Which cone is more dangerous?!

Votes, please.

Zakaj ne?

My friend Jure looking in awe at the apple crisp Sarah made on "America Day"

Hands down, favorite picture of Tilen and myself, in front of a beautiful old mill. We, clearly, are straight up gangsta.
Wait... does Santa live in Ljubljana?!
Yes Rachel, it's happening.
?

Evo Friends...

I had a dream a few weeks ago that it was the night before pharmacy camp (yes, I am going to an international pharmacy camp for 8 days... because, why not?) and I was really sad because everything was moving too fast. Much to my relief, I woke up, ate breakfast, and told Tilen about it. He responded (not too sensitivitely) that it would soon be a reality.

He was right. I feel time slipping out of my fingers again. On Friday morning I leave for a small village to the East, where I will be learning about allergies.

Kind of.


So I love microbiology... its certalinly no secret that I love learning, and that all of biology fascinates me, but micro is the top. Bacteria, viruses, the immune system... all of those microscopic treasure chests of information... ah, wonderful. The camp's topic is allergies- GREAT! I love learning about allergies! They sent us a schedule and every day seems so interesting.

Sunday:
Arrive
"Making the bitter" (don't know what this means... ah, when translations go wrong)
Dinner
Intro to allergies

Saturday:
Breakfast
"Drugs and allergies"
"Children allergies"
"Pollen"
Lunch
"Nutritive Allergies"
Dinner
Visiting the wine cellar... (for micro, of course)

Sunday and Monday look about the same, but then Tuesday things start to get a little strange...

Tuesday:
Breakfast
Fieldtrip to castle
Lunch
Beach Volleyball
Traditional Dinner
Party

And alas, the day that will make me a new woman...

Wednesday:
Breakfast
Workshop: options = archery, paintball, FIRETHROWING (guess what I will be doing...)
2nd Workshop: options = archery, paintball, FIRETHROWING
Lunch
3rd Workshop: options = archery, paintball, FIRETHROWING
Picnic
Party

I will be sure to bring everything I learn to the next roommate talent show.

Celebrating 4th of July, Slovene Style

Ah... the Fourth of July... the day where we celebrate the birth of our own country by eating jell-o salad decorated like an American flag and watch children AND adults blow things up, safely. The day where only restaurant employees have to work, but nobody comes in because everyone is making sure their neighborhood does not burn down completely. The day where everyone damages their ear drums a little bit, and sings songs like "This land is our land".

For the second time now, I celebrated the 4th of July in Europe. First time, went to an army base, rode on rollercoasters, and ate corn on the cobb and candy apples... nothing could be more American!

This year, Sarah Murphy and I attempted to throw an "American Day" party. We sort of succeeded... with eating American dessert (improvised with homeade quasi-brown sugar) and singing the national anthem. We also listened to Elton John (realized that he may have not been the right choice, but it seemed to fit), drank bad beer (no offense, Slovenia), and ate 7 layer bean dip.

About 7 layer bean dip...
We thought nothing could get more 4th-of-July than this. In fact, it was Roman's special wish, as he remembered it from my dad's pigroast. However, this was no easy task. We had to begin with making refried beans, because you cannot buy them here (not really difficult, mash up some pintos, add oil and onions... fry). We then had to remember what the 7 layers were... beans, guac, salsa, lettuce, olives, tomatoes, onions, cheese (8 layer dip?), and then attempted, fruitlessly, to find yellow cheese. Everyone here thinks that they eat yellow cheese, but they don't. They eat white cheese, and they refuse to accept that it is not yellow. Tilen was there for the assembly process, to which I am sure he thought it was the most disgusting food ever, because 7 layer bean dip is really just taking all of the gross-looking foods and putting them together to make an incredible combination of flavors. After making it, transporting it to the cottage in the woods, and opening it, we then had to defend its name to everyone. Why is it called 7 layer bean dip?! Only one layer is beans!
-Well, the beans are the most important layer
Why not 7 layer cheese dip?!
-That would be something different. And this isn't even cheddar cheese... it should be yellow.
It is yellow cheese!
-No sir, that cheese is white.

Later in the evening, we took the leftover food home and invited some friends over for dessert and coffee. The best part was definitely Sarah burning the coffee. I was hoping we could light some things on fire, but she gave us the legit, home smell without having to sacrifice something that we might need later.

All in all, I would say that American Day was a success. We had all of the essentials:
1. Overeating
2. Burning
3. Red, White, and Blue (Sarah and I both wore handkerchiefs around our necks)
4. Drinking
5. Fun

Thanks Slovenia, for letting us bring a little bit of home here.

Seed pods!!!

For those of you who know little about seed pods, let me just explain that often on plants, the fruits will turn into seed pods. Think about those giant brown things that fall off of Locust trees. Those are seed pods. In a way, fruits are also seed pods, but just seed pods that come with something delicious to entice animals to eat them and spread their seeds with special fertilizer (i.e. feces). Both of these pictures are seed pods lacking fruits... the top image spreads seeds because the pods dry, and the seeds fall out and are scattered onto the surrounding ground. I thought that these were exceptionally beautiful... their amazing jet black color is extraordinary!

This one was a real amazing surprise. I was picking a seed pod to show Tilen, and I accidentally touched the top part of this one here- to which the seeds were literally shot out as the pod coiled.

Oh nature.
I love you.

No Joke. Saw This Band Live.

Posdraveljeni!
Hope all is well! A few nights ago, I went to a concert with my friends here. Many villages have parties put on as fundraisers for the village volunteer fire men. I went to one in Otavice.

Now, when I was told that I was going to this village, I was also told I would learn to dance the polka with my friend Rok. Ok... that sounds like a blast. Generally, I am an old woman and very much enjoy doing things where I am the only one under the age of 40. What I was not expecting was that everyone there would be under the age of 40, and that everyone would know how to sing and dance to polka. It was incredible. Nearly everyone that I danced with would sing along with the words as we flew around.

We literally polka-ed the night away. Sun down to sun up. This band did not know how to stop. They kept finishing sets, and everyone would yell for encores... and then they would deliver! But not just a simple few songs, they would play again for an hour. This lasted until 4:30 am! My feet were cold, my legs exhaused, my stomach hungry... but my heart was so content. Thank you, super young polka band. Thank you, Slovenia.

Faces...

I think that you should know this face...

And this is a view from a research attempt in Maribor... about halfway up to the start of the downhill cup.







Anica! My "aunt". This is the wonderful woman that has taken me in as a guest and faux-daughter. This is the woman that rides her bike with me to Blate, and who has taken it as her personal responsibiltiy to find my plant, even if she doesn't really know what it looks like... this is also the woman who washes my underwear and then hangs it out to dry where lots of people can see it. This is different than America, where people hide their underwear... but you know... its ok. Needless to say, I love her.




These are the Cerknica people that I stayed with! The man on the right is my grandmothers little brother, and his wife Olga is on the left, with Tina next to me. Wonderful people.










And HERE is Tilen with Špela, his girlfriend. This is in front of a park and lake near their apartment. These are the wonderful people who have gone out of their way to make sure I am taken care of, even though they have an entire month of exams to work on. I could not have any more fun with them, they are incredible.





This is not everyone! I have no pictures of the people in Blate who are also so so wonderful... but I will take pictures soon.
Love from Slo.