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Croatia Blog: Jenn Miller
May 29, 2008 Today marks the sixth day of our Croatia tour and our second day in Pula, a cute little town on the coast that reminds me of home. It's been so awesome so far, though, that I might have to try some sort of "Home Alone" trick or use a stunt double to find a way to stay here longer and see more of the country. However, if America could step it up a little bit before I come home, I might be more apt to return. There are some big differences between Croatia and America, and I would just like to take the opportunity here to point them out. We'll start with America's general obstinacies. Everywhere else in the world, volleyball is played by the FIVB rules. I really have no idea what that stands for, but the point is that everyone but America follows the same rules. Some continuity around the world in the sport that we love would be great, America. Another point to consider is that everyone else uses the metric system. It really messed me up to see 9,50 kn (kunas are Croatia's money) for gas. The dollar equivalent would be less than 2 dollars, but then I realized that it wasn't in gallons, but liters. It became too much to think about, so I gave up. Let's jump on the bandwagon, people. We need to be able to compare prices. Next we move on to the environment. I don't think I have seen so many trees in all of my life. Everything is so green that it makes the sky seem less blue than usual. The hotel rooms are also pretty snug, so it makes you want to stay outside as much as possible. Europeans also drive TINY cars. I'm sure you've seen pictures, but they really look like those cool toy Jeeps that everyone grew up with but me. I'm kind of upset that they don't drive on the other side of the road, but their environmentally-friendly ways make up for it. We need to plant some more trees and find smaller cars, America. No more Hummers or SUVs just to be cool. We conclude with food. It's absolutely amazing to me that I have not seen more overweight people while here. I can only count about five. No, really. Everyone is lean, but what I don't get is how they can stay so thin with all of this great food around all the time. Remember the Atkins diet that totally cuts out carbohydrates? Croatians do the exact opposite. There is bread served with every meal, and pasta and noodle soups are staples. It's an athlete's dream. So America, we need to work on ways to find great tasting food that doesn't contribute to the staggering overweight population. Don't get me wrong here, though. There is definitely one aspect of life that America fully dominates in: restrooms. Today we played in a town named Cavle against Grobnican. Ksenija was first to frequent the Water Closet, as they're called here, and came back to announce that all of us had to see it. Liz was first to check, and came back with news that someone had taken the toilet. Ksenija burst out laughing and proceeded to tell us that sometimes instead of a toilet, there is just a hole that you squat over and then water flows down it when you flush. Of course, I couldn't miss a photo opportunity. But if I ever want to run for office to reform American into a thinner, metric republic which drives tiny cars to volleyball matches governed by international rules, the picture could come back to haunt my campaign. With dreams of real toilets,
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