The Final Round-Up

I’m writing this post sitting on my bed in America, a full week and then some after leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina. I’m sorry for the delay, but it took a while for me to fully realize that my time in my lovely adoptive country was over and that I was set to return to my old life in the States. So here I am, let me give you the highlights reel.

Monday June 16, 2014: The Airports:

This was not a fun day. I woke up and looked over at my empty room and my packed up bags and sat on my bed thinking “How did I end up here? I felt like it was August yesterday.” I walked downstairs to say a final goodbye to my host father who wouldn’t be able to make it to the airport due to work and my host brother. My host mother told me that she’d have to meet me at the airport because she too had a work emergency.  I spent the rest of the morning walking around the house and dreading the moment when the shuttle bus rattled down my street.

Checking in was a breeze thankfully. I somehow managed to fit my Bosnian life into two checked bags under the weight limit and a backpack so I had plenty of time before going through security to hang out with my host mother. We both just blubbered like idiots, and took a bunch of photos in which we’re both red and blotchy, but I’m happy to have them.

After the hard part was over. The YES Abroad had a full day of travelling ahead of us, but it was relatively painless and we got to Washington D.C. all in one piece and ready for bed.

Tuesday June 17, 2014: Final Goodbyes and First Hellos

State Department day! The YES Abroaders dressed up and met with some of the American Councils D.C. Staff before heading over to give a presentation to the Department of Citizen Exchanges at the State Department. Our presentation was about our experiences in Bosnia and Herzegovina and what we learned from them. It went pretty well if I do say so myself.

It was then that a grand reunion occurred. No, not the reunion between me and my beloved family that I hadn’t seen in 10 months, no, no, no, no, not that. I’m talking about the reunion between me, and the Mexican grill restaurant chain, Chipotle. And what a glorious reunion it was.

After Chipotle came another airport, except this time we weren’t saying goodbye to our host families we were saying goodbye to some of the best friends we’ve encountered. I had a flight in a totally separate terminal from the other YES Abroaders so I didn’t really have much time to say any goodbyes, which actually ended up being nice because I don’t think I had any more brutal goodbyes left in me.

Then came the fun part! I took a 40 minute flight back to NYC and during the descent the plane flew low over Manhattan so that I could see all of my favorite attractions before saying a big hello to my family. At the La Guardia baggage claim I frantically searched for my family and 30 minutes after I landed and a payphone call later we reunited! My younger brother and sister made me signs to welcome me home.

Wednesday June 18, 2014: Graduation

You know you’ve had a busy week when graduating high school doesn’t even come close to being the most exciting thing you’ve done since Monday. My last day of school was fun, I mostly walked around and said hello to old teachers and friends. Graduation was fun too, but to be honest I was still in a haze as to what language I should be speaking and what country I was in so the whole ceremony was a bit of a blur.

Well, I guess this is where we leave each other; yet another big goodbye. Thanks for virtually joining me on all of my adventures and reading all of my nonsensical rambling. Hvala puno.

Signing off,

Emma

Lukomir

Recently the YES Abroad crew took our final group trip to a place called Lukomir. Lukomir is Bosnia's most remote and highest elevated village. Its situated at an alitude of 1,495 meters on the Bjelašnica mountain. It is so remote, that during World War II, residents of Lukomir were not even aware there was a war going on, let alone that Bosnia was being affected by it.

The drive to get there was adventure enough. First, we drove into the ski resort populated part of Bjelašnica mountain and then we got off the asphalt and onto a dirt road that just took us up and up through the woods. The next leg of the journey took us out of the woods and into one of the most beautiful, serene, and isolating landscapes I’ve ever encountered. All you could see in front of and behind you were mountains and rocks and this one tiny gravel road that you were travelling on. It felt very “Lord of the Rings”. Our only travel companions outside of our group were the throngs of sheep that local shepherds herded across the landscape.

After about an hour of driving on the tiny, isolated, gravel road we finally came upon the village of Lukomir. This idyllic village looks like something out of a fairytales. There were only about 60 houses in total that were made with clay and stone with thatched, tin, or wooden roofs. We passed the rest of the day walking around and hiking up to a nearby hill to see the stećci (ancient gravestones that are all over Bosnia, and Croatia) and to get a better view of the town. It was an unbelievably gorgeous and very relaxing Sunday. All in all it was the perfect note to end our year of cultural excursions on.

Mindless Rambling

It is a rare occurrence that you can pinpoint, down to the date and time, the moment when your life will dramatically change. It is an even rarer occurrence when you can predict it down to a flight number. This is the strange reality I live in now.

My time in Bosnia is dwindling down and honestly I'm heartbroken. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to see my family and friends back in the USA, but I just wish I could do so without having to leave all of my Bosnian friends and family. Exchange creates this situation where in the beginning of the year you are forced to say goodbye to dear family and friends you couldn't imagine living without to go meet friends and family you will love to the end of the year where you are forced to say goodbye to your new dear family and friends you can't imagine living without to return to your old friends and family. It's kind of poetic, but mostly just depressing.

There is a silver lining to all of this though, my reluctance to say goodbye is evidence that this whole experience, both the ups and downs, has been nothing but rewarding. If it hasn't been so, I'd be ready to get on the plane right now. But the fact is that I am most certainly not, and even seeing planes fly over Sarajevo is a sinking reminder of my upcoming departure.

I don't want to be such a downer though, my last month here hasn't just been me feeling sorry for myself, I've gotten to do some lovely things! The weather is finally springy which means that all of the cafes have laid out their outdoor seating and people stay up chatting on porches in the evening warmth. So in conclusion, I'm very, very sad to go, but I am very, very thankful I got the chance to come. It's hard to believe I'll ever have a better year then this one.

Living in the Heart Shaped Land

Bosnia is sometimes called “the Heart Shaped Land” due to the distinctive shape of its borders, but it also makes sense when you realize how compassionate people are to one and other here. One thing that has always struck a chord with me about Bosnia and Herzegovina is what a strong sense of community there is among its citizens. You always hear about how there are too many ethnic tensions between Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs, but if this year has taught me anything, it’s that when it really counted, Bosnians came together to help their neighbors no matter what their color or creed.

This sense of community is especially strong in light of recent events. As you may or may not know, parts of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia have been submerged in flood waters after unprecedented amounts of rains caused many rivers to overflow their banks. The floods left 1/3 of Bosnia and Herzegovina affected, they caused over 2,000 landslides, and thousands of others have lost their homes.

Flooded areas in the region

(Al Jazeera Balkans)

Within hours of the new breaking that many Bosnian towns were suffering I noticed a dramatic shift in the people of Sarajevo. My Facebook newsfeed was not only filled with prayers for the victims safety and health, but also places in which anyone could drop off supplies or donate goods to those in need. I’ve never seen people jump into action so quickly. Within a few days there were donation bins in every supermarket and school and caravans of emergency supplies, clothing, and food were gassed up and ready to go. People who did not feel satisfied just donating what little money they had to the cause grabbed their keys, loaded their trunks and headed for the affected areas despite all of the treacherous roadways.

A solder helps a boy evacuate in Maglaj

(AP Photo Amel Emric)

The rain has thankfully stopped and the flood waters have begun to recede but help keeps coming, often times in the most unlikely of ways. Today, for example, I attended an event called “Children vs. Dragons” where 100 kids with and without special needs “play” against Bosnia’s World Cup team in the name of charity. I thought there was nothing that would make me well up with happy tears faster than seeing a bunch of little kids get to play their favorite sport with their idols, but I was wrong. Sarah’s host mother, Sanida, the saint that she is, with the help of some others got in contact with the sole kindergarten class from Maglaj (whose school and town were devastated by the flooding) and arranged for them to come to the game and spend the day in Sarajevo. It was so heartwarming to know that, for at least a day, all of these kids could forget what they’d been through and go back to being kids. When Edin Džeko and the other Dragons took the field they screamed and cheered and chanted along to “Volim te Bosna!” (I love you, Bosnia.) It just warmed my heart.

After the game, we accompanied the kids to lunch at a restaurant called “Bexx” the kids all sat down and enjoyed a nice meal while Sarah and I chatted with Sanida. She explained to us that the owner of the restaurant was feeding all of these children for free out of the kindness of his own heart and that he had given each child a bar of chocolate, a World Cup sticker book, and some stickers (which are basically a substitute for currency now, so it was a big deal). I was awestruck. There had to have been at least 30 kids there and prior to lunch the man had not known a single one of them, but he still wanted to make sure that their day away from the floods was the best day they’d ever had. Oof,  after that I was a goner, it was just too sweet.

I only have a small time left in this little heart shaped land of mine, but I’m happy I get to spend it with people who care so deeply for one and another whether they’ve met or not. People are quick to associate Bosnia with past violence and prejudice, but if they gave it a chance they might be surprised to learn just how much heart this lovely country has to offer.

A Little Trip over the Border

Last week for the May 1st holiday (it Labor Day in most of Europe) my host family packed up the car and headed for Serbia! We were driving to my host mother's cousin's house in rural Serbia outside of Belgrade, it took us a few hours, but on the way we had some good ole road trip fun.

Crossing the border into Serbia was a breeze. At the time, we were the only car going into Serbia, but at least a hundred cars were headed out, all they did was glance at our passports and send us on our way.

The town where my host mother's cousin lives was a tiny little village with only one long street. On the side of the road there were natural thermal springs that locals and tourists alike could swim in. Her cousin gave us a quick tour of the town and then we spent the rest of the day chatting and getting acquainted.

The next day we drove into Belgrade to see all the sights. Belgrade was the former capital of Yugoslavia and is the current capital of Serbia. It is much larger than Sarajevo. It reminded me of Washington D.C. mixed with New York and my family and I acted like total tourists, but we had a great time. We saw the Kalemegdan fortress, the Victor Statue, some Orthodox Christian churches and a zoo! It was quite a busy day, but the last thing on our list was to find this shopping center called Delta City that was rumored to have an H&M. That may not seem like a big deal, but when you take in account the fact that Bosnia doesn't have any H&M stores the stakes are higher. The problem with Delta City though was that it was way far away from downtown Belgrade and buried behind apartment complexes. We tirelessly search though and after an hour of aimlessly driving around we spotted it. Huzzah!

Before we knew it we were back in Bosnia. Our Serbian hosts took us to an Ethno selo for coffee and quick bite to eat. Then we had to thank them and depart. We piled back into the car and headed to Tuzla to spend the night at my host grandmother's house.

The next morning we made the trip home to Sarajevo. Going on vacation with my host family was such a fun experience, but my favorite part of the weekend was when we got back home and had a family dinner in the living room overlooking a Sarajevo sunset. Sarajevo may be a little rough around the edges, and it may the city not be for everyone, but it is sure as heck the city for me. I can't even bring myself to think about my departure in a little over a month, its just too depressing.

Hey hey hey...

Well this is a flattering surprise! Thank you YES Abroad. It should noted, however, that I do all of those volunteer activities with my partner in crime, and fellow YES Abroader Sarah Edgar.

http://www.yes-abroad.org/impact/march-2014-yes-abroad-student-month

Tito's Bunker

Last Thursday the YES Abroad kids went on a field trip with our history class to a nearby town called Konjic. Konjic is a the site of  Josip Broz Tito’s Atomic Bunker. The construction of the bunker lasted for 26 years, from March 1953 to September 1979, but Tito never once visited it. It was one of Yugoslavia’s best kept secrets; our guide told us that workers were blindfolded when they were brought to the building site to ensure that no one would know of the bunker’s whereabouts.

Today the bunker is controlled by the Bosnian Ministry of Defense and functions as both a tourist attraction and a contemporary art museum. As our guide led us past at least 150 portraits of Tito we saw the air conditioning room and went inside some sort of giant fan chamber (it’s hard to explain), sat in conference halls, and past bedrooms that looked eerily similar to the dorm I’ll have next year in college. It was, without a doubt, one of the strangest field trips I have ever been on.

After the bunker, the whole class went out to lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Neretva River. Lunch was followed by an hour and half to explore the town and after a lovely day we hopped back on the bus and headed for Sarajevo.

Global Youth Service Day

Last week was Global Youth Service Day where partners from around the world organized a plethora of volunteer projects with the single goal of making the world a better place. (Its cheesy, I know but its still an admiral goal)

American Councils organized many projects in Bosnia, and in Sarajevo YES Abroad and YES Alumni banded together to clean up Bijela Tabija or The White Fortress which is this beautiful monument that overlooks Sarajevo. In recent years though, the monument has been kind of trashed by graffiti and well, trash. Last Saturday we tried to improve the situation a bit by cleaning it up. You would not believe what some people leave behind. At the end of the afternoon though we had filled up every trash bag we'd brought with us so I'd say it was a job well done.

Happy April 6th!

April 6th is a big day for Sarajevo. Its considered Sarajevo's city day and its the occasion for a lot of special historical events. In 1945, April 6th was the day that Sarajevo is liberated from German and Croatian forces by Yugoslavian Partisans during World War II and in 1992 after the war it was the day that the European community recognized the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent state. So happy city day! Sretan Dan Grada!

Over the hill and through the woods...

I don't think I've ever been more physically exhausted than I was last night after the YES Abroad group went on an all day hiking trip to the Skakavac (Skah-kah-vats) waterfall and beyond. Despite my ultimate exhaustion, however, it was an amazing and incredibly fun day.

After 45 minutes of walking through a dense Bosnian forest we made our way to the main attraction for the day, the waterfall. The Skakavac waterfall is the highest one in Bosnia and Herzegovina, its about 98 meters tall. At the base of the waterfall there's an almost overpowering onion-esque smell which we later learned comes from an edible herb that grew nearby called...something with an "s" maybe? We all gathered up some of the whatever-it-was to bring to our host moms and headed towards our next destination.

After the waterfall our hike took about a 60 degree turn upwards and it soon began to feel like a climb. The scenery was well worth it though, at times the woods were so think that when it rained you didn't even get wet and everything was dark green and covered in moss. We walked through just about every type of terrain on this hike, well, except for desert sands. The views and the scenery were fantastic and well worth the trek.

The next stop was a little restaurant and bar on the top of the mountain. It was so remote, it didn't even have a menu the owner would just kind of make up items and prices for you. The funny thing was, despite its location, it was a pretty packed house. All these old men had climbed up there to drink beer and watch the Manchester United game on television. We all enjoyed some hearty Bosnian mountain food and headed on our way again.


After lunch the hike down began. We got to the bottom about five hours later then we planned too, but it was all worth it because we caught sight of a gorgeous rainbow. To finish off the day I caught a bus back to Panjina Kula and gave my legs some much needed rest.

Adventure Time: World Cup Trophy Edition

Friday afternoons on our second class shift are always my favorite because I finish class at 12:20 and I get the rest of the day to explore, either alone, or more often, with my partner in crime and fellow YES Abroader, Sarah. This week our destination was a little more touristy than the usually fare, but as always it made for a great story.

So the FIFA World Cup is this summer and for the first time since becoming an independent country the Bosnian team has qualified to play. It was a really momentous occasion when they won. Anyway, Coca Cola has been bringing the World Cup Trophy on a big tour around the globe and yesterday it stopped in Sarajevo.

The trophy was being displayed at a concert/sports/shopping center in town called Skenderija and the security there, by Bosnian standards, was pretty tight. The whole atmosphere was a little strange, people kind of just pointed you down long, dimly lit hallways for a while. Sarah and I began to wonder if we had made some terrible mistake when we turned the corner and entered this FIFA-themed fair, party-thing. There were activities, music, mini soccer games, and of course copious amounts on Coca-Cola products. We started walking around and having fun at the fair thing when we saw a crowd of people exiting through these double doors at the side of the room to a place called the "Hologram Zone." Naturally, Sarah and I had to find out what that meant. It was, as the sign described, just a room with a few holograms of different soccer players. Next it was onto the big event. We were shuttled down a few more hallways and random corridors and then finally we got to take a photo with the trophy and then make our way out of the building. Once we were back outside Sarah and I kind of just looked at each other wondering what on earth we had just experienced.

An Independence Day Roadtrip

Yesterday was Bosnian Independence Day and YES Abroad celebrated by taking another road trip. I was a very busy day so I'll just give you the stop by stop rundown.

Stop #1: Trebinje (pronounced Treb-in-ye)

After a long car ride through the incredibly scenic Čemerno mountain pass (it was gorgeous, I'm talking purple mountains majesty) we arrived in the southern city of Trebinje. Trebinje is tucked into a valley with the River Trebišnjica running through it. We got out of the van and walked along the river and into Old Town. Stari Grad (Old Town) Trebinje is very different than Stari Grad Sarajevo; for starters, there are Serbian flags everywhere and all the signs are written in the Cyrillic alphabet, but also there were palm trees everywhere despite the need for my winter coat.

Stop #2: Stolac (Stol-ats)

 After Trebinje, we headed to Stolac, a town  listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Stolac is one of the oldest settlements in the country. The town with its modern name, Stolacs, was first mentioned in the early15th century It’s a gorgeous little town, but much like Trebinje there was a serious lack of Bosnian flags even though it was Independence Day. Instead most shops and houses sported the Croatian flag because many in the town identify as Croats.

We walked along the River Bregava and noticed an old fortress perched on a hill above the city. Our coordinator told us that it was a very old fortress, but it was under construction at the time and we may not be permitted to go in. We took a chance and hiked up to it. Fortunately there were no construction crews and we were allowed to explore!I know I say this about every fortress and castle we’ve visited this year, but this fortress was one of the coolest I have ever seen! Pictures don’t quite do it justice.  After running around the like little kids on a playground for a bit we all headed back to the van and onto the next destination.

Stop #2.5: Stećci (Stech-tsi)

About 3km outside of Stolac there is a small area on the side of the road with these ancient tombstones called Stećci scattered about. Stećci ,or in the singular form stećak (stech-ak), tombstones date back to the 15^th or 16^th century during the medieval Bosnian Kingdom. These tombstones are all over Bosnia (they’re even in Sarajevo) and some parts of Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro. They were really interesting so we got out of the car to take photos.

Stop #3: Mostar (You got this)

As you may have read in an older blog post, I’ve already been to Mostar, but it was just as fun the second time around. The first time we went it was in September and tourist season was still very much alive and well which meant that Stari Grad in Mostar was PACKED. This time though, the city was empty and we really got to fully appreciate the Stari Most (Old Bridge). After some dinner, some coffee, and plenty of photos we headed home for the night.

Happy Independence Day Bosnia!

Sunday in the Park

The past few days my Facebook news feed has been chock-full of my poor friends in Connecticut buried in the snow. Here in Bosnia on the other hand we've been enjoying one of the warmest winters on record, today it got up to 21 degrees Celsius or 69 degrees Fahrenheit, in the middle of February! Unprecedented. Sarah and I celebrated the lovely weather by  heading to Zenica, another city in Bosnia, with her host mother.

Zenica is the capital city of the Zenica-Doboj Canton (cantons are a long story, we'll just say its a state). It's a much smaller city than Sarajevo, but it makes up for it in character. Zenica is home to the stadium that national soccer team plays in, it has the largest Bosnian prison (think Alcatraz), and it has a wealth of greenery and parks that line of the banks of the River Bosne which is where Sarah and I spent our day.

We started off doing the normal teenage thing and exploring the nearby shopping center, but soon we got bored, bought ourselves a mini tub of ice cream and headed outside. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we sat on the river banks for the rest of the afternoon. There's just nothing like a Sunday in the park.

ZOI '84

This February marks the 30th anniversary of the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Bosnians are very very proud of their status as a former Olympic city, even those who weren't alive in 1984 will "remember" the games with an aura of fondness and wonder.

There have been a number of events around the city to commemorate the occasion and last night Sarah Edgar, her host family, and I got to attend one! We went to go watch figure skating at Zetra Hall, the skating venue during the games that is now used for everything from hockey matches, to concerts, to basketball games.

The main event of the night was a routine performed by the famous skating pair Torvill and Dean. Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean are two figure skaters from Great Britain that participated in the Sarajevo Olympics. Their final performance of the games, "Bolero", won them a perfect score of 6 (it only goes up to 6 in the Olympics). They are the only pair of figure skaters in Olympic history to ever receive perfect scores and last night they recreated "Bolero" at the same stadium 30 years later. The energy in the room was electric. Some of the audience members had seen the routine back in 1984 and you could tell that you were witnessing something truly special.

Here is a video of  their award winning "Bolero" routine during the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics:

Today in Bosnia

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26087946

The Newsroom...but real...

Today the YES Abroad Bosnia group visited the offices of Al Jazeera Balkans here in Sarajevo! The Sarajevo studio is the largest one of the Balkan network and handles most of the workload. This particular field trip was great because the world of broadcast news has always interested me, but I have never really known much about it, and boy did I learn a lot today.

A nice staffer at the Al Jazeera office gave us a full tour of the facility. We saw the control room, the offices, the studio, the editing bay and even the frenzied newsroom where headlines from all over the world roll in in real time. It was kind of amazing.

As she was walking us around she told us about how Al Jazeera's presence in Sarajevo has changed the media landscape here. Al Jazeera is funded by the state of Qatar so it does not rely on the advertising money or political parties in the region like most Bosnian press does making it a much less biased source for news. She also didn't shy away from addressing some of the criticism the Al Jazeera network has garnered in the US and across the globe. (They just launched Al Jazeera Americas, but did you know Al Jazeera was banned in the US for five years?! Why did I not already know about that?!) All in all it was a really interesting.

 I felt like I came away from our visit to Al Jazeera with more knowledge than what I went in with, which is always a plus. Our host even talked about maybe having us back for a day sometime in the spring! I'm pumped, I could never be a hardcore journalist like these people, but hanging around their office sure was fun!

That Time I Was In a Bosnian TV Commercial...

So this weekend fellow YES Abroader, Sarah Edgar, and I found ourselves in a Bosnian TV commercial for our gym. Yes, I realize how crazy that sounds.

Ok let me start at the beginning, this whole thing started after our workout on Friday, when the receptionist at our gym invited us to come to the gym at noon that Sunday for a free workout. "A FREE WORKOUT?!? THAT SOUNDS GREAT!" we thought. "But what's the catch?" She assured us that it was only so the gym could film a little promotional web video with a few of its members. It sounded simple enough and I'm a sucker for free stuff so Sarah and I happily obliged.

Cut to Sunday. Sarah and I arrive expecting to see the workout room teeming with fellow, average-fitness level members of our gym, but much to our chagrin it was just the two of us and all of the beautiful, Olympian-esque, trainers that were required to be there. We thought that maybe we had just arrived early or something but then a man with a very intimidating looking camera motioned for us to start. Sarah and I nervously got out yoga mats as the cameraman explained that we would do little segments of each class offered at the gym and then we would repeat those segments four times so he could get a variety of shots. We didn't even have to say anything! All of that didn't sound too bad until we had completed the first segment of the first class and were totally  exhausted, sweaty, and out of breath.

6 classes, 23 takes, and 2 hours later I was on the verge of tears and even the most ripped trainers looked like maybe they'd had enough. "Oh good, we're done." I thought, but then the cameraman announced that now he would film us on the machines. I dragged myself to the treadmill and mustered up one last haphazard smile for the camera and then retreated to the changing room. After getting dresses Sarah and I were asked to be in one more non-workout related intro scene and we obliged. As we were leaving our friend the receptionist called "Ok, look for this on Saturday morning television! Sometime around 10!"

HOLD UP! I THOUGHT THIS WAS A WEB VIDEO! But alas something must have gotten lost in translation and now you can see watch me dissolve into a puddle of exhaustion over your Saturday morning coffee. Your welcome Sarajevo, your welcome.

Don't get me wrong though, the whole experience was super fun and made for a great story when I got to school on Monday, I wouldn't take back that grueling, slightly embarrassing work out for the world.

Rastpust

I hate to brag, but while you were all stressing about midterms and lapsing on your New Year’s Resolutions this month I was enjoying this glorious Bosnian phenomenon called Rastpust, a nice and relaxing break from school that lasts the entirety of January. As any exchange student though, I could not sit still and relax, so instead I ventured out to find the parts of Sarajevo I had not yet seen.

I don’t think it would be very interesting for you if I gave a day by day account of my break, so I’ll just jot down a few of my favorite adventures.

I walked the length of Vrelo Bosne, a famous park just outside of Sarajevo, with Sarah. It was a chilly, foggy day so not many people were out and about which made the walk that much more enjoyable.

I ran into George Clooney at the Importanne Center; he was promoting coffee.

I visited Ecofutura, a environmentally friendly restaurant and sustainable farm just a small ways outside of Sarajevo.

I learned how to make pita, a traditional Bosnian dish, from my host mom and my host grandmother.

I visited the UN offices here in Sarajevo and we met up with a UN Programs officer who invited us back to help her on a new youth initiative she's starting!

I went to the Tunnel Museum, which is a museum devoted to highlighting the war and the history of a tunnel that acted as the one of the only ways for Bosnian to get out of the city during the siege and one of the only ways to get food and supplies in. It was really incredible, there is a section of the tunnel they left open so tourists can put themselves in the shoes of those who used it during the war, and let me tell you, it was not for the faint of heart. We even met a man who helped to build the tunnel and drove a U.N. truck through to crossfire to deliver supplies to those who needed it. The whole experience was kind of incredible.

This is the bridge that the man's team had to build in order to get supplies into the city. It was directly between two front lines of the war.

The break may have seemed long at times but it was really fantastic! I learned a lot, and despite how hard it was to wake up when school started back up again I'm confident that my second, (and final :( ) semester of my exchange year will be even better than the first.

Signs of Improvement

Back in October Sarah and I took a cab driven by a very friendly Bosnian man. At the time neither of us spoke enough Bosnian to get through any real conversation the driver and I had to communicate in a horrifying mix of broken German, English, and Bosnian. It was a confusing enough experience that I distinctly remember it.

This evening, three months after that cab ride, I got into another taxi with Sarah which happened to be driven by the same man. He, of course, did not recognize us, but I recognized him and we struck up a conversation, but this time entirely in Bosnian. At the end of the ride he complimented me on my language ability and told me how much he appreciated me trying to learn his language. It was an incredibly validating experience, especially because he had no idea I was that same girl from October who struggled with every syllable of his language. All in all, a good day.