Our pants were covered in zebra poop

Hi guys, this is Jackson on this post 😊 we had another amazing week and I feel beyond lucky to be here. We all extend a huge thank you again to each person who has supported and paved the way for us. Without the enormous support from Webb, Webb alumni, Metal Shark, family, and friends, an internship experience like this would never have been possible. Thank you thank you thank you!

We are now in our fourth week here and staying quite busy. This past weekend we went to the island Brijuni, a national park off the coast of Istria. Although it is usually a tourist trap in the summer, I believe we were three of seven people on the island while we were there. I love getting lost in nature and this was the perfect place (and time of year) to do this. Although we were the only people, we soon learned we were not alone. We got intimate time with peacocks, rams, deer, zebras, goats, a lama, ostriches, and elephants. Ian’s favorite part was teaching Jack animal biology, Jack’s was watching dolphins, and mine was befriending and feeding a baby zebra. I wanted to skip the last boat home but Ian and Jack wanted dinner instead.

 

Also this weekend we slept in 😊, went to an international student party, explored tower center (and were spotted by Miroslav), went to dinner in Istria, walked around cape Kamenjak, and had one of the best meals of our lives (thank you again for the recommendation Daria!!). 

Another highlight of our week was meeting Damir Kolich, Webb alumni of ’96. He teaches here at the Faculty of Engineering and took us out for a great dinner and gave us a local’s tour of Rijeka. He is so interesting, warm hearted, and we all look forward to meeting up with him more this spring in the States.

I hope everyone has a safe, Joyful, and Love filled week.

Shoutouts

Damir

Boyan for giving Ian Catamaran work

The animal caretaker

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."

— Jacques Yves Cousteau

"The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination and brings eternal joy to the soul."

— Wyland

"The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can’t."

— Christopher Paolini

"Ocean is more ancient than the mountains and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time."

— H. P. Lovecraft

"I have always been fascinated by the ocean, to dip a limb beneath its surface and know that I’m touching eternity, that it goes on forever until it begins here again."

— Lauren DeStefano

"And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back from whence we came. "

— John F. Kennedy

One thing I like a lot about our office (besides the fantastic people) are the quotes painted all over the walls. Here are a few:

-          “Let the sea set you free”

-          “Make every day your masterpiece”

-          “Grow though what you go through”

-          “The future is not defined by what you do tomorrow, but by what you do today”