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Serena is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire (cum laude)!
Serena is doing some globetrotting before she settles down this fall as a graduate student at the University of Kent in England.
She will be studying cultural anthropology.
Here we will be posting Serena's e-mails and photos from her European vacation
Just Arrived..... Short & Sweet
Mon, 17 Jul 2006
It is too early in the morning over there for me to call, so I just wanted to say that I am in Dublin.
-Serena
Greetings From Poland!
Thu, 20 Jul 2006
Hey everyone,
I am in Wroclaw (pronounced vro-tswav, ts is one sound). It looks like Austria here (I mean the buildings and streets). I
was told it is because it was taken over by Germany. I was also told it is the cleanest and most modern city in Poland. It
is very hot here, in the mid 30's (I think 90's in Fahrenheit) so it is the same temperature here as it is in the upper Midwest
(or I guess I could just say at home). Only difference is not every building is air conditioned so you get used to the heat.
Oh Dublin was hot too. Every day was bright and sunny and hot. Though not as hot as at home or here in Poland. Apparently
they haven't had weather like that in years so I was lucky it didn't rain.
But the next morning I didn't wake up in time to get everything sorted before the cab came to collect me at 5.30 am. I set
my alarm but don’t think it went off. Then all day yesterday was spent waiting and waiting at airports. I hate waiting,
especially when I am tired and I just want to get there.
The passport officer asked me about a million questions when I got to Poland. Apparently I am supposed to have travel insurance
or health insurance when I come here. He said remember that for next time. I will be ok I think though as long as I don't
do stupid things like drink out of the faucet. I was told if anyone drinks more than 3 cups from the faucet they will get
sick. I also can't carry a purse around or anything like that around the city because I already look different so people think
I am a rich tourist and will take anything i have. There is some area with gypsies here too that I have to avoid.
I wasn't able to send a mass email from any of the computers I tried in Dublin but there wasn't much to report anyway. There
was some drunk polish guy wandering O’Connell Street with couple friends. He was holding this open bottle of beer (I
don't think that's allowed) and asking in limited English if I wanted a drink. I just said no and tried to ignore him. Then
he was asking me if I want to go to a pub with him and I said no. The people around me were laughing at this guy too. It seemed
like he just got off of work and started drinking right away.
Oh, there are a lot of Polish people working in the UK and Ireland. Even they have some power in the polls in Scotland because
there is so many of them. They make a joke that one day Scotland will be completely taken over by Polish people.
Anyway, that is all for now. I am going to go explore the city. Let me know what's new with all of you.
Ciao,
Serena
August 8th is Serena's Birthday!!!!
Join us as we celebrate the birth and life of this remarkable and accomplished young woman!
Greetings from Croatia
Wed 09, Aug 2006
Well,
Another sad goodbye and I am on my way to another adventure in Croatia. I am now in Zagreb. I took a 7 hour train ride for
about 27 dollars to get here. I have many stories to tell and pictures to send from Serbia. Is there an easier way to send
photos does anyone know? Because I have a lot. I wanted to include a few in this email but I can't read the commands on this
computer because they are all in Croatian. So you will just have to wait... unless you have facebook. Also, if any of you
use skype please add me to your list. My username is Morrighan_angel. If you don’t use it or don't know what it is,
it is a free way to call people. I just bought a headset with a microphone so I can actually talk to people on it.
Thank you all for the birthday wishes. My friend Jelena threw a party for me and they sang happy birthday to me in Serbian.
By the way, some of you don't know that always when you greet your friends here you give a kiss on the cheek. For my birthday
everyone gave me three kisses on my cheeks. They also pulled my ears up. It is supposed to be some sort of good luck. Again,
if you are on facebook, Jelena created a photo album with pictures from the last few days.
The night before we went to a party that a friend of Jelena's was throwing. It was a welcome back party for someone else I
didn't know that is also a friend of Jelenas. I made new friends that way anyway. Basically what happened at the party was
that Jelena and I both had our purses with us. I didn't want to put mine on a shelf because I was afraid someone might steal
from it, but I kept it with Jelena because she was sitting. I was spending most of the time in the kitchen chatting to a bunch
of random people and Jelena was in the living room with the purses. At one point she walked away from them and when she came
back she saw some guy with his hand in her purse. She asked him what he was doing and he said he was looking for an ash tray.
He didn't even have a cigarette in his hand. She took it from him and checked her money. She noticed him handing something
to a girl as well.
Anyway, all of her money was gone, it was 20 dollars worth. She told me to check my purse and I still had everything so I
was ok. Lucky me. Anyway, she told the host of the party what happened and they searched him and he of course had nothing
in his pockets because he gave it to the girl. And of course nobody did anything to her. The host said the theif was just
some guy who came in off the street. When he came to the door, one of his friends said he knew him so he let him in. So the
host felt really bad because he really shouldn't have let that guy in because he didn't know him and he came in on his own,
not with someone else from the party. All the guys wanted to beat him up but Jelena just wanted to let him go. If it was me
I wouldn't have been that nice.
On a more upbeat note, I taught someone Irish dance on Sunday. One of Jelena's friends, Mika, is really interested in Irish
dance. Apparently there is some guy that teaches it in Belgrade. You know how he learned it? He picked up one of those videos
on how to Irish dance and tried to figure it out. Then he just started a class based on that. I would've met him except he
is in Turkey at the moment. They are even getting a group together to perform in January or so. Isn't it funny? I just showed
Mika some basic steps that she can show others.
Another thing is we had some sort of Eau Claire reunion I guess. Seeing 5 people I know from Eau Claire all at once in Serbia
is strange to think about but it was so nice to see them again.
So now I am going to be doing a lot of sight seeing on my own. It will be different because I won't have someone to describe
what I am looking at and probably more people will try to approach me because, well, that's just how the world works I guess.
When you are alone, you are more likely to be spotted. Already when I was waiting to get on the tram to meet Tea, this stinky
old man came up to me and asked if I needed help. I already knew where I was going and such so I just said no. But he kept
talking and talking to me. Even when I didn't look at him and didn't really respond he still kept talking about how he learned
English and where he traveled. And he was telling me I should just move to Croatia because it is close to many other countries.
Nevermind the fact that I only know about 3 sentences in Croatian and probably couldn't find a job here. Oh, I forgot to tell
you. I had no idea that Croatia's real name is Hrvatske.
Apparently no one can pronounce that so everyone outside of this country just calls it Croatia. Also, Montenegro is not the
real name of Montenegro. It is actually Crna Gora. Apparently nobody can pronounce that either. Montenegro is the Italian
version of the real name. Doesn't the whole world upside down now? Nothing is really as it seems. No matter which state I
am in, I can be glad to say I have some stability in my life because I am now in the constant state of confusion.
Ok ok. Ciao, ciao. It is almost 1 am and Serena needs to sleep. Don't forget to do the skype thing.
-Serena
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