girasoles

So after a very long flight through Frankfurt and a missed flight, I finally landed in Budapest. A professor with whom I developed a friendship generously agreed to pick me up from the airport and stay with her until I had to catch my train to Sarajevo the next day. I can't tell you how much of a relief it was to see her face when I got off the train. As tired as I was from the flight, I can't imagine trying to find my way through Budapest. She gave me a mini tour of her neighborhood as we walked down along the river to the train station to get my ticket for the next day. I got to see the a lot of interesting buildings, including a beautiful stained glass synagogue, the parliament building, and others that I can remember in my mind what they look like but for sake of my jet lag I cannot remember what they were! : X I am really looking forward to coming back through Budapest at the end of my trip. This is the language nerd in me speaking, but I think Hungarian sounds and looks so interesting! I am entirely grateful for Jessie and Gyuri for their generosity and hospitality. They may dismiss it as so, but I am aware of how fortunate I am to have that connection. 

Now I am in Sarajevo, at last. As mentioned before, I had to take a train from Budapest to here (it took around 11 hours). It was surprisingly comfortable. I remember a 10 hour train ride to Granada, Spain and it was like trying to sleep in a shoebox. However, the train ride was actually very beautiful. It was really great seeing the open country with miles of green hills, fields of sunflowers, and a small town every once in a while. The sunset was probably the most rewarding, as it fell right as we were approaching Sarajevo. At the station, I was picked up by one of the people who work with IFS-Emmaus named Faruk. On the taxi ride back to the house, I noticed how magical the city looked at night, with the lights from houses in the hills that looked like galaxies of stars surrounding the city. Faruk was super friendly and we instantly hit it off talking over a late night dinner about directors we liked such as Coen Brothers, Tarantino, Hitchcock, etc. We're both big into movies and music, and not as much into the nightlife scene, so I think we will get along great.

My first day in Sarajevo, I walked down to the center and old part of the city where there are lots of shops, restaurants, and cafes. I felt a little overwhelmed at first, because the area was full of people walking all around. However, whenever I felt a little anxiety set in I just sat down by a fountain or on a bench and just took it all in. It was a beautiful, sunny day, with temperatures around the 70's. 

I will be here until around July 9^th, until I leave for the youth camp in Srebrenica. I have heard a lot of great things about the camp and I am looking forward to seeing what kinds of people from all over Europe will come. After the camp, I intend on returning to Sarajevo. I am very grateful to work with IFS-Emmaus and with Amela Efendic. I am a little intimidated by what valuable resources and people I will be working with in Sarajevo, but all the more, it inspires me to work hard and soak up all the information I can in this short period of time I will be here! I will be posting some photos soon. My first day in town, I was too overstimulated to take photos. Faruk is now making potatoes and fish “steaks' (read:sticks). Tomorrow, I want to make a big dinner for him to say thanks. I plan to read some of the literature on trafficking available downstairs and study Bosnian grammar in my free time. Of course, this will be broken up by lots of painting and exploring!

i got them worried blues

"Being in a foreign country means walking a tightrope high above the ground without the net afforded a person by the country where he has family, colleagues, and friends, and where he can easily say what he has to say in a language he has known from childhood" - The Unbearable Lightness of Being, p 75


So, I am preparing for my first trip abroad by myself. I never thought it would be so hard to pack for 2 and 1/2 months abroad. I guess I have to explain a little bit about myself, where I am going, and why.
Two winters ago, I went to visit my friend Josh while he was living in Spain with this organization called Emaus. This organization is worldwide and the individual collectives all over are unified under the mission of alleviating the suffering of others. Each location varies in their work. Check out more of their work at emmaus-europe.org to get a better idea. I probably can't articulate it as well as the website does.

Anyways, Josh's familiarity with Emaus in France and Spain inspired me to search for a collective in Eastern Europe, as I am studying Russian and Slavic studies. I never really found vindication for study abroad programs through the university, mostly for the amount of money required, among other stipulations. I chose to go independently of the school, because a) it would be less costly (in theory!)  b) it would be a more intimate and rewarding experience to perform hard work and also immerse myself in another language and culture. Also, in my studies, I have really been interested issues in public health, more specifically women's health and policy. So when I read about the Bosnia Collective in Bosnia-Herzegovina whose primary focus was providing assistance to victims of human trafficking, I immediately contacted them. It sounded right up my alley. A few months later, as sometimes these things can happen slowly, I was officially accepted as a volunteer to work in an international youth camp in Srebrenica (chilling history!), Sarajevo, and Doboj, where the facilities for trafficked persons are located.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't taking this trip also as a sabbatical from Columbus, Ohio, USA, but mostly for the fact this last year has been a whirlwind of changes for me, for better or worse...I think mostly for the better, because I have never felt so confident in the direction my life was headed in. I'm sure, give me a few years, perhaps a few months, even, and the story will be different. However, I feel like I've taken on several challenges this passed year and I can look back and say it was still a beautiful time. There's some truth to the old adage, "what doesn't kill you just makes you stronger". So, I am keeping up with this blog to let my friends and family know how my experience in Bosnia goes. Also, I want to document for myself the summer that I anticipate to be a summer of sharpening and shaping of my true self. Of course, I hope to get a good grasp of Bosnian language and get background experience in a working for a non-profit organization, but I also want to come out of this experience as a more confident, spiritually stronger, and more balanced individual. I am planning on restarting my morning yoga routine and meditation while I am there, as well as seriously invest in my watercolor and pastel painting. I am a bit intimidated by the idea of a strained communication and the isolation that may follow from not being able to communicate with others abroad, but hey! it's what I signed up for, and I'm sure it will get easier as I go along. Inshallah, this will be the first of many times I will be traveling abroad!
I hope that you will enjoy reading my entries and I will be periodically upload pictures from the trip. Thanks for looking!