Grace in Bosnia & Herzegovina 2019

My boss informed me at 4pm on Friday that we would have vacation the next week, so I did not need to come in for work. I had already been planning weekend trips to various countries, so this was my chance to visit all the places that I wanted to. At 5pm that day, I went to a nearby coffee shop for 4 hours to plan all the bus tickets, hostel reservations, and anything else I might need because all tickets need to be printed in the Balkans. This was my tentative plan:  I left the next morning at 6am and arrived in Belgrade at 2pm. First I checked into my hostel Beogradjanka and the staff was incredible. I went to Mala Fabrika Ukusa for the 2nd best meal of my life (After the Bazaar in LA). My Georgetown friend from Belgrade recommended it, and he was right to recommend it. I then walked to the Temple of Saint Sava and lit a candle for my family. Afterwards I walked to the fortress for the sunset and it was spectacular. The view was breathtaking.  My favorite part abo...

For the past three weeks, I have been taking an intensive Bosnian language course for 3 hours everyday. I decided to take this course so I could 1) speak more with my colleagues in their native language, 2) speak more with the beneficiaries at the organization, 3) and for general communication needs while in Bosnia. The first week, we started with an hour of watching Bosnian movies and practicing acting out some of the scenes. After the hour of "cultural class" we had 2 hours of Bosnian grammar and language with our beginner's teacher Amina. The first week was difficult at first because I knew nothing, but by the end of the first week it was incredible how much we had learned. One girl in our class was Czech and her language is very similar to that of Bosnian, thus she decided to move the advanced class, while a girl in the advanced class decided to move down. There was only this small fan in our room and it was HOT so Abby and Ayaho kindly offered to fan me :) This ...

These past two days have been incredible because we had the chance to work directly with the beneficiaries of Zene za Zene through our Democracy Academy for Young Women. Zene za Zene created the Democracy Academy for Young Women (DAYW) in order to provide young women with the tools and skills necessary to become more civically engaged individuals in their local communities. The ultimate goal of the 6 month program is for each woman to identify a pressing issue in their community, develop a project to address that issue, then implement their project with the help of another participant through a NGO in their community. The first training was exciting because the women had the opportunity to meet one another, and because they started learning about what the process will look like in the coming months. While I could not understand most of the modules and workshops, I had the opportunity to speak with the participants during lunch and during coffee breaks. One participant, Esma, is o...

Usually, I am the girl with all of the guy friends; it just happens to be that way. However, while traveling I have found several women who I love and tonight I had such an amazing time with them all. I heard about the annual Beer Festival from a friend from my university who was in Sarajevo last summer and so I decided to attend this year. I texted all of my girlfriends living in the city and invited them to come to the Festival. I met three girls through Facebook, one through couch surfer, one from Bosnian class, and one from Blind Tiger. We got to see Frenkie the Rapper perform who I didn't love, but he seemed like a crowd music. Honestly, the music got worse from there, but the company made it the best. We tried a variety of beers, then danced to a Bosnian rock band pretending we knew the songs. Following that, we went to a dance club called Sloga where I enjoy going to dance. It was fun to dance with my girlfriends and just enjoy myself. Afterwards we went to Pengvin f...

Blind Tiger Wednesdays are an exchange of cultures, languages, drinks, and stories. I found this group through the Facebook Sarajevo Expats Group and I am so glad that I did. This Wednesday when I went, I met American diplomats, interns at the Norwegian embassy, an American German translator, Bosnians, and more! It was so much fun to talk to such a diverse group of people and to listen to the stories that they have accumulated throughout their time in Sarajevo. This group of Bosnians and ExPats meet every Wednesday and are constantly inviting new people to their group :) This gathering of people reminded me how interesting it has been to meet people here. As I previously mentioned, Couch Surfing has been an interesting platform for meeting people in this city, and I have found people very eager to make new friends which is helpful when one is new in a city. I have also found community among my coworkers; I have come to see my coworkers as sisters and sometimes mother who I love so...

We piled into the car at 10am and drove for hours. My coworker Nermana had told me about Konijc but I hadn't seen pictures so I had no idea what to expect. Despite the heat that cooked us inside the car, we had a great time singing to Bosnian and American music on the radio. Upon our arrival, I was stunned by the beauty of the landscape around me. The water was so clear and blue. There were families all around with their kids running around. Six young men were all sitting on a log in the water. I couldn't wait to get into the water because I love swimming with a passion. Nermana and I swam out far and swam to a different shore. Along the way she taught me some great Bosnian phrases I remember still. After lounging around a bit longer, we decided to walk to a nearby cafe for a drink and food. We walked through this outdoor cafe until we found a table close to the lake. As I mentioned, I LOVE swimming, so I dropped my things at the table and dived into the freezing cold la...