So, Ana and I were super busy, handling guests, research, creating programs, and recommendations, and throwing in some fun and adventure along the way. Cary was visiting until Tuesday, then my parents arrived Tuesday evening, and Natasa, Ana’s sister arrived on Wednesday. Needless to say, w were busy, but managed to function on few hours sleep. AND we finished our work (which I guess was the point), even though we dedicated 10+ hour days all last week. But Ana and I laughed along the way, which encouraged us along the way.
Tuesday night, my parents arrived in Sarajevo, and we took them out for Cevapi (traditional Bosnian meat that I don’t eat), took them back to our place for some drinks, and then we went for a drink to Barhana, one of our favourite pubs tucked away in an alleyway, but consistently has a great crowd and good drinks.
Wednesday morning, bright and early, Mom and Dad came with us to the centre, and after morning coffee with the mothers, Hana and Nermin, we worked on art projects with the professionals and the kids. The centre sells vases and cards at a man’s store in Sarajevo. He has one shelf in his store that the centre stocks with handmade crafts, and he sells them on the centre’s behalf. So they brought some tables outside and we all worked away on some crafts, while a few people played some sports. Ana and I then left, only to go finish up our project, for we were presenting our project to the organization on Thursday. So we were at the centre from 9-12:30, and then worked from 12:30-8pm, attempting to stay sane. We met up with my parents, Sonja, and her two wonderful friends (yay to increasing our Raja size!!) Kate and Brooke. Kate and Brooke are also from Australia, and are travelling throughout Eastern Europe. We went for dinner at the Sarajevo Brewery, a beautiful building on the south side of the river. The brewery was actually the only source of water for the people of Sarajevo through the siege. The waterlines were cut in the city, and people had to risk their lives traveling through the streets to the Brewery in order to get enough water for their families and loved ones. We had an amazing meal there filled with good company, good beer and wine, and plenty of chit chatter and laughter.
Ana left dinner a bit early to pick up Natasa at the bus station, and I met them back at the house after dinner. We caught up with Natasa over the amazing and traditional Balkanika, introducing her to our favourite Balkanika gems such as Slavi, Toni, Miki and Serevina. We then quickly got back to work, working away until 2am, when we finally finished.
Thursday morning, we touched up a few things, and then went to print and bind our package, all 100 some odd pages of it, which cost us a solid 7km, or $4.50. AMAZING! Printing that in Canada would have cost us at LEAST $20, plus an extra arm for binding. We wanted to hug the guy who helped us, but instead we gave him a 3km tip. Ana and I were so excited that we embraced in the middle of the street as we exited the print shop. We then several comments from some old men in the streets, where the literal translations don’t make sense, but the meaning was too inappropriate to repeat. Needless to say, we were grossed out by the men, but too excited to care.
We arrived at the centre, with food and drinks to enjoy while we presented. Expecting to present at 11, we were finally underway by 12:30. The informal session took approximately 2.5 hours, only to be interrupted by important phone calls, behavioural problems, and more people joining or leaving the room for this or that reason. But the whole day went wonderfully, and the mothers and professionals were very receptive to the information, engaging in conversation, asking questions, and commenting along the way. They were very excited, and were impressed with our level of expertise and professionalism.
A picture with some of the mothers and professionals following our presentation.
We finally finished around 3pm, and cleaned up, and waited for my parents to arrive before we went on the longest 10-minute drive of life. Let me explain. So, we decided to go (as a family- my parents, Ana, Natasa and myself), to Tunnel Spasa (or the tunnel of life), that is now a museum. During the war, the Serbian forces surrounded Sarajevo for the longest siege of a single city, in the world’s history. They were under attack for 43 months, and Sarajevo citizens (regardless of nationality or religion) were fighting to stay alive, and to keep the history of this wonderful place alive. Because rations were low, and water and electricity were cut, they were running out of options. The UN had made a deal with the Serb Army to take over the airport, to allow for the incoming humanitarian aid, but Serb forces surrounded the rest of the city. So the Bosnian people planned to build a tunnel under the airport, 800m long, so they could transport people and goods between Sarajevo, and the Bosnian-free territory. Needless to say, it was a really interesting museum, again making the reality of the war far too present.
I feel this is a good time to write about the consistent inconsistencies that we just came to expect during our time in Sarajevo. Wherever we go, whatever we did, nothing seemed to make sense, and you often just shrugged it off as “this is Sarajevo”. From things such as ordering a coffee, to getting directions, nothing was consistent, linear, or any other synonym of orderly. Ana and I would often order iced ness, which is like an iced latte. We thought it was a pretty standard drink, but consistently we would get different drinks ranging from an espresso shot with an ice cube, to a canned beverage. Sometimes stores that are supposed to be open till 8, close and 5, and some that are supposed to close at 6 are still open at 9. The best example occurred on Thursday made me very happy considering it summed up my theory behind the consistent inconsistent nature of Bosnia (not to mention that it made a fantastic adventure). As previously mentioned, we went to Tunnel Spasa on Thursday after our presentation. My parents had rented a car, and although nobody could provide Ana and I with accurate directions to get to the tunnel, we knew it was near the airport, somewhere between Dobrinja and Butmir (two districts in the west end of the city). The closest answer we could get to directions was to get to the roundabout, take the 3rd exit, and take the road till you come to the end, and go right. After turning right, we were to ask someone where to go. So we did exactly that, and we started our amazing rat race driving through most of the small neighborhoods, and through the farm-like countryside. This is how majority of the conversations went when we stopped and asked strangers for directions on the side of a deserted street (I’ve taken the liberty to translate into English haha):
Ana: “Excuse me, could you tell us how to get to Tunnel Spasa?”
Stranger: “Tunnel Spasa?”
Ana: “Yeah, Tunnel Spasa, or the Tunnel of life”
Stranger: “Ahh.. yes, Tunnel Spasa… well, you’re going to turn around, take your third left, second or third right, over one or two bridges, then ask someone where to go next.”
Ana: Okay, Cao!
And so on and so on. So we went left, then right, then drove over a few bridges, then asked someone. Then we turned around, took a different left, a different right, over a few bridges, then asked someone. This went on for a solid 40 minutes, driving around, until we met a fine gentlemen that gave us what seemed like the most accurate directions yet (including accurate counts of lefts and rights, and driving approximately 500m), and then there will be a sign. A sign… excellent, considering it’s a museum, and we hadn’t seen a sign for it yet. So, we followed his accurate directions, and then cheered when we saw the sign to turn left for Tunnel Spasa. This cheering stopped when we realized there was nothing there, except for a few private houses, and abandoned huts, and fields. We then talked to people who were at the house, and they explained that this is where the tunnel started back during the war, but it’s now private property and the other side was where the museum was (only a short 800m away). The problem, the airport was in the way, so we had to go around. So the adventure continued, and eventually we decided to take a cab, and have Dad follow in the car (considering we had been driving for over an HOUR at this time). So it was an adventure, and we were very excited when we finally got there. So the moral of the story is… if you’re ever lost, take a left, a right, then ask someone else. Or take a taxi.
Tunnel SpasaAfter our adventures to Tunnel Spasa, we went shopping for games, books and sports equipment for the centre. We bought them lots of fun things, and we were so excited to give it to them on Friday morning. Thursday night, we went out for a lovely dinner up on the hill on the south side of the river, and it overlooked the whole city. It was beautiful, although it did get a bit chilly. We then went to celtic for a drink, to only run into more friends. We then headed home around 1am, to emotionally prepare ourselves for our Friday filled with goodbyes.
Friday was a whirlwind of a day. Our last tram ride out to the centre, bearing gifts for the centre. It was a crazy day at the centre, because it was their last day open until September, so everyone was cleaning, and getting everything prepared to lock up for August. We had a crazy group evaluation, where all the professionals and some mothers gave their input to our evaluation. Fortunately, they had nothing but positive things to say. We hung out most of the day, had our final coffee, and they gave us each a vase, and some cards that the kids made. I shed a few tears saying our final vidimo se to the mothers and the kids. They have taught us so much about the power of love and hope, lessons that I’ll never forget.
Our final farewell with some of the kids.Friday night was lots of fun. We had our Raja (Hana, Nermin, Sonja, Brooke, Kate, Natasa, Heidi and Jim) at our place for some drinks. Hana and Nermin bought us each 2 bottles of homemade Rakija, and decorated the bottles for us with inside jokes. They are honestly the nicest people, and we will forever be in touch. We laughed and embraced our last night together. We then went to Pirates, our favourite Balkanika club, and danced the night away, dreading the night coming to a close. After our time at Pirates, we headed to Barhana for a final toast to friendship, which was proceeded with the longest goodbye to our friends in the streets of Sarajevo. 
Some photos of our Raja.
We returned to the house around 5am, only to have to wake up at 5:40 so I could hop in the car with my parents and drive to Dubrovnik to catch our boat. Well, we slept in, having a slight panic attack when my parents are ringing our doorbell at 6am. It was a good thing that I packed the night before. It was an even better thing that I was meeting up with Ana and Natasa in Hvar a few days later (to bring me the things I forgot, and to say our goodbyes).
Some photos of our Raja.So we are now on a beautiful boat, and sailing the Croatian coast. It is absolutely beautiful with the rugged green islands, contrasted with the crystal clear blue ocean. We’ve been island hopping, spending our days snorkeling, reading, and making friends with the other people on our boat. It is an international mix of Spanish, South African, Greek, Italian, German, British, Croatian, and Australian. We’re having a lot of fun, and there’s a good mix of ages, so everyone is happy. We met up with Ana and Natasa on the island of Hvar, for our final dinner and drinks until October. It was sad saying goodbye to Ana. She’s been the most fantastic person to travel and work with. We both said we couldn’t envision doing our CD placement with anyone else in the world. We made a fantastic team, and even better, had a great time.
I should get going, it’s almost time for dinner. I hope this finds you all in good health and happiness. I can’t wait to see you all when I get home (or back to Ontario!). Keep in touch! xoxo
