinion
but as for the sacher torte...you can keep it :)

from demels we headed to the belvedere to see the exhibit on klimt...yep, 
i have now seen the original of the kiss....wowowowowow....simply amazing!
this palace is now an art museum...and as you can see from the shots....
this art museum is stunning...from the grounds, to the statues, to the 
smaller and larger buildings....just incredible...although this is where
my director's purse was taken....so outside of it leaves a bad taste in 
my mouth....but inside is amazing....the exhibit was very impressive as 
well...loved his style and the style of the time in austria....

the last shot of this series is of me....having a glass of sturm...which
is red sweet wine...the first picking of the grapes....they were selling
it outside that evening and we had to try it....it was quite tasty, but
also a bit sweet....needless to say...i had a fun time....it is a 
beautiful city that i will visit again....it is pricy, but doable....

okay...enough rambling...hope everyone is well and has a fun halloween...
drop a line and say hi....and don't for get to vote stateside folks....
talk soon.....

peace out...dani

ps....i dedicate this update to my dad's friend mr. melle who passed away 
this past week....he loved reading these missives and especially loved
the pictures....my sympathy to those who knew him....

Croatian Update #3

hi there....i am back after a crazy three weeks since my last update....
i went to the coast with the 6th, 7th and 8th graders, and went to munich,
germany for oktoberfest....& of course i have been exploring zagreb to get 
to know it better for when all of you come to visit :)  plus, later this 
week we are on october break....and i am headed to vienna with four other 
women i teach with....my first time....i am very excited....so things over
all are going well....

i finally also started to focus a bit more on my teaching & curriculum...
i decided i needed to see the big picture of the year & now can focus 
more on all of the topics i will be covering....my trip with the kids was 
great....i got to know a lot of them better as well as the super cool middle 

school team i teach with...very excellent people....the kids
surprised me & got me birthday gifts as my birthday fell during the trip.
it was very sweet....and the coast again was amazing....it was bit too 
cold for swimming...so i am not sure if the water in istria, the coast 
area we were in, was a salty as the last place...bt it sure was as 
beautiful....and i have been told i haven't even come close to being in 
the most beautiful spots....can't wait to get there....on this trip with 
the kids we visited a school (roc) where they study the ancient croatian
language and alphabet (glagolithic alphabet), the smallest town, according
to the guiness book of world records, in the world - Hum, a coastal 
town with an ancient roman arena - pula, a great seaside town with an
ancient basilica - porec, an old mining town on a hill with an excellent
view - labine....we stayed on the coast in a quaint town known as rabat...
it was a fun filled trip with lots to see and do...the only thing that was 
tough was all of the bus riding....but i saw some amazing sites, as you 
will see in the pictures below....

then i was off to oktoberfest, where i met up with two of my friends from 
romania - kathleen and bonnie....we stayed with excellent friends of 
bonnie's right in munich and enjoyed two days of craziness....i never have
seen so much beer in my life...plus i really didn't understand the sheer
magnitude of oktoberfest....yes...thee are ten tents - which hold upwards
of 5,000 people each for beer...but outside of the beer tents there is a 
huge festival going on with rides and games & food and fun for the entire
family....one of the coolest things about oktoberfest was seeing the older
couples in their 70s and 80s, dressed in drndls and lederhosen, going to
the beer garden for a some beer and tradition...we made it into a tent on
friday....from about 3pm on....and on saturday we couldn't get in due to 
the crazy people that had started dinking at 9am....we couldn't get in a 
tent throughout the day and early evening....instead we were outside of 
one of the tents at the beer garden....and it was a beautiful sunny day 
so it was perfect....but i have to say if i go back, which i hope to do
as it was such a blast, i would try and reserve a table for the nights i
knew i would go downtown to the tents....they are where its at....the 
ooohm-pah-pah bands were great fun and the atmosphere was sooooooooooooo
darn festive....it was incredible....if you ever get the chance....do it
you'll love it....

on to the pictures....the first shot is my zagreb art shot...the cool 
thing about this shot is that it is of my friend's from the ice amy and 
stefan who stopped by for two days to say hi on their trip around the 
area eastern european trip...they are standing with one of the most 
famous croatians of all time - nikolai tesla...and his story is pretty 
cool....what a smart guy....amy and stefan enjoyed their time here in 
zagreb and i was very excited to have my first house guests....

that week another friend was in town - rick from bucharest....he came to 
the school as a consultant for outdoor education and team building...
we had a fun two days together before i hit the road with the kids...so 
good to have seen him :)
the next two shots are from the first town we stopped in called roc...in 
this town they teach their kids to use the old style croatian alphabet
as well as modern day croatian...the kids from the school worked with our
kids, which was really cool to watch...they knew how to speak english and 
they taught our kids the glagolithic alphabet....the second shot from this 
town was this cool sculpture on one of the buildings...i just really liked
it :)

from roc we went to hum (pronounced hume) - the smallest city on the 
planet and it was way quiant...the next two shots are from there...the 
first is from the bronze doors to get onto the city - if you look at the 
top set of letters you will see the glagolithic alphabet symbols and the 
bottom set are modern day croatian....the second shot from this town was
one of the houses people live in....they take great pains to make their 
town quaint and cute and very clean :)

the next shot is a view from the town we stayed in- rabatz...look at that 
crystal clear, cold, salty water....simply stunning....again you can see
how hilly croatia is....again, it was stone beach, no sand to be seen...
the next shot is from pula - where they have an ancient roman colesseum you can wander all through....we brought a rope and the kids actually played tug-o-war, and the rest of the visitors cheered them on...it was tons of fun....

from pula we headed to prosec and saw one of the oldest basilicas in this part of the world that is excellently preserved....it is an UNESCO site and quite amazing....they have a mosaic of a pregnant mary - one of the only in existence on the planet...

and the final shot from my trip wth the kids is of labine - a hilly mining town...its a pretty shot of the countryside....very hilly and quaint little town..
the next shots are from oktoberfest....the first is kathleen with ron and bonnie...all in traditional dress...nope, i did not dress in a drndl...not for me...but i wore a traditional hat that my grandfather wore when he went to oktoberfest many, many years ago...as you can see it in the next shot of me and ron and one of the HUGE pretzels they sell there....YUMMY!! the food and the beer were amazing...even for a veggie like me :) the next shot is me carrying some of the 1 liter steins....wowowowowow...it was incredible to see men and women waiters carrying between 12-18 of these at a time....talk about impressive....it blew my mind...i am holding just four and they are heavy....what a work out....the next shot shows you just how crowded the tents were...and this is what the waitstaff has to work through with the beers in their hands....it was mind blowing!!!!

the last shot in this series is me on the second day outside at the beer garden....we had a blast and met some cool folks to drink and "cheers" with....all in all i am sooooooo glad i went...i loved it :)
okay...another update has been told....thanks to those who have emailed
to answer one question....someone wanted to know if i am missing anything
from home they can send me....what's really interesting this time is that
they have just about everything i need - i have found tabasco, tortillas,
tofu in many flavors and even black beans....plain black tea is missing, 
but i am picking some up in austria this week...i even found some peanut
butter here....in many ways the stores have more for me than romania...so 
i am not missing anything as of yet....

i hope all of you are well and enjoyed this installment...happy fall and 
here's to the changing of the colors...the trees are incredible...drop
a line if you wish and more will come your way in the next two or three
weeks...peace out...dani