Yesterday we headed back to Srebrenica to observe more of the re-certification trainings for the volunteers in the surrounding villages. BBBUTTTT before we got there, we took a little detour to Castle ruins, and the castle was built somewhere near 500 years ago!!! It isn't exactly a touristy site, i.e. there were NOOO people there; so it was just 'Uncle Mira' (as we have now adopted this name for Amir), Alma, Christina, and me. It was really awesome! There were these lookouts that looked over the river that separates Bosnia from Serbia! It was fantastic! And even though the castle was in ruins... we went inside & took pics of it! It was really one of the coolest things I've done! And as most of you already know, I am a huge nerd that loves history stuff like this, so I was truly thrilled!
After that we headed to hammer out our duties. Christina and I met with the director of the local health center in Srebrenica, to talk to her about the program and just get some info from her. So that was pretty interesting. Then after that us ladies were heading towards the room where the trainings were going on.... but I just couldn't go back in there. Seriously... it smelled so terrible, I honestly didn't know what to do with myself. And I was not the only one thinking this. We smelled this same thing the day before, and I just couldn't do it again. It was a cross between the most god-awful B.O you have ever smelt and a sweaty, musty, old sock. >YUCK< So instead of going back in the room to just observe, Christina and I took the opportunity to talk to Alma more about the war. And I have to just say that I am so grateful for having Alma as a supervisor. She has been so willing to teach us about what has happened here and share all of the experiences she has endured. I specifically wanted to talk to her about how the war broke out in Tuzla, because apparently it happened in the intersection right outside our building... and she told us the whole story... me being a very visual person, and with Alma's descriptive discussion, I have many images playing over in my head of what was experienced here...
Once our observation time was completed, we headed in to the center of Srebrenica to go to a local restaurant to meet up with one of their colleagues, whom we had met the day prior. While there, I decided to buck up and try some coffee!!! And this wasn't just any ordinary coffee either... it's authentic Bosnian coffee, but it's authenticity actually comes from Turkey, it being Turkish coffee and all. But there's a whole way that it is made and everything. It came out on this copper plate and there was my little cup that looked like it was for an espresso; and then there was this beautifully designed copper cup that looked like it was the size of a double shot glass,which was holding the coffee, and it had a beautiful handle jetting out from the top of it. There were two sugar cubes in my espresso-like cup. Alma instructed me to do it the 'proper' way, which was to take both of the cubes and one by one put them in the copper coffee holder and stir. Then she told me to just pour it into my little cup and drink... but to be careful not to drink the grinds. But when someone tells me not to do something, I became curious so I did it anyway. It wasn't terrible because I knew to make sure to only have a bit, but I wanted to try it, hahaha. That's the stubbornness in me : ) Needless to say, it was really really really good! Seriously, I think Turkish coffee is like me new favorite thing!! hahaha! But seriously!
Then the rest of my day just tapered off and we got home and relaxed. I did go for a walk into town with Bree and did a little bit of shopping for myself! haha :) I found an adorable top that I have been eye-ing for a week now, and then I found a cute dress too! And seeing as my clothes are still drying from when I had to re-wash them because they didn't dry fast enough the first time and the mildewy smell set in.. the shopping was needed!
Well friends, off to Mostar for me this evening! I am super pumped about it! I will be sure to update the blog asap. And again sorry about the pics... facebook apparently hates me or something. hahaha I love you all!!
Cao Cao
Friday, July 3, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
& the work unfolds.
So this week seems to be flying by... week 4 almost completed. Work has been moving at a steady pace as of late. I seem to have gotten all of the details finely tuned within all of my projects, so I am on the grind with those.
As you know, Monday was my interesting experience with the dog pack.. haha, once we actually got to work, however, it seemed to go by quickly. That's probably because I was only there for an hour. After the first small group session, Christina and I were invited to go to one of the staff members(whom we have never met) ceremony where she defended her dissertation for her master's degree. It was very interesting to see how they handle their 'graduation process' from their programs here; even how they defend their dissertations. Though the entire thing was in Bosnian and I hadn't a clue what was really going on, I sill was grateful for the experience. We also had one of the staff from the hospital, Sandra, translate some of what was being said and what the dissertation was on, and all of that jazz.
Tuesday, I seemed to have had a fire lit under my tush because I was getting a lot of stuff complete for my one project. Though it is still in the beginning stages, I feel like I was able to outline a lot of what I want to get accomplish. This project (the motivating high school kids to go to college) has been pretty interesting. I am developing workshops that will hopefully be utilized in the local high schools. These workshops are designed to allow these kids to feel more confident in what they are doing; i.e. how to write a good resume, knowing the ins and outs of the entrance requirements for the universities here, how to write a personal statement, how to conduct a good interview, etc. I'm really hoping that if I get thorough information that these just may really be used.. that would be cool. So that's what I am working on there.
As far as the other project goes (the one regarding returnees to the remote villages, and their volunteering to be the 'first-responders' within their communities etc), Christina and I traveled to Srebrenica yesterday to sit in on a re-certification training that is conducted for the volunteers who started the program back in 2004 and 2006. It's a long drive out there.. about a 2 hour drive.. but it was cool, because before we went to the training, we met up with one of the nurses who trains the volunteers. He used to be in the Yugoslav army and now works and trains the returnees. We were able to interview him and ask him some questions regarding his perspectives and experiences regarding his experiences. I was grateful to get to speak to him, just to get some knowledge first hand. Then we arrived at the local medical center that is in the village.. seriously.. I will post pics when I can, but if you saw this center.. you would be shocked. But, while we were at the center observing the trainings, we were able to interview one of the gentlemen who was receiving the training, and it was great to get his perspective. So when all was said and done, we had two sides to compare. Just to remind you, my objective for this program is to prove its sustainability within the community. So through these very informal interviews, Christina and I have decided to come up with more formal interview questions in order to do just that.. but that is going to have to hashed out within the coming weeks. We are going back to Srebrenica today to bear witness to another group of volunteers receiving their follow-up training. Most likely again, we will be interviewing a couple of them.
As far as the weekend goes, my plans to celebrate the 4th of July in a foreign country are as follows: Bree and I are heading down to Mostar, which is located in the southern region, and actually considered to be a part of Herzegovina. I am really pumped about this, because we are apparently taking a tour around the surrounding villages on Saturday and we are going to get to see waterfalls! I am really excited! I am also just excited to get out of Tuzla again. And it looks like there will be a couple of the girls from the program, so we will all be ringing in the 4th together & with a bang no less!!! I have gotten almost all of my pics up on facebook... so as soon as I do, I will be able to put them up on here. Sorry for the delay.
Cao!
As you know, Monday was my interesting experience with the dog pack.. haha, once we actually got to work, however, it seemed to go by quickly. That's probably because I was only there for an hour. After the first small group session, Christina and I were invited to go to one of the staff members(whom we have never met) ceremony where she defended her dissertation for her master's degree. It was very interesting to see how they handle their 'graduation process' from their programs here; even how they defend their dissertations. Though the entire thing was in Bosnian and I hadn't a clue what was really going on, I sill was grateful for the experience. We also had one of the staff from the hospital, Sandra, translate some of what was being said and what the dissertation was on, and all of that jazz.
Tuesday, I seemed to have had a fire lit under my tush because I was getting a lot of stuff complete for my one project. Though it is still in the beginning stages, I feel like I was able to outline a lot of what I want to get accomplish. This project (the motivating high school kids to go to college) has been pretty interesting. I am developing workshops that will hopefully be utilized in the local high schools. These workshops are designed to allow these kids to feel more confident in what they are doing; i.e. how to write a good resume, knowing the ins and outs of the entrance requirements for the universities here, how to write a personal statement, how to conduct a good interview, etc. I'm really hoping that if I get thorough information that these just may really be used.. that would be cool. So that's what I am working on there.
As far as the other project goes (the one regarding returnees to the remote villages, and their volunteering to be the 'first-responders' within their communities etc), Christina and I traveled to Srebrenica yesterday to sit in on a re-certification training that is conducted for the volunteers who started the program back in 2004 and 2006. It's a long drive out there.. about a 2 hour drive.. but it was cool, because before we went to the training, we met up with one of the nurses who trains the volunteers. He used to be in the Yugoslav army and now works and trains the returnees. We were able to interview him and ask him some questions regarding his perspectives and experiences regarding his experiences. I was grateful to get to speak to him, just to get some knowledge first hand. Then we arrived at the local medical center that is in the village.. seriously.. I will post pics when I can, but if you saw this center.. you would be shocked. But, while we were at the center observing the trainings, we were able to interview one of the gentlemen who was receiving the training, and it was great to get his perspective. So when all was said and done, we had two sides to compare. Just to remind you, my objective for this program is to prove its sustainability within the community. So through these very informal interviews, Christina and I have decided to come up with more formal interview questions in order to do just that.. but that is going to have to hashed out within the coming weeks. We are going back to Srebrenica today to bear witness to another group of volunteers receiving their follow-up training. Most likely again, we will be interviewing a couple of them.
As far as the weekend goes, my plans to celebrate the 4th of July in a foreign country are as follows: Bree and I are heading down to Mostar, which is located in the southern region, and actually considered to be a part of Herzegovina. I am really pumped about this, because we are apparently taking a tour around the surrounding villages on Saturday and we are going to get to see waterfalls! I am really excited! I am also just excited to get out of Tuzla again. And it looks like there will be a couple of the girls from the program, so we will all be ringing in the 4th together & with a bang no less!!! I have gotten almost all of my pics up on facebook... so as soon as I do, I will be able to put them up on here. Sorry for the delay.
Cao!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
great weekend. great people. great times
Man ohh Man.. If you ever in your life have the opportunity to go to Belgrade, Serbia, DO IT! I HAD SUCH A BLAST!
So I began my Friday just waiting for the day to end. The girls and I caught a bus at 4:25 from here and we got to Belgrade at around 8:20ish.. Arriving in Belgrade was pretty interesting. It actually reminded me somewhat of New York. The only difference: it wasn't as pretty and most of the people didn't speak english. So we walked around a bit trying to locate our hostel: Hostel Belgrade. And let me just tell you, great staff, and a cute little place tucked back off the street, and was surrounded by cats. hahaha. We had to ask for directions twice, lol, but we got there safely and it was really neat. It was somewhat tiny, but it was a hostel, so my hopes really weren't all too high. After being there for about a half hour, we met this guy Rob from Lebanon. He invited us to come with him and couple other people from the hostel, Daniel, and a girl(but for the life of me we cannot remember her name), to grab a bite to eat and hit the Belgrade scene. We ventured out for a night on the town. I had my very first Serbian burger, which was absolutely delicious! Then we went to this little outdoor bar had some drinks and continued to get acquainted with them.
It was a lot of fun and we thought me might call it a night, because Christina, Bree, and I knew we were going to be getting up early to do tons and tons of sightseeing the following day. However, we decided to abandon that plan and experience all we could while we were there! So we headed about 20 minutes away on foot to the bar scene. Let me just inform you all that this little strip was awesome! All of these bars are actually boats on the river that are tied up to the dock! It was so awesome! And though we danced at the expense of MJ's death, it made for an extremely entertaining night! Especially because we met up with a group of Irish guys who were also staying at the hostel and once in particular repeatedly did the robot to any song he could! hahaha! It was quite hilarious! As we are dancing and enjoying ourselves, Christina, Bree, and I realized that 'oh hi, the sun is coming up.. i think we should leave now..' and so we trekked back to the hostel at 6:15AM. I'm sure most of you are thinking, 'ha, right, so much for sightseeing in Belgrade!' Well, I will have you all know that we slept until about 9:30 and were out the door by 10:15 to walk all around town and see some of the most beautiful sights I've seen with my own eyes!
It was honestly terrific. We headed in search of this one restaurant that Christina had done some research on called Tri Sesira translated into '3 Hats' was located in Scladaria, which is the Bohemian quarter of Belgrade. It was in this area of little shops and beautiful buildings with cobblestone streets. We didn't think we were going to find it at first, but we did. And seriously, this place was adorable. It was so quaint, with these old pictures on the wall. It had pretty low ceilings and the whole place looked tiny, but it covered a lot of square feet- it was huge! I would totally like to have a party there one day, hahaha! So we moved on from full bellies and started our venture. We headed first to Kalemegdan Fortress, which was absolutely amazing. It is this huge park that has a beautiful view of the city!(I will post pictures on here if I can later tonight). After that we came across a market fair type of deal and I was able to get some souvenirs there! I got one for myself, because I just had to!- it was a handmade ceramic wall decoration of a scene from one of my favorite books of all time, 'The Little Prince.' I have to translate it fully and make sure to write it on the back so I will remember when I'm 50! :)
From there, we saw a beautiful cathedral and the residence of Princess Ljubica, which was pretty cool. I actually don't know who she is because unfortunately tours were done for the day by the time we got there, but I know she is important! :) hahaha then, we decided since it was about 4:30PM we were exhausted and wanted to rest our feet! So we headed back to the hostel to try to sleep, but we were just so wired from the days events and continued on. We were in search of food. And since Bree is a vegetarian, she has been having a pretty difficult time living in a culture that eats mostly meat.. needless to say, she was looking for a place that had vegetarian options. Since Belgrade is such a huge pit stop of travelers from all around the world, there are tons of options. Which was fine by me, because I've been beginning to miss the good stuff, like Mexican & Chinese food. It just so happened that we found a Chinese restaurant and it was soooo good! Not only that, it was adorable! Really authentic, and really, just overall a perfect place for the three of us to have dinner together.
From there we ventured out once more to see the last thing on our list, which was St. Sava's Temple. It was beautiful. Truly breathtaking. They are reconstructing the inside of the church, but this place was HUGE! And even though it was under construction, there were so many people still coming in to pray to the saints, coming in to admire the work done. It was beautiful.
We then headed back towards our hostel and decided to call it a night. We were able, with the help of the hostel staff, to find out what our bus schedule looked like for the return home. We decided to take a 9AM bus ride back to Tuzla, since we knew it was going to take 4hrs to get back... but, I'm definitely glad we did that because we were able to get back and relax and just rest after a very busy weekend. Even though I knew my Monday was going t be easy, it was still nice.
Speaking of, yesterday was pretty interesting. Christina and I, like our usual Monday set out for our 45 minute walk to work. Tuzla, unfortunately has a ton of stray dogs around the city, so as we are on our way to work, we come across this puppy just sitting at a bus stop. She was adorable! She kept jumping up on Christina as we were walking away and biting at her pant leg, wanting to play with her! So we are trying to tell the dog to stop and leave us be, but she decides she has found some friends and tags along the rest of the way. I know, you must be thinking what we were thinking 'ohh this is too cute,' which it totally was, until it became that every dog in the area wanted to travel as a pack right behind us!!! And mind you, it was all the way up until we reached the hospital entrance. Another little dog, who was pretty mean to the little pup actually tried to follow us in to the building! And it's not like we had any food or anything either! It was tooo funny!
So needless to say, these past couple of day have been very interesting as well as entertaining!
So I began my Friday just waiting for the day to end. The girls and I caught a bus at 4:25 from here and we got to Belgrade at around 8:20ish.. Arriving in Belgrade was pretty interesting. It actually reminded me somewhat of New York. The only difference: it wasn't as pretty and most of the people didn't speak english. So we walked around a bit trying to locate our hostel: Hostel Belgrade. And let me just tell you, great staff, and a cute little place tucked back off the street, and was surrounded by cats. hahaha. We had to ask for directions twice, lol, but we got there safely and it was really neat. It was somewhat tiny, but it was a hostel, so my hopes really weren't all too high. After being there for about a half hour, we met this guy Rob from Lebanon. He invited us to come with him and couple other people from the hostel, Daniel, and a girl(but for the life of me we cannot remember her name), to grab a bite to eat and hit the Belgrade scene. We ventured out for a night on the town. I had my very first Serbian burger, which was absolutely delicious! Then we went to this little outdoor bar had some drinks and continued to get acquainted with them.
It was a lot of fun and we thought me might call it a night, because Christina, Bree, and I knew we were going to be getting up early to do tons and tons of sightseeing the following day. However, we decided to abandon that plan and experience all we could while we were there! So we headed about 20 minutes away on foot to the bar scene. Let me just inform you all that this little strip was awesome! All of these bars are actually boats on the river that are tied up to the dock! It was so awesome! And though we danced at the expense of MJ's death, it made for an extremely entertaining night! Especially because we met up with a group of Irish guys who were also staying at the hostel and once in particular repeatedly did the robot to any song he could! hahaha! It was quite hilarious! As we are dancing and enjoying ourselves, Christina, Bree, and I realized that 'oh hi, the sun is coming up.. i think we should leave now..' and so we trekked back to the hostel at 6:15AM. I'm sure most of you are thinking, 'ha, right, so much for sightseeing in Belgrade!' Well, I will have you all know that we slept until about 9:30 and were out the door by 10:15 to walk all around town and see some of the most beautiful sights I've seen with my own eyes!
It was honestly terrific. We headed in search of this one restaurant that Christina had done some research on called Tri Sesira translated into '3 Hats' was located in Scladaria, which is the Bohemian quarter of Belgrade. It was in this area of little shops and beautiful buildings with cobblestone streets. We didn't think we were going to find it at first, but we did. And seriously, this place was adorable. It was so quaint, with these old pictures on the wall. It had pretty low ceilings and the whole place looked tiny, but it covered a lot of square feet- it was huge! I would totally like to have a party there one day, hahaha! So we moved on from full bellies and started our venture. We headed first to Kalemegdan Fortress, which was absolutely amazing. It is this huge park that has a beautiful view of the city!(I will post pictures on here if I can later tonight). After that we came across a market fair type of deal and I was able to get some souvenirs there! I got one for myself, because I just had to!- it was a handmade ceramic wall decoration of a scene from one of my favorite books of all time, 'The Little Prince.' I have to translate it fully and make sure to write it on the back so I will remember when I'm 50! :)
From there, we saw a beautiful cathedral and the residence of Princess Ljubica, which was pretty cool. I actually don't know who she is because unfortunately tours were done for the day by the time we got there, but I know she is important! :) hahaha then, we decided since it was about 4:30PM we were exhausted and wanted to rest our feet! So we headed back to the hostel to try to sleep, but we were just so wired from the days events and continued on. We were in search of food. And since Bree is a vegetarian, she has been having a pretty difficult time living in a culture that eats mostly meat.. needless to say, she was looking for a place that had vegetarian options. Since Belgrade is such a huge pit stop of travelers from all around the world, there are tons of options. Which was fine by me, because I've been beginning to miss the good stuff, like Mexican & Chinese food. It just so happened that we found a Chinese restaurant and it was soooo good! Not only that, it was adorable! Really authentic, and really, just overall a perfect place for the three of us to have dinner together.
From there we ventured out once more to see the last thing on our list, which was St. Sava's Temple. It was beautiful. Truly breathtaking. They are reconstructing the inside of the church, but this place was HUGE! And even though it was under construction, there were so many people still coming in to pray to the saints, coming in to admire the work done. It was beautiful.
We then headed back towards our hostel and decided to call it a night. We were able, with the help of the hostel staff, to find out what our bus schedule looked like for the return home. We decided to take a 9AM bus ride back to Tuzla, since we knew it was going to take 4hrs to get back... but, I'm definitely glad we did that because we were able to get back and relax and just rest after a very busy weekend. Even though I knew my Monday was going t be easy, it was still nice.
Speaking of, yesterday was pretty interesting. Christina and I, like our usual Monday set out for our 45 minute walk to work. Tuzla, unfortunately has a ton of stray dogs around the city, so as we are on our way to work, we come across this puppy just sitting at a bus stop. She was adorable! She kept jumping up on Christina as we were walking away and biting at her pant leg, wanting to play with her! So we are trying to tell the dog to stop and leave us be, but she decides she has found some friends and tags along the rest of the way. I know, you must be thinking what we were thinking 'ohh this is too cute,' which it totally was, until it became that every dog in the area wanted to travel as a pack right behind us!!! And mind you, it was all the way up until we reached the hospital entrance. Another little dog, who was pretty mean to the little pup actually tried to follow us in to the building! And it's not like we had any food or anything either! It was tooo funny!
So needless to say, these past couple of day have been very interesting as well as entertaining!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
rain, rain go away come back.... when I'm not going on a mini-trip to Serbia!
Seriously, one and a half weeks of pure and delightful sunshine. Now rain, rain, and more rain. And it's not exactly helping me with my mood today. Especially, as you can imagine, my walk to work in this ran was glorious... only glorious though, if you consider that to mean, sopping wet sneakers and socks, a wet back (because apparently my umbrella isn't designed to do what it's supposed to do, wet hair, and getting splashed by the speeding cars as they hit the puddles in the road (yes, I was somewhat that girl). If it were socially acceptable for me to throw a tantrum at the age of 23... I think I would, but then again, wouldn't we all? I'm pretty sure I've been guilty of it once or twice in my 'young adult' years, yet I might seem like a wacko to the bosniak people.
Work is going ok. I have decided which humanitarian project that I am going to be working on (because we were given a ton of options to dabble in). This project focuses its efforts around motivating high school seniors in the Tuzla Canton Region to continue on to higher education. Right now it stands that 40% of young adults in BiH are unemployed and 49% study outside of BiH, and the enrollment rate for students in BiH universities is only 24%. My role in this project is to brainstorm ideas of how to motivate young teens to go to college. And hey, I figured, well I was a high school senior once (though, I never thought about not going to college and I clearly had the means and privilege to attend), however, I was there once, so I can relate. Also, I figured I could pull out some of my 'pep' from my cheerleading days (hahaha I talk about that as if it were even that long ago!). Any-who, I am pretty interested in this project, so I am hoping to get a lot accomplished with it, and even if I don't, I'm hoping to learn as much as I possibly can about this serious issue.
I realize I need to correct my recent post prior to this one. I am not journeying to Mostar as I had thought earlier in the week, but I am however going to Serbia! That's right, SERBIA! I am really pumped about going over there. To be more precise, Bree, Christina, and I will be taking a bus tomorrow afternoon and traveling to Belgrade!!! The bus ride is about 3 1/2 to 4 hours long, same as the bus ride to Sarajevo, for the most part. However, we were told that it will not be as windy as that trip, so that's relieving. We are going to be leaving work just a half hour early to ensure that we make our bus on time.
Also, it looks as though the internet issue has come to a dead end. There is an option for us to get, however, I seriously just don't feel like wasting the money when I have internet here at work and I do sporadically have it in the apartment. But if I really needed it, I have an internet cafe across the street, so it just doesn't make sense because I'd be losing money in the long run. But I'm almost at the half way mark of my stay here, so we'll figure something out.
FYI- I am going to try this coming Monday after my day of work at the mental hospital to take my computer into town and try to load my pictures while hopefully getting a better wifi signal. So then hopefully, you will all get to see some pics via here, as well as facebook for those of you who are on it (sorry that I can't put all of my pics on here, but that's just the way life goes, ha).
Alright. I'm going to stop rambling and go back to this gloom and doom of a day. I miss everyone. I'll update the blog asap after I get back from Serbia, aka Monday.
<3 cao
Work is going ok. I have decided which humanitarian project that I am going to be working on (because we were given a ton of options to dabble in). This project focuses its efforts around motivating high school seniors in the Tuzla Canton Region to continue on to higher education. Right now it stands that 40% of young adults in BiH are unemployed and 49% study outside of BiH, and the enrollment rate for students in BiH universities is only 24%. My role in this project is to brainstorm ideas of how to motivate young teens to go to college. And hey, I figured, well I was a high school senior once (though, I never thought about not going to college and I clearly had the means and privilege to attend), however, I was there once, so I can relate. Also, I figured I could pull out some of my 'pep' from my cheerleading days (hahaha I talk about that as if it were even that long ago!). Any-who, I am pretty interested in this project, so I am hoping to get a lot accomplished with it, and even if I don't, I'm hoping to learn as much as I possibly can about this serious issue.
I realize I need to correct my recent post prior to this one. I am not journeying to Mostar as I had thought earlier in the week, but I am however going to Serbia! That's right, SERBIA! I am really pumped about going over there. To be more precise, Bree, Christina, and I will be taking a bus tomorrow afternoon and traveling to Belgrade!!! The bus ride is about 3 1/2 to 4 hours long, same as the bus ride to Sarajevo, for the most part. However, we were told that it will not be as windy as that trip, so that's relieving. We are going to be leaving work just a half hour early to ensure that we make our bus on time.
Also, it looks as though the internet issue has come to a dead end. There is an option for us to get, however, I seriously just don't feel like wasting the money when I have internet here at work and I do sporadically have it in the apartment. But if I really needed it, I have an internet cafe across the street, so it just doesn't make sense because I'd be losing money in the long run. But I'm almost at the half way mark of my stay here, so we'll figure something out.
FYI- I am going to try this coming Monday after my day of work at the mental hospital to take my computer into town and try to load my pictures while hopefully getting a better wifi signal. So then hopefully, you will all get to see some pics via here, as well as facebook for those of you who are on it (sorry that I can't put all of my pics on here, but that's just the way life goes, ha).
Alright. I'm going to stop rambling and go back to this gloom and doom of a day. I miss everyone. I'll update the blog asap after I get back from Serbia, aka Monday.
<3 cao
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
i should have packed a sweatshirt...
What is this New York or something? It's raining, gloomy, and cooooollllldddd. What the heck?! Seriously, why did I come all the way here and not pack one long sleeved shirt or even a sweatshirt for that matter?? ggeeezzzeeee.
Anyway, as I am keeping my eyes peeled for warmer clothing, I can update you on life in Tuzla. Which, hasn't been overwhelmingly exciting, but will suffice for now. So, the girls and I decided to take an R & R day (haha, I know, shhh, I know what you're thinking) this past Friday to experience what is the Tuzla Salt Lakes. I have to say that this little area was pretty hoppin'. Lots of old people... in bikini's and speed-o's, to be graphic. However, I admired the confidence they exposed, and I can only hope to be that confident when I'm 80 years old and wrinkly. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed laying out in the sun and catchin' some rays...but, of course I got a little sun burn. Surprise, surprise. Then we didn't really do much else that Friday.. I thought we might go out, but we didn't.. and I was really really bored. Then saturday came and went, and we checked out some of the local markets. They have this one that is pretty close to our apartment, and it only has clothing and shoes and what not. We went to that, but I really wasn't overly impressed by anything I saw. We then trekked over to the 'Mercator,' which is one of the local malls. It is pretty small, but it had a couple of nice shops. There was this one, where I was able to get this beautiful scarf. Ahhh it's so colorful and soft! I love it!
That night was another easy-going night. Bree and I took a walk into the center of town to see what the nightlife is like. It is pretty crazy. Since we were just walking through, and I thought we might stop for a beer somewhere, we didn't... why you ask? Because.. we were way under-dressed.. and people were sort of staring at us. It's very interesting how dressed up all of these teens and young adults get when they go out. From the sounds of the music and the chatter of all the people, it really looks like a good time. Maybe this week I'll experience it...
So yesterday, I worked at the mental hosptial. I really like it there. Even though I can't physically hear what the clients are saying, I can see what they say through their body language. It's actually interesting how much you can learn about a person just by watching their every move. I'm now even more intrigued by this type of psychology, and yes Bucky I have you to thank for introducing me to 'Lie to Me.' LOL. But yeah, so we got to discuss everything with our supervisor after each group, which was good to just reflect and re-evaluate what went on in the groups. So, I will definitely be looking forward to my Monday's now.
fyi... I've finished my 4th book. It's week three and I am moving on to book number 5. Yes, I am reading a lot. No, there isn't a ton to do in my apartment other than read and work out. At least I will hit and exceed my New Year's Resolution to read at least 8 books this year. And yes, they will all be read within these 8 weeks. So basically what I am saying, is that I am very much looking forward to my weekends. hahah. But seriously, this weekend the girls and I are going to head down to Mostar. I am pretty pumped about that. Also, not this weekend, but sometime in the coming weeks we are going to travel back down that way to go to this town called Medjugorje. In this town they have a place called 'Apparition Hill,' and here it is said that the Virgin Mary appears to people on a daily basis.
Check this out -
http://www.gospa.com/pages/medjugor.htm
Ok, well that's all for now. I miss everyone. And oh, fyi, sorry I haven't been able to even talk to anyone other than my family. Email is looking like its going to be the best option for me to talk to you, unless we are able to coordinate, which I feel is unlikely. But, we will see. My email is annhud1@gmail.com. Muah!
Anyway, as I am keeping my eyes peeled for warmer clothing, I can update you on life in Tuzla. Which, hasn't been overwhelmingly exciting, but will suffice for now. So, the girls and I decided to take an R & R day (haha, I know, shhh, I know what you're thinking) this past Friday to experience what is the Tuzla Salt Lakes. I have to say that this little area was pretty hoppin'. Lots of old people... in bikini's and speed-o's, to be graphic. However, I admired the confidence they exposed, and I can only hope to be that confident when I'm 80 years old and wrinkly. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed laying out in the sun and catchin' some rays...but, of course I got a little sun burn. Surprise, surprise. Then we didn't really do much else that Friday.. I thought we might go out, but we didn't.. and I was really really bored. Then saturday came and went, and we checked out some of the local markets. They have this one that is pretty close to our apartment, and it only has clothing and shoes and what not. We went to that, but I really wasn't overly impressed by anything I saw. We then trekked over to the 'Mercator,' which is one of the local malls. It is pretty small, but it had a couple of nice shops. There was this one, where I was able to get this beautiful scarf. Ahhh it's so colorful and soft! I love it!
That night was another easy-going night. Bree and I took a walk into the center of town to see what the nightlife is like. It is pretty crazy. Since we were just walking through, and I thought we might stop for a beer somewhere, we didn't... why you ask? Because.. we were way under-dressed.. and people were sort of staring at us. It's very interesting how dressed up all of these teens and young adults get when they go out. From the sounds of the music and the chatter of all the people, it really looks like a good time. Maybe this week I'll experience it...
So yesterday, I worked at the mental hosptial. I really like it there. Even though I can't physically hear what the clients are saying, I can see what they say through their body language. It's actually interesting how much you can learn about a person just by watching their every move. I'm now even more intrigued by this type of psychology, and yes Bucky I have you to thank for introducing me to 'Lie to Me.' LOL. But yeah, so we got to discuss everything with our supervisor after each group, which was good to just reflect and re-evaluate what went on in the groups. So, I will definitely be looking forward to my Monday's now.
fyi... I've finished my 4th book. It's week three and I am moving on to book number 5. Yes, I am reading a lot. No, there isn't a ton to do in my apartment other than read and work out. At least I will hit and exceed my New Year's Resolution to read at least 8 books this year. And yes, they will all be read within these 8 weeks. So basically what I am saying, is that I am very much looking forward to my weekends. hahah. But seriously, this weekend the girls and I are going to head down to Mostar. I am pretty pumped about that. Also, not this weekend, but sometime in the coming weeks we are going to travel back down that way to go to this town called Medjugorje. In this town they have a place called 'Apparition Hill,' and here it is said that the Virgin Mary appears to people on a daily basis.
Check this out -
http://www.gospa.com/pages/medjugor.htm
Ok, well that's all for now. I miss everyone. And oh, fyi, sorry I haven't been able to even talk to anyone other than my family. Email is looking like its going to be the best option for me to talk to you, unless we are able to coordinate, which I feel is unlikely. But, we will see. My email is annhud1@gmail.com. Muah!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
here's a little bosnian news.
Though this article is based out of Sarajevo, we did experience some protesting here in Tuzla this past Saturday when we were getting to leave for Sarajevo. It's interesting though if you have time to read it, take a gander.
http://balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/20318/
http://balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/20318/
you'll never believe it!
ohhh mannn! Ok, so it's Bree's Birthday! I don't know if I mentioned it... but it is, and Christina and I took Bree out to celebrate her new life in being 23! Since we have been searching for a restaurant that has pizza, we decided today would be the day.. and Bree has really wanted some pizza! hehehe. Anyways, so we get to the restaurant and I ordered a margarita pizza. It was one of the personal pie type of deals. So the waiter brings out some utensils and.... a bottle of..... KETCHUP! My first thought... ummmm what?!?! Yes, indeed the people of Bosnia eat their pizza by dipping it in ketchup! I was astonished, I mean as you can imagine being from New York and all. As Christina put it 'New Yorker's are very particular about their pizza..' You bet they are!! hahaha!¨But, brace yourselves... I tried it... I know, I know.. I know what you all must be thinking, but to be perfectly honest, the pizza tasted like garbage without a little ketchup on it. HAHHAHAHA! Oh! Annnnddd it had MUSHROOMS on it! To all who know my sincere and utter disgust for mushrooms, I tried to eat the pizza... but I just couldn't! JDSLKAJDSA EWWW! I quickly gulped down the one and kindly and neatly picked the rest off. Seriously, they are just not my thing. Unless they are finely chopped into little bits, like when I ate them with Frank at '3 Margaritas'!
well that's all for now!
Cao
well that's all for now!
Cao
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