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...

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...

My partner, Joy, and I received a list of tasks to be completed by the end of the summer today and we could not be more excited. Our boss, Seida, asked us to focus on the new website, selling Zene za Zene's products that are created but their beneficiaries (i.e. rugs), enhancing their social media presence, and of course raising money. Though it seemed like a lot at the moment that it was handed to us, Joy and I chatted and figured out where our interests and skill sets lie, thus we will both be working on communications, and I will be more focused on the website and doing marketing for the products that the organization is trying to sell. A step away from the logistics of the work we will be doing day to day this summer, I want to appreciate the work environment that I observed today in Sarajevo. Everyone is independent and productive, but we came together to share lunch and to drink coffee. I appreciate my coworkers and thank them for their patience as I try to expand my voca...

Hello and welcome to my blog summarizing the experiences that I have and the things that I learn throughout this summer 2019. This summer I will be working for Women for Women International as a storytelling intern in addition to supporting the organization with fundraising and marketing. I am grateful to the  Beeck Center  for choosing me as one of their GU Impact Fellows this year. The GU Impacts program through the Beeck Center for Social Impact allows a cohort of around 20 students annually to take part in a sustainable internship domestically or abroad that focuses on social impact. The aspect about this fellowship that I appreciate the most is their emphasis on sustainability and also their intentional recruitment of partners who are looking for non-locals (i.e. Americans) for their associated skills not due to gaining a reputation. The GU Impacts Coordinator who set up most of these partnerships asked the organizations if this was a job that a local could take and if ...