Christmas with my Family

Budapest, Hungary

Turkey Day in the 'Jevo

I was excited about the rolls and the pumpkin pie!
Tony, the turkey; Griffin did a great job of making almost everything!
We had some of our friends over for an "American Traditional Thanksgiving!"
Andrew, Nathan, Chad, Faruk, and Haris
Rhesia, Griffin, Kat, and I

Sarajevo in the fall

Rakovica, 8-week retreat


Vilsonovo sestaliste "Wilson's Walk", right near my apt.

Cinema, Cappuccino, and Chaos

So Rhesia, and I went to see a movie at the new cinema in town with our friend, Amra. I knew it was at the same time as a football game, but didn't really give it that much thought. Little did I know what I was getting into...

My first taste of Bosnian excitement and fanaticism for the game we call soccer. As we left the theater after seeing Suragati (Surrogates) we headed to Metropolis to grab coffee and talk about what we had just seen. We walked across the sidewalk at the BBI Centar and there was trash everywhere from tons of people standing and watching the match at the huge screen on the side of the centar. We got to the cafe and sat down and what sounded like a riot started on the street right outside of the cafe. Hundreds of fans with Bosnia i Hercegovina flags and scarves and shirts and jerseys and all kinds of paraphernalia we everywhere running down the street, yelling, shooting off firecrackers (i hope) and going crazy. Bosnia had beat Estonia 2-0 and now they are very hopeful for the match against Spain on Wednesday.

I tried so hard to pay attention to the discussion we were having- about the war and Amra's thoughts on that. We also talked a lot about why we like the movie and how we would feel if we had surrogates to go out and live our lives for us and the ethics behind that. I kept shifting my gaze to the insanity going outside- wanting so much to go be a apart of something that crazy, yet at the same time wondering how you can be this crazy for a sport. America has nothing like it.

There were traffic jams everywhere because of the sheer number of people in the street and driving cars and on top of cars and hanging out of cars and running across the street, basically mass chaos with policia present, but just kind of watching just in case.

On the walk back home, Rhesia and I ran into some more of our friends!

slippers, coffee, and sleep

I have no idea what the previous obsession was with food, maybe I was hungry!

I'm sitting on the couch contemplating how different my life has been since coming to Sarajevo. I'm processing that different doesn't mean bad, just what it implies- not the same. I need some more hangers for my closet, but the reason I don't have them is not because I'm too lazy to go get them, it's because something that simple requires walking 5 min. to a tram stop, riding it for several stops and walking about 10 min. to Mercator (their version of Target), but then whose to say they actually have hangers. It's very hit and miss over here. One day they have them , the next day you go back to get more and you end up getting something different because they are out of the baskets or hangers or whatever you got before. The same thing happens in grocery stores, you kinda have to be flexible with what you want to eat- your kind of milk, etc.

I think that makes me grateful for the things I do have, though. I'm so thankful for having two great roommates that have bent over backwards to help me find things and really feel at home. I discovered that some of my "can't live withouts" include sheets that fit my bed, a clock, a coffee maker (and filter for it), slippers (thanks, Judy), and at least 7+ hours of sleep on my almost comfortable bed. The acquisition of each of these is a feat in and of itself.

Two weeks and counting...

I can't believe I've been here two weeks! I've met people and walked more than I have in my life and eaten so many different foods I can't keep up.

Today I tried Palačinke (crepes) at Cafe Brasil. They were pretty good-wish I'd taken a picture. They had bananas and chocolate inside with sladoled čokolada (chocolate icecream) and slag (whipped cream) on top! mm mm good!

Bosnia is known for specifically two foods: Čevapičiči, and Pita. Very interesting these are too. Čevapičiči is similar to Turkish kofte, or ground beef with onions and other spices rolled into logs (for lack of a better word). It is served usually in a big hamburger/type bun with lettuce and ajvar, a red sauce.

Pite (pie) is dough filled with meat, cheese, potatoes, or spinach. I haven't tried the one with potatoes, but the others are ok. Kinda greasy, but filling.

Unlike the great city of Istanbul which has every restaurant you could want, (Ok not Outback, but close) Sarajevo has a lot of restaurants that serve Čevapi and Pite and Palačike. They're everywhere. We did find a great Italian restaurant near where I live in Grbavica last night!

Probably the place that I have frequented the most is Torte i to. It's a small cafe two buildings over that has great tea, non-smoking, free wifi, and most of all cheesecake! Apparently it's where a bunch of people from the US embassy hang out because it's non-smoking and everywhere else is. The cheesecake is also a welcome comfort food. I've probably been there at least every other day or so since it was not until today that I was able to connect at our apartment.