Tuesday
Today we had a few guest lecturers. First we went into the town to meet the deputy mayor of Velenje. He presented us with some history of Velenje and told us about himself. He had once worked in the power station, and worked his way up. Along with the gift of information, we all received a huge bar of chocolate from the local chocolatier. After this we went back to the youth hostel and our next guest was Mircha Poldrugovac. Mircha is a resident/policy analyst at National Institute of Public Health in Slovenia, he spoke with us about his title and the heath and healthcare system in Slovenia. He gave us an idea of what socialized medicine is like. This was eye opening. Our next lecture was given by Randy Bell and his wife Joan Kehr-Bell. They were also staying at the hostel but have been living in Slovenia for 16 years. They are extremely well traveled and understand economics from a consumer point of view, which they have experienced all over the world. Joan spoke to us from her real life experience of the lack of substitutes and choice in a time where there was no other way. We learned a lot from Randy and his wife and had great, open discussions. It was a great way to end the trip.