Well Ana and I have now been in Sarajevo for over a week, and everyday my heart is warmed by the city and it's people. So where to start... I guess with Thursday night. So we met with Adi and Mehmed in the town square, and we walked and talked to Sloga, a night club in about 10 minutes away. Sloga, meaning unity, togetherness, or getting along, was a huge night club with two main floors. I'm also certain we were one of very few foreigners there. They decided to bring us there because its amazing and has live music Thursdays and Saturdays. Knowing about Ana and I's love for Balkanika, they knew we'd oblige. So we had drinks, talked and listened to the music. The band was one of their favourites, and they were fantastic. Although I didn't understand the lyrics, the beat and the bands stage presence was amazing! After the band finished, we just danced and hung out to a mix of Balkanika, house, and old school favourites. Adi and Mehmed were hilarious, genuine, and lots of fun to hang out with. They walked Ana and I home, with plans for the 4 of us to hang out again in the future. It's great having local friends, because they show you a side of the city that you wouldn't see otherwise.
Friday morning, Ana and I arrived at the centre, and had a long, hilarious Kafu with Hana and Nermin, talking about their experiences with the centre and life in Bosnia, all of our weekend plans, our plans for Monday (which will apparently according to Nermin will consist of a mix of beer and culture), and my pop vocabulary quiz, which pretty much consisted of me listing all the words I remembered from the day before. They are both heading out of town this weekend, to visit their perspective home towns. When the kids arrived, we went to the park and played games. The weather has become beautiful now, and is 30+ degrees and sunny daily. I am loving the sunshine and heat, but I'm still adapting, so I can be seen sweating during most daily activities. But we had fun at the park, until Jasmin (the president of PT federation) came and met us to have a kafu and talk/collaborate about rehab issues at SOS and Bosnia in general. He is honestly the kindest individual with the greatest intentions to make the world a better place. We went to "Cafe Borat", a cafe (kafic) across the street from Radost Zivota. We talked with Jasmin for about 1.5 hours, and we could have talked with him for hours. We talked alot about the future directions for UFFBIH (PT federation of BiH), ideas for SOS, new theories in OT, Community-based Rehab, and the History of Bosnia. We are to meet up with Sanela to further discuss issues. With Sanela being Bosnia's only OT, I'm sure she'll be fascinating to talk to.
When we got back to the centre, and we joined the group in free time, which consisted of colouring, games, Bosnian/English lessons, and general banter with lots of laughter regarding promaja, English/Bosnian differences, and general fun. But today, we started to see some behavioural issues come alive in some of the kids. The Mother's were really busy all day with their project for the fashion show, and Nermin works till 1, and Hana left at 2, and it seemed like everything fell apart, but it was good for Ana and I to see so and gave us a little more depth and understanding some of the difficulties that they face. It also guided Ana and I's creation of the needs assessment, and the beginnings of project ideas, especially regarding program development, stability and structure for these kids. Ana and I had missed lunch while we were out for coffee with Jasmin, and were wanting to eat our arms off by 2 o'clock. With our drop in blood sugar, and when behaviours got wild at the centre, our patience was stretched and tested. We left the centre around 3, and there was the Brasil vs Netherlands game on at 4. So we went to a cafe, had some pizza and watched the game. We were exhausted post-game, and went home for siesta prior to the 8:30 game. Little did we know, we were so tired that we fell into mini-comas and almost missed the Ghana vs Uraguay game. We ended up watching the game at home, and missing out on Sarajevo's World Cup Fever.
World Cup Fever has hit Sarajevo, and the energy is amazing. Throughout the city, there are hundreds of little cafes that have patios that fill the streets. For World Cup, the cafe's have large flat screen TVs set up so that the games can be watched, and crowds and crowds of people come together to watch and cheer on their favourite teams. Watching World Cup games are fun, but watching it with thousands of crazy football fans is entertaining. It's sad that the tournament is coming to an end.
If I haven't mentioned before, I'm loving this city. Being busy at the centre, and getting adjusted to life in Bosnia, we haven't had a ton of time for exploring. And I've been busy blogging more about our experiences than the actual city itself. But, needless to say, this city is beautiful, and with some weekend adventure, we're getting to know and love it's eclectic combination of decrepit and new, turkish and european, muslim, catholic and orthodox. There are plenty of Mosques, Cathedrals, and Orthodox churches. The stari grad (old town) and centar (centre of town) are all pedestrian only zones, filled with nooks and crannies lined with bars, restaurants, cafes, and shops selling everything from antiques to purses and bags to jewelery to dvds to designer clothing. Over the weekend, we spent much time exploring the city The city is closely nestled in the surrounding mountains, and the river runs through the city. It's a shame that it's unsafe to hike the surround mountains (due to the numerous landmines), but Ana and I managed to find a fortress up on the hill that overlooks the city. So we walked uphill, winding through the beautiful, unknown city streets, to get to the fortress, and when we arrived at the top, it was a beautiful and peaceful oasis removed from the hustle and bustle of the city. It has become our new favourite spot, and we returned today (Sunday), to read, and work on our needs assessment in the warm sun.
An amazing Balkan delicacy that Ana has introduced me to is "Ajvar". Ajvar is what I consider to be the healthy soulfood of the Balkans (I'm not sure what they think, but I'm pretty sure most people would agree), and Ana and I eat it on a daily basis (for either breakfast, lunch, dinner or light snack). It's similar in texture to antipasta or vegetable spread, but consists of roasted red peppers, eggplant and garlic, mashed together with lemon juice and olive oil. Each Balkan country appears to claim fame to the amazing Ajvar, and really I don't care who invented it, I'm just glad I now know about it. I will definately be bringing a few jars back to Canada with me.
The rest of our weekend was enjoyed in the sun, either watching World Cup, having Kafu or drinks, patio hopping, exploring the city, finishing up our needs assessment, listening to Balkanika, making friends, laundry, and photodocumenting our experiences.
This week should be another week of interesting joys, and challenges. We're beginning our needs assessment, which will include survey's with the mothers, activities with the kids, interviews with Hasena and Azra (the co-founders), Hana, Nermin, Olga and Sylva, and focus groups with the mothers and the kids.
I'll leave you with the Balkanika song of the day (warning, it may change your life haha):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQs_m4UOl7Y
I miss you all, and hope you're all happy and healthy, and avoiding the risks of promaja!
Oh, and Happy Birthday Mom!! Love you!
xoxo
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