Singing Circle and Cooking Class in Zagreb, Croatia

One of the best parts of traveling is allowing yourself to show up where your heart leads and letting the Universe deliver you something out of the ordinary. While I agree that it’s probably odd to go to a foreign country and take acting or singing classes, I also think, why not? Other things I would LOVE to learn while here in Croatia:

• Croatian language
• Knitting
• Kineseology
• History
• Vipassana Meditation

One of the reasons why I am having more diverse connections with people is because the expat community here in Zagreb does not have as many Americans and Brits as say, the Paris community. Sometimes, Americans and Brits get together and do the same things that they did in their homelands. They have the same conversations that they would because they’re with their own kind. The expats here in Zagreb are from diverse backgrounds that feature different histories and perspectives even though they may be from other Eastern European countries. The common language might be American english in many cases. That makes it good for me.

Last night while I was at the Singing Circle, the members had decided to try incorporating a cooking class into their singing night. It was brilliant! Everyone donned aprons and chopped, rolled, ground, shaked, baked and whipped all while singing their hearts out. The songs ran the gamut—a little opera, a little soul, a little gospel, a little high school musical… All in great spirits.

Interestingly, I had been hearing some people say that the food here in Croatia is ‘organic.’ As an American, I do not take that word lightly. There is a little store near my home here where the owner, a lovely woman named Sonia, sells only ‘organic’ products. I pay almost twice the price for veg from her place than I do in the market. (By the way, the veg at Sonia’s organic stand is still half the price of what I pay in the U.S). I had been wondering, if all the veg in Croatia is ‘organic’ then why would Sonia open up an ‘expensive’ organic shop? It turns out that the food here is not ‘organic.’ How do I know this? Because the singing circle/cooking class was held at Biotechnicon, the certifying board that oversees the strict classifications for truly ‘organic’ food here in Croatia. Fantastic! I got to meet (and sing with and cook with and eat with) the spirited founder of the organization, Ana Marusic Lisac, who is energetic, warm, and generous. I have a feeling that I’m going to learn more than I bargained for in this singing circle!

And here’s my last ‘by the way’—the standards of farming in Europe far exceed what we accept in the US. That we let GMO’s proliferate our beautiful American soil and waters is outrageous. But hey, we also voted in a deceitful pussy-grabbing, promise-breaking narcissist into our position of highest authority. Clearly, we have some issues of judgment. But we are a young nation built on stolen land. We have a lot of mistakes to make and a lot of fucked up karma on our backs. God/Goddess bless us.