Full Sentence

Today was an eventful day, again filled with love and laughter, and it went nothing according to plan. We arrived at the centre for 9, like we were told, because of our field trip to the school. Similar to when I lived in Spain, when you show up on time, you're actually 45 minutes early. Nobody is ever on time, and it's not a big deal. So we had morning Kafu with Hana and a few of the mothers, while the kids were waiting in excitement. It is really lovely when we get greeted at the entrance to the centre by everyone waving and smiling, so happy that we are there. Again, it was great to bond with the kids over games, sport and fun, and the kids now just speak to me in Bosnian, and then we laugh and I nod. I can pick up on a few things, but really laughing is the best we can do.

So some people took cars, while a few of the other kids took the bus with Hana, and we went to the school. We thought that it was a workshop of some sort put on by Americans about inclusive education. We were wrong about everything but the Americans, but regardless, it was a lot of fun. There was a group of Americans (generally from New Jersey) that were promoting peace, love and hope throughout Bosnia. They have been doing a Bosnian tour for 10 years now, and they go to schools and play games, have fun, and promote the fact that we're all different, yet the same, and that one person affects the whole world around them. The school as a whole, is moving towards inclusive education, and they were very excited that Ana and I were there. At 12:00 Ana and I went to meet Jasmin, the president of the PT association. True to Euro style, our ride was late, and we missed the 5 minute meeting at SOS kinderdorf. Apparently the meeting was cut short due to an issue that arose regarding one of the kids at SOS. He applied to go to High School in Sarajevo, and was #2 on the list, and he just got rejected because he is an orphan at SOS. It was explained by Jasmin that all of the children at SOS have lost one, or both their parents due to war or other circumstances. It is a village of safe homes for these children, and each house is run by a very dedicated woman, who cares for 5-6 children 24/7. Unlike other orphanages, these children are supported until they're 27, not 18. Anyways, the meeting was supposed to be about a rehab pilot project at SOS. The PT association will screen all the children for physical impairments, and begin working on therapy with the children that have physical impairments and start prevention therapy for children who don't, but may be at risk. The issue that they want Ana and I's input on is how to address the emotional issues these children may experience with having a physical disability. Ana and I are to hopefully meet up with Jasmin again before he goes on vacation on Saturday. However, we are meeting up with Sanela, Bosnia's only OT, in the near future to continue collaborating on this issue. OT's and others: if you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment. Jasmin is an incredible man to talk to. He is so passionate about rehab in general, and really trying to get the BiH PT federation moving forward. We hope that we will see him again. We were told that we can go back to SOS another day to observe some therapy, and we're excited to do so.

After our meeting, we went back to the school, and played more games with the kids. At the end of the day, there were some more music sung, including some premature balkanika, sung by some little girls, and a traditional Bosnian song sung by Amir, a member of Radost Zivota. We then took the bus back to the centre, and we were talking to the mothers, and one of the mothers was talking about how she has a cousin that lives in Vancouver (or Vankuver in Bosnian), and I formulated my first sentence in my head and said it to Ana: "Vancouver and Sarajevo are very good cities" or "Vankuver i Sarajevo to je dobro grad", and Ana announced that I had something to say. Shockingly, I was shy, and I didn't want to say it. That is, until I got cornered in a closet by one of the mothers, demanding me to say it (in the nicest way possible). I said it, and then she repeated it to all the mothers, and they applauded and laughed with/at me. But it's a start, and although my grammer will always be horrible, I need to start speaking.

We take the tram car to and from the centre everyday, and today was the first HOT day (woo-hoo! Bosnia has occasional cold spells in the summer, and it hasn't been warm at all since we arrived!), but with the lack of deodorant in Eastern Europe, I can tell our daily tram car rides aren't going to get any more enjoyable. But I am happy the sun is out to stay!

I leave you with the Balkanika song of the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgr6pHgquoY

Cao! xoxo