End of Year Orientation

This past weekend, Friday to Sunday, the YES Abroad Bosnia group had our end of year orientation. Since YES Abroad Bosnia is in two different cities,(Sarajevo and Banja Luka) we were lucky enough to meet up in Mostar for those three days.

The two girls in Banja Luka arrived to Sarajevo on Thursday so we took them on a tour of the city. First, we went to Vijecnica, the national library that was burned down during the war but is now restored. We also went to Bijela Tabija, which means "White Fortress". It is the ruins of a fortress overlooking Sarajevo and the view is absolutely spectacular! Later we walked around and showed them some of our favorite places in Old Town.

Inside Vijecnica

At Bijeli Tabija

Walking around Bijela Tabija

We left for Mostar Friday morning. The car ride there was truly breathtaking. You see deep green mountains with a deep blue green river running through them and it is beautiful. I tried to take pictures for a while but they never turned out so I resorted to just enjoying the view. Upon arrival, we settled in to our Hostel and then went to go eat lunch at the Medresa* which graciously hosted us for the weekend. After lunch we hung out with the Access* Medresa students and then presented our Capstone Projects over an ice cream social. Next, the Access students took us on a tour of beautiful Mostar which included the famous Stari Most, Old Town, and the large mall. After the tour we had dinner at the Medresa, returned to our hostel for tea or coffee, then went to bed.

Getting to know a couple of the Access students after lunch

With the Access students in front of the Stari Most

Saturday Was our busiest day. It started out with breakfast at the Medresa and then we went straight to our return orientation activities. This included talking about some challenges we may face upon return, writing thank you notes to people who helped us throughout the year, reading the advise of YES Abroad Bosnia alumni, and more. Luckily we finished early and were able to spend that extra time relaxing because we had a little trip coming up that the Access class organized for us. We took a bus to visit Pocitelj and Blagaj. These are the two places were visited earlier in the year but it was cut short because of rain, Pocitelj is an old castle. Throughout my time in Bosnia I have seen many old castles but for some reason Pocitelj is different and it is for sure my favorite one. Next was Blagaj. Blagaj is my favorite place overall that I have been in Bosnia. Within Blagaj, is the source of the Bune river and the water is pristine. I am very glad I got to visit again with nice weather. Near the end of our visit we went to a very traditional cafe where I had the best Turkish coffee and the best Turkish delight that I have ever tasted. At that cafe, a couple of the Access students chose pop/soda and as a result we had a very entertaining bus concert on the way back including both traditional Bosnian songs as well as modern American songs. I though that was a really cool way to show that although these students have very different lives than my friends in America, belting out songs on bus rides is a thing that everyone enjoys! We arrived at the Medresa, ate dinner, and then YES Abroad went out for late night ice cream by the bridge. It was a great (almost) end to our orientation.

Climbing up the Pocitelj fortress

At the top of the Pocitelj fortress

Tea and coffee in Blagaj

Our final day in Mostar was Sunday. We didn't do much other than eat breakfast and walk around Old Town and go to a cafe. It was a nice, relaxing way to get our final glimpse of beautiful Mostar. We arrived back in Sarajevo around two PM. I was planning on just relaxing for the day but that really didn't happen. I for some reason chose to go for a run??? and then we(the Sarajevo crew) brought the two Banja Luka girls to try tufahija* as well as helped them find some Sarajevo souvenirs. That got me to start thinking about what I will be bringing back with me. We ended the night on a rooftop cafe with some tasty hot chocolate.

A classic group picture at the cafe

Although our official end of year orientation was just Friday-Sunday, we received a really cool invitation for Monday. The American Ambassador had invited us to her residence for lunch. We(YES Abroad Bosnia) were able to talk to her about a variety of interesting topics including some of the embassy's currents projects and our recent experiences at the Medresa. The Ambassador was very personable and fun to talk to. We really had a great time there. After lunch with the Ambassador, the Banja Luka girls hopped on a bus back to Banja Luka for one last month. This is the shortest time in between us seeing each other and it's strange to think that the next time will be when we leave Bosnia...:(

Well, as my KL-YES year is starting to come to an end there is another group of students around the world starting to prepare for theirs. My American family thought it would be really cool to "continue the cycle" and host a Bosnian student this next year and I was lucky enough to meet her! When I received her placement profile in late April, I was extatic that she lives in Mostar because I knew I would be there for my orientation. So on Friday when we had some free time, my future exchange sister and I met in a cafe. It didn't seem strange to me or anything. It just seemed like I was meeting another friend in Bosnia. It was really fun to talk about the coming school year and trying to describe to her things about our family. While trying, I realized I had forgotten many things about the US, my family's dynamic, and just American life in general. Since she arrives less than two months after me, I think her and I will have a great time learning about the US together. It will truly be a once in a lifetime experience.

My future exchange sister and I

*A Medresa is an Islamic high school.
*Access is a US Department of State program to teach the English language. In this Medresa, it is a competitive program in which they apply to.
*Tufahija is a baked apple and nut dessert.

For more pictures follow me on Instagram @liliazubar

Spring Has Sprung!

We have some wonderful spring weather in Sarajevo right now. The trees are budding, the flowers are blooming, and the dogs are out again. Because of this recent (and drastic) weather change, I am going to talk a little bit about the weather in Sarajevo for the past months.

August-September: I arrived in Sarajevo on a hot, day with the sun shining and a light breeze. It was absolutely perfect. Everything was green, there were tons of people outside, and an abundance of gelato carts. Another thing I remeber about this time was a plethora of slugs EVERYWHERE. That was probably due to the fact that when it wasnt sunny, it was pouring, and that happened almost every other day. The weather stayed like this through about the end of September

August Weather

October: In October it started to cool down a bit but it was still pretty warm, the kind of weather where you bring a light jacket but don't necessarily wear it. Then, suddenly, in the middle of October it snowed and it was beautiful! The snow even stuck for a day or two, thankfully it was only a day or two. The weather then returned to the normal fall weather.

The Beautiful October Snow

November: November was when we started to see more signs of the approaching winter. The bakeries no longer left their doors open to allow the smell to waft in front and the cafes closed up their outside seating. Since Sarajevo is surrounded by mountains, when the air is chillier, it gets trapped. November is when we first started to see the smoky buildup. No snow in November though.

December: The weather in December was very much like in November. Chilly, but not too cold. With the Christmas spirit in the air, I spend the entire month hoping for snow and a white Christmas. Mother Nature didn't agree with me as we didn't get ANY snow until December 26th. That was my first non-white Christmas.

January: January was quite cold. Coming from Minnesota, I am very experienced with the cold. I still don't like it though. Early January was probably the coldest time of the year, when it got to just around zero farenheit. It also snowed off and on. Later in the month it was this awkward temperature where during the day some snow would melt and then at night everything would freeze. This caused some very slippery sidewalks in the morning! By the end of the month most of the snow in the city had melted.

February: The temperatures February were very similar to the end of January. Some snow re accumulated but not a ton. By the end of February there was very little to no snow on the ground.

March: In early March, we had wonderful weather. It was i the fifties and sunny. I expected it to stay that way for the rest of spring. Mother nature had a different idea. In early-mid March it snowed heavily for 3 straight. After the little "preview" of spring, this was not a welcome regression to winter. Thankfully, the snow didn't last long and the weather went back to the nice early spring weather and continuously got warmer.

The March Snow

April: Late March and Early spring was gorgous, it was in the high fifties and low sixties. I, once again, thought it would last, I, once again, was wrong. On Easter morning(April 3rd), I woke up to a snowy day. This was just a moderate snow but it also lasted three days straight. Something else that made this snow very peculiar is the fact that the weather said it was forty degrees but it was snowing outside...hmm. Well, after those snowy days were done we have had weather that could not get any better. Almost every day has been in the mid sixties-low seventies and sunny. It is 100% perfect. Since it is almost May, I think I can assume there will be no more snow, but I guess you never know!

A few days ago (Late April)

It so wonderful seeing everything bloom for spring. Personally, I think the best part is the ice cream carts are open again:) I got my first scoop of 2015 yesterday. It was hazelnut flavored and it was wonderful.

The Bosnian Convertible Mark(KM)

The Bosnian Convertible Mark or Bosanska Konvertibilna Marka is the currency I have been using since I arrived in Bosnia. It was established in the Dayton agreement in 1995 and is named after the then German Mark.

The Basics
One mark can be broken down to 100 fenings.

The paper notes include 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 mark values

Coin currency has 5, 10,20, 50 fenings and 1,2,5 mark values.

Current USA-KM exchange rate: 1 USD=1.75 KM

What You Can Buy

5 Ćevapi, Bosnian sausage type meat usually made with beef and lamb. They are served with chopped onions in a pocket bread called lepinje. 3.50KM

Pita, a savory phyllo dough pastry usually with meat, cheese, potatoes, or spinach inside. 2KM

Kilo of Apples, I have developed an apple addiction while in Bosnia. The apples here are crunchy, juicy, sweet, and taste like they were just picked off the tree(which the probably were) 1KM

Tea/Coffee, Going out for coffee(which just means going to a cafe) is the main activity teens and adults do with their friends. The price can vary considerably depending on where you go and what type you order 2KM

Average loaf of Bread: Bread in Bosnia is a staple, basically it it not a meal without bread. Although bread can very in size, type, and quality the average price would be about 1.50KM

Bus/Tram Ticket, with one ticket you can go as many stops as you want on the tram or bus. 1.60KM

Movie Ticket, There is one movie theater that I know of in Sarajevo and I have gone there a couple times. It's very much like American theaters including food being way more expensive than the actual ticket 5KM

Winter Jacket, You definitely need a winter jacket if you live in Bosnia. Most people have longer ones that go to the mid thigh like the one pictured. 100KM

Shoes, The more popular types of shoes here are boots, closed toes sandals, and combat and work boots. Tennis shoes and flip flops are not really worn outside in daily life. 80KM

Scarf, The variety of scarves here is AMAZING. As you walk though Old Town you can find all kinds of different scarves in tons of different colors and patterns. They're quite inexpensive too! 5KM

Holiday Season

From December 19th until January 7th life has been full of holidays and celebrations starting with an American Councils Christmas/New Year party. There, we learned a little bit about how the holidays are celebrated in Bosnia, ate some American style cookies, and sang some winter/holiday songs.

YES Abroad singing

Next was a Protestant Christmas service and lunch. My host mom has a friend who is very involved in a small Protestant Church group and she thought it would be fun to go to that service since I sometimes go to a Protestant Church in America. We got to the building about 10 minutes before the service started so I talked to a couple people I had met from a previous time that I had gone to this Church group. The service consisted of TONS of fun songs and kids playing instruments, two sermons(One of which I completely understood!), and a children's skit. After that there was a lunch of fresh kiflice, cold cuts, and lots of delicious desserts. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of this celebration.

Three days later was (Catholic)Christmas Eve. It started quite differently than in America because I still had school. I was able to go home a little bit early though because two of my classes were cancelled! At around 5 my host sister had a piano concert which I eventually realized was not, in fact, a Christmas concert. It just happened to be on Christmas Eve:) After the concert we went home and had dinner. It was one of my favorite foods, moussaka! Later that night to keep my annual Christmas cookie baking marathon alive, I made chocolate crinkle cookies! Since the dough has to sit in the fridge for an hour I skyped my American family for a little bit and found out they were making the same cookies! My cookies were finally done at around 10:45 and even though I had to kind of guess with measurements they were amazing! By that time it was almost time to go to the Cathedral for Midnight Mass. I went with my host mom but the rest of the family was too tired. We parked maybe a 7-10 minute walk away from the Cathedral and the walk there was really fun because as we would get closer and closer the Christmas spirit grew. Although the service was all in Bosnian and Latin and the only thing I understood was the Lord's Prayer, the service was beautiful. Surprisingly, I was actually able to get up to right behind the pews. We stayed until around 1AM and then went home. I ate a cookie and went to bed.
Christmas morning I woke up to a wonderful breakfast of peroshke, which are kind of like scones. After breakfast we opened our present and ate my chocolate crinkle cookies:) My host family informed my that they absolutely love the cookies so they want me to teach them how to make them. I was delighted! My host mom also told me that I could invite Rachael over for Christmas dinner so she got here around three and we talked with my host sisters while dinner was being made. For dinner we had what would be very close to a Christmas dinner I would have in America. It was roasted meat, mashed potatoes, peppers, a salad, cabbage, and of course, delicious bread. After dinner my host family went to go visit the grandparent while Rachael and I stayed home, ate my chocolate crinkle cookies, drank tea, and watched TV. Upon their return, my host family brought a chocolate fudge type cake that had been made by grandma. It was super thick and absolutely delicious. My host family, Rachael, and I chatted for a while until it was time for her to go home. For the rest of the night I drank amazing tea with my family. It was truly a Christmas I will always remember.

The Chocolate Crinkle Cookies I made

Midnight Mass at the Cathedral

Next was the biggest holiday of the season overall for Bosnia. New Year. New Year is absolutely HUGE here. It seems to be regarded as kind of a "thanksgiving" type day where you recognize what you have and all the good things that had happened over the past year. We had school on New Year's Eve(It was the last day before our one month long break) and they excitement or spirit in the air was very similar to the pre-Christmas spirit that I feel in America. Since we were told that going to the center of the city on New Year's Eve the Americans decided to have a little celebration at one of our American friend's house. She had made lots of amazing food including spinach and cheese balls, caramel/chocolate crackers, and lemonade.

Last was Orthodox Christmas on January 7th. As with Catholic Christmas, the festivities started the day before. The day of Christmas Eve was pretty average but in the evening I went to The Old Orthodox Church for the Christmas Eve service. It was absolutely beautiful although I once again could not understand much of anything that was going on. After the service there was a celebration called Badnjak, which is basically a huge bonfire where everyone throws pieces of dried trees into the fire. It symbolizes good health, good luck, and good fortune for the next year. Included in this celebration were some sheep to symbolize where Jesus was born, old classical Bosnian music, and cooked wine. When I went home there was a huge Christmas Eve feast prepared which consisted of rice, potatoes, salad, bread, tuna and squid since it is an Orthodox tradition to not eat meat on Christmas Eve(Seafood does not count as meat). For dessert we had a huge array of nuts and dried fruit.
Christmas morning I woke up to the excellent smell of fresh baked bread wafting through the house. For breakfast my host mom was making česnica, a traditional Serbian Christmas bread. In the bread there is a coin and whoever finds it will have luck for the coming year. The entire family held the bread and then each ripped a piece off. My piece ended up having the coin! We ate the bread with tons of meats and cheeses. It was probably the best bread I have ever tasted. The rest of the day was spent hanging out with my host sisters and host parents. It was a very nice day.

Badnjak

Inside the Old Orthodox Church

The Coin and my Cesnica

 

A Day in the Life

A lot of people have been asking me "What do you do everyday?" or "What's a normal day for you?" so I am going to hopefully answer those questions with a description of an average school day.

7:30- My alarm clock goes off to begin my day.

7:50- I head downstairs to eat breakfast which usually consists of thick pieces of delicious bread topped with meat and cheese or jam. To drink, I usually have homemade cherry, raspberry, or blackberry juice.

8:15- Start my 8-10 minute uphill walk to my bus stop. I wait at the bus stop and look around at the overlooking view beautiful city I live in, try to figure out what an elderly woman is trying to tell me, and relax before the long day ahead of me. Since the bus schedule is not very reliable I never know when it's coming so after five-seven minutes of waiting, I continue walking. I walk down the hill, past the market, past the cemetery, past the park, and I arrive at school.

8:45- I arrive at school and go inside and wait for class while talking with friends by the two benches inside the school.

8:50- The ear piercing bell goes off and we head off to class. Once in class, we wait for the teacher to walk in. Sometimes we stand up out of respect when the teacher comes but sometimes we don't. I basically just follow what the Bosnians do :) Each class is 45 minutes long but usually we have two consecutive classes of each subject.

9:35-The bell rings again and we have a five minute break before the next class of this same subject starts. Usually we stay in the classroom and just talk but sometimes we go outside for a little bit of fresh air.

9:40- Back to class for another 45 minutes.

10:25- The bell rings and since I am not in the next class I have a break. This one will last about two hours, Usually I will go to a cafe and drink tea with some friends or do homework. There are a plethora of cafes to choose from. Bosnia definitely has a strong cafe culture. During longer breaks 4+ hours, I sometimes go to the gym which is about a 15 minute tram ride away in Old Town.

12:25- I am back at school for my next class. I have classes for the rest of the day with five minute breaks every 45 minutes and a couple twenty minutes breaks in place of the 5 minute breaks.

1:10- After my class that ends at 1:10 I have a twenty minute break. In this time I will go to a bakery and buy a burek or kormpirusa for a snack. Burek is a traditional Bosnian food which is made by wrapping meat in layers of phillo dough. Krompirusa is the same but with potato instead of meat.

What a bakery looks like

6:00- My last class of the day is finally over and by this time it is already pitch dark outside. I go outside of school to my bus which is conveniently located right outside my school. I wait 10-20 minutes for my bus to come and then I ride home. Sometimes during the wait I am reprimanded by an old lady for sitting on the cold concrete ledge because it will freeze my ovaries.

6:30- I arrive home and lunch/dinner is on the table(lunch is typically served at 3 so this is kinda in between lunch and dinner). An average meal would consist of small chunks of chicken baked in a gravy like sauce and rice or potatoes, and some sort of vegetable like peas or beets. And no Bosnian meal is complete without delicious bread.

Another common Bosnian meal: Stuffed peppers with rice, meat chunks, and somevegetables

7:15- What I do during this time changes all the time. Sometimes I'll play with my young host sisters, sometimes I bake cake with my host mom, sometimes I watch Turkish soap operas, and sometimes I just relax.

10:30- I head upstairs and get ready for bed.


**Although this is labeled as an "average day", I don't really have any "average days". My schedule changes every day and I have 2 different schedules that alternate each week. This is a Thursday in my "Morning Schudule" which is one of my longer days. Most days I am not at school this long**

Prvi Snijeg! The First Snow!

On Wednesday Sarajevo had the first snow of the winter. It was a magical day. The it started falling when I was on a long break at school so when we noticed it, Ewea, our friend Andrea, and I ran outside to experience the wonder. There wasn't much snow at the time but it was just the beginning. I little while later Racheal was out of chemistry for a 20 minute break so we went outside and danced around in the snow while wearing just sweaters(everyone else had long, wool jackets) and took pictures because by this time there was a lot of snow and it was sticking!! Even though we are both from very snowy states(MN and VT) we were both super excited and just wanted to run around outside like eight year olds all day instead of sitting in school.

Rachel and me loving the snow



Rachel and me with our friend Tino

After my last class, which was biology, we had our weekly Bosnian lesson. We listened to a song and tried to figure out the lyrics. It was a pretty uneventful lesson but it was fun. The lesson ended at 7 and Rachael, Dan, and I had to be back at school at 7:20 to meet one of our friends to go to a play. On our way, it was snowing big, beautiful flakes of snow and that put us all in the Christmas spirit(even though it is October) so we started belting out all of our favorite Christmas/winter songs such as "Let it Snow", "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", "Jingle Bell Rock", and "Frosty the Snowman". We were half running cause we were going to be late and completely out of breath from singing the entire time but it was so much fun.

A quick selfie on our way to the theater

We eventually got to the theater and we were excited but not quite sure what to expect. All we really knew was that this play would be in Bosnian. So basically we wouldn't be able to understand much of it. When we got inside the actual theater part we were kind of surprised/confused. There were no seats, just bean bags on the ground. So we found a nice spot and sat down. Then we were looking to the front where a screen was waiting for the play to start. To our surprise, that was not where they performance would happen. The entire play was ABOVE us. They stood on platforms on the ceiling while we were lying down on comfy bean bags. It was a very unique experience.

The play ended at around 11 and I live about a 30 minute walk away and my busses were done for the night so I took a taxi home, went up to my bed, and fell asleep listening to Christmas music. Rachael and Dan, on the other hand, live a 2 hour walk away but their trolleybus was still running(they thought) so they had an interesting experience that one of them might blog about soon. Overall, the day of our first Sarajevo snow was an unforgettable day


For more pictures follow me on Instagram: @liliazubar



Mostar and More

On Saturday (9/20) the YES Abroad Sarajevo group had our first trip out of the city. We all woke up bright and early around 6:30 to start our drive to Mostar. The ride was around two hours and it was really great to be able to see the beautiful Bosnian countryside. Since Mostar is in Hercegovina, we drove through the "i" or "and" bridge that is in between Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina).

Before we went to Mostar we stopped at a small town called Pocitelj. First, we got coffee at a café and an adorable little kitty joined us. Next, we climbed up the Pocitelj Tower which was built in 1383 by King Tvrtko I of Bosnia. It started to rain a little bit while we were climbing up but it wasn't too bad. When we got to the top, it was an amazing view so we took lots of group pictures and selfies. On the way down, it was basically pouring and since the "stairs" were made of stone, coming down required some major concentration.

Our next stop was the Blagaj Tekke. The Tekke was built around 1520 and is considered a national monument in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Here, we enjoyed the view of the beautiful Buna River and took lots of pictures.

Our last stop was Mostar. First, we went to get lunch at a really cool restaurant in old town Mostar. On our way there we walked over the famous Stari Most which also required some concentration because it was very slippery. The restaurant was really cute and pretty. At one point, because of the rain, the power went out and they actually started bringing out candles for light! Soon, they regained power and all was good. After lunch, we went in front of the bridge to take pictures. We were planning to visit a lot of interesting places in Mostar but since the rain was basically a torrential downpour, we were unable to and we headed back to Sarajevo.