One Day Until Croatia!

In less than 24 hours I will be on my way to Croatia to start an exciting year on exchange. I remember last December anxiously awaiting to find out if I would be accepted into the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. I was overwhelmed with joy when I learned I had been accepted, and that I would be going to the beautiful country of Croatia! Since then I have spent several months trying to learn as much as I could about Croatia, including their language(Croatian). Like many others, I knew very little about Croatia. Here area few facts: - Croatia is located in Eastern Europe. It borders Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and it is across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. - The population of Croatia is 4.2 million and it is similar in land size to West Virginia. - The capital city of Croatia is Zagreb, where I will be living. - Croatia used to be a part of communist Yugoslavia, until 1991 when it got its independence. - In Croatia they speak the language of Croatian. - Because of its profound beauty and desirable location, Croatia is quickly becoming one of the most popular travel destinations in Europe. Like I said above, I will be living in the capital city of Zagreb which has a population of approximately 800,000. I am very excited to live in a large city, especially having grown up in a smaller community. My first host family consists of a mom and two sons aged 24 and 17. The son aged 17, Lovro, will be on exchange this year in Dresser, Wisconsin. I look forward to exchanging experiences and stories with Lovro as well as meeting my future first host mom and brother! The last couple weeks have been really great. I have kept myself very busy, spending as much time with family and friends as possible. I have not been very nervous until recently... Now my stomach is starting to fill with butterflies and I'm feeling extremely excited, anxious, and nervous all at the same time to be on the plane headed to Croatia tomorrow! I am very thankful for this amazing opportunity and I can't thank my family, friends, and all Rotary members enough for everything they have done to help make this experience possible for me!!! I will post again soon when I am in Croatia with many pictures to share. Until then...