newyorčanka: the blog

Zujim ja jutros u pola devet prema vlaku. Vani vruce, hoces umrijeti. Doma mi je klima na 75 i u stanu je cisto OK. U trenutku, kad sam izasla van, oblio me znoj i to je bilo to. A, Nivea tvrdi da osjecaj svjezine traje cijeli dan. Ha! Su testirali za vrijeme heat wave-a u New Yorku????

Vucem ja moj laptop, brdo papira za klijente, fascikle, cipele (jer jedino u japankama hodam okolo po ovoj vrucini, a jedan mi je klijent hoch marketinska agencija pa svi kuolutaju s ocima kad se pojavim u majci na bretele i japankama!), sako (jer je svugdje u uredima tak zima da se sva smrznem kroz dan) i jos neke sitne potrepstine koje trebaju svakoj zeni.

Dogrbam ja konacno do stanice, a kad tamo tri ogromna policijska kombija. Jasno je meni, danasnje je doba opasno. Sidem ja po pokretnim stepenicma, zaletim se na turnstile, ali ne lezi vraze… Zove mene gospodin officer da ja njemu malo otvorim moju torbetinu. Mrak mi padne na oci. Meni da trazevbombu!!!!!! Jedina stvar koju dovoljno ozbiljno shvacam i za koju bih mogla umrijeti je dobra obleka, u mojoj velicini, na rasprodaji od 80%…

Pocne on kopati po mojoj torbi, vidi sve je legitimno, samo jedna mala kozmeticka taskica mu ne da mira. Veli on, mogu ja to otvoriti. Velim ja, Knock yourself out! Otvori on torbicu, a u njoj tamponi…

Mislim da me vise nikad nece zaustaviti.

17:31 - Komentari (9) - Isprintaj - #
- neka,neka….kad zabadaju nos svugdje..=) (Black soul 27.07.2005. 20:38)
- haha, to istom vjerojatno ni nece. Ali bojim se da ce pregledavanje postati sve cesca praksa. (novo doba 27.07.2005. 21:28)
- sinoc se jedva probih kroz PATH…racija, naravno…ja im nisam bio sumnjiv, izgleda da nisam dovoljno pocrnio… (monsoon 27.07.2005. 22:26)
- BTW, temperatura vani je presla stotku… (monsoon 27.07.2005. 22:30)
- i don’t want to go home… (newyorčanka 27.07.2005. 22:47)
- slijedeca faza je da isproba tampone jesu li mozda skriveno oruzje, haha…meni je najbolje kad te na aerodromu prvo natjeraju da izvadis laptop, da skines cipele, remen, sat, mobitel etc…i onda te poslije opet pretrazuju. A vrhunac je kad te pita moze li posudit laptop da ga provjeri, ma sta ces provjeravat, koliki mi je hard? Nedajboze da se salis s nekim od njih dok stojis u redu prije pregleda…:-) (monsoon 28.07.2005. 02:43)
- ja sam u spring 02 semestru bila intern u human rights watch-u koji je u empire state building-u. svaku jutro, tri puta tjedno su oni mene masirali s tim da sam morala ibook uklljuciti da oni vide da je to stvarno funkcionalni kompjuter i da u njemu valjda nemam nekakvu bombu. prije dva tjedna su mi na la guardiji uzeli dijete da me mogu pretraziti. ja obucena u ljetnu haljinicu na bretele i maltene nista drugo bas mogu ispod nje puno sakriti. dosta da mene pokrije, kud ce jos i bombu! (newyorčanka 28.07.2005. 03:09)
- dobro nisu trazili da svoje zlato posaljes kroz scanner! to je ono sto govorim, kad nekome das neogranicenu vlast i moc onda je tesko ocekivat da je nece zloupotrijebit…najbolji su mi likovi koji se prosetavaju uz red jadnika koji ceka da skine cipele, satove, hlace prije pregleda za uci na skupo placeni avion i izderava se sto se sve treba pripremit kako se ne bi cekalo dugo u redu…samo mu fali pendrek u ruci…elektricni, po mogucnosti :-)) (monsoon 28.07.2005. 03:30)
- (bredpit 28.07.2005. 07:03)

*** prvobitno objavljeno na blog.hr ***

Za vrijeme krasnog godišnjeg odmora u Hrvatskoj dobila sam e-mail u kojem me obavještavaju da sam primljena u MBA/CPA program. Bez neke velike lažne skromnosti, nisam drugo ni očekivala. No, u ovih nekoliko godina od kad sam diplomirala, pomalo sam zaboravila koliko je naporna birokracija kod registracije za prvi semestar. Nakon dva dana pokušavanja telefonom, danas sam se odšetala do fakulteta, obavila sve potrebno (čitaj: upisala dva predmeta, platila školarinu, dobila ID) i sad samo uživam do kraja kolovoza. No, dobro, već sam profesorima poslala mailove da ih pitam koje knjige da kupim, ali ipak sam ja štreber. Neke stvari se ne mjenjaju…

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I think I may have opened up a can of worms here, writing in English while I was gone, because I see quite a few of you seem to like coming back, so I’ll give the bilingual approach another shot.

Since working full time, being a full-time mom, and managing a bit of a social life wasn’t enough to keep me really busy, I decided to apply to business school. This fall I will be going back to my Alma Mater, Baruch College, and working on my MBA in Accounting. 69 credits and 4 years. Nice…

Between too much work, too little sleep, and seriously bad weather (OK, today’s much better!), I haven’t had the time or the energy to post the remaining photos. So, here they are now:

The capital of Croatia, Zagreb

The capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana

The former capital of Croatia, also the city where I went to high school, Varaždin

This one is just a bonus: Čakovec

Danas sam savim slucajno naisla na jednu jako simapticnu aplikaciju koja ce boravak u uredu u buducnosti uciniti daleko lakse podnosljivim.

Simplify Media

Simplify Media software connects you through iTunes:
Enjoy music from home while at work or school. Explore friends’ music while they are online.
Free – No hidden charges. No spyware. Links let you buy music you want to own.
Easy – Set-up is fast. No need to upload files to a website.
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Legal – Files are streamed only within your private group.
Universal – Connect PCs and Macs without worrying about music format.

Instalirano u manje od pet minuta. Svih 8000+ pjesmica iz moje iTunes kolekcije mi je od sad uvijek nadohvat ruke. Mljac.

(Ovo je jos uvijek Beta. No, to me jos nikada nije zaustavilo…)

Well, our vacation is ending and neither one of us is too happy about it. At the same time, we both miss home and are returning filled with wonderful experiences and memories. We had lots of plans and didn’t get to do everything we hoped we would. We didn’t get to see all the people we wanted to see, either. There is something to look forward to for next year this way.

I owe you a bunch of photos and quite a few posts, and I promise to catch up as soon as we unpack and settle in. Of course, I will have to go get my iPhone first…

As a child, growing up in a small town in the northwestern part of Croatia, I remember coming to Zagreb by train and walking next to Zrinjevac park on the way to the main square, now called Jelačič Plac. I also remember walking past a hotel which to me exuded all the elegance and wealth of a world and time I thought was long forgotten. I would peek through the curtains and look at the doormen in their red uniforms and wonder what it would be like to stay at a hotel like this. As a child, or even as a teenager, I don’t think I ever believed I would be a guest at Hotel Palace.

When I decided to come to Zagreb for a few days this summer, even though I had been invited by several friends to stay at their homes, there was no doubt in my mind as to what I would do. One can go to many different places and see many different things, but for some strange reason the longings I felt as a child are always stronger than the desires of my adulthood. And, I have to say, I am at this moment very proud of myself that I was actually able to do this for myself and my daughter.

I decided a while ago I would do everything in my power to give to myself all the experiences I felt I missed out on for many years. This just may be one of my favorite ones.

Hotel Palace photos on my Photoblog.

I’ve saved the best for last. It also turns out that the best part of our trip came on the last day when we visited Šibenik and its surroundings. Thanks to a wonderful and very smart young man (who is also devilishly handsome, might I add), my friend’s brother, we got a tour of Šibenik that has made this city my favorite in Croatia, thus surpassing Poreč which formerly held that spot in my heart.

There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a place with a person who truly knows and loves it. I am sure I would have loved Šibenik even if I had seen it on my own, but this was a really special experience which we all certainly appreciated.

With its 15th century cathedral, a fort with a million dollar view, and narrow stone streets which all lead down to the sea (or what we call Riva in Croatian — the place to sit, drink coffee, watch people and boats go by…), this city with a stormy past warrants an extended visit. I remember visiting Šibenik in 1989, right before the war, and I loved it then, but the city seems to have grown even more beautiful since. Maybe it was because of the pride of its inhabitants who managed to overcome years of destruction and economic hardship to finally come out on top, with Šibenik better than ever.

The location of the city is great as it allows many day trips to some equally beautiful spots, including Skradin (where Bill Gates apparently likes to vacation) and National Park Krka and its Skradinski buk, another waterfall park which is smaller than Plitvice, but no less beautiful.

If I had the time, I could write essays about this visit. I don’t. So, I am sharing some of my favorite shots:

Šibenik

Skradin

National Park Krka

I am running out of time and can’t seem to catch up with posting the photos and writing about all the places we visited. The truth is, I am having too much fun actually enjoying myself and am not online all that much.

Therefore:

Biograd, a lovely seaside town

Zaton, our holiday resort

There are numerous wonderful day trips one can make by boat from just about any larger town by the beach in Croatia. The island of Ugljan, about an hour away from Zadar, is a quiet, beautiful place where I can see myself spending weeks just lounging and sunbathing when I retire. (Looked into real estate, though. Am already outpriced.)

Of course, the photos are posted.