Think of your worst travel or cultural clash moment to date in Europe.
I was disappointed in the amount of travel we were doing to come to a place with nothing to do in the rain (or so it seemed). Plus, I became increasingly angry because of how tired I was - tired from lack of sleep and tired of dealing with the rain.
- Five adjectives that capture what happened - miserable, freezing, damp, aggravated, exhausted
- The Scene:
40 college students, excited to continue their study abroad experience in the Croatia, hopped off the train in the city of Split. Unfortunately, they were greeted by rain, darkness, and exhaustion. After walking around for over an hour and finding they couldn't check in to their hostel for another 3 hours, they finally found some covered tables to sit at and complain...
- Context: I had heard from previous students that this trip was their favorite. I heard about the crazy nights, the beautiful sights, and the amazing beaches. The problem was, we couldn't experience any of these things
Blog:
40 Miami undergrads, ready for a weekend they would never forget in Croatia, were greeted there with anything but pleasantries. Clouds covered the sky while rain covered the ground and these students were forced to trek through the rain all the way to their hostel. When we got to this hostel however, we found out that they didn't appreciate people trying to check in at 6am. In fact, they didn't appreciate it so much that the front desk didn't even open to let us in until 10:30. Awesome. Now, we're stuck in Split, Croatia with no place to stay and having to carry our luggage around in the rain as the day slowly begins. After walking around for almost an hour, we found a place to sit that was semi covered, even though everything underneath was wet. Crowded around small tables trying to stay dry, this was the perfect place to complain. Running on two hours of sleep while hanging out being damp in a foreign country with nothing to do was incredibly aggravating. We basically waited it out until we could at least be let in to the hostel even though we couldn't check in. Finally arriving at the hostel, 20 out of the 40 crowded into a tiny room to wait around to at least be out of the rain. This weekend quickly went from what could be one of the best to the absolute worst in about two hours.
The staff then let us know that we could shower if we wanted. Suddenly, we felt a little bit better as we took turns showering and relaxing. Then, they told us we could check in right away and by 11:00 we were all in our comfy hostel beds. By 11:05 everyone was asleep. When we woke up around 2:00pm, we opened the windows to discover a gorgeous Croatian day. Less than thirty minutes later, everyone was on the beach having the time of their lives.
Looking back, the Croatian weekend was among the top destinations of the trip. The problems everyone encountered were out of our control. Then, due to uncontrollable conditions and sleep deprivation, everyone's grumpiness fused together into an tired, angry group. For future travelers, as hard as it may be, wait it out and don't get discouraged. Unexpected things happen like weather, delays, cancellations, etc. The idea is to make the best out of whatever situation travelling brings you and you will be rewarded with a fantastic number of days you will never forget.
