Tako LakoThe capital is Sarajevo, and the country comprises two autonomous entities: The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. The third unit, the Brčko District, has its own local government. Throughout history, Bosnia and Herzegovina was at the crossroads to different empires, such as the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, which helped create a unique center of cultural diversity.
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A highly geographically diverse country. The ten regions offer beauty and diversity in nature, culture heritage, and gastronomy. Each region offers breath-taking destinations that will give you memories for life. The Croatian coast is known as the pearl of the Adriatic with its crystal clear water and hundreds of islands. The country’s capital is Zagreb, located in the north part of the country.
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https://croatian.takolako.org
Montenegro’s capital is Podgorica, but its cultural center is the historical capital of Cetinje. The country is small yet rich in history and incredibly diverse. You can go from the sea to the mountains in an hour. You can explore the Mediterranean and continental climate in a day. The Montenegrin coast is one of the jewels of the Adriatic. The Montenegrin language was standardized in 2009.
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The capital of Serbia is Belgrade, a cosmopolitan city, rich in cultural and historic heritage, and built at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. Beyond urban cities like Belgrade and Novi Sad, Serbia’s enchanting landscapes offer plenty of opportunities to experience active holidays, rural retreats, traditional food made according to old family recipes, and family holidays.
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The textbook follows the lives of eight students in Croatia – six local students and two students from the U.S. James, a visiting student from the University of Texas at Austin, is spending an academic year in Split. We follow his life, new experiences, adventures, and travels with his local friends Ines, Luka, and Matija. While James lives in Split, Laura, a visiting student from the University of California, Berkeley, spends her academic year in Zagreb. Like James, we follow her everyday life and meet her new local friends Sandra, Davor, and Matija.Throughout the ten units, we also meet some secondary characters and follow the friends’ adventures around Croatia and other European destinations.
Laura is a graduate student from San Francisco, California. She is a very communicative and artistically talented young person. She is interested in everything connected to the visual arts, so much so that she’s constantly searching for new challenges so that she might build her portfolio as an artist. She is cheerful and stubbornly optimistic. She is a very thorough student, although she often wanders off with topics she’s interested in and neglects her other duties. She adores the contrasts that Europe offers. She has never actively thought about sports, although she often reluctantly admits that she should get more exercise. She believes it’s not fair that she is short in height. She’s very neat and careful, makes friends very easily, and tries to give everyone her equal attention. Because of her natural curiosity, she is likable to most people with whom she comes into contact. Her confidence often varies between very high to excessively low. She has slowly become aware that she will struggle with this for the rest of her life, like any real artist. In regard to music, she generally loves pop, techno, rap, and a variety of combinations of those genres.
Short in stature, but broad shouldered, he lost his hair early. He compensates for this with a huge beard that, he jokes, is where his hair went on a “southern holiday”. Confident, opinionated and cheerful, he is sturdy and constantly in a good mood. Davor is a typical kid from the “big city”- urban and without much taste. He adores sport and is very active. He can’t stand still and is always in motion. His friends always wonder what drives him. He is a good student. His friendships are steady, and differing personalities and interests do not bother him. He is equally ok with people ranging from super alternative to total beauty queens and kings. He has a weakness for pretty girls, and believes that they want him. He does not follow music closely; he listens to what he likes, whether it’s something like turbofolk or obscure alternative.
He is the incarnation of a techy STEM guy – all heavy metal, computing, and cyberspace. He’s the one who asks, “Have you heard of crypto?” etc. If he could, he would prefer to ascend into a form of artificial intelligence so that he’d never have to eat again. He tells this to others, but deep down in his soul he knows he couldn’t go without cake. Tall and thin, despite swallowing loads of food because he “has a black hole in his stomach,” Mario is absolutely uninterested in fashion. He adores his brown shirts, of which he has myriad styles. If it weren’t for the constant nagging of his friends, he would always buy the same shoes. He is clever, sometimes tactless, and cheap, but in essence honest and benevolent. He would never admit it out loud, but he very much loves and appreciates his friends. The only thing he actively takes care of is his long, silky hair. Only the most expensive hair products go into it, and he always reads over the ingredients to the letter to make sure some nasty sulfite doesn’t ruin its incredible shine.
Skinny, minute and physically frail, and fearful of the sun, her friends often call her a vampire. She is very mentally sharp, precise, and intelligent. She has no tolerance for stupidity, so much so that she gets angry and discusses everything that is not to her liking. She has a hard time making friends, but the few she does have she holds as sacred. Those who know her well see her as an exceptional person on whom they can always rely. Often her colleagues of the opposite sex like her, which gets on her nerves because she’s searching for “Mr. Perfect”. She is an excellent student who performs all her duties ‘by the book’. She adores selecting quality clothes and finding ideal fashion combinations. She is excessively meticulous and neat – a top-notch listener and quite talented in all types of music. She relaxes through playing the piano. She prefers classical music above all, but she also occasionally likes various contemporary genres.
James is a graduate student from Austin, Texas. He is curious and perceptive. Poised and emotional. He loves adventure, constantly balancing between the intellectual and physical, and in general is good at everything he invests time in. He is a natural athlete for whom sports are relatively boring. He is talented in photography, a medium he uses often to record his travels even if he’s just going to local shops. Foreign cultures inspire him, which he studies thoroughly. He loves urban life with a constant dose of nature. Downtown Split is made for his rhythm. He walks, climbs, searches every nook that offers an interesting perspective. His trademark is unusual colored hair which does not give a special statement, he just loves how it looks. Why be boring when you can literally be blue? For music he prefers jazz, the classics inspire him and he really appreciates classic rock. He’s played guitar since childhood.
Cheerful, lively, quirky and often chaotic, the old saying “big things come in small packages” fits her to a tee. Her fiery orange curls capture her essence perfectly. She adores going to concerts, but she doesn’t love the fact that she must always claw her way to get a good view. She has a sense for aesthetics – unusual clothes and jewelry are her trademark, as well as bright colors. She is mobile and nimble, but also forgetful and lazy. She’s very quick to fall in love. She absorbs knowledge exceptionally fast, although she is a procrastinator who gets things done eventually. The only exception is her appearance, which she meticulously prepares well in advance. Emotional and empathetic, despite her faults, she sacrifices herself for friends both when needed and not needed. On the other hand, she drives these same friends crazy with her constant lateness. She loves techno, synthpop and trap, and even regional Balkan hits sneak in from time to time.
Good student, precise, correct and thorough, at least when she has the energy. Forever discussing on internet forums. In theory she is very liberal and tries to be on the brink of provocation, but in practice (especially in personal life) does not want complications – she loves to philosophize and discuss, although she tries to make her life as simple and calm as possible. Often melancholic, nostalgic and sensitive from time to time. Although she is solidly built, sports are something she avoids as much as possible. Repetitive actions are boring to her, and why sweat if there is no need to? She is always dealing with extra pounds, and instead of blood coffee flows through her veins. She adores all of her friends and is very careful that no one is offended. She doesn’t conform to designer fashion trends. She’d rather wear cargo pants and her favorite band t-shirts. Her soul is an old rocker with a touch of punk.
It would be simplest to describe him as the typical Dalmatian dude. He is tall, loves the sun, beach, picigin and the local football team Hajduk. To show his dedication to Hajduk, he is a die-hard Torcida fan club member, which does not mean that he isn’t polite – quite the opposite! He adores communicating with foreigners and thinks that tourism brings more good than harm. He is stubborn in his opinions – he thinks it’s his way or the highway. He is organized and loves to keep everything under control – from his grades to physique. Unfortunately, his aesthetics are not his strong point, so his fashion statements are generally defined as clichés: sweaters, tracksuits, sneakers, and cool colors. Blue is his favorite color, although he tries to avoid associating with a football club from the north. He is young so everything’s fine. His music taste is like his fashion – everything that young people love.