Saturday July 10^th. Day-trip to Montenegro. I felt kinship to Montenegro. Montenegro is black mountain, Vermont is green mountain. Sure, their mountains drop into salt water and ours into Lake Champlain and the Connecticut River, but pretty mountains are pretty mountains, and our populations are just about the same. They have less land, 5,000 sq mi compared to our 9,000.  Montenegro has a history of war, due mostly to the fact that they lie on the strategic road from East to West through Constantinople.

We were fortunate to pick starboard-side seats. We watched the Adriatic all the way down to the Croatian check-point on the border. It took about an hour to clear Croatia, less time at the Montenegrin check-point. Then we drove to and around the beautiful Kotor (cutter) Bay. We stopped and visited Kotor city briefly. Kotor has amazing defensive walls that climb steeply the mountain behind the city. After Kotor we headed to the resort of Budva for a bad lunch and a quick peep at a long sandy beach. OK! Back on the bus!

We cut across Kotor Bay on the way back with a short ferry ride. The tour guide helped me get postcards mailed before we exited the country (yea!). If I had failed it would have made my standing in line at the Montenegrin post office in Kotor a waste of time.

We got back to the ship, changed and freshened up, and grabbed a taxi to get to a restaurant that folks had recommended. We finally tried the fish-platter-for-2 we had been seeing on the menus. We finished the meal with the local fruit brandy and headed back to the ship. We caught a glimpse of the fireworks that were part of the opening ceremony of the summer festival in Dubrovnik.

When Kathy and I left ACMT we planned to return to the ship to change before a walk around the old city but we found the buses were crazy crowded and traffic was tied up.  There was a meeting in town of the foreign ministers of the Adriatic states in town adding to the usual summer tourist population, and everyone was trying to board the bus that we needed. So, we decided to skip the clothes change and stay in town. We headed for the old city to walk the walls. They are amazing. Beautiful views at every turn. Almost 2 kilometers long. It took us about 90 minutes to complete the circuit.

After the sight seeing we headed into the old city to eat at a restaurant that had been recommended, the Taj Mahal. We sampled dishes recommended by Croatian students we had met. Beef sausages in this really tasty fried bread, and a hot sandwich made with turkey and cheese.  We tried the beer. I think we’ll stick to wine for the rest of our stay.

After dinner we caught a bus in Pile back to the port. Pile (pea lay) is the square right in front of the main gate to the old city. A taxi driver said it means “small chicken”. He has no idea why the square carries that name.

Oh! And while in the old city we found a Posta open late and got postcard stamps. So, another batch of postcards, this time stamped Croatia!

On Friday, July 9^th we visited the American College of Management and Technology. This college was the first private college in Croatia when it was founded in 1997.  Today there are over 45 private institutions offering higher education in Croatia.

ACMT operates collaboratively with the Rochester Institute of Technology and offers dually accredited degrees. All instruction takes place in English.

We were hosted by Ana Jarak, ACMT’s Marketing & Enrollment Manager. Ana was so welcoming and such a font of knowledge about her institution and higher education in Croatia.

ACMT is attractive to students from Croatia seeking an education that will successfully prepare them for professional positions in the business world and for international students seeking a study abroad experience. 85% of ACMT students are employed within 3 months of graduating. The classroom culture at ACMT, and the course content is the same as at RIT. Students are expected to actively participate in classroom discussions with their faculty and with other students.

After a morning session with Ana that included a tour of the building we had lunch at a nearby restaurant. Two Croatian students joined us and were invaluable resources as they shared their perspectives on Croatia, higher education, careers and culture. Christine gave us some excellent recommendations for food and drink to enjoy before we left Croatia. She said the Ćevapčići wasn’t going to be as good as in Bosnia but that even the local version was not to be missed.

After lunch we had a wonderful, fast-paced history&urban-planning&restoration seminar with faculty member Kate Bogoje. She is an art history professor with specialized knowledge in the area of restoration of stone architecture. In addition to her teaching responsibilities at ACMT, she is participating in the post-war restoration of Croatia.

Our last event for the day was a discussion with 5 current ACMT students. Two were RIT students doing short summer study abroad experiences in Dubrovnik. Two were Croatian students studying there. And one was an American ex-pat whose parents were Croatian and who happened upon ACMT while seeking a place in Europe to continue her education and who plans to live permanently in Europe.

All programs include 4 quarters a year, three of classes, and one paid internship. They are planning a transition to a semester system to better align with transfer institutions.

They currently offer 4 programs:

Service Management
…professionally oriented undergraduate degree program for students interested in careers in management of service-based businesses.

B.S. Degree in Information Technology.

…focused on customer service and IT as a service industry. They offer programs in Web Site Development; Database; Network and System Administration.

Master of Science in Human Resource Development.

…Effective development and utilization of human assets.

Master of Science in Professional Studies

…a unique graduate program leading to the degree of Master of Science in Professional Studies, with concentrations in Service Leadership and Project Management.

Thank you ACMT and ACMT students for the great visit!