That's right! In just a few hours I will be hopping on a plane and flying to London and tomorrow, Tuesday July 1, I will arrive home via the Greensboro airport at 4:00!!! This trip has been great, but I am ready to get back home!!! I will post as soon as I arrive home!
<3 A
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Oh Euro Cup
So some of you may have heard that Turkey lost the Euro Cup Semi-Final match last night to Germany, 3-2. It was a very sad night for us, and all of the entire rest of the country. We were really hoping that Turkey would make it to the final because it will be played on Sunday, our last night here. So now it looks like we will have to choose between Germany and Spain in Sunday's Final.
Anyway, enough about soccer! We have had two more fun and productive days here in Istanbul! Yesterday was "mosque day" for me and Brian. We started out at the Hagia Sophia, a massive chuch that was converted into a mosque when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople. It is really big and beautiful and the history of the place is really cool. We then went to the "Blue" Mosque which is still a functioning mosque. That was the first active mosque I have ever been in! We then had some time to kill in the afternoon and decided to tackle the original shopping mall....
The Covered Bazaar! The covered bazaar is just as it sounds, a huge covered shopping area with over 4000 vendors sellings everything from carpets to knock off designer bags and more! Brian and I sucessfully struck some pretty sweet deals (we got the tag team system down pat!) and now I can't wait to go back and do the rest of my shopping! I was kind of intimidated at first because all of the dealers are calling out to you and trying to strike deals with you, but once I got some good deals I felt better about the whole situation!
Then last night was the big game so we all put on our red shirts and headed out. It was a great great game, just the final score wasn't so great - Germany scored in the last minutes breaking the tie, and then the game was over, just like that. bummer.
Today Brian had a meeting with a Professor at Bougazici University (Bosphorus University) in the afternoon, so we spent most of the morning trying to figure out how to get there, and convincing Brian that it really was necessary for him to at least trim the beard he has been growing the entire 5 weeks of this trip! (don't worry, he trimmed it and looked very presentable!) Then we wrangled with public transportation and sucessfully made it out to the university an hour early! So we ate lunch, then Brian headed over to his meetng and I stayed at the lunch place and read and journaled, waiting for Brian to get back. It was actually very nice to get out of the crowded, touristy Istanbul we have come to know, and see that there really are people here leading 'normal' lives.
We made it back to the hotel and went to dinner with Janice (our program director) and Art (our resident videographer and documentarian...did I tell y'all they are making a documentary about our trip?). Now we are back watching yet another soccer game (I love it!) and are pulling for Spain. Right now they are up 3-0 so I feel confident saying that the final will be Spain and Germany!
Tomorrow is still up for grabs....maybe a cruise up the Bosphorus, maybe back to the Bazaar, maybe some more mosques...you just never know what we'll find to do in Istanbul! Until then! love love! Allison
Anyway, enough about soccer! We have had two more fun and productive days here in Istanbul! Yesterday was "mosque day" for me and Brian. We started out at the Hagia Sophia, a massive chuch that was converted into a mosque when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople. It is really big and beautiful and the history of the place is really cool. We then went to the "Blue" Mosque which is still a functioning mosque. That was the first active mosque I have ever been in! We then had some time to kill in the afternoon and decided to tackle the original shopping mall....
The Covered Bazaar! The covered bazaar is just as it sounds, a huge covered shopping area with over 4000 vendors sellings everything from carpets to knock off designer bags and more! Brian and I sucessfully struck some pretty sweet deals (we got the tag team system down pat!) and now I can't wait to go back and do the rest of my shopping! I was kind of intimidated at first because all of the dealers are calling out to you and trying to strike deals with you, but once I got some good deals I felt better about the whole situation!
Then last night was the big game so we all put on our red shirts and headed out. It was a great great game, just the final score wasn't so great - Germany scored in the last minutes breaking the tie, and then the game was over, just like that. bummer.
Today Brian had a meeting with a Professor at Bougazici University (Bosphorus University) in the afternoon, so we spent most of the morning trying to figure out how to get there, and convincing Brian that it really was necessary for him to at least trim the beard he has been growing the entire 5 weeks of this trip! (don't worry, he trimmed it and looked very presentable!) Then we wrangled with public transportation and sucessfully made it out to the university an hour early! So we ate lunch, then Brian headed over to his meetng and I stayed at the lunch place and read and journaled, waiting for Brian to get back. It was actually very nice to get out of the crowded, touristy Istanbul we have come to know, and see that there really are people here leading 'normal' lives.
We made it back to the hotel and went to dinner with Janice (our program director) and Art (our resident videographer and documentarian...did I tell y'all they are making a documentary about our trip?). Now we are back watching yet another soccer game (I love it!) and are pulling for Spain. Right now they are up 3-0 so I feel confident saying that the final will be Spain and Germany!
Tomorrow is still up for grabs....maybe a cruise up the Bosphorus, maybe back to the Bazaar, maybe some more mosques...you just never know what we'll find to do in Istanbul! Until then! love love! Allison
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Istanbul not Constantinople!
And the award for worst blogger of the year goes to....Allison!!! :) So here I am, having not blogged in a very, very long time, and I've been in this new city for 3 days :( oops!
Istanbul is way fun and cool and there is so much to do! There are many many differences between Sarajevo and Istanbul, not the least of which is the heat! We are hot hot hot and sweaty and gross all day every day :) I know that I haven't even updated you guys on what we did in Sarajevo, so here's the brief version...
We had two great meetings in Sarajevo, one of which with the center for Research and Documentation which has been given the task of finding the most accurate number of Bosnians killed during the war. As depressing as that sounds, the entire process was really quite interesting and detailed and complicated. We then had a discussion with professors in Sarajevo in all different fields who presented on the current state of Bosnia in their respective fields, including economics, religion, architecture, etc. They were both really great meetings and were a good way to wrap up our time and our studies of Bosnia.
Now on to Istanbul! We flew here safely on Sunday, got here mid-afternoon and took naps because we were all pretty exhausted :) We were all a little diappointed to find that, while staying in the historic, old town, Sultanahmet region of Istanbul is nice in that it is close to all of the great landmarks, it is *expensive*. :) So we are all skimping on meals a little bit, but at the same time, realizing that we're here now, so we might as well live it up :)
Yesterday Brian and I and several others spent the day touring the Topkapi Palace which was interesting. I had no idea that they had some really great relics there! Knowing that we should take it all with a grain of salt, I can now say that I have seen Moses' Staff (oh yes, that one that turns into a snake and parts the read sea...the movie got the staff all wrong though, it's much smaller in real life), the right hand of John the Baptist (forearm to fingers in a gold cast but with a little door open on top of the hand to show that there were real bones inside), and we also saw John the Baptists skull (poor guy, his bones must be scattered all over the place) and much much more. Little did we know when we went in that we would see all of these things!
Last night we had the opportunity to go see Whirling Dervishes, who spin around and around with their arms out in a religious ceremony. Google them to see pictures. It was a really really interested experience to watch - we were able to go to a real ceremony rather than a touristy performance.
Today, we had our final group meeting of the trip, which was with the American Consulate General, who briefed us on the current state of Turkey and their relations with America. It was really nice to get some good, basic information, and I honestly had no idea how important Turkey is!
Then we went to lunch, listen up Mark Clapp, at the Pizza Hut Buffet :) We found one here and ate it and it was good :) It was and is SO hot, so Brian and I decided it was the perfect afternoon to go to the underground cistern where they stored water a long long time ago. Man can build some really amazing things - even forever long ago! It was nice and cool! Now we are back at the hotel chilling out and updating blogs finally :)
We have 5 days left in Istanbul before getting back home on 2 July!!! Love and miss you all! <3 Hot and not sunburned Allison
Istanbul is way fun and cool and there is so much to do! There are many many differences between Sarajevo and Istanbul, not the least of which is the heat! We are hot hot hot and sweaty and gross all day every day :) I know that I haven't even updated you guys on what we did in Sarajevo, so here's the brief version...
We had two great meetings in Sarajevo, one of which with the center for Research and Documentation which has been given the task of finding the most accurate number of Bosnians killed during the war. As depressing as that sounds, the entire process was really quite interesting and detailed and complicated. We then had a discussion with professors in Sarajevo in all different fields who presented on the current state of Bosnia in their respective fields, including economics, religion, architecture, etc. They were both really great meetings and were a good way to wrap up our time and our studies of Bosnia.
Now on to Istanbul! We flew here safely on Sunday, got here mid-afternoon and took naps because we were all pretty exhausted :) We were all a little diappointed to find that, while staying in the historic, old town, Sultanahmet region of Istanbul is nice in that it is close to all of the great landmarks, it is *expensive*. :) So we are all skimping on meals a little bit, but at the same time, realizing that we're here now, so we might as well live it up :)
Yesterday Brian and I and several others spent the day touring the Topkapi Palace which was interesting. I had no idea that they had some really great relics there! Knowing that we should take it all with a grain of salt, I can now say that I have seen Moses' Staff (oh yes, that one that turns into a snake and parts the read sea...the movie got the staff all wrong though, it's much smaller in real life), the right hand of John the Baptist (forearm to fingers in a gold cast but with a little door open on top of the hand to show that there were real bones inside), and we also saw John the Baptists skull (poor guy, his bones must be scattered all over the place) and much much more. Little did we know when we went in that we would see all of these things!
Last night we had the opportunity to go see Whirling Dervishes, who spin around and around with their arms out in a religious ceremony. Google them to see pictures. It was a really really interested experience to watch - we were able to go to a real ceremony rather than a touristy performance.
Today, we had our final group meeting of the trip, which was with the American Consulate General, who briefed us on the current state of Turkey and their relations with America. It was really nice to get some good, basic information, and I honestly had no idea how important Turkey is!
Then we went to lunch, listen up Mark Clapp, at the Pizza Hut Buffet :) We found one here and ate it and it was good :) It was and is SO hot, so Brian and I decided it was the perfect afternoon to go to the underground cistern where they stored water a long long time ago. Man can build some really amazing things - even forever long ago! It was nice and cool! Now we are back at the hotel chilling out and updating blogs finally :)
We have 5 days left in Istanbul before getting back home on 2 July!!! Love and miss you all! <3 Hot and not sunburned Allison
Friday, June 20, 2008
Bumps!
So some of you may have heard that I have some strange bumps on my arms, plus a few on my back and legs. They dont itch or hurt and they dont really appear to be moving towards coming to a head or anything. They do appear to have spread (which has helped me rule out bug bites). Anyway, here are some pics...if anyone can come up with a diagnosis let me know! They arent really bothering me, they are just there :)
Thursday, June 19, 2008
On the Road Again!
Ok, here we are back in Sarajevo! We arrived yesterday afternoon after 5 long hours on a hot bus with no ac :) There were lots of mixed emotions as we left Livno - happiness to be continuing our journey, some people happy to be getting out of Livno, and lots of sadness for the friends we made that we had to leave behind.
We will go backwards just a bit to talk about our last day in Livno. I spent most of the morning at the school helping the other service team finish up their painting project. I know I havent talked much about that, but they were repainting the entryway overhang to the school. Then it was time to go to Koraci. We knew the moms were going to have some light food there for us, but of course they had prepared a buffet that could rival Golden Corral in amount of food :) There were only six of us so we quickly ran to get some back up eaters from our group. We had a great last day, reviewing everything we learned, eating a lot...too much probably!, and, of course, dancing a lot! When it was time to leave, things got emotional. The kids were crying and some of our group was crying (ok, we all know I was one of the cryers)and it was really hard. They all crowded at the door and waved and cried as we walked away :(
The whole day, and probably all of our time spent in Livno, was very emotionally and mentally draining and I was so exhausted when I got home it was all I could do to fall on my bed :) But I couldnt stay there long because we had to go to the going away party that was being thrown by the service organization that was hosting us. It was fun but we were pretty boring because everyone was exhausted....I wish you could have seen us all in our zombie-esque states :)
The next morning we hopped up, ran over to the school to say our goodbyes there and see the finished painting project one last time, and got on a bus for Sarajevo at 9 am.
We will be here in Sarajevo until Sunday, when we leave on an 8am flight for Istanbul. Today we have two meetings relating to our studies of war and peace in Eastern Europe. This morning we will go to the Center for Research and Documentation which has taken on the huge task of documenting the war. They have papers, audio recordings of interviews, everything. I am really excited about this meeting. Then this afternoon we have a panel discussion. Tomorrow is free day in Sarajevo and we will all speak our last Bosnian before starting all over with a new language.
So, now you are caught up and thats all I have for now! Love and miss you all so much! dovi đenja! Allison
We will go backwards just a bit to talk about our last day in Livno. I spent most of the morning at the school helping the other service team finish up their painting project. I know I havent talked much about that, but they were repainting the entryway overhang to the school. Then it was time to go to Koraci. We knew the moms were going to have some light food there for us, but of course they had prepared a buffet that could rival Golden Corral in amount of food :) There were only six of us so we quickly ran to get some back up eaters from our group. We had a great last day, reviewing everything we learned, eating a lot...too much probably!, and, of course, dancing a lot! When it was time to leave, things got emotional. The kids were crying and some of our group was crying (ok, we all know I was one of the cryers)and it was really hard. They all crowded at the door and waved and cried as we walked away :(
The whole day, and probably all of our time spent in Livno, was very emotionally and mentally draining and I was so exhausted when I got home it was all I could do to fall on my bed :) But I couldnt stay there long because we had to go to the going away party that was being thrown by the service organization that was hosting us. It was fun but we were pretty boring because everyone was exhausted....I wish you could have seen us all in our zombie-esque states :)
The next morning we hopped up, ran over to the school to say our goodbyes there and see the finished painting project one last time, and got on a bus for Sarajevo at 9 am.
We will be here in Sarajevo until Sunday, when we leave on an 8am flight for Istanbul. Today we have two meetings relating to our studies of war and peace in Eastern Europe. This morning we will go to the Center for Research and Documentation which has taken on the huge task of documenting the war. They have papers, audio recordings of interviews, everything. I am really excited about this meeting. Then this afternoon we have a panel discussion. Tomorrow is free day in Sarajevo and we will all speak our last Bosnian before starting all over with a new language.
So, now you are caught up and thats all I have for now! Love and miss you all so much! dovi đenja! Allison
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Croatia Wins Again!
So for those of you not keeping up with Euro Cup 2008, the Croatian national team won again last night, securing their spot in the tournament! Ironically enough, they will play the Turkish team on Friday night (while we will be in Sarajevo), and the final match of the tournament takes place on our last night in Istanbul! Wouldn´t it be something if Turkey was in the final and we were there!?
Everything yesterday went well - at Koraci we had animal day and we learned how to say some animals in English and we made animal masks out of paper plates :) too cute! Today is nature day and we are going to learn some more English and go on a nature walk! We are also going to talk about the importance of being kind to our environment - there are really no public trashcans here so especially at the school, there is just trash all over the ground, which is very bizarre to us Americans :)
We are all preparing for tomorrow to be our final day in Livno. The organization which organized our service here is throwing us a goodbye party tomorrow night, and so are the parents at Koraci! The sun is bright and shining today so hopefully our 5 straight days of rain are over!!!!
Love to everyone at home! A
Everything yesterday went well - at Koraci we had animal day and we learned how to say some animals in English and we made animal masks out of paper plates :) too cute! Today is nature day and we are going to learn some more English and go on a nature walk! We are also going to talk about the importance of being kind to our environment - there are really no public trashcans here so especially at the school, there is just trash all over the ground, which is very bizarre to us Americans :)
We are all preparing for tomorrow to be our final day in Livno. The organization which organized our service here is throwing us a goodbye party tomorrow night, and so are the parents at Koraci! The sun is bright and shining today so hopefully our 5 straight days of rain are over!!!!
Love to everyone at home! A
Monday, June 16, 2008
Happy Fathers Day!!!
So for those of you who don´t know, Fathers Day in Bosnia actually takes place on June 16....ok, so not really, I am just trying to make myself feel better for forgetting to do this yesterday :)
Happy Fathers Day Dad!!!
Things are still going well here in Livno. We had about three days straight of rain and we are down in a valley surrounded by mountains so it is ~cold~! Then the last two days (including what is supposed to happen today) are supposed to have random rain showers....hmph. Oh well....we are all looking forward to warm and sunny Istanbul!
We are all preparing for the last three days of our project work. This week at Koraci we will be having Animal Day, Nature Day, and will finish up with Music Day/Dance Party with the kids and the rest of our Caldwells who havent been over to Koraci because they have been painting over at the school!
We have had the opportunity to meet some cool kids in this little town, one of which is named Farris, and he and his family have somehow managed to take all 16 of us in under their wing and have worked really hard to show us the real Livno. They had all 16 of us over on Friday night where Mrs. Bursza had prepared Pita (one of my favorite Bosnian foods!!!) for us all! It was so great - we talked a lot with them about living in Livno through the war and what that was like. Dr. Bursza is a Veterinarian so they are really well off for this area but they are very humble. Some of us (not me, but Brian did!) stayed over at their house talking with them until 3:30am!!!! They ended up inviting us to go visit some friends of theirs who live out in the village on Saturday, so Saturday morning we all cancelled our plans and piled into a van and their two cars and drove about 1.5 hours outside of Livno. We drove through villages that had been completely bombed out during the war and all of the people had left and not come back. It was very ghost-townesque - the homes were entirely stipped of appliances and all interior, but there would still be tile floor - the scene was very sobering, and unfortunately, there are scenes like that all over this country. As we drove along they pointed out where there are still mine fields that have yet to be de-mined, 12 years since the war ended.
Anyway we end up off-roading it to what looks like the middle of nowhere until we suddenly run into this little open air shack with a big long table in it and a catching system that is full of fish and the stream has been diverted to run through it. There were tons of fish, and that was our lunch :) The family who lived there were somewhat famous for their fish, so they caught them out of the trapping system, killed them, put amazing seasoning on them and cooked them up for us. It was my first time having an entire fish on my plate, head and eyeballs and all, and eating it :) It was so so so good! We also had potatoes and homemade beer and juices. We just hung out in the middle of nowhere with great company all day. I even flashed back to my days in Togo when I saw the toilet was bucket flush :) I had to give everyone a tutorial on how to bucket flush :) It was a great day!
Yesterday about half of us went on a hike and the other half took the day to just relax - if you guessed that I was in the relaxing group you were right :) It was a nice day just to chill. Now we are getting ready for Koraci this afternoon!
It is hard to believe that we will leave Livno on Thursday to head back to Sarajevo for a few days before flying over to Istanbul! Time flies!!! love and miss you all and hope to write more soon!
Dovi Đenja! Allison
Happy Fathers Day Dad!!!
Things are still going well here in Livno. We had about three days straight of rain and we are down in a valley surrounded by mountains so it is ~cold~! Then the last two days (including what is supposed to happen today) are supposed to have random rain showers....hmph. Oh well....we are all looking forward to warm and sunny Istanbul!
We are all preparing for the last three days of our project work. This week at Koraci we will be having Animal Day, Nature Day, and will finish up with Music Day/Dance Party with the kids and the rest of our Caldwells who havent been over to Koraci because they have been painting over at the school!
We have had the opportunity to meet some cool kids in this little town, one of which is named Farris, and he and his family have somehow managed to take all 16 of us in under their wing and have worked really hard to show us the real Livno. They had all 16 of us over on Friday night where Mrs. Bursza had prepared Pita (one of my favorite Bosnian foods!!!) for us all! It was so great - we talked a lot with them about living in Livno through the war and what that was like. Dr. Bursza is a Veterinarian so they are really well off for this area but they are very humble. Some of us (not me, but Brian did!) stayed over at their house talking with them until 3:30am!!!! They ended up inviting us to go visit some friends of theirs who live out in the village on Saturday, so Saturday morning we all cancelled our plans and piled into a van and their two cars and drove about 1.5 hours outside of Livno. We drove through villages that had been completely bombed out during the war and all of the people had left and not come back. It was very ghost-townesque - the homes were entirely stipped of appliances and all interior, but there would still be tile floor - the scene was very sobering, and unfortunately, there are scenes like that all over this country. As we drove along they pointed out where there are still mine fields that have yet to be de-mined, 12 years since the war ended.
Anyway we end up off-roading it to what looks like the middle of nowhere until we suddenly run into this little open air shack with a big long table in it and a catching system that is full of fish and the stream has been diverted to run through it. There were tons of fish, and that was our lunch :) The family who lived there were somewhat famous for their fish, so they caught them out of the trapping system, killed them, put amazing seasoning on them and cooked them up for us. It was my first time having an entire fish on my plate, head and eyeballs and all, and eating it :) It was so so so good! We also had potatoes and homemade beer and juices. We just hung out in the middle of nowhere with great company all day. I even flashed back to my days in Togo when I saw the toilet was bucket flush :) I had to give everyone a tutorial on how to bucket flush :) It was a great day!
Yesterday about half of us went on a hike and the other half took the day to just relax - if you guessed that I was in the relaxing group you were right :) It was a nice day just to chill. Now we are getting ready for Koraci this afternoon!
It is hard to believe that we will leave Livno on Thursday to head back to Sarajevo for a few days before flying over to Istanbul! Time flies!!! love and miss you all and hope to write more soon!
Dovi Đenja! Allison
Friday, June 13, 2008
I am still here!
Sorrrrrrrrry about not blogging in forever! Since we have started working at Koraci I have been busy and tired :) My typical day here is:
-Up around 8 - get ready and hopefully coffee at my favorite place around the corner!
-Meet my Caldwell group at Koraci at 10am to plan what we are doing that day. Make a plan and then leave to go out and buy supplies for the day
-Back to our house around 12:30 or 1 and chill out, read, journal, etc., before going to our lunch at 2
-Go back to Koraci at 4 and play with the kids! We do activities and DANCE and play and color until about 7
-Head back to the house and eat group dinner typically around 8
Thats my day! The project with the children at Koraci is going really well! We have between 7-10 kids all about 14 and older with various diabilities. We have a good time and they seem to really enjoy our company and they love to learn English. So far, we have had Numbers day, Colors day, Body Parts day (head, shoulders, knees and toes!) and today is Art day ( we are making dream catchers our of paper plates :) It is going well and now I have to run off to a meeting! Hopefully I can catch you all up more soon!
Dovi Đenja!
Allison
-Up around 8 - get ready and hopefully coffee at my favorite place around the corner!
-Meet my Caldwell group at Koraci at 10am to plan what we are doing that day. Make a plan and then leave to go out and buy supplies for the day
-Back to our house around 12:30 or 1 and chill out, read, journal, etc., before going to our lunch at 2
-Go back to Koraci at 4 and play with the kids! We do activities and DANCE and play and color until about 7
-Head back to the house and eat group dinner typically around 8
Thats my day! The project with the children at Koraci is going really well! We have between 7-10 kids all about 14 and older with various diabilities. We have a good time and they seem to really enjoy our company and they love to learn English. So far, we have had Numbers day, Colors day, Body Parts day (head, shoulders, knees and toes!) and today is Art day ( we are making dream catchers our of paper plates :) It is going well and now I have to run off to a meeting! Hopefully I can catch you all up more soon!
Dovi Đenja!
Allison
Monday, June 9, 2008
More from Livno!
Wooooow 2 days straight of blogs, pretty impressive, huh!? Today we had our meetings with our two respective groups that we will be working for and with while we are here in Livno. I will be working with a group of children with disabilities. This is a non-profit organization called Koraci (core - ah- tsee) which is made up of the parents of children with disabilities from the canton of Livno (B&H is divided into Cantons...like a district kind of). Many of these students either only go to school for a half day or cannot go at all, so they have space and activities for the children. Many of the activities are skills teaching and they make items that they sell in the community to help fund their organization. Today we met with the children and parents and spoke with them about what we can do with them, and got ideas about what they enjoy and would like to see us do. We have A LOT of brainstorming to do, but the six of us are very excited! I am sure you will hear more about this soon!
Everything else is going well! We will be working tomorrow so hopefully I can post about it soon!
<3 A
Everything else is going well! We will be working tomorrow so hopefully I can post about it soon!
<3 A
Sunday, June 8, 2008
L I V N O !
We finally made it to our "home" for the next 2 weeks! Livno is in the western half of Bosnia, very close to Croatia, and actually only about 100km from Split, the beach city where we were last week! We took a bus from Sarajevo to Livno yesterday and arrived here around lunch time. Of course that had been a miscommunication and our contact thought we were not arriving until the next day, but it was really no big deal and he met us at the bus station really quickly! As we treked through the town with all of our luggage (some rolly bags, some big packs) pretty much the whole town was sitting outside at cafes eating and they allllll stared at us...lol. I feel like all 10,000 residents of Livno knew we were here within 30 minutes of our arrival!
We went straight to the house where we will be staying for the next two weeks and I think it is fair to say that we were all blown away by how nice it is! It is one big building that a couple has renovated to rent out the rooms, kind of like a hotel, and there are three apartments where individuals live full time. We took up all but 3 of the rooms, so we are all two or three to a room and we got one apartment so we can cook and have a common room, etc. The place is amazingly nice and I think we will all be able to live there comfortably. Our housing was all set up by the NGO we will be working with while we are here, Youth Center Livno.
We met with them today and learned about the projects we will be working on. We will split up into two groups, one will be renovating and painting a mural in an entryway at a school, and the other will be working with children with disabilities on art projects, activities, etc. We will know more about exactly what we will be doing tomorrow when we meet with each of the two groups. I will be working with the children with disabilities, which I am very excited about, and tomorrow we will meet with the group and with the parents to discuss what they would like us to do. I am really looking forward to this meeting and I hope to come away with a better understanding of the range of disabilities and can hopefully use some of my knowledge from my schoolwork and studies and apply that to this project.
While we have been in Bosnia we have learned a lot a lot about the history of this country. Part of the purpose of this trip was to study peace and conflict in this part of the world, and to try to identify the differences in eastern and western europe that make one area so much more prone to conflict. The history of this country, and the entire former Yugoslovia, is extremely complicated, and I have tried to be very thorough in my research. It is challenging to remain unbiased, but I know that in order to really understand these people I have to make a real effort to understand their history and their experiences. We have done a lot of asking questions of individuals, our bus driver, people sitting in cafes, the people who ran our hostel in Sarajevo, and the workers at the NGO hosting us here in Livno. I am learing a lot more, and I cant really answer all of the peace and conflict questions yet, but I do feel like I have a good understanding of Bosnian history from the last 30 years.
Anyway, everything here is going well. We are all still adjusting to the group dyamics and are figuring out where we all fit in, but I think everyone is doing a good job of being patient with one another. Everything moves a little slower in Livno, which is nice. I have come to love sitting at an outdoor cafe, drinking coffee out of a real coffee cup, and just chatting or watching people...it is nice and relaxing :)
As a side note, I will probably have lost several years off of my life by the time I get back due to the excessive amounts of cigarette smoke we encounter EVERYWHERE we go. I feel like I now have a much better understanding of what the US was like before all of the smoking laws were enacted. People smoke everywhere - in restaurants, on trains with no windows, in bus stations, on busses, in internet cafes :) A pack of cigarettes here cost less than 1 US dollar, so it is an easy habit, and evidentally news of lung, mouth, and throat cancer, asthma, and emphezema hasnt made it over to Europe. Ew ew ew. My respiratory system and my eyes are having a bit of a hard time adjusting, but oh well. I stay outside in the fresh air as much as possible.
On another side note, for those of you who love international futbol (aka soccer), the Euro Cup began yesterday, so futbol fever has taken over the entire continent! Evidentally the Bosnian team is really terrible, has corrupt leadership, and didt qualify to play, so everyone in this part of Bosnia, who is of Croatian heritage (more on that later as far as its role in the war), is pulling for the Croatian team who is playing Austria today at 6pm. The croatian colors are red and white checkers, so there are some crazy outfits and loud chants and car horns going up and down the streets here....I feel like people have been getting ready for the game since the sun came up at 4:30 this morning :)
Ok, that is all for now....sorry this has been so random and sporadic :) I am doing well and am still happy to be here....hopefully more happy once I have more focus on my project after our meetings tomorrow :) Yall know how I love to have a good plan :) Hopefully I can post some pictures soon, and can talk a little bit about what we did and what we saw in Sarajevo! love and miss you all! dovi đenja (good bye!) Allison
We went straight to the house where we will be staying for the next two weeks and I think it is fair to say that we were all blown away by how nice it is! It is one big building that a couple has renovated to rent out the rooms, kind of like a hotel, and there are three apartments where individuals live full time. We took up all but 3 of the rooms, so we are all two or three to a room and we got one apartment so we can cook and have a common room, etc. The place is amazingly nice and I think we will all be able to live there comfortably. Our housing was all set up by the NGO we will be working with while we are here, Youth Center Livno.
We met with them today and learned about the projects we will be working on. We will split up into two groups, one will be renovating and painting a mural in an entryway at a school, and the other will be working with children with disabilities on art projects, activities, etc. We will know more about exactly what we will be doing tomorrow when we meet with each of the two groups. I will be working with the children with disabilities, which I am very excited about, and tomorrow we will meet with the group and with the parents to discuss what they would like us to do. I am really looking forward to this meeting and I hope to come away with a better understanding of the range of disabilities and can hopefully use some of my knowledge from my schoolwork and studies and apply that to this project.
While we have been in Bosnia we have learned a lot a lot about the history of this country. Part of the purpose of this trip was to study peace and conflict in this part of the world, and to try to identify the differences in eastern and western europe that make one area so much more prone to conflict. The history of this country, and the entire former Yugoslovia, is extremely complicated, and I have tried to be very thorough in my research. It is challenging to remain unbiased, but I know that in order to really understand these people I have to make a real effort to understand their history and their experiences. We have done a lot of asking questions of individuals, our bus driver, people sitting in cafes, the people who ran our hostel in Sarajevo, and the workers at the NGO hosting us here in Livno. I am learing a lot more, and I cant really answer all of the peace and conflict questions yet, but I do feel like I have a good understanding of Bosnian history from the last 30 years.
Anyway, everything here is going well. We are all still adjusting to the group dyamics and are figuring out where we all fit in, but I think everyone is doing a good job of being patient with one another. Everything moves a little slower in Livno, which is nice. I have come to love sitting at an outdoor cafe, drinking coffee out of a real coffee cup, and just chatting or watching people...it is nice and relaxing :)
As a side note, I will probably have lost several years off of my life by the time I get back due to the excessive amounts of cigarette smoke we encounter EVERYWHERE we go. I feel like I now have a much better understanding of what the US was like before all of the smoking laws were enacted. People smoke everywhere - in restaurants, on trains with no windows, in bus stations, on busses, in internet cafes :) A pack of cigarettes here cost less than 1 US dollar, so it is an easy habit, and evidentally news of lung, mouth, and throat cancer, asthma, and emphezema hasnt made it over to Europe. Ew ew ew. My respiratory system and my eyes are having a bit of a hard time adjusting, but oh well. I stay outside in the fresh air as much as possible.
On another side note, for those of you who love international futbol (aka soccer), the Euro Cup began yesterday, so futbol fever has taken over the entire continent! Evidentally the Bosnian team is really terrible, has corrupt leadership, and didt qualify to play, so everyone in this part of Bosnia, who is of Croatian heritage (more on that later as far as its role in the war), is pulling for the Croatian team who is playing Austria today at 6pm. The croatian colors are red and white checkers, so there are some crazy outfits and loud chants and car horns going up and down the streets here....I feel like people have been getting ready for the game since the sun came up at 4:30 this morning :)
Ok, that is all for now....sorry this has been so random and sporadic :) I am doing well and am still happy to be here....hopefully more happy once I have more focus on my project after our meetings tomorrow :) Yall know how I love to have a good plan :) Hopefully I can post some pictures soon, and can talk a little bit about what we did and what we saw in Sarajevo! love and miss you all! dovi đenja (good bye!) Allison
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Arrived in Bosnia!
We are here safe and sound! We had a long and windy and interesting bus ride (dont worry though, this bus ride had nothing on the bush taxi rides in Togo!) and got here last night around 7. Our hostel is really nice and now we are all rushing around to get ready for a meeting at 10am this morning. So now I have to go get in line for the shower but I hope to post more later! byeeeeeeeeeeee A
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Goodbye Resort, Hello Bosnia!!!
Sorry again for missing a day or two of blogging! We are now in Dubrovnik, Croatia and I am typing on a real American keyboard :) yay! We had some concerns with the hostel we were scheduled to stay at here in Dubrovnik, so before we left Split we switched to this hotel....aka a 4 star oceanside resort :)...yep, we have it pretty tough! I will put some pictures up asap but this place is so nice! If you all remember, we were on a ferry allllllll day yesterday, sailing the Adriatic for 8 1/2 hours. It was so beautiful! Blue water and really cool islands and coastline the whole way. I journaled a little, talked a lot, slept a little :) We arrived at the port in Dubrovnik at 4:15 and finally made it to the hotel around 6ish. I wish you all could have seen our faces upon seeing our ocean front digs! Remember that the oceans and beaches here aren't sandy, but are rocky, but this is really beautiful in an intimidating sort of way.
So, by the time we got here last night we were starving and we're kinda of our from civilization so our eating options were limited and we decided to bite the bullet and eat at the overpriced, ocean front hotel restaurant. It was the only bad meal I have had the entire trip. But hey, what did I expect for ordering nachos in Croatia :)
Our fancy digs also included a full a-mazing continental breakfast so I spent a full two hours this morning grazing and journaling and reading by the ocean :) My favorite part was the hash rounds...just like bojangles but maybe even better...I added some ketchup and I was in heaven :)
Then we had a group reflection...how everyone is doing on the trip, etc. Then a group of us headed into the old town, for which Dubrovnik is famous. There is an entire walled big city out on a peninsula which is really cool and used to be a fort. So we hung out there and ate and mingled. We also were lucky enough to get to see an amazing photography exhibit entitled "Blood and Honey", which was made up of photographs taken during the war in the former Yugoslavia, which happens to be our main focus on this trip, which is generally focused on peace studies. The exhibit was extremely moving and enabled us to see real images and put faces to all of the history we have been learning.
We then headed back here to the hotel where we swam and jumped off a cliff into the blue blue ocean...ok, so the cliff was only about 10 feet...maybe 12, but we still got to jump! yay :) Now we are all chilling out...we finally have a travel day tomorrow that doesn't start before 6am so we are all just hanging out. We are SO happy to get to enjoy the big breakfast again tomorrow (hashrounds!!!) before getting on a 1pm bus to Sarajevo. We should be in Sarajevo by 7 and then will head to Livno, where we will be working for 2 weeks, on Saturday!
Everything is going really well! I think pretty much everyone is tired of traveling around and moving and we are all ready to get to work! Brian is finally doing better...I think today has been the best day yet - thanks for all the well wishes! I have certainly passed them along to him! Look for pictures today or tomorrow - my memory card is full so I have to dump them all off onto our laptop (we brought the office computer) so it will be easier for me to upload! Thanks for reading and we'll see what the internet situation is in Livno!
Lots of love and thoughts and prayers for everyone at home and elsewhere in the world right now! Bok! Allison
So, by the time we got here last night we were starving and we're kinda of our from civilization so our eating options were limited and we decided to bite the bullet and eat at the overpriced, ocean front hotel restaurant. It was the only bad meal I have had the entire trip. But hey, what did I expect for ordering nachos in Croatia :)
Our fancy digs also included a full a-mazing continental breakfast so I spent a full two hours this morning grazing and journaling and reading by the ocean :) My favorite part was the hash rounds...just like bojangles but maybe even better...I added some ketchup and I was in heaven :)
Then we had a group reflection...how everyone is doing on the trip, etc. Then a group of us headed into the old town, for which Dubrovnik is famous. There is an entire walled big city out on a peninsula which is really cool and used to be a fort. So we hung out there and ate and mingled. We also were lucky enough to get to see an amazing photography exhibit entitled "Blood and Honey", which was made up of photographs taken during the war in the former Yugoslavia, which happens to be our main focus on this trip, which is generally focused on peace studies. The exhibit was extremely moving and enabled us to see real images and put faces to all of the history we have been learning.
We then headed back here to the hotel where we swam and jumped off a cliff into the blue blue ocean...ok, so the cliff was only about 10 feet...maybe 12, but we still got to jump! yay :) Now we are all chilling out...we finally have a travel day tomorrow that doesn't start before 6am so we are all just hanging out. We are SO happy to get to enjoy the big breakfast again tomorrow (hashrounds!!!) before getting on a 1pm bus to Sarajevo. We should be in Sarajevo by 7 and then will head to Livno, where we will be working for 2 weeks, on Saturday!
Everything is going really well! I think pretty much everyone is tired of traveling around and moving and we are all ready to get to work! Brian is finally doing better...I think today has been the best day yet - thanks for all the well wishes! I have certainly passed them along to him! Look for pictures today or tomorrow - my memory card is full so I have to dump them all off onto our laptop (we brought the office computer) so it will be easier for me to upload! Thanks for reading and we'll see what the internet situation is in Livno!
Lots of love and thoughts and prayers for everyone at home and elsewhere in the world right now! Bok! Allison
Monday, June 2, 2008
Time to Split! (hehehe)
I am pretty funny, huh? lol. So today we had our last day in Split, Croatia! Tomorrow we will get on a huge ferry and take the 8+ hour boat road down the lovely Adriatic Coast of Croatia to Dubrovnik. Today was pretty chill which was nice...I think we are all missing the small town charm of Samobor because Split is much more touristy and populated and big, but we are all pretty happy to be at bright blue ocean too! Brian is still feeling somewhat under the weather, so he and I spent the morning sitting on the beach (no sand, just rocks!) reading and talking and looking at the ocean. We then walked down and met up with some other people in our group who were swimming at watched them splash about for a while.
I grabbed a piece of pizza for lunch on the way back (Brian is not allowed to eat real food yet) and we met up with the rest of the group back at the hostel. We then walked right across the street from our hostel to the Palace of Dioclesian. Dioclesian was a king of Rome who, long story short, retired to the "Dalmation Coast", which is right here in Split, and he built a palace. So, we had a little historical hour as we walked around and learned about the history of the palace. It was soooooo hot here today, so most of us headed back to the hostel after walking around for a bit and just chilled out because this hostel actually has air conditioning!!!
A couple of us eventually went to dinner around 7 and then ate some gelatto (our new favorite past time!) and are now back here at the hostel. We have yet another early morning for tomorrows day of traveling - we have to be at the ferry at 6:30am :(
I forgot to mention in my last post that once we arrived in Croatia we were joined by Sabina, a Park Scholar at NC State and a native of Bosnia! She new several members of our group and was a big asset in our planning for the trip and we are so happy to have her along as our translator! It has already been nice to have her around to help us, and to teach us basic greetings :) I know she will be a big help in communicating in Bosnia and a great friend as well!
So, that is where we are now! I got to speak to mom for a little bit on the phone today so she has finally heard my voice since I left weeks and weeks ago :) You know the drill, we are off to a new place tomorrow so we will see if I will be able to blog tomorrow or not, but you know I will do my best! love and miss you all!!!! Bok! Allison
I grabbed a piece of pizza for lunch on the way back (Brian is not allowed to eat real food yet) and we met up with the rest of the group back at the hostel. We then walked right across the street from our hostel to the Palace of Dioclesian. Dioclesian was a king of Rome who, long story short, retired to the "Dalmation Coast", which is right here in Split, and he built a palace. So, we had a little historical hour as we walked around and learned about the history of the palace. It was soooooo hot here today, so most of us headed back to the hostel after walking around for a bit and just chilled out because this hostel actually has air conditioning!!!
A couple of us eventually went to dinner around 7 and then ate some gelatto (our new favorite past time!) and are now back here at the hostel. We have yet another early morning for tomorrows day of traveling - we have to be at the ferry at 6:30am :(
I forgot to mention in my last post that once we arrived in Croatia we were joined by Sabina, a Park Scholar at NC State and a native of Bosnia! She new several members of our group and was a big asset in our planning for the trip and we are so happy to have her along as our translator! It has already been nice to have her around to help us, and to teach us basic greetings :) I know she will be a big help in communicating in Bosnia and a great friend as well!
So, that is where we are now! I got to speak to mom for a little bit on the phone today so she has finally heard my voice since I left weeks and weeks ago :) You know the drill, we are off to a new place tomorrow so we will see if I will be able to blog tomorrow or not, but you know I will do my best! love and miss you all!!!! Bok! Allison
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Croatia!
Oh no! I havent blogged in forever!!! Please forgive the crazy keyboard - I will try to keep typos to a minimum! Ok, whats today, Sunday and I havent blogged since Thursday! I hope zou guys werent worried :) This is gonna get reallllllly long so brace yourselves!!!
On Friday morning we got up and left the hostel at 5am (!!!!!!) to catch the train down to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. We spent over 6 hours on the train, where people can smoke, right there in an enclosed space!!!! how bizzare and gross ;( but we all managed to survive and got to Zagreb around 1. We had to do a little change of plan because the night train we planned on taking to Split was booked, so we decided to spend an extra day in Samobor (more on that later!) So we hiked a good ways with all our stuff in the hot hot afternoon sun to the bus station and got on a funny bus, like one of those with an accordion in the middle like you would see in a city, but this was a long distance bus (45 minutes).
We arrived in Samobor in the afternoon and were in love the second we layed eyes on the town. Our travel guide book describes Samobor as "almost too little-village cute". It is definitely not touristy, but very quaint, and quiet (which we were all excited about after spending so much time in big cities!). We actually got to stay in a hotel (!!!) rather than a hostel because that was all they had and it was a-mazing!!! We were all two to a room, rather than 8 to a room like at the hostels, and we all had our own bathrooms with real showers...lol! Kate (another Caldwell who just graduated in May) and I stayed together and she dubbed ours the "princess room"...I will attach pictures later, but the bed was so fluffy and amazing. Needless to say, none of us were complaining about having to stay there two nights instead of just one. I think we all enjoyed getting out of the big city and really being able to breathe fresh air and sit in the rose garden and relax on our own as the stream gurgled past....we all loved it!
The first day we were in Croatia and Samobor was Croatian Independence Day, so everyone was hanging out in the town square, where there was everything from a wedding to street races for the children. We ate dinner as a group (minus Brian, see below) and then all hit the sack pretty early because most of us had been up since 4:30 that morning.
So, catch up on Brian...on the train ride from Budapest to Zagreb, Brian slept for the first 4 hours, and decided to have little....ummmm...intestinal drama for the last two and a half hours. He was feeling pretty wimpy and we had to walk a long way in the heat and then ride a hot bumpy bus, so by the time we got to Samobor, we worked to get him rehydrated and put him to bed before we all went out. For those of you who know Brian, it didnt take much convincing to get him to take a nap :) We still arent sure what caused this intestinal conflict...he hasnt had anything to eat or drink that was any different from me and you know hes not engaging in risky eating behaviors :)
SO, Samobor day 2: The hotel had an amazing continental breakfast that we all enjoyed - I went back and woke Brian up in case he felt like eating...he ate some bread and that was all. Samobor is nestled in a small valley with mountains on all sides and a creek full of trout running through the town. When you look up in the mountains there are castle ruins, so of course we had to go exploring! Minus Brian, who decided the bread at breakfast was too much for him and went back to bed. So we hiked up and just walked around this huge old castle ruins like it was nothing :) It was so cool and I think we all enjoyed feeling like real explorers rather than tourists who paid $10 to get in to see some ruins that were roped off.
We explored and hiked some more and got back around 2. I went up to check on Brian who had slept for a while but also managed to wash all of his laundry in the sink and had it hanging up drying all over the room :) He seemed to be feeling better so he joined the group as we went to dinner on our last night in Samobor....unfortunately his decision to eat creamy carbohydrated alfredo probably wasnt the best and he was in some pain before we even left the restaurant :( We all went back and went to bed because we had to have another early morning today to continue on our trek!
We were up by 4:15 to leave and catch the bus back to Zagreb (this time it was a real bus, like a greyhound, not the accordion!) and then caught the train down to Split (pronounced like Spleet!) Split is right on the water and is small also but not as small as Samobor and it is really pretty! The water is so blue and some people have already gone down to go swimming! A group of us went to lunch at this little place where Brian thought maybe some vegetable soup would be more at his speed, but alas, hes already back in bed :( So we have decided hes just not gonna eat for a while.
And now you are officially caught up! The game plan for the rest of the week is to be here in Split for a few days, leave here on Tuesday and go to Dubrovnik (further down the coast with even better beaches!) and then travel to Sarajevo on Thursday! Other than Brians digestive tract, everything and everyone is doing well! I will hopefully update more tomorrow and maybe I can even get some more pictures up! Until then! love and miss you all, as they say in Croatian, bok! (byeeeeeeee!)
On Friday morning we got up and left the hostel at 5am (!!!!!!) to catch the train down to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. We spent over 6 hours on the train, where people can smoke, right there in an enclosed space!!!! how bizzare and gross ;( but we all managed to survive and got to Zagreb around 1. We had to do a little change of plan because the night train we planned on taking to Split was booked, so we decided to spend an extra day in Samobor (more on that later!) So we hiked a good ways with all our stuff in the hot hot afternoon sun to the bus station and got on a funny bus, like one of those with an accordion in the middle like you would see in a city, but this was a long distance bus (45 minutes).
We arrived in Samobor in the afternoon and were in love the second we layed eyes on the town. Our travel guide book describes Samobor as "almost too little-village cute". It is definitely not touristy, but very quaint, and quiet (which we were all excited about after spending so much time in big cities!). We actually got to stay in a hotel (!!!) rather than a hostel because that was all they had and it was a-mazing!!! We were all two to a room, rather than 8 to a room like at the hostels, and we all had our own bathrooms with real showers...lol! Kate (another Caldwell who just graduated in May) and I stayed together and she dubbed ours the "princess room"...I will attach pictures later, but the bed was so fluffy and amazing. Needless to say, none of us were complaining about having to stay there two nights instead of just one. I think we all enjoyed getting out of the big city and really being able to breathe fresh air and sit in the rose garden and relax on our own as the stream gurgled past....we all loved it!
The first day we were in Croatia and Samobor was Croatian Independence Day, so everyone was hanging out in the town square, where there was everything from a wedding to street races for the children. We ate dinner as a group (minus Brian, see below) and then all hit the sack pretty early because most of us had been up since 4:30 that morning.
So, catch up on Brian...on the train ride from Budapest to Zagreb, Brian slept for the first 4 hours, and decided to have little....ummmm...intestinal drama for the last two and a half hours. He was feeling pretty wimpy and we had to walk a long way in the heat and then ride a hot bumpy bus, so by the time we got to Samobor, we worked to get him rehydrated and put him to bed before we all went out. For those of you who know Brian, it didnt take much convincing to get him to take a nap :) We still arent sure what caused this intestinal conflict...he hasnt had anything to eat or drink that was any different from me and you know hes not engaging in risky eating behaviors :)
SO, Samobor day 2: The hotel had an amazing continental breakfast that we all enjoyed - I went back and woke Brian up in case he felt like eating...he ate some bread and that was all. Samobor is nestled in a small valley with mountains on all sides and a creek full of trout running through the town. When you look up in the mountains there are castle ruins, so of course we had to go exploring! Minus Brian, who decided the bread at breakfast was too much for him and went back to bed. So we hiked up and just walked around this huge old castle ruins like it was nothing :) It was so cool and I think we all enjoyed feeling like real explorers rather than tourists who paid $10 to get in to see some ruins that were roped off.
We explored and hiked some more and got back around 2. I went up to check on Brian who had slept for a while but also managed to wash all of his laundry in the sink and had it hanging up drying all over the room :) He seemed to be feeling better so he joined the group as we went to dinner on our last night in Samobor....unfortunately his decision to eat creamy carbohydrated alfredo probably wasnt the best and he was in some pain before we even left the restaurant :( We all went back and went to bed because we had to have another early morning today to continue on our trek!
We were up by 4:15 to leave and catch the bus back to Zagreb (this time it was a real bus, like a greyhound, not the accordion!) and then caught the train down to Split (pronounced like Spleet!) Split is right on the water and is small also but not as small as Samobor and it is really pretty! The water is so blue and some people have already gone down to go swimming! A group of us went to lunch at this little place where Brian thought maybe some vegetable soup would be more at his speed, but alas, hes already back in bed :( So we have decided hes just not gonna eat for a while.
And now you are officially caught up! The game plan for the rest of the week is to be here in Split for a few days, leave here on Tuesday and go to Dubrovnik (further down the coast with even better beaches!) and then travel to Sarajevo on Thursday! Other than Brians digestive tract, everything and everyone is doing well! I will hopefully update more tomorrow and maybe I can even get some more pictures up! Until then! love and miss you all, as they say in Croatian, bok! (byeeeeeeee!)
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