Being spoiled by international friends

After Easter it has been less busy at work. Therefore I've had time to dig into how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs works and got answers to my questions. This week is also a 4-working-day week but next week will be busy again. So, I am enjoying the relaxed time now knowing what will be ahead.

The  weekend I've been spoiled by my international friends. First on Friday my Croatian friend made an Istrian late lunch for me. The menu was prosciutto with pancetta on bread, soup and Istrian pasta with a ham sauce and salad. Istria is also known for its olive oil. As Istria is close to Italy you can notice the Italian influence in the food. I spent the evening in good company eating delicious food and hearing stories about Croatia. The country is not that big, but there are huge differences between the different regions. 

Saturdays everyone in Zagreb goes into town to have a coffee. Croatians can sit there and gossip about the week for hours. I absolutely love this part of the culture! I am not exaggerating when I say that everyone is out - to see and to be seen as my colleague said. Young, old, couples, groups of friends, people also take their kids and dogs to the cafe. That's of course very nice, but people smoke a lot here, both inside and outside... I always order tea, and the first time I got a tea in Croatia I was surprised because they also gave me lemon, always honey and many bags of sugar. People here like it definitely sweet. The good thing about getting so much additional stuff is that I also always get an additional plate for my teabag. You can really tell people are used to drinking coffee here since the process of ordering and paying is so smooth: they bring the bill together with the tea and coffee you ordered so you don't have to ask for it later. In the beginning it was confusing but in Ljubljana and Belgrade they didn't do that and I remembered how annoying it actually is to have to wait and ask for the bill afterwards. 

On Saturday our Danish friends prepared a traditional Easter lunch. This was something the boys talked about since day one that I met them, so the expectations were high. Almost all of our group joined the lunch, which was of course the best part of it. This menu had many different parts. First we had herring and bread together with a simple salad, and to be honest it was the first time I ate herring - was not bad at all. Then we had also fish from the market in Zagreb. And egg with mustard, vinegar and Tabasco, accompanied with snaps. Last was cheese, grapes and crackers. During the lunch we also learned - or tried to learn - Danish drinking songs. The night continued until late, and it was fun as always with these guys.

For me, this is the best part of having a bunch of international friends - trying new food, learning a little bit from each others' cultures and sharing one's own experiences. It is hard for me to imagine living in a village with only Finns and never traveling or meeting people from different backgrounds as there would be so much not experienced that way.