MOSTAR

Once again it is my last night to enjoy in a city that I wish I could have stayed longer in.  Currently I am in Mostar, BiH and unfortunately this will not only be my last night in Mostar but also Bosnia Herzegovina.  As apprehensive as I was about coming to Mostar due to the ethnic tension and segregation that's visible in the city, it quickly turned to one of my personal favorite cities I have ever been to.  The beauty of the city is absolutely breathtaking.  The picture below is what I am currently staring out to while writing this blog from the porch of our hotel.  Definitely going to miss this!

While  here we literally were jam packed with briefings keeping us occupied for most of the two full days we were here.  And to be honest to more I learn about all of the issues going on in the Balkans the more confused and complicated the situation seems.  Many people have lost hope that anything can be done about the situation here, but there are still some with hope.  These people with hope are so refreshing to hear and help to re-install my faith that something can be done to make things better!  But, while not learning about International Organizations in Mostar we were able to venture out and explore the city.  The main attraction of the city is the Stari Most bridge which has been rebuilt since it was destroyed in the war during the 1990s.  We were lucky enough to get to witness a bridge diver jump off the bridge carrying on the tradition of bridge jumping.

Bridge Jumper

On both sides of this bridge there are many shops with scarves and copper trinkets similar to Sarajevo's Old Town.  With all these beautiful things being sold I spent most of my free time wondering these streets just window shopping.  The other main attraction we saw was the Gymnasium which the main school of Mostar is in.  This school is referred to as "2 schools 1 roof" in which the Croats and the Bosniacks both attend but are entirely separated.  This basically encompasses the entire current situation in Bosnia.  Surprisingly this building is also  home to the United World College promoting diversity, another glimmer of hope in this city. 

 

While Bosnia has been an absolutely enriching experience I am excited for a new country to spend the next week in!  Kosovo here we come!

 

Yikes! (all the dots are mines)

view from the Spanish Court of the Gymnasium

on the Stari Most bridge





Goodbye Sarajevo, Hello (briefly) Banja Luka

Our week in Sarajevo, BiH has come to a close and now we are in Banja Luka, BiH! I would definitely say we lived it up in Sarajevo our last few days there.  Especially since that dreaded paper was finally done we had so much more free time!  Before our last briefing with the US Embassy with went to a picture gallery commemorating Srebrenica.  This was a town that 8,000 people were massacred in just 2 days, so needless to say although this exhibit was small it was definitely powerful and moving.  We then had our briefing with the US Embassy which was one of the coolest things ever!  We were able to talk to a Foreign service officer in the Public Affairs sector aka my dream job which automatically makes this the best briefing ever!!! To finish off this awesome afternoon we went to the tallest building in Sarajevo, the Twist Tower to enjoy a drink at the top. 

Kimberly, Shelby, Zoe and I at the Café in Twist Tower

 

We also got the privilege of going on the Tunnel of Hope tour which took us on a bus tour of the city to the airport, where the tunnel goes under the airport. This tunnel was the last hope many civilians had during the siege of Sarajevo because it was the only way out of the city.  We were able to walk, (more like hunch) through about 25m. of the actual tunnel and see a museum which went into farther detail about the tunnel and the siege. 

Catherine, Me, Shelby outside of the tunnel

 

Thanks to our previous caffeine stop at the Twist Tower we were able to power through into the night where we all went to a British Pub.  This place at first literally looked like a hole in the wall and I was quite skeptic, until I saw the huge back garden to it which overlooked the entire city of Sarajevo.  Inside of this pub was some good ole acoustic karaoke.  Song books were distributed and everyone could yell out a song choice and it was basically decided by popular opinion which one would be sung next.  One of the best parts of the bar was the actual people in it.  We ended up meeting the Ambassador of Norway and many other super cool people, so overall I'd say it was a successful night out! 

                                                                  In the garden

 

 

                                                                       Me and Shelby

                                                                            Karaoke

 

This was  a great last memory of Sarajevo, and I hated having to say goodbye.  I am definitely going to miss the large packs of dogs patrolling the streets and howling next to our window every night as well as the food (never thought I'd say that) and the atmosphere of the city.  But I can already guarantee this will not be the last time I see this city. 

 

The mosque                                                    Catholic Church

 On the Latin Bridge!!!

A pack of dogs (hard to tell but there are 5 pictured here and more around the corner)

The legend of the fountain: If you drink from it you will return to Sarajevo!

BANJA LUKA

 

So once again we all piled into a bus and took another 4 hour road trip to get to Banja Luka where we will be staying two nights.  This city is definitely much smaller than the other cities we have stayed in, but it feels the most like the United States, but this could also be because we decided to eat at an Irish Pub the first night and all got burgers...But anyways tomorrow we will be heading to Mostar and from what I've heard sounds like it will be a very interesting city so I'll definitely let you guys know how that goes!

Love/ Hate Relationship with Sarajevo

      So far my time in Sarajevo has been extremely busy with our first paper due tomorrow and our briefings starting up.  I have not quite had time to go to many of the historical places yet but I should have a chance to hit these places up on Friday and Saturday!  I have spent enough time here walking around to notice the packs of stray dogs running the streets, the crazy drivers that make anywhere including the sidewalks their parking places, heard the call to prayer from the mosques, and the over 90 degree temps.  I have had the opportunity to walk around the Turkish Quarters and look at all the really neat shops with many beautiful scarves, tea sets, jewelry, and metal works all available.  These shop keepers are so friendly although its hard to communicate with them because of the language barrier, but those that do speak English enjoy telling us things helpful to our stay in Sarajevo.  Unfortunately, while exploring the Turkish Quarters I got a taste of Sarajevo I'm not fond of: pick-pocketers.  Yep I guess I appeared too touristy and they struck getting my wallet without me having any clue.  I honestly have to say I am a little impressed because I did not think it was possible for them to get into my bag without me knowing, but I guess these guys are pros.  As much as this experience sucked and made me hate Sarajevo for a few hours,  I just hope whoever got my money is someone who was in need of it and that it will go to help their family, especially since poverty has been pretty visible here in Sarajevo. 
      But on to a brighter note as mentioned earlier our briefings with international organizations started up this week and it has been a whirlwind.  So far we have met with the OSCE (Office of Security and Cooperation in Europe, International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), EU Delegation, Office of the High Representative, lunch with the OSCE head of mission, and the Council of Europe all in just three days.  These briefings have been very interesting getting to see how each of these international corporations individually view the status of Bosnia and its progress since the Balkan wars.  I would have to say the ICTY has been my favorite organization thus far because we were able to learn about the witness protection program which I'm fascinated by.  Needless to say I am exhausted from all these meetings and the paper writing.  But, on the plus side Sarajevo is known for its coffee and tea so this has been pretty handy in keeping all of us energized throughout our days.  In addition to the amazing drinks here the food does not disappoint.  I was really nervous about the food here because I am a picky eater like I said in a previous blog post, but I have had to branch out here and the food has been awesome.  I've realized that by being picky, I've missed out on some quality food throughout my life but I'm not going to do that while here in the Balkans. 
       One of the coolest things we have had the chance to witness was a protest concert held outside the BiH Parliament building.  They were protesting the recent issue of identification numbers not being issued to babies.  These protests are the first ethnically uniting protests that have been in Bosnia since the war in the 1990s so hopefully this will lead to much needed changes regarding segregation here.  Sarajevo despite the unfortunate wallet occurrence has been an  awesome and beautiful city that I have grown to love.
    

Water fountain in the Turkish Quarters

Parliament Protest Concert

Yes, I did eat that (Mom and Dad aren't you proud?)

Greetings from Sarajevo!

      A five hour bus ride later and we have arrived in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina!  The view on the bus ride was incredible as you can see pictured below!  I thought the mountains in Dubrovnik were

impressive, but I have to say the ones we saw on our way to Sarajevo took the cake.  As we got out of the mountains and began driving through cities the bullet holes in the side of buildings were absolutely jaw-dropping, they were literally covering the buildings.  This was unlike anything I have ever seen before and was incredibly gut-wrenching thinking back to the horror the people that lived in these areas had to go through during the war.  After this eerie scenery we approached Sarajevo and drove through "Sniper Alley" which was the area snipers preyed on innocent civilians of Sarajevo.  It was incredible that a mere twenty years later all evidence of this happening was erased and is now no different than any other road one can drive on around Sarajevo.  The final main thing we saw on our ride into Sarajevo was the infamous bridge that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated on leading to the start of WWI.  At this sighting the history nerd in me literally jumped with excitement, I have seen countless pictures of this bridge in history textbooks growing up and never in my life did I think I would actually see it in real life.  Unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery as we drove past it so there is no picture, but don't worry I will definitely be visiting it in person later this week so there will be some posted eventually!

      After what I would consider a very interesting bus ride we finally arrived at our hotel!  We were all starving so we unpacked and immediately hit the streets of Sarajevo to find some dinner.  This is when it hit us, we were no longer in a tourist town and not everyone speaks English like they do in Dubrovnik.  So we chose a random restaurant that looked nice and it turned out our waiter spoke zero English and the menu was entirely in Bosnian.   I immediately grew very nervous, as a picky eater this was going to be a real struggle.  So after hopelessly examining the menu we all decided to just point to the one picture on the menu because this food at least looked edible so all ten of us there got the exact same thing.  Culture shock had hit us like a brick!  When the food came out, it turned out to be a pita pocket with sausage and feta cheese and was delicious! We certainly got lucky on that one. 

      I called it a night after this experience so I could get up early the next morning to do some more exploring.  This morning some of us girls decided to hit up the Old Town market and go shopping galore!  The scarves and trinkets available are endless I could literally have gone shopping all day long.  While exploring the city the stark contrasts between the older part of the city and the more modern shopping area was astonishing as well as the intermix of the religious buildings found all over.  For lunch we found an awesome place that had the menu in English so that made things a lot easier from the night before.  And yes for those of you that know me as a picky eater I have had to branch out  while on this trip but this lunch was so good we all actually ended up going back here for dinner too!

Here are some pictures from exploring/ shopping today:

 

It's all good, Sarajevo has KFC (VFC here)

 

 

 Heading into town

 

Tried my first macaron today at the oldest sweet shop in Sarajevo!

 

 Giant chess board

 

 



Outside a beautiful church

 

 

 

Final Days in Dubrovnik

      So as the saying goes all good things must come to an end and unfortunately our time in Dubrovnik has come to a close.  But do not worry, we definitely lived it up during our final few days that we had there.  The final countdown began on Thursday after class ended when a few of us decided to go to the swimming hole that was just a two minute walk from our class.  We had been eyeing this spot since the beginning of the week, wanting to go for a swim in one of the local places and finally the time had come!  We immediately got in and the water from the Adriatic Sea is certainly cold to say the least.  At this place there was a ledge that you could jump off of into the water and since I've never done any sort of cliff jumping I knew that this was my time to try it.  So we all decided to give it a go and it was certainly worth it.  According to one local boy though we were not doing our cannon balls correctly, but growing up using the Davidson Swimming Holes diving board every summer I had to disagree.  Unfortunately, we were not able to stay here for that long because we had a Croatian meal waiting for us at the guesthouse that was beckoning us to it. 
      Our dinner this evening was prepared for us by the Villa Klaic owner, Milo and his family.  It started with an appetizer of sausage, bread, various cooked vegetables and a paprika sauce.  At first we thought this was the entire dinner so we all were getting fairly heavy portions of this until our trusty TA Bessir came to the rescue to tell us all that that was just the appetizer.  The next course didn't come out for another hour or so, giving us plenty of time to socialize and just relax.  Finally after the long wait the main course was ready!  It included meat, potatoes and carrots with a salad on the side.  I have never seen as much food in my life than when they brought these platters of food out to the tables, it was quite impressive and delicious.  The dinner was finished with a chocolate crepe and upon slipping into massive food comas we all headed to bed to get ready for our last full day in Dubrovnik!
      Our last full day once again consisted of class, but thankfully it was shortened to just two hours to give time for our afternoon excursion to Cavtat.  To get to Cavtat requires roughly an hour long boat ride which we were lucky enough to be offered the best seats in the house on the front of the boat.  Not going to lie the ride was so relaxing it literally put me to sleep, but only after taking in some of the beautiful views.  When we finally arrived to Cavtat, which is a beach resort town, we went off in search of the perfect place to lay out and swim.  We were then able to spend all afternoon hanging out here which was the perfect ending to our stay in Dubrovnik!  Now its time to go explore Sarajevo!

Greetings from the Adriatic Sea!

 

 

Ledge/ Cliff jumping

The boat ride to Cavtat

 Swimming at Cavtat

 

 

 

Final Croatian Sunset from the porch

 

 

And finally a picture of me with a peacock from Lokrum Island that I forgot to put on my previous post!



Lokrum Island

           Sorry it's been a few days since my last blog, but classes have begun and the readings to go along with it have begun pilling up.  And I've realized that trying to understand all that happened in the Balkans during the 1990s in just 6 weeks will definitely be far more difficult than I imagined due to the immense complexity of the situation.   But I know that this will definitely pay off in the end and give me a greater respect for all of the countries we are traveling to.  So while were not in the classroom learning or doing our homework we still have plenty of time to experience Dubrovnik.
          Yesterday we took a boat ride to go to Lokrum Island which is an island off the coast of Dubrovnik.  This was one of my favorite things we have done so far.  Upon arriving at the island we immediately saw peacocks, and not just a few but peacocks galore.  I can honestly say that I have never seen anything like this before it was awesome.  So after spending ample time taking pictures with/of these peacocks we decided to venture further into the island and discovered an ocean cove where we proceeded to climb on the rocks to get great views and pictures like any good tourist would do.  Then we decided it was time to go see the fort on the top of the hill of the island.  Little did we know but this hill was going to be one of the biggest ones we would have to climb thus far in Dubrovnik, and for a city with stairways instead of sidewalks this is a big feat.  After spending time admiring the fort we realized it was time to head back because the last ferry left from the island in 40 min and we didn't want to miss it.  Well, I'm pretty sure you all know where this story is going so I'll go ahead and say it, yes we did get lost.  We unfortunately made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up going down a new path that lead us to a dead end.  Even more unfortunate than taking the wrong path was taking a wrong path that went downhill which meant we now had to take the same path to go up.  At this point we had 20 min left so we booked it.  I have never seen all of us move this fast going up hill, but I believe the hunger and the fear of being trapped on the island was a major motivating factor.  Somehow we ended up finding our way to the ferry and made it with 5 min to spare!!! So no camping on the island for us!  Once we arrived safely back on land we grabbed some food and called it a night. 
          Today after class most of us ventured over to the soccer field for a game with the locals.  I do have to say that my soccer skills are not quite up to par with the local Croatians so I only played for a little bit, but watching it was just as fun.  There were a few men playing who were 70+ years old, and let me tell you they were amazing they definitely did not let their age deter them.  Although this was just a friendly pickup game they take their soccer very seriously here and the enthusiasm on the field was incredible.  English as well as Serbo-Croatian shouts were being thrown all around the field.  The game lasted for well over an hour and a half but it was so fun that no one even realized how long it had been.  This was a great way to interact with the culture of Croatia first hand. 

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 The ferry to Lokrum Island

 

Lokrum Island

Rocks on Lokrum Island

The from the top of the luminous hill to the Fort on Lokrum Island

 

Top of the Fort!

A City of a Thousand Steps

Today was the first full day we spent in Dubrovnik, Croatia so of course we had to get all of the touristy things out of the way.  The first thing one immediately notices about Dubrovnik is the absolute beauty that radiates from every crevice of the city and never gets old (and is enhanced by the cleanliness of the city).  The next thing you notice are the stairs, the thousands of stairs that basically serve as sides walks here. So we began today by grabbing lunch at one of the many ally way restaurants that are all over Old Town which is the is the walled in portion of the city right next to the sea.  Then our tourist explorations  began by taking a  cable car to the top of the mountain to see the amazing view of the entire Old Town as well as the Imperial Fortress, which of course required walking  up tons of stairs to get to the cable car.  This allowed us to see the entire city and the surrounding mountains.  After this we went for a refreshing drink at "Cold Drinks and the Most Beautiful View," we had to see if this advertising was accurate or not.  And our verdict was yes indeed! The drinks were cold and the view was looking out on the Adriatic Sea to where the water met the sky, so I would definitely say it was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.  Then we did one of the main tourist attractions of the city which is walking around the 14th century wall that surrounds the city and served as its protection.  As a history nerd, experiencing this history of the city was incredible.  The amazing part is that hidden behind all of the beauty of this city is the destruction from the early 1990s that occurred during the fight for independence.  There are reminders all over the city commemorating this war of independence and some of the ruble was viewable from the wall. To finish off the day we got dinner and gelato and if you ever get the chance to order Nutella gelato do it, it was one of the most delicious things ever!  To get back to the guest house we of course had to make the journey up the many, many steps that will definitely whip us into shape by the end of our week here.  Now with all of the main tourist attractions out of the way we have spotted a few cool local hangout and swim spots to check out during the remainder of our week here.  With class beginning tomorrow I am hoping to gain a more thorough background history of Croatia and the surrounding Balkan area. 

Me and Shelby in Old Town

View from the room

Before the Cable Car

Cold Drinks and the Most Beautiful View

Croatian Mountains

View from the top of the Mountain

Walking the City Wall

Me, Catherine, Shelby