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.

Why you should apply to YES Abroad

The YES Abroad application was recently released so I thought I would give you a couple of great reasons to apply.

YES Abroad is a program that offers 65 competitive, merit scholarships for high school students to study in one of 13 countries (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Macedonia, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey)

1) Because the goal of YES Abroad is important. YES and YES Abroad were created in response to 9/11 to promote understanding and cross cultural awareness between Americans and countries with significant Muslim populations.

2) Because you will make lots of friends from around the country and the world. From the YES Abroad Facebook group (K-L YES Abroad 2015-2016), to IPSE, PDO, and being in Bosnia I have met so many wonderful people who I definitely would not have otherwise met.

3) Because you have nothing to lose. Seriously, nothing negative comes from applying.

4) Because next time this year you could be here! Just think about that! Next year, right now you could be in Bosnia, Thailand, Indonesia, Macedonia, or any of the other YES Abroad countries. Exchange is one of the most challenging, unique, and rewarding things you can experience in your life let alone in high school! I have only been in Bosnia for a month and I have already learned so much.

Me halfway down one of Sarajevo's surrounding Mountains

Brandon- Thailand

Victoria-Indonesia

Faber- Macedonia

Basic Eligibility Info for 2015-16 Year
-U.S. citizen
-15-18.5 years of age at start of program (birthdate between March 5, 1997 and June 29, 2000)
-Currently enrolled in high school (including home school)
Click HERE for more information about K-L YES Abroad!
Click HERE to start your K-L YES Abroad application!

If you are a Bosnian reading this apply to K-L YES!
Click HERE for more information about K-L YES!

The Beginning

Today is my 11th day in Sarajevo and it's great! Here's a little run down of the first couple days. Sorry this is so late but my internet wouldn't let me
post for a while.

Thursday August, 14th- I left my house for the airport at 4AM for my 7AM flight. I ended up getting there way too early and I got bumped to a 5:45 flight. They said it was because I would miss my connection at O'Hare with my 7AM flight but that totally was not why considering MSP-ORD is a 1 hr and 15 min flight and my connection was at 11:15. They probably overbooked and were trying to cover it up. Since my luggage was checked with the 7AM flight I was a little worried they might lose it. I sat next to a guy in a John Kerry blue suit so that was funny. So I arrived at ORD around 7, ate a gross chicken ceasar wrap, and waited until around 11 for my flight to Dulles. I arrived at Dulles around 1:30 and met with the other Bosnia and Macedonia YES Abroad kids and Skye. We all sat at the Munich (Bosnia's layover) gate until about 4 when we said goodbye to the Macedonia kids and they headed off to their gate for their first stop, Vienna. We boarded our plane to Munich at 4:50PMish.I got on, found my seat (window seat!!), and sat down. Soon, a man came and sat next to me and started talking to me in rapid German so that was interesting. That flight was long but not much to tell you about.

Bosnia and Macedonia waiting at Dulles

Friday August, 15th- We landed in Munich around 7AM and waited at our gate until we boarded at 10:45AM. This flight was only an hour long but it was Lufthasana so we pretty much got an entire meal. We landed in Sarajevo at 12:30PM, met Selma, Lela, and our new families, then went home. When I got home I basically ate so much that I could not physically force myself to eat more. It was all amazing. We had soup, cabbage rolls, bread, potatoes, cake, and something else. A couple hours after that we went to Old Town Sarajevo, ate cevapi and walked around where the Sarajevo Film Festival is. After that we went home and I went promptly to bed.

 The plane that took us to Bosnia

Saturday August, 16th- Saturday morning the YES Abroad kids had the beginning of our arrival orientation where we learned all about Bosnia and Sarajevo. After that we exchanged our money and went out for lunch. Then we walked around a bit and it started raining so we all went home. When I got home I fell asleep I think(Saturday was kinda a blur)

Sunday- On Sunday there were no scheduled YES activities but I did a lot of things with my family. First, I went walking around Novi Grad and Old Town Sarajevo with my sisters. It was nice because I got to explore Sarajevo a bit more and I figured out how to get to my school. A little later my mom, two sisters, and I went to this street that they close on weekends and my sisters rollerbladed up and down the street. When we went back home we went to this walking path behind their house on the mountains and it had a great view of Sarajevo. After that we ate dinner, watched TV and went to bed.

Meeting our host families at the airport!



Monday- Monday was our first day of Bosnian language classes with our super awesome teacher. We learned a bunch of words and we learned some conjugations. After the language class we met up with Selma again and went to a synagogue, a Catholic church, a Mosque, and a Orthodox church. We then went to a café and walked around Old Town some more.

This was probably pretty boring so sorry about that. Most of my posts won't be like this.

One Month

In exactly one month I will be in Bosnia. Trying to envision that is exciting, scary, and extremely difficult. There are so many things I wonder about; "How will I learn Bosnian?" "What does Sarajevo sound like?" "How will I navigate Sarajevo when I frequently get lost in my own town, where I have lived in for sixteen years?" "What will school be like?" "What about the weather?" "Am I bringing the right clothes?"

My one biggest, most burning question of "Who is my host family?" was answered this week. YES! I GOT MY HOST FAMILY!

I have two, younger host sisters, a host mom, and host dad! My host mom and one of my host sisters speak "intermediate" English and my host dad and my other host sister speak "some" English. I'm not exactly sure what "intermediate" and "some" mean but I guess I will find out! I am hoping once I have the Bosnian basics down that we will talk in Bosnian:) My family also has a dog which I was really excited about. They live in a house about a mile away from my school, so it is a nice walking distance. My family is so perfect for me. They like to go on hikes, do sports, and spend time together(they also like chocolate cake which is a plus!). Also, my host mom used to be competitive swimmer and now she swims occasionally so maybe I can join her!(I'm not exactly sure who reads this but for those who don't know, I swam competitively for a long time, like 11 or 12 years, and I recently "retired") I have emailed my host mom and talked to one of my host sisters on Facebook. They both seem super sweet! I am so excited to meet everyone!

My future school

PDO

About a week ago I got home from the YES Abroad National Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO). It was a crazy busy four days but we all sure learned a ton!

The first day of PDO consisted of dinner and two workshops, which are pretty much informational seminars. At the workshops we all got to meet our group leader. For most groups the group leader is a YES Abroad alum from their future hot country. The Bosnia group was really lucky because our group leader was Katie! (Blog here- http://katieelise27.blogspot.com/) Katie was super great at answering all of our questions and it was also just really fun to meet her after stalking her blog for so long. So after the workshops we had a little bit of free time so that meant IPSE family reunion!!!

The next day consisted of sitting, and more sitting but it was EXHAUSTING. We had probably eight workshops and it was SO MUCH information all at once but it was nice to know we are a little bit more prepared for the coming year.

The third day was by far the best day. First, all the American Councils kids (Bosnia and Macedonia) went to the Wilson Center to learn about the Balkans! It was super informative and actually very interesting. Next, we split up and went to our respective embassies. The Bosnian ambassador was out of town so we talked to the Minister Counselor! He was really nice and answered all our our questions super in depth. The embassy smelled really good and Katie said that that is what Bosnia smells like!! After the embassy we had a quick lunch at good ol' Dunkin Donuts and I burned the roof of my mouth. Next we went to the State Department and we heard stories, asked questions, and received lots of information. The last thing we did was walk over to the Lincoln Memorial. We took lots of pictures, got a YES Abroad group picture, and then we left to go back to 4H for quite a bit of free time! This was a very physically active day but it really wasn't as tiring.

YES Abroad Bosnia-Herzegovina 2014-15

The last day we had one workshop and then it was off to the airport. It was really sad to think this was the last time YES Abroad 2014-15 will be all together. But we are all really excited to begin our journey!

YES Abroad 2014-15

 

IPSE

IPSE was the best weekend of my life and that is why I just got around to a blog post about it. It was so so so great I don't even know how to describe it! Just FYI, IPSE was about 2 million times more fun than this post makes it sound. Also sorry this is so long!

Friday- On Friday I woke up at 4:45 AM so I would have time to finish up with packing, and get to the airport by 6:30 for my 7:30 CST flight. Just a word of advice: Packing the morning of IPSE is NOT a good idea. So I after I finished packing I was off to the airport! I was the first of my flight buddies to get to the gate, but soon Bianca got there and a little bit later Lucien (Morocco) and Sydney got there. We boarded and took off. We landed about a half hour early at 10:35 EST, and made our way to baggage claim to meet the YES Abroad volunteers/alumni. The Minneapolis flight was to first to land so we had to wait for about 6 others people to land before taking a shuttle to the 4H Center. While we were waiting, Brandon (Thailand), Celeste (India), Will, and a couple others I can't remember (sorry!) showed up! We took our shuttle through DC and Celeste and I (Both midwesterners who had never been to DC) took pictures of EVERYTHING from the Washington Monument to The Famous Construction Site of America ;). Once we arrived at the 4H center we got our name tags and semifinalist handbooks (AKA YES Abroad Bibles). Since our flights and shuttle was very early we were there in time for lunch. After lunch, we found other people in the rec room and played all kinds of get to know you games. The next organized thing we did was the official welcome ceremony at 6:00 PM so me, Brandon, and Connar (Malaysia) made our way to the auditorium. During the ceremony, Abeeha and Faber (Macedonia) showed up because they were on the west coast so their flights landed a little bit later. After the ceremony if was off to dinner and then after dinner some people had interviews and the rest of us had fun talking, playing games, and getting to know each other!

Saturday- Saturday was the only full day at 4H and it was a lot of fun! So at IPSE, every semifinalist will have an individual interview, 2 group interviews, a workshop, and if you have 3+ years of French, a French interview, and country tables. I ended up having everything on Saturday which was kinda nice because it meant Friday and Sunday I could just relax. The first thing I had on Saturday was the workshop around 9ish. An hour or two after that I had my individual interview, then my group interview, then country tables, then my second group interview, then my French interview. None of these we immediately after each other and I had LOTS of down time. The time when nothing was scheduled were the best time!! Most of the time I was up in the third floor lounge with the best people ever. All of us had just met in person that Friday but we got along like we had all been best friends our entire life. 9/11 of this group of people ended up being accepted by YES which is kinda odd because YES was created in the aftermath of  9/11. I cant wait to spend more time with these people at PDO and then our reunions in the years after our exchanges! Saturday night before we fell asleep my roommates; Celeste(India) , Lily(Morocco), and Mariah had roommate bonding time and it was super fun!! So Saturday was a busy day but it was really fun!

Sunday- Sunday was a really short day and it went by super fast.  I woke up around 6:40ish I think and went to breakfast. After breakfast Brandon, Faber, Abeeha, and I decided to pack and bring our bags to the best room ever(The Minnesota room), which is where they told us to bring our bags. Some people had interviews that morning so I had more time up in the third floor lounge which was super fun! Before long it was time to go get our boxed lunches and eat before we leave. I actually ended up grabbing ham and I don't eat pork so that was kinda sad but I traded with someone and it was all okay:). When we all finished eating we took a bunch of pictures and some of them are on here. So after that, everyone in the third floor lounge reluctantly went downstairs for the closing ceremony and then the Dulles airport people, including me and Abeeha, were rushed out to get our bags and get on our shuttle. Well for some reason most people put their bags in a different room so I got lost trying to find the Minnesota room and I was scared I would miss the shuttle but my luggage was found and it was all good. The Regan airport people, which was about 75% of everyone, left soon after us. Once my shuttle got to the airport we were separated into groups which were pretty much our flight buddies and we went to our gates. The Minnesota flight was one of the earlier flights but we still had about two hours before boarding. Abeeha, who I think had like 5 or 6 hours came to my gate so that was fun:) When the plane took off the hardest wait of all started. 17 days.




I'm assuming a lot of the people reading this are either semifinalists or semifinalist hopefuls so I cant say a lot about the interviews but here is some stuff that might interest you-

Individual Interview: The waiting before the interview is way more stressful than the actual interview. All the interviewers are really nice and they aren't trying to trick you or make you look bad. They just want to get to know you. Relax and be honest!

Group Interviews: The group interviews are super fun! You are in a group with about five other people and you work together to accomplish something. The groups were with the same people for both interviews. I was really nervous about the group interviews but they ended up being one of my favorite parts of IPSE!

Country Tables: There were either 2 or 3 time slots for country tables and each person was assigned to go to one of the times. It's basically a room where you can go to get information on the YES Abroad countries, pick up info sheets, and ask questions.

Food: The food was pretty good but the ice cream was a new level of great. Also they had my favorite juice which is like mango passion guava or something but it's heavenly. I had only ever seen this juice on one of my cruises but I am obsessed with it so I was ECSTATIC when I saw that it was there! If you are somebody about to go to IPSE or PDO you MUST try this juice.

Down Time: There is a lot of down time at IPSE but you will never be bored! There are always other people to talk to, play mafia with, or start a game of volleyball!

If you have an other questions just comment and I'll add them!

Waiting

If you apply to any of the Department of State scholarships you will spend forever waiting. So far, in one application cycle of YES Abroad and NSLIY I have had 9 countdowns + "Last Day of School"

NSLIY Application deadline (November 7th)- The first and most painless of the countdowns because at that point I was mostly applying because why not?

NSLIY semi notification (December 8th)- This one was also pretty easy because I was hard at work with my YES application (YES was my 1st choice anyway) and I also wasn't expecting it until later in December.

YES Abroad Application deadline (January 15th)- This one was a little more stressful because I was scrambling to make sure my essays were exactly how I wanted them and I CONSTANTLY was changing country rankings.

YES semi notification (February 28th)- This was a really long wait, about 50 days I think. A great distraction was the YES Abroad Facebook group and my YES group message with Victoria (Indonesia), Eileen (India), Faber (Macedonia), Vatrelle (CBYX), Abeeha, Brandon (Thailand), Emily (Thailand), and Baillie (Indonesia). By the way, if you are an applicant reading this a HUGE tip is get to know some of the other applicants! If you make it to IPSE, they will be a big encouragement!

IPSE (March 21st)- This was a 22 day wait and I was really excited to go to IPSE but the wait went by pretty fast! I am currently working on an IPSE post but it's really hard to describe such a magical 3 days so it will take me a while. Something the semifinalists on the Facebook group did during this wait that was fun is we had a question of the day everyday to get to know each other!

YES finalist notification (April 12th)- For me, this wait went pretty fast except for the last 3-4 days which were S O  S L O W. Once I got my wonderful and surprising email, this wait was totally worth it!

NSLIY finalist notification (Rolling Mid April)- This wait was pretty much non-existent for me because I had already accepted Bosnia. I know some YES kids really had a hard time with this one though because for some people accepted into YES were also considering NSLIY but did not yet know if they had been accepted.

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Last day of School (11 days-June 5th)- I can not wait for school to be done, but I will also miss some aspects of it. For instance, a lot of my friends are juniors so this will be my last year with them at school. On the other hand, it will be nice to be able to focus on learning Bosnian and not school.

PDO (32 days-June 24th)- I really really really cannot wait to be reunited with all the finalists at PDO! It's sad that we won't get to see all the people that were at IPSE because are were all amazing people who will all be doing something great next year no matter where they are!

Bosnia (82 days-About August 15th)- This is only an estimated date but it totally has not hit me yet. In less than ninety days I will be in a country trying to speak a language that eight months ago, I didn't even know existed. I will probably have more posts about this this summer as it gets even CLOSER.

These countdowns have consumed the past seven/eight months of my life and I'm sure once I get back from Bosnia the waiting will continue with a countdown until I go back!

Sarajevo