Departures and Arrivals

    It's August 15 which means, since yesterday, I have been in BOSNIA. WOO HOO! But I'm going to go back a few days for the good byes.

    Saturday was all packing. After a Skype call with Medina and Nizama with a lot of laughs and assuring me and my mom that I will be safe and happy, I set down to work. Hours later, I packed in one of the last items (because I had church the next morning) and lifted my first suitcase stuffed with way too many shoes and purses and gifts. (Hey Mom, they loved the Moose Munch!)
    Sunday was my last day at RockPoint Church. So many good byes and people that I love. You are all fantastic, wonderful people and you made my leave so much harder. Not that you changed my mind. I am quite happy here :) In the afternoon, I finished my packing with my luggage weighing in at a whopping 99.5 pounds. Oi.
    That evening was my good bye party with some of my best friends. We got dressed to the nines (not quite, but still) and headed out to the Jory for dessert. It was so lovely and I thank you all for the gifts and the letters that I will keep close to me. You are all fabulous, gorgeous people and I love you so very much. For the laughs, for the tears (from laughing), for the sometimes violent sprees we would have such as Indian Leg Wrestling. I love you <3

    I then returned home and watched the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics with all of them, and we belted "What Makes You Beautiful" together. *sigh* That's just what makes us awesome. We then said our good byes late at night and I still had to finish up packing.

    Day of departure! Almost missed my flight because of a stupid Visa thing, said a quick good bye or else I was going to miss my flight and then took off. Fast forward 21 hours and, ta-da, I landed in Sarajevo, BiH!

   Customs was a cinch and all our luggage had arrived (except Anna's, but it's here now) and then we walked through the gate to see our host families! Nizama and Medina were waiting for me and I was greeted with a warm hug and smiles.

    We immediately took of and met up with Esad (host father) and we headed to my new home!

    Sarajevo is a beautiful city and it's a mixture of so many things such as:
    1) It's a mix of modern and sleek, old and beautiful, gorgeous scenery, and war torn.
    2) There are all sorts of people and I even found some fellow Americans while walking around today.
    3) There's a Mexican restaurant :) And a very Turkish foundation (thank you AP Euro for letting me know what went down a couple centuries ago)

    I would love to tell you more and I know you're probably like, this gave me nothing, but my battery is about to die because my convertor doesn't work. I promise I will post tomorrow (if I'm awake) with pictures and details.

   Anyway, I had better go downstairs and help with dinner. We're having stew tonight!

   Until my laptop is charged,
-Katie