tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14241439619880245092024-03-06T04:08:58.330+01:00Oh, The Places We'll Go!The adventure of a teenage girl, traveling to Bosnia-Herzegovina with YES Abroad 2012-2013.Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-27081387860296576982015-04-27T18:37:00.001+02:002015-04-27T18:37:58.048+02:00Throwback Thursday Oi, it's been awhile. Happy 2015, I guess? Pretty much I'm writing because once again I was reconnected with the lovely people of YES Abroad and it's always so important to me to write about it. Somewhere... anywhere... so here we go!<br />
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Three weeks ago, I was in Chevy Chase, Maryland for the In-Person Selection Event (IPSE), only this time, I was working as a shadower, experienced alumna, and hopeful interviewer. The last time I was at IPSE was three years ago. <i>Three</i>. I watched excited and nervous students come through the doors, making friends with all the other hopefuls, and was instantly sent back into a weird sense of <i>déja vu</i>. Had it really been three whole years since <i>I </i>was that student? Three years since I was meeting up with other kids wanting to be youth ambassadors and seeing <i>my</i> Facebook friends in person and hanging off the words of each alum at my IPSE.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirAZT792-MHmXrq2XtWlg_uNLA_LgjJ_MkEL0zF6EVLLaaMIQHBRgk-IwaMuCSF0GpYU5ORgCnSa8qQ0PQukw8TOAAn-M-9wc8bsBn9-rwwvkotWVjSQiXY9yp5woqcVGBDLveE-yViy8/s1600/IMG_2438.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirAZT792-MHmXrq2XtWlg_uNLA_LgjJ_MkEL0zF6EVLLaaMIQHBRgk-IwaMuCSF0GpYU5ORgCnSa8qQ0PQukw8TOAAn-M-9wc8bsBn9-rwwvkotWVjSQiXY9yp5woqcVGBDLveE-yViy8/s1600/IMG_2438.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Alumni! </td></tr>
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As the weekend progressed, I was constantly thrown into memory lane, as I always find myself on any YES Abroad related event. The Alumni Association event in September was probably the worst of them all, especially having Emma from the year after me – who stayed with Nizama and Esad – be there. We bonded and were nostalgic together, craving all the little things Bosnia-Herzegovina had to offer. During a free moment of the conference, Emma and I escaped to Skype our host family and catch up on life. I sat there listening to Emma and the Hujdurs talk freely in Bosnian and I realized how much and how quickly my Bosnian had disintegrated into nearly nothing. I could barely muster out a "<i>Jesam dobro, školi je dobro takoder,</i>" before I felt overwhelmed with how much of the language I had forgotten.<br />
<br />
It was interesting to be on the other side of the table during the interviews. I could feel a student's passion or nervousness as tangibly as if it was my own. I <i>knew </i>what they were going through. Yet, there I was, sitting in on interviews and learning what it truly took to be a YES Abroad student. It made me wonder what they thought during <i>my </i>interview. Which then naturally threw me back in to a whirlwind of emotions about missing Bosnia <i>all over again</i>.<br />
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I've been home for nearly two years and I was expecting that by this point in life, I wouldn't be thinking this much about <i>Bosna i Hercegovina</i>. I thought that I'd look back on it as a happy memory and be able to move on with my life. However, I've realized that the farther away I get from BiH, the more I want to be there. Already the <i>fourth </i>generation of YES Abroad BiH students have been chosen and I'm sitting here like the kooky grandma telling them all about this fabulous country. Three out of the five SHAKE girls have already returned to Bosnia since we left and I'm waiting for the day that I get to do the same. I'm at the point where I could live there all over again. Bosnia-Herzegovina isn't just a <i>place</i> to me anymore. It is in my heart and a part of my being and I will do anything I can to return to that country soon.<br />
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Anyway, I hope this post wasn't too terribly sad.<br />
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Until I can return,<br />
- Katie<br />
<br />Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-52168282151759219952014-07-02T08:35:00.003+02:002014-07-02T08:40:27.821+02:00One More Time Now Okay, so it's getting to a point in my life where Bosnia is literally <i>so last year</i>, but so help me, I will talk about this country until I die. So here we go.<br />
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Number one piece of business: It's been a year since my return! Plus a few weeks. My mother told me that I need to let it go (cue <i>Frozen </i>playing in the background) and that I came home a year ago and it's time to just look forward to the rest of my college experience and career and marriage. However, I like remembering the days where life was a little simpler and I didn't have to worry about coughing up $2000 by August for my college downpayment when I don't have a job. Hopefully that will change in the upcoming weeks (or days or, you know, hour. That'd be cool.) and when it does I will gear my attention towards that.<br />
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But as of right now, I'm allowed to reflect on my year abroad <i>because... </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I was at the YES Abroad PDO once again this past week! This year, working as the group leader for the third generation of Bosnia-Herzegovina students. I felt like some kooky grandma when all these high schoolers are asking me about my experience and I get the privilege to say, "When <i>I </i>was in Bosnia, I walked to school and drank coffee all the time!" This year there are <i>seven </i>students heading off to BiH and two of them are going to be hosted in a city <i>other </i>than Sarajevo, which is crazy considering my year (aka the first year Bosnia was offered), there were only us five SHAKE girls and we were the second smallest group out of the bunch. With seven, we become the largest tied with the kids going to Turkey.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3HCGTGvUy9KhC2CWCWg7zxxyg7REBF_f2DNIO2q5PnoIa9r6IqisVd9IMh1_EeMa1bvtkMHM1v4_OC2x2gaJ_UsBJwG39_Qnx4ns7w6hiWu1YmoEemGF5rJTzXjFgx6UkSq1KRDmYkyk/s1600/10486473_712523638805245_4302911083621326907_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3HCGTGvUy9KhC2CWCWg7zxxyg7REBF_f2DNIO2q5PnoIa9r6IqisVd9IMh1_EeMa1bvtkMHM1v4_OC2x2gaJ_UsBJwG39_Qnx4ns7w6hiWu1YmoEemGF5rJTzXjFgx6UkSq1KRDmYkyk/s1600/10486473_712523638805245_4302911083621326907_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bosnia-Herzegovina YES Abroad students 2014-2015.</td></tr>
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I did my best to answer any and all of their questions and I found myself remembering details I had merely forgotten because they weren't outright facts. Things like how they carried Kleenex with them at all times and how some men wore murses and how making friends was an easy task due to how friendly everyone is. Okay, so that last bit wasn't something I'd forgotten. To this day I am grateful for all the friendships I've made in Bosnia. Reliving experiences was fun, but it took its toll. When I returned to my room, I went back looking at pictures and contacting my host family and friends, wanting to return immediately and found host-homesickness seeping back into my soul. At least I found a Bosnian restaurant back in Portland that I can go to so I can indulge in ćevapi once again.<br />
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Not only was it fabulous to share experiences and wisdom with the upcoming class of exchange students, but it was just as great to talk about exchange life with other alumni! At the PDO were three other girls from my year, including Sara from SHOCK! Yes, I was very excited. The other girls went to Oman, Turkey, and Sara went to Indonesia. We spent plenty of time talking about return life and host-country life and shared and compared. It's always comforting to talk with other people who went through similar things as you. Maybe not identical, but definitely certain experiences were relatable.<br />
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Anyway, I hope to participate in more YES Abroad events and will pester Skye and Julia and Tara and Elise (sorry guys) until they allow it and hope this is one of many in months/years to come.<br />
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Until further alumni shenanigans,<br />
- Katie<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hangin' with my main man.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check out that heavenly glory over the Lincoln Memorial.</td></tr>
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<br />Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-17958086636348912572014-03-22T00:04:00.002+01:002014-03-22T00:05:13.297+01:00Sentiment<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Ah, it's good to be back. Between church, work, school, and what ever else life throws at me, getting around to writing a blog post is sadly one of the last things on my mind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Just last week, I attended Ashoka's Youth Venture Social Entrepreneur Workshop which is a fancy title to say that I was in Washington DC for an exchange student alumni workshop for YES and YES Abroad that would give us the tools to address the social issues in our community. There I met, not only other Americans who spent a year in a foreign country, but other international students who spent their year here in the United States. It was so exciting to be surrounded by exchange students again, discussing our home countries and host countries. People from all over the world were in that little coffee colored conference room with common goals and purposes. Young adults from Asia, Africa, Europe, and America all gathered together to be the change makers in their community. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4rE40U2KIKg0Di4FjwW9k27hdASU0OkQyaFVvVGbiIlrgh-cXATjrEzSAbwIKGKlStf6Ao3eLhn_0Gilr8mYy1tny1HcrbFmyWnsxko1poLusYJsjtqAm3V7jy82PvlKU98M-zjjNZjg/s1600/1012156_10153896001500648_578436075_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4rE40U2KIKg0Di4FjwW9k27hdASU0OkQyaFVvVGbiIlrgh-cXATjrEzSAbwIKGKlStf6Ao3eLhn_0Gilr8mYy1tny1HcrbFmyWnsxko1poLusYJsjtqAm3V7jy82PvlKU98M-zjjNZjg/s1600/1012156_10153896001500648_578436075_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">YES and YES Abroad Alumni</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> There, Emma (from SHAKE) was home in DC for Spring Break, so we met up and went out for ćevapi at a Bosnian restaurant not far from my hotel. Attached to the restaurant was a Bosnian grocery store. As I skimmed each *tiny* aisle, I found myself in another nostalgic rut of emotion, wishing I could buy each Munchmallow and Milka bar and blue Fanta bottle to take back with me. As I looked at the items, I heard the store keeper speaking with a man in Bosnian and I could have died, I was so excited. I <i>understood</i>. Not to mention I haven't heard Bosnian in months, so the fact that I knew what they were talking about when my Bosnian is pretty rusty, made my heart swell with joy. Then as we were checking out, the lady had heard us speaking English, so she checked out our items in English, asking if that was all and giving our total. As we left the store, I turned and said, "<i>Hvala puno, dobro večer</i>! (Thank you very much, good evening!)", the shopkeeper looked pleasantly surprised as she stuttered out a "<i>Molim, priatno</i>! (You're welcome, have a good day)" My smile widened and I nearly skipped, I was so happy for that moment of <i>bosanski jezik </i>(Bosnian language).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> As I spent time with my new-found </span>friends<span style="font-family: inherit;"> from all sorts of countries, it just made me so happy to talk about Bosnia once again in an open environment where people were excited to hear my stories and live my experiences with me, because they had gone through similar events. Lately, the most I've talked about my exchange is sneaking it into essays for school.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Then, just last month, my sister returned from India after six months teaching English and kid's church at an orphanage that my dad has been highly involved in for quite </span>awhile. For the first couple of weeks that she was back, however, we couldn't find time to have sister time. She was back, but then I got snowed in at school. Then she was off to Hawaii to surprise our cousin. Then I was off to DC for the workshop. On Wednesday was one of the first times we had actually sat down and talked about life. As we sat on the stairs of the church stage after youth group, she looked down looking a bit melancholy.<br />
"Do you ever miss Bosnia?" She asked, quietly.<br />
I sighed, probably for added effect and being dramatic. "Everyday," I said. "Don't you miss India?"<br />
"Of course, but nobody cares anymore. Nobody asks about it."<br />
"I know." And I knew better than most. People hear your few stories that you have on back up that you want to tell everyone, but after that, they don't find it interesting. You went away, you came back, that's cool, move along. And there is <i>nothing</i> you want more than to find someone you can always go to and just discuss it with. People don't understand the slight changes in your behavior from being away and the only other people who get it, are the people who did the exact same thing as you.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drinking from the Sebilj - it means you'll one day return to <br />
Sarajevo and I seriously hope this is true.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After that sister moment and missing our countries, I found myself wanting to speak Bosnian again and so I wrote my host mom and talked to my friends back in Sarajevo. Missing my host country isn't even something that comes and goes anymore, it's a state of my being. Sure, I've established myself back here in Oregon, become a college kid, made more friends, and gone on different adventures, but the thought of my Sarajevo life is always still there. I take any and every opportunity to slip Bosnia into conversation (I'm sorry, a billion times over if this annoys you) and am working ways to take my passion for my love of cultures and writing and mix it together (so far we're at blog posts, articles on Go Abroad, and essays for school. Next stop: <i>everything</i>.). My love for Bosnia won't die down anytime soon and there's nothing I want more than to be back at Panjina Kula with Esad and Nizama or down at a café in Baščaršija with SHAKE or sitting in my Teen Group at Evanđeoska Crkva.<br />
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Anyway, there's my Bosnia love for the day.<br />
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Until next time when I have more sentimental feelings to share,<br />
- Katie<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-20656964881339813142014-02-04T02:01:00.001+01:002014-02-04T02:02:55.776+01:00Busses Ah, exchange blog. I've missed you so much this past month. Shall we be nostalgic together?<br />
It's strange how such a normal task, even in your home <i>and </i>host country can bring you nostalgia and flashbacks when you start up again.<br />
This, for me, was taking the bus.<br />
<br />
Before Bosnia, the only busses I ever took were my yellow school bus for a max of ten minutes everyday and that one time I took a smelly, over-crowded bus in Las Vegas. Needless to say, my fondest memories of American life were not on those rides.<br />
<br />
When I arrived in Bosnia, I soon realized public transportation was going to be the main mode I would navigate the city. I wasn't too thrilled. My idea of busses were smelly and noisy and altogether unpleasant. People were grumpy and children were restless and it was the last thing I wanted to join in on. The third or fourth day of me being in Sarajevo, my host sister picked me up after language class and told me we would be taking the bus home. I couldn't imagine why, but that thought made my stomach churn. She told me to pull out 1.60 KM and that when the bus pulled up, I would squeeze my way on to bus, hand my money to the driver, and try to get a seat.<br />
The seat thing didn't happen.<br />
The bus quickly filled up and we ended up pressed against the windows on a hot day for the next fifteen minutes, falling into the next person every time we took a sharp turn (aka every thirty seconds).<br />
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In those short ten months, the bus became a normal part of life. Every time I needed to get home, I would wait for bus 72 or 74, board the bus, flash my student pass (even if my bus driver soon started recognizing me and smiled every time I boarded), took a seat (or stood and held on to the bar for dear life) and rode up the mountain to Panjina Kula. Most days, I would sit silently and listen to my iPod or contemplate the next blog post I would write, but every now and then I would talk to the person near me.<br />
One day it was an elderly lady who asked me if the bus went to Sredrenik, but I didn't understand her at first and I felt disappointed I couldn't help her. But instead of writing me off, she slowed down her speaking and used easier language so I could understand her.<br />
Another time I sat by an old man who started talking to me about how he visited America when he was a college student.<br />
I rode up with my friends and showed them the beautiful view from my vantage point.<br />
By the time my exchange was over, I came to truly enjoy those bus rides. They were simple and uncomplicated unless someone heard me speak English and then I would hear them talking about me being an "<i>amerikanka</i>". That was rare enough though, so, I could deal with the immature teenagers that would confront me and make fun of me.<br />
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Since I returned home, I hadn't ridden the bus since my last full day in Bosnia. No matter where I've gone in America or Canada, there was a car to take me there. I've started taking it for granted and have limited my going places because I don't have any way of getting around on certain days.<br />
Just last week I was hired for a job that is a straight 77 blocks down the road from my school which would take an hour and a half to walk and nothing important is down there for it to be "on the way" so someone could drive me. Friday was training day and I had to fall back on something I hadn't done in seven months. Public transportation. I looked up the bus schedule and made my way to the stop.<br />
Well that turned out to be an adventure.<br />
Firstly, I didn't know where to pay for my ticket and the bus driver got mad at me for being confused. Then I forgot my phone back at campus. Then I arrived twenty minutes early <i>plus</i> the general manager was home sick with the flu so my training was cancelled. Then I realized I didn't know the returning bus schedule so I had to call my mother to get the numbers for one of my friends from church who was currently in Portland and <i>she didn't have them</i>, so I had to call my dad to get them. By the time this whole ordeal was over, I was already exhausted and that wasn't even the majority of my day.<br />
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However, taking the bus reminded me of all those rides in Bosnia, turning around narrow corners and talking to strangers (sorry parents and teachers who told me not to do that). The entire fifteen minute ride to my workplace, I was constantly thinking back to Bosnia and how different it was. The busses weren't hand-me-downs, there wasn't nearly as much graffiti, and absolutely no old people to hold your bags for you. There was so much room between each person, nobody daring sitting next to each other if they could avoid it and I found the whole situation funny.<br />
Bus rides were a normal, mundane task and here I was thinking back to how different it was and how I actually missed my old bus rides with the beautiful scenery and even the general people (my bus was full of old people)! I'm sure as these next few weeks go by and I take the bus more consistently, I won't think about my bus rides in Bosnia and how it was always an adventure, but instead just think of it as part of the job. But as for now, bus rides are a constant reminder and that's something I'm perfectly okay with.<br />
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Anyway, I have to go do some reading for classes tomorrow, not to mention my sister returns from India tomorrow night! Ah, I am so excited!<br />
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Until more bus rides and coffee,<br />
-Katie<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT2h4fpFz0nWhl5NagR-CKh-YTIf_5klcMuQb4F_30L730QUq3wpHk7ut-SZKN6CCFTrtacHkPL86fasWirCttiSbDQC19Au8SElsfwe-2kXKRABCHNVteKAaRUDlQkmd2mHNtohwIZQo/s1600/DSC_0392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT2h4fpFz0nWhl5NagR-CKh-YTIf_5klcMuQb4F_30L730QUq3wpHk7ut-SZKN6CCFTrtacHkPL86fasWirCttiSbDQC19Au8SElsfwe-2kXKRABCHNVteKAaRUDlQkmd2mHNtohwIZQo/s1600/DSC_0392.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First on the bus with Hels in BiH. It was a nice feeling.</td></tr>
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Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-34742816901153893582013-12-31T23:57:00.000+01:002013-12-31T23:59:56.821+01:00End of the Season Ah, here we are on the never completely over blog post where I become nostalgic and go over events of the year. It's crazy to me how much can happen in a single year. Twelve months, fifty-two weeks, 365 days.<br />
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I can't believe that a year ago, I was in Bosnia, a fact I never fully forget, but don't quite always think about it. I would be at Savannah's host family's house watching music videos with the rest of SHAKE (Savannah, Helena, Anna, myself, and Emma for those who forgot. OR YES Abroad BiH 2012-2013 for those who don't even know) and eating the random food on the table. We all called out "Happy New Year" together and watched fireworks go off through the fog and smoke from wood stoves and it was so strange to have celebrated the old year and a new year in a foreign country.<br />
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<b>January</b>: The month that went from zero to a hundred in a few days. First, nothing was happening as I slept in everyday and drank <i>topla čokolada </i>(hot chocolate). Then it was the youth conference in Mostar with some of my best friends and my package came from home and then my wallet got stollen on the tram. After that, January died back down as it slipped into February and into the second semester of school and my exchange.<br />
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<b>February</b>: One of the quietest months I had. Conversations with my host mom, a SHAKE birthday party for Emma when we went bowling, and then my own birthday which was spent alone in my room because I was sick and my host family thought it was the next day.<br />
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<b>March</b>: Life picked up quickly in March, kicking it off with a big youth group day at my church plus guests from Switzerland! It was one of the most fun days I had while being in Sarajevo and I still remember it so well as we dashed through Old Town, laughing until we cried. The next day was my birthday party with SHAKE as we headed up to the top of the mountain to see the view and have sandwiches and throw rocks as far as we could (Helena's could have gone far if it didn't hit a particular target...). Once we returned home, it was the Fruit Loop Catching Challenge and I won and it was lovely.<br />
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<b>April</b>: My spontaneous month, full of impromptu hair cuts (a big deal in girl world, ok?), random photo shoots across Sarajevo, and practically living at my church for a weekend because of concerts and foreigners. SHAKE traveled to Croatia and I went golfing with my friend from church (an interesting experience indeed).<br />
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<b>May: </b>My mother came to visit me in Bosnia this month and we traveled with SHAKE to Croatia again, this time Helena's mom joining us for part of the trip. It was wonderful to have her share part of my experience abroad. Once she left, SHAKE began wrapping up the year and it was so incredibly sad to think we were heading home that next month. We had our last cultural excursion, we talked to the American Ambassador, and another exchange student in Bosnia stayed with me for a few days which was so lovely!<br />
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<b>June</b>: Probably one of the saddest and happiest months I had this year. I said goodbye to all my friends I made from a year abroad and then said hello to my friends and family waiting for me in America and Canada! My life at that point was just a big, jumbled mess of feelings and I didn't quite know what to make of them.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saying goodbye to my host mom, Nizama!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SHAKE for the last time.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the ECA for our Bosnia presentation</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQopWq2KKgBN3Cso2HNYB1aPSMZ5KAeyL6Imx1vTXqgFllJAe5EkvJe7lOcKSoqjEDES_ByjlAKe6ZafCFTOHGZGwW_yA-V1A9TegIB2nx_Nf8gfzkHRbZzqHiJ5Qgom79eC8YluL3_Kg/s1600/1003644_10152890589765346_153277155_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQopWq2KKgBN3Cso2HNYB1aPSMZ5KAeyL6Imx1vTXqgFllJAe5EkvJe7lOcKSoqjEDES_ByjlAKe6ZafCFTOHGZGwW_yA-V1A9TegIB2nx_Nf8gfzkHRbZzqHiJ5Qgom79eC8YluL3_Kg/s320/1003644_10152890589765346_153277155_n.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally get to hug my brother!</td></tr>
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<b>July</b>: Went to my home church's camp and it was so fun! My friendships only grew<b> </b>and everything, for that moment, felt just how it should be.<br />
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<b> August</b>: I began my transition into American life again and then into college! My best friend became my roommate and college life vaguely reminded me of Bosnia. It was such a nice, familiar feeling to be meeting so many new people and going to classes again.<br />
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<b>September</b>: Reverse culture shock bit me in the butt during this month, but I tried to ward it off by getting a super part-time job and going on late night Mexican food runs with my friends. Nothing too exciting other than my feelings for Bosnia were about to explode and what made it worse was my sister left for India to teach English!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is me pretending to hug my sister because she isn't here.</td></tr>
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<b>October</b>: I became a published author on <a href="http://www.goabroad.com/author/katie-wells">Go Abroad</a>! I spent more time writing, which I absolutely adore to do as well as going out with friends more and doing things I normally wouldn't. It's been wonderful.<br />
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<b>November</b>: Began the month with the crushing news of the mass grave found in Bosnia, but I think I just made it worse when I went to All-Night Prayer at school and just found myself crying more than I should. But it was still good to be a part of. It was also Thanksgiving where we had the multitudes of foreigners (Brazilians and Canadians, plus an Alaskan who is practically Canadian so...) and it was such a fun weekend, especially when my team won the football game. I scored a touch down even!<br />
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<b>And December: </b>This month has been productive, to say the least. School ended and all my friends flew out to their homes (I merely got picked up. Perks of living 45 minutes away) and since then I have been hanging out with my family and local friends, keeping up on my writing and helping around the church and home. Christmas was small because my sister was gone, but then I received news that my French host sister is coming to visit me in July!<br />
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So here's to 2014. I don't know if it'll top 2012 or 2013 (both were pretty fabulous years), but I'm going to make the most of it. It may have been six months since the end of the best time of my life, but I'm planning on making 2014 better. I'm not sure how, but maybe with a look of optimism, I'll accomplish that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn8yWW7JaEUcmBIL3SoniqDPYFbBFrH_S2AZNYxMQ8hyphenhyphenuZqo6_8X4fceulc5WmjZ2w9X4Uod2OrkKif1U6rc_4rXL-sRPXVTqT4kh6Ti63lY0Psc-kiqxmazlgc4dwD4uo-4eV7nMlugg/s1600/f1696ec4fd88dab6b4430b64fc3b4abc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn8yWW7JaEUcmBIL3SoniqDPYFbBFrH_S2AZNYxMQ8hyphenhyphenuZqo6_8X4fceulc5WmjZ2w9X4Uod2OrkKif1U6rc_4rXL-sRPXVTqT4kh6Ti63lY0Psc-kiqxmazlgc4dwD4uo-4eV7nMlugg/s320/f1696ec4fd88dab6b4430b64fc3b4abc.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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<br />
Anyway, cheers to the new year!<br />
<br />
Until 2014,<br />
-Katie<br />
<br />
P.S. Photo cred to the lovely Anna Wright, the wonderful Stephanie, and my own fantastic mother.Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-17988499043272469052013-11-02T05:34:00.005+01:002013-11-02T06:02:50.801+01:00Being Connected<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> When you read the news, sometimes you feel a little disconnected. Something happening in a country on the other side of the world that doesn't truly affect you, so you feel a bit sad for the people that are experiencing it, but otherwise you feel generally okay. Your city and country are doing quite well compared to others, no wars being fought within the borders, no immense and noticeable damage done. However, when you <i>are</i> connected to another country, the stories become more real and more apparent. You feel for those countries, even if you aren't in them. And that's something Exchange has done to me.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> Every time Bosnia and surrounding countries are brought up, I instantly get excited. However today was a different story.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> This evening, while I was enjoying a basketball game, my mom texted me <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/01/world/europe/bosnia-mass-grave/">the link to an article</a> about the Bosnian War. Thinking it would be something a bit fascinating, I opened it, not ready for what was to be read.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> "Hundred of bodies found in Bosnia mass grave" it read at the top in big, bold, black lettering. My heart sank at the words. My mind flashed back to going to Srebrenica where thousands of graves were spread out, thousands of people murdered and dumped into a ditch. We watched videos of families after they figured out what happened to their fathers and sons and husbands. We read biographies of bodies they identified. None of us left that building feeling happy. There was a hole in our hearts and we were living so close to the place it happened. We all knew families that had been affected by the war.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> All of us were connected, which is why, as I read the article, I fell into a deeper slump.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> "231 bodies found."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> "Body parts of another 112 dug up."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> "The number increases by the day or even the hour."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> "Personal items found to help identify them."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> "Grave nearly 33 feet deep."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> "Mass grave under garbage disposal site."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> I kept reading, no matter how much it hurt. These bodies found were <i>people.</i> They had families and friends and here, nearly twenty years after the war, they are finally going to discover what happened to them and those wounds are going to be ripped open once again.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> All this hurts so much more than I expected it to hurt. I had <i>been </i>there. I <i>lived</i> there. Both history and current events become so much more real when they have faces and there are so many faces and stories I relate to those found bodies.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"> I told one of my friend's this when I heard the news. She was sad, of course, as anyone is when they hear tragic stories of war, but she didn't understand the pain I was feeling as my heart reached out to those families who are going to discover what happened to their loved ones. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My friends don't understand that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I stood in the empty tire factory where they told the villagers to come and they would be safe. But they used it as a way to get everyone together in one place. They separated the men and women and then took the men away and shot them all, even the boys. I stood in the place they were buried, looking out over a thousand white crosses. I saw the empty shells of houses that were bombed. I lived with a family who had to abandon their home and live in a refugee center. Their children are still bitter and angry today. That is why news like this is sad to me. They don't understand that I had been there, seen that, and felt things I never thought I would feel. Never before had I been connected to such tragic pasts and there I was standing in the midst of a genocide. It doesn't matter that it was almost two decades ago. I was connected now and it makes this all so real and painful.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> My prayers go out to the families that will have to face the news in due course. I never thought exchange would come with such a burden so long after it's been over. I didn't know that everything that happened in that country was almost as if it was happening to me as well. Nobody told me how </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc; line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;">exchange could effect me like it is now.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgo-v5D8YDTTx9vDVd78B6uwawiLCihQhPtwt9D1R4PdlDifMnIfPZGCXilasFO2v7SVJ17zetoUMpW2ciVvvAQdofyklgm_NNMTi50rHLccjyTg6lsr1-by3-NA_BtHw28KMXBSl-o0/s1600/DSC_0936.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgo-v5D8YDTTx9vDVd78B6uwawiLCihQhPtwt9D1R4PdlDifMnIfPZGCXilasFO2v7SVJ17zetoUMpW2ciVvvAQdofyklgm_NNMTi50rHLccjyTg6lsr1-by3-NA_BtHw28KMXBSl-o0/s320/DSC_0936.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A fraction of the names of people found in Srebrenica after the mass genocide.</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc; line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Anyway, I hope this post gives a bit of food for thought to all who read it. Thanks to my mom for letting me use some of her wording explaining how I feel better than I ever could.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Until Bosnia pops up in the news again (hopefully for the good - wait! Bosnia made it to the World Cup! Yay!),</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f4cccc; line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;">-Katie</span></span>Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-41162019641055064942013-10-09T04:27:00.004+02:002013-10-09T04:35:36.739+02:00Application Season Wow. It's actually crazy to think that it's that time of year <i>again</i> for students all over the States to fill out the application to go on YES Abroad. It barely felt like any time at all that <i>I </i>was filling out the application to come to Bosnia. And it feels almost less than that when I first applied in 2010 (I was rejected, in case anyone was wondering). This is the fourth application season I've gone through. Twice actually filling it out, once witnessing it from abroad, and now witnessing it from within the States after my own exchange.<br />
<br />
The application season is stressful, no doubt. You think you have four months to complete your application, which you do, and that seems like so much time! But then the holidays roll along and you get caught up in singing 'Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer' and eating turkey and next thing you know the application is due!<br />
I took all four months to complete the application. Whether it was switching in and out my pictures or editing my essays or getting good recommendations, I was constantly working on it. The first time I did it, I wasn't really thinking anything through (hence why I was <i>rejected). </i>My essays were short and incomplete, my pictures not really clear on what I did, and I didn't explain my extracurriculars well enough to give anyone a clear idea of what I liked to do. So! For you current applicants for 2014-2015 (what even. How.) I have some advice.<br />
<br />
<b>1. Get a second opinion</b>. And I don't mean from one of your friends. I mean, go to your English or History teacher or parent/guardian or someone who knows what a good application looks like. They will help you make yourself sound wonderful (when I'm sure you all are ;) ) and having a well-crafted essay definitely helps. I got my mom to edit my essays with me, rewording things that didn't sound right or adding things I didn't think of and it turned my essays into wonderful little pieces of work.<br />
<br />
<b>2. Take your time.</b> This is extremely important. Most people will want to book it out in a night or two, but taking your time is really key. You can go over essays and change things you don't like, add things that you've begun, and be overall satisfied with your finished works. Plus it diminishes the stress when you aren't thinking, "Oh gosh this needs to be done by tomorrow and I've only written a sentence and put my information in." If you can slowly go through everything, you'll be sure not to miss anything and get everything perfect.<br />
<br />
<b>3. Talk to alumni.</b> Whether it's for your sake or your parents, it's always good to talk to people who have been on the program before. It makes you feel secure and comfortable with what you're doing, not to mention they give you great help during the entire process. I had my list of alumni I talked to and they encouraged me and helped me like some people just couldn't. They assure you things will be alright and push you to keep going. There is a Facebook group so be sure to join it! You'll find people just like you, too. :)<br />
<br />
<b>4. Research.</b> You may not know a lot about YES Abroad or the countries you are applying to study in and the last thing you want happening is saying something along the lines of, "I want to study abroad, especially in a south east Asia country like Oman!" It just won't look right. Having a basic knowledge of the countries you want to study abroad in is always good to use so you can convince the reviewers that you <i>really</i> want this.<br />
<br />
<b>5. Write your essays carefully.</b> Your essays will always be tricky. It's difficult sometimes to convey feelings into words, so definitely think them through and plan them. It's easy to start rambling and stray from the original topic. With the Host Family letter especially, be honest, definitely, but careful with your wording. Don't use popular American slang or idioms that won't translate well into the foreign language of your potential host country and family. Make it clear what kind of person you are, your hopes and dreams, your family, all while using clear language that can be translated well. Again, don't lie about yourself or make yourself sound better/worse than who you are. Get that second opinion to help you write an honest essay of how people perceive you, so your potential host family/country know you before they even get to meet you.<br />
<br />
<b>6. Really, <i>really</i> want this. </b>YES Abroad is pretty crazy in knowing the people who really want this and who would be good for this program. This program isn't some easy vacation where you can chill the entire year. It's important you have real, honest reasons why you want to be a part of this program. You have to want to challenge yourself and be tested. Don't try painting yourself in this grandeur, making yourself sound better than you are because they will see through you in the interviews. Learn your reasons for going and voice them properly. Don't go on a social media site being a know-it-all and respect everyone else applying. You have to be good for this program and to be good for the program, you have to be good with everyone else.<br />
<br />
I hope this all helps and I wish luck to all the current applicants! Feel free to contact me on Twitter @KateWells7 or comment on my blog. Here's the link to the application: <a href="http://www.yes-abroad.org/pages/how-apply">http://www.yes-abroad.org/pages/how-apply</a><br />
<br />
Anyway, I have to go write an article for <a href="http://www.goabroad.org/">www.goabroad.org</a> where I'm soon going to be a published writer there! So crazy to think that.<br />
<br />
Until more advice and nostalgia,<br />
-KatieKatie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-21407654618106509542013-09-14T08:24:00.001+02:002013-09-14T08:24:13.718+02:00Missing Bosnia Hello again, I suppose it's been awhile, but I found it fitting.<br />
<br />
Over one year ago, I arrived Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina on the YES Abroad program. Since then I discovered a new culture, tasted different foods, stayed with a family, and lived a completely different life. Those ten months spent in Sarajevo were the best ten months I've ever lived, and I can say that honestly. The Hujdur family was the host family of <i>dreams. </i>They were the kindest people and the funniest and were so easy to love. The culture was so diverse and unique and I learned so much about it (and yes, I probably annoy people when I spurt out random Bosnian facts). The language was a struggle, but with it I had some of the best (albeit simplest) conversations with people and it was the source of most of my laughter.<br />
<br />
Coming home was fine at first. I talked with all my friends from before and, initially, it felt like nothing changed. For awhile, everything was exactly the same and I fell back into the rhythm of Newberg life.<br />
And then... reverse culture shock hit. I didn't realize that reverse culture shock worked the exact same way as normal culture shock. A little bit when you first arrived, but not too bad, then things got normal, and then all of a sudden you are desperately wishing and hoping to be back in your host country, talking to your host parents, eating ćevapi in Baščaršija.<br />
<br />
Lately, missing Bosnia is like a rock in my stomach. It's not a new, exciting topic of conversation that I can blabble on about incessantly. It's no longer in the strange dream state where I'm still figuring out if I even did that. I spent my entire Senior year in Bosnia and it was wonderful and I want to not stop talking about it for the rest of my days. However, the fact of the matter is I <i>can't</i> always talk about it. People get bored or they don't care because, to them, they have no point of reference, these aren't their personal experiences. Finding someone who actually seems genuinely interested at this point in mid-September - three months after my exchange finished - is pretty rare, but I take that opportunity. And getting me to stop talking about Bosnia is not an easy feat.<br />
<br />
Now that I'm in college, I find things running very closely alike to my life in Bosnia. My parents aren't always there, I go to coffee shops to work on homework, I have to walk a lot of hills to get places (my campus is built on a hill. Lovely.), I'm making brand new friends, and re-establishing myself. And instead of giving me a brand new sense of adventure, I just feel Bosnia homesick. Skyping Nizama and Esad sure didn't help either. I found myself longing to be back in my cozy room upstairs with the wooden ceiling and the view that overlooked all of Sarajevo. I wanted to sit in their living room and have cake and coffee while we watched <i>Farma</i> and they made me laugh about everything.<br />
<br />
When I first came home, I was surprised how easily I slid back into my American lifestyle. Sure, I mentioned Bosnia quite a bit, but now that I'm more or less "fully" integrated, I just want to go back to being a <i>bosanka</i> (Bosnian).<br />
<br />
What I'm getting at is... I miss Bosnia. I miss everything about it, from my family to my friends to my walks around the city to the view to the bus rides. I miss it and it makes me terribly sad I can't go back this instant.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I know this is a downer post, but the feelings are real and it's all exchange related. Just know that exchange seriously does some stuff to you and it's not always easy to deal with.<br />
<br />
Until more Bosnia/exchange student thoughts,<br />
-Katie<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOeNkhS1AtoO2FwCytM-QYCmMpNx41VubW8ZPPQFeqKX-46hOOZTtwYVZ0mu2TJ52yNwciOQPYrHzlhgcTPT3I12YX1BBqvekP22HTX4LEGe0we3DwEEzf0Vn3uGrSqEodgAMKouGqCNI/s1600/DSC_1341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOeNkhS1AtoO2FwCytM-QYCmMpNx41VubW8ZPPQFeqKX-46hOOZTtwYVZ0mu2TJ52yNwciOQPYrHzlhgcTPT3I12YX1BBqvekP22HTX4LEGe0we3DwEEzf0Vn3uGrSqEodgAMKouGqCNI/s320/DSC_1341.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the beginning...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwCCnuZlcgpsSrafmb0yjBB5sZ7h0ndb92N_C9nctZzu_er72Vq-GHwFAsCe4jNRg17g1djaaUZtK-vcaOHQIQ3cXTW8VrPBRV9TX2df2RBIJsVb6i0AxaMGkl0Ct-GMLwU2VUr8VTZc/s1600/BMbD2BkCYAEb79o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwCCnuZlcgpsSrafmb0yjBB5sZ7h0ndb92N_C9nctZzu_er72Vq-GHwFAsCe4jNRg17g1djaaUZtK-vcaOHQIQ3cXTW8VrPBRV9TX2df2RBIJsVb6i0AxaMGkl0Ct-GMLwU2VUr8VTZc/s320/BMbD2BkCYAEb79o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...to the end.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-32911563629550387012013-07-07T01:54:00.001+02:002013-07-07T02:03:26.025+02:00Home Again Most of you are probably thinking that my blog entries were finished. I ended on a high note and finished with sentiment and I should stop while it feels right. But to me, it doesn't feel right. True, my exchange year is done, but there's so much more to it than just being in your host country.<br />
<br />
I've been home a little over three weeks. It doesn't seem like a lot of time, but so much has happened since I've arrived. But before I reach that, a few exchange related things.<br />
<br />
<b>1)</b> <i><b>The final goodbyes</b></i>. The drive to the airport that morning was weird. The sun was rising over the mountains and I said my last goodbye to my home for the past ten months. As we drove down the familiar road, Esad turned and asked me, "To school, right Katie?" and I laughed and said, "Yes of course!" Sadly, I wasn't going to school as we continued to drive across the city to the airport. Once there, we unloaded my suitcases and Esad looked at me and told me goodbye.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkb3D9OSC-Cmaiisdq5ke9mCE6wqDFYCcai8aMQzuwki-WNFSbe8E5E14Uun6m2533xK_1FF2DBFa9yt1O19m9O4aqx8AOscSMWLOImgPFw7pIuIYE9y_qWZr17oNOD1M_1CEs9lGYEc/s960/8568_571316356224309_1512534356_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkb3D9OSC-Cmaiisdq5ke9mCE6wqDFYCcai8aMQzuwki-WNFSbe8E5E14Uun6m2533xK_1FF2DBFa9yt1O19m9O4aqx8AOscSMWLOImgPFw7pIuIYE9y_qWZr17oNOD1M_1CEs9lGYEc/s320/8568_571316356224309_1512534356_n.jpg" width="240" /></a> "Goodbye?" I asked, thinking he'd be coming into the airport.<br />
"Yes, I have to go to work," was his reply and I didn't hesitate to give him a big hug as he kissed my cheek.<br />
"<i>Ćao, moja Keti </i>(goodbye, my Katie)." I gave him one last tight squeeze and waved goodbye as Nizama and I headed into the airport. There we found the other girls and their host families checking in when the thing we had all been dreading happened.<br />
<b> Over. Weight. Luggage.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
All of us ended up with our suitcases open, rearranging items, pulling out the heavy clothing and boxes and adding them to carry-ons. Eventually we had everything perfected and checked our luggage through, booking it up to security where we had to rush goodbyes. That wasn't fun. I hugged Nizama tightly four times in-between hugging others and she told me, with tears in her eyes, I have to come back very, very soon. After a final hug goodbye, I headed through security, waved across the gate and boarded our plane.<br />
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Helena sat beside me and we gazed, quite sadly, out the window as we departed from Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; our home for the past ten months. The red roofs disappeared from view, the Dinaric Alps slowly dissolving underneath the clouds. Helena and I then found ourselves speaking random Bosnian just to console ourselves.<br />
Our plane landed in Vienna and we quickly found our gate, bought some lunch, got checked through, and boarded our flight to the U.S. of A!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTEtL6tbwPIydxk661R-nAWnDT9eQkgRyRZQ13TY4gm9vSFCj9PSEPHNX5i2sTi-ZNJHAQJ7fzIiEEx0B9dpT7e0gPviB9y7FHcfVu_eCHhZI92WRaGVulvCgFmwlnJb0xJWSjwCgKEdw/s1080/Photo+on+6-10-13+at+7.18+PM+%232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTEtL6tbwPIydxk661R-nAWnDT9eQkgRyRZQ13TY4gm9vSFCj9PSEPHNX5i2sTi-ZNJHAQJ7fzIiEEx0B9dpT7e0gPviB9y7FHcfVu_eCHhZI92WRaGVulvCgFmwlnJb0xJWSjwCgKEdw/s320/Photo+on+6-10-13+at+7.18+PM+%232.jpg" width="320" /></a> The flight was ten and a half hours long, so I won't give you a play-by-play of what we did. Mostly sleeping, eating, and watching Pokémon with Emma. We also met some Bosnian-Americans sitting across the aisle from us and it was nice to talk to them for a brief while.<br />
We eventually landed in DC, all of us excited, nervous, and pointing out every single different thing that America had and Bosnia didn't. The "trolley", that took us from one terminal to another (except it had leather seats, double the size, extremely clean. and everyone was speaking English), the advertisements in English, the customs guy saying, "Welcome home, Katie," and the sheer amount of shininess of American things. We all grouped together, quickly passed customs, grabbed our super overweight luggage, wrapped my Bosnian flag around my shoulders like a cape, and then headed out of the gate to find Skye!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">l-r: Savannah, Anna, me, Helena, Emma</td></tr>
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<b> 2) <i>Return Orientation.</i></b> Once we were grouped, we loaded into a van and headed off to the hotel. Every second was us pointing out the window at a store and exclaiming excitedly about things we hadn't been able to do the entire time we were abroad. We arrived at our hotel and found the Morocco group in the lobby! It was a fun reunion, especially with all our stories to tell from ten months abroad.<br />
After checking in and dinner, we headed back up to the rooms f<br />
or discussion on our past year. It was weird to talk about ten months worth of events. To look back on everything that had happened to us, good and bad. Bosnia was still in a dream state. It still didn't feel like twenty four hours before we were in a separate continent, let alone country.<br />
We wrapped up our Reentry Orientation and then discussed our presentation for the ECA the next day. Skye headed out around 11pm, leaving us to finish our presentation and then do Paper Plate Awards among ourselves. Each award was dead on and Anna should have won 'Best Pun Award' because <i>oh my gosh</i> they were prime. By 1 in the morning, all of us were dead on energy and jet lag hitting hard so we called it a night.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morocco and BiH YES Abroad 2012-2013</td></tr>
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Next morning we were rushed off into a van and headed towards the ECA for our presentations. As we made our way in, we all expected different things of how it would be; most of us expecting a large auditorium with a giant crowd. Much to our liking, it was casual and relaxing in a small board room, allowing us to talk more than to present. Once finished discussing each of our countries and reminiscing on the still dream like place we were just in, we were awarded our Completion of Program awards that will definitely be hanging on my wall in due course.<br />
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<b><i>3) More goodbyes and more stress.</i></b> Once we were done with our presentations, we began the last,<i> worst</i> step of exchange. Goodbyes to the four girls you just spent the last year with. Emma was first and we didn't have a lot of time to give her a real, true goodbye as SHAK was rushed away onto a shuttle bus and Emma taken away to where she was meeting her parents. It was sad to think that SHAKE was officially being broken apart as we waved away through the window as the bus pulled away. As we headed down the road towards the airport, I kept thinking, "Oh, I'll see Emma on Thursday when we have History," but then I remembered that I wouldn't be seeing Emma. At least for a very long time and that was upsetting.<br />
At the airport we began to check-in, however our group had tripled in size when we joined the returnee Lithuanian YES students and had to check in all together. That caused a bit of stress when everyone had to reorganize their luggage <i>again</i> because American luggage criteria were very different than Bosnian luggage criteria. So I began taking things out again and switching my heavy things out into my new State Department tote bag and, after a lot of work, I was able to check everything in. Once we were done and through security, we had to say goodbye to the Morocco kids who had a different gate than us.<br />
Eventually we reached our gate, bought lunch, and then next thing we knew, Savannah had to catch her flight. More hugs, some tears, and then Savannah was out of sight and we were down to HAK. We finished our lunch, talked about going home and already missing Bosnia, Skyped my mom briefly, and then it was Anna's turn to leave. I wasn't enjoying the cutting down of SHAKE. We hugged each other tightly, more tears were shed, as we watched Anna board her plane and then it was down to me and Helena. We waited at Helena's gate, speaking Bosnian because hearing so much English was weird, until it was her turn to board her plane and I needed to head off to my gate because it was far down a corridor. With much dread, SHAKE was officially dispersed, heading towards our separate corners of America.<br />
My plane was a bit delayed as I waited with anticipation and a bit of anxiety to get on my flight and get to Portland. While I waited in line, however, I found myself eavesdropping into everyone's conversations because I still found it so strange to hear so much English. Finally we boarded and took off and I was on my way home.<br />
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<b><i>4) The hellos!</i></b> The entire flight home, I slept. Which I found strange, considering how many emotions I was going through. But it was good, because in the end it completely eliminated my jet lag. When the plane landed, I felt my entire stomach erupt in jitters as I waited to get off the plane and run to where my family would be waiting. The hallway was practically empty and probably not very long, but it felt like I was maneuvering around everyone and it was a mile long. Finally I reached the edge, my brother yelling my name as loudly as he could until I spotted my parents, sister, and one of my brothers (the other was in New York). Lots of hugs, smiling, and kisses. We then made our way downstairs to baggage claim, I being perfectly content with everyone who came to get me chattering aimlessly about anything that happened to me in the past 48 hours. We waited for my bags when I noticed my mom standing sort of awkwardly, trying to snap a picture that nobody was really in.<br />
"Mom? What are you doing?" I asked her, very confused of how she was maneuvering around people.<br />
"I'm taking pictures."<br />
"Of what? Nobody is in your shot."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charity and I!</td></tr>
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"No, it was just the way you were all lined up, but then Anna moved," she told me.<br />
"But Anna's right there, Tyler's over there. Mom, what are you doing?" I asked her again when she was still trying to take a picture. Tyler huffed and pointed to the side where I turned and found Charity! My hands flew to my shocked face as I exclaimed excitedly, "Oh!" then turned and noticed her sister, Esther and shouted again, "oh!" and then grabbed both of them and hugged them, as I hadn't done so in those past ten months. I then noticed Ashley and Tim (family friends) and concluded that this night couldn't get any better.<br />
We gathered the rest of my luggage and then, after I said I was awake enough, we went out for ice cream at Salt & Straw in Portland, before heading home while I was riding an emotional high. At home, I found my Grammy sitting in the living room waiting for me and I found this a good time to give out gifts from Sarajevo. Around midnight I found my body crashing and decided it would be a good time for me to go to sleep.<br />
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<b><i>5) Summer and settling in.</i></b> Since I've arrived, I've had even more hellos, especially when I visited Canada from our family friend's wedding and stayed with my best friend as we had adventures. I've been keeping myself decently busy and am always more than happy to answer any questions people have about Bosnia. However, I've gotten some Frequently Asked Questions, so I decided it would be best if I answer them here:<br />
<br />
<i>a) How was Bosnia?</i> Bosnia was fantastic! I loved it all so much. But don't expect me to say more than that. You give me a broad question, you will get a broad answer.<br />
<br />
<i>b) What was your favorite/least favorite experience?</i> Again, I can't go through ten months of events and pick out one experience that was the best or worst. Instead I'll give you five or six, like Travnik with my host family was amazing, the youth events with my church were so much fun, getting extremely sick on Christmas and my birthday was not fun, and losing my wallet and both my cameras was definitely not a good experience. But that was my own fault, so I can't really blame anyone on that.<br />
<br />
<i>c) Do you miss Bosnia?</i> OF COURSE I MISS BOSNIA. Nizama sent me an e-mail two weeks ago saying how they miss me and then a certain song comes on that reminds me of a certain event or simply my walks to school. I miss my friends, I miss my host family, I miss History (even if my teacher scared me to death), I miss cevapi (more than I care to admit), and I just miss Bosnia.<br />
<br />
<i>d) Did you learn the language?</i> Yes? No? Sort of? I could communicate alright, but there is no way I could have a complete conversation without a lot of errors.<br />
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<i> e) Are you happy to be back?</i> It's a bittersweet feeling. Of course I am happy to see my friends and families and be able to go in a store and actually be able to ask for help without miming things or praying that someone will speak English. I've been home for three weeks and four days and, while some things feel <i>very</i> familiar, life still feels a bit off at times. I feel like I need to do my daily walks into town for school, I feel like I should be speaking Bosnian with Nizama and scolding Irfan. I feel like I should meet up for coffee at Bombon or go bum around BBI or Baščaršija.<br />
My exchange doesn't feel like it should be completely done... but it is.<br />
And so I move along, off to PBC and *hopefully* greater things. More world travels, more people, more experiences. I've done a lot for an 18 year old, but like Ariel, <i>I want mooorrreee</i>.<br />
I'm happy to be back and now I'm settling into life a bit more, even if I do sometimes yell random phrases in Bosnian.<br />
<br />
And now, after a week and a half in Newberg, then a week and a half in Edmonton, and <i>finally</i> back in Newberg (and in my own room! Ahhhh!), I like to say I've readapted and Bosnia is out of dream state and I can say with confidence, "I did that," and I can picture everything perfectly inside my head and enjoy everything that happened there, especially as I look pack on diary entires, blog posts, and pictures. I miss and love Bosnia and I'm sad that I'm not there anymore, but I'm happy to be home again.<br />
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Anyway, don't expect this to be the last blog post, because I may or may not write again if something happens like our anniversary or exchange advice. We'll see. I have some ideas.<br />
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Until you come back again,<br />
-KatieKatie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-52076690621985123712013-06-09T21:32:00.002+02:002013-06-09T21:32:33.864+02:00Doviđenja i Vidimo Se So here we are. Sitting at our computers, witnessing the end of my exchange. Maybe I've become too attached to this blog, I've overly enjoyed telling you about my day-to-day life, but here you are reading it. And I thank you for that. So let's do this together and finish up my last few days here.<br />
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Friday marked the last day of high school I will <i>ever</i> have to attend. From that day on, I am officially a high school graduate and now moving on to bigger and better things aka COLLEGE. I'll be attending Portland Bible College in Portland, Oregon and I am super excited for that. After that, I'm not sure. I just hope it involves a lot of writing and a lot of traveling.<br />
After school finished, I donated my unwanted clothes and books to the office and turned in my cell phone which provided a <i>huge</i> problem because from then on out, I had no way of communicating with the other girls. Eventually we hunted each other down through Facebook and other friends' phones and eventually I met up with Savannah and we headed over to Helena's house to help set up her present to her host family. Once that was finished, her host family arrived almost minutes after and insisted we have ice cream, cake, coffee, and juice to celebrate. Already so much food and we hadn't even arrived at the main event!<br />
A while later, we set off to meet our favorite Swiss-Italian from school, Lorenzo, who invited us over for homemade, legit Italian pizza. Needless to say, it didn't take much to convince us to come over. Once at his extremely gorgeous house (I'm not even kidding, all of us kind of died when we saw how nice it was), we began working. And by 'we', I mean Lorenzo started the pizza and Helena and Emma started dessert, Savannah was on music duty, and I sat around waiting for someone to tell me to do something. Eventually I got to set the table and I didn't feel useless, aimlessly wandering the main floor looking at their library (with books in English, French, and Italian. There <i>might</i> have been a German book in there, I don't remember).<br />
Once the pizza was ready, we sat down to eat, but not before making Lorenzo read Dante's <i>Inferno</i> to us in Italian. I think I speak on behalf of all of SHAKE when I say that was one of the highlights of the evening. We have been waiting for him to speak Italian all year. And it finally happened.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deciding the movie and reading random books.</td></tr>
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We finished up dinner, just as Lorenzo's parents were leaving for their date night and we did a quick meet and greet before getting a tour of their house, which led us to find Lorenzo's baby pictures and all of us laughing at our Baby Italiano. The top floor was this attic space with a really awesome turtle that Savannah was particularly interested in and that's where we ended up hanging out for the majority of the night.<br />
After securing the turtle when we left the top off the cage and Savannah asked, "can turtle climb out?", we headed back downstairs to watch <i>Galaxy Quest</i>, a sort of parody of Star Trek and Star Wars. Half way through the hilariously nerdy movie, Lorenzo's mom called to tell us they would give us a ride home which resulted us in hearing Lorenzo speak French. All of SHAKE went into this sort of weird mode; me fangirling, Helena in this jealous attitude, Emma giggling, and Savannah kind of like, "oh my gosh this is cool."<br />
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We finished up <i>Galaxy Quest</i> and then headed back up to the attic for more chilling, weird conversations, and lots of jokes and laughter, until his parents were home and we all loaded into the car to head home, but not before his mom told us that we were welcome to stay in any of their homes whenever we visited, whether it was Switzerland, Italy, or Bosnia; we had a place.<br />
I was the first to be dropped off, which was sad, because that resulted in me being the first good bye. It was sad, Lorenzo being one of the first <i>true </i>friends I was saying good bye to. We hugged goodbye, made promises to Facebook and Skype each other, and then waved goodbye as I headed into my house.<br />
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Then came Saturday! Busy, busy day. It started off with me meeting up with Helena to finish up gift shopping and grabbing our last cappuccino in Baščaršija. Oh sad day! Once the rain stopped and I bought my Bosnian flag, we headed out to Anna's house for a barbecue of ćevapi and chicken, with cake for dessert. It was nice to all hang out together before we take off tomorrow and just talk with Anna's host family. Our friend, Amila, joined us, which then added to our hard goodbyes, especially when she handed us all cards. We hugged tightly and then went our separate ways; her to the main part of the city and I to Megan's house (a friend from church). Again, the house was absolutely stunning and I got a happy, talkative taxi driver on the way over, which always makes things better. There we had girls night with six other girls from church, sitting around the dinner table eating a traditional Swiss dinner of cheese, potatoes, and meat, with small dishes of fruit and vegetables to grab and slip on your plate. We all had a great time, talking and laughing about guy stories, weird adventures, and Megan's irrational ginger fear. We drank our coffee and ate Swiss chocolate (oh my gosh <i>so goooood</i>.) and lounged around with their overly excited dog, Hana.<br />
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Eventually, the evening came to a close as all of us became fairly tired and again I had to say a permanent goodbye to Megan. She offered her home as another place to stay and I was so very grateful that I was able to meet her and hang out with her, even if it was only for a few times.<br />
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And then there was today. My last day at Evanđeoska Crkva. My last day walking down my mountain. My last day taking the bus home. My last day hanging out with some of the best friends I could have made.<br />
I walked into church today in a weird sort of daze. Immediately I found Jovana and David and was especially excited to see Becca who I didn't think was going to make it. Moments later, Selma and Nađa walked through the doors and the majority of our teen group was there. When the service began, Pastor Slavko asked me to come up so they could pray for me and asked if I wanted to say anything. I began to thank them for welcoming me in their church and, although I wanted to continue, cut short with a simple thank you again because I felt my voice start quavering and my eyes begin to fill with tears. How did I know this was going to happen? Slavko then asked the teen group up to pray for me and I felt my lip tremble more.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWiKNQH4hCuwSybkjIkWGadPmaRMSwacqdBkt5YWYt2_bsqZXKtSKkCrxVFUW9NURkAqxAzYVitiPrDWSEJMNfZP0dPCllGI_3E-8F1KQGiT1CJ6VYyhdqs-DrHlCqgi3lTGhIOaOFGQ/s1600/229804_10200361723674116_264886939_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWiKNQH4hCuwSybkjIkWGadPmaRMSwacqdBkt5YWYt2_bsqZXKtSKkCrxVFUW9NURkAqxAzYVitiPrDWSEJMNfZP0dPCllGI_3E-8F1KQGiT1CJ6VYyhdqs-DrHlCqgi3lTGhIOaOFGQ/s320/229804_10200361723674116_264886939_n.jpg" width="320" /></a> Nobody could possibly understand how much these kids have meant to me and how they impacted my exchange. They were my friends when I didn't know anyone else, they helped me out with the language without contempt, and I could not have asked for better friends while I was here. Jovana handed me a small book that the teen group made for me, with notes written from all of them and pictures of my time with them. I never realized how much exactly I was involved with the church, but as I flipped through the book and saw pictures of us in Mostar together, at the Christmas and Easter concerts, at special Teen Group days with guests, and out for coffee. These kids have made my life here incredible and I love them all so much.<br />
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After they were done praying for me, I hastily wiped the tears forming at my eyes and smiled, knowing that would be the hardest part of my day. Surprisingly goodbyes are usually fast and painless, but when people who mean so much to you, <i>pray</i> for you and tell you how much of a blessing you are, it's hard and it hurts, but it makes you feel so loved that you don't mind.<br />
<br />
The service progressed and once it ended only meant one thing: more goodbyes. I began my rounds and began hugging the many friends I made over the past eight months. Then we (Jovana, David, Becca, Nađa, Selma, and I) decided to go out for lunch and meet up with Rahel who was at her friends house. We set off and I waved goodbye to the church that I've come to love more than I thought I could. Together, we wandered around the city until we made up our minds of where we wanted to eat, dying in the heat of the day (of course the day before I leave the weather is perfect). We settled on chicken sandwiches and sat around for about an hour, eating and talking; back and forth between English and Bosnian which I was proud to say I understood quite a bit of.<br />
And then the first goodbyes came. Rahel and Becca had to head home, so I gave them each a tight squeeze and handed them their cards and waved them away as they boarded the tram. The rest of the group came with me to my bus stop and we talked and tried not to focus on the fact that this was our last time seeing each other until either they visited me or I came back to Sarajevo. Slavko then pulled up and told the group that he would take them all home. Realizing this was our goodbye, I sprung to my feet and hugged everyone tightly, not wanting to let them go. At least we have technology now so we can keep in touch. Sometimes, I really, really love Facebook and Skype.<br />
Once they left, I waited and then got on my bus, realizing this was my last bus ride and the last walk from the bus stop to home. I was still in my haze, not quite comprehending what this all was. Coming towards the house I saw Esad and Mugdim working on the car and then passed Nizama bringing some stuff downstairs, just a quick passing. Moments after I was in my room, Irfan came knocking, telling me he was going out for the night and wouldn't see me off tomorrow. We hugged goodbye and I told him that he was a great host brother and that I was glad he was mine and then followed through with saying if he were to get another host sibling next year, that I would be his favorite, which he laughed and nodded in agreement.<br />
Then the evil task of finishing packing began. I can't remember how many times I added and removed certain items, debating if something should be in my carry-on or suitcase, if this could squeeze in this corner or not. I am now content with my loaded suitcases, but Nizama said that if I can lift it, it shouldn't be over 23 kilos. I can't tell if that's a compliment or a diss... how much can a normal person lift usually? We then talked a bit of how it was sad that I'm leaving and how she's going to miss "moja Keti." Nizama, I just love you, ok?<br />
<br />
This past year has been, without a doubt, the best year of my life and I can't believe it's coming to a close. Tomorrow morning I board a plane to take me back over the Atlantic and to DC and then the day after I'm on a plane to Portland. It's strange seeing how far I've come from that terrified student who decided that going to Bosnia by herself was a fabulous idea. Back when I took one look at my language books and thought, "oh dear, what have I gotten myself into?" and then stared at pictures of Sarajevo on Google for days on end and thought Sarajevo was pronounced with a hard 'j'.<br />
I couldn't have done this year without so many people and I thank all of you who took in a part, especially YES Abroad for choosing me to go and the State Department for funding this incredible exchange. My family and friends both here and abroad have helped me day to day, whether with support in any kind or simply being there when I wanted to talk about something random.<br />
I'm leaving with such a different view than the one I came with and even more than that. I'm leaving with a family I didn't know a year ago, friends I didn't have, and a home I couldn't have dreamed of. This year has been so fulfilling and so incredible and I cannot wait to share it with everyone. I hope to tell everyone about Bosnia and YES Abroad and bring all these cultures together.<br />
And I'm excited to see what the future holds. So many things that I don't know or care about right now could be coming up in my path soon and I am anxious to see what happens.<br />
<br />
Anyway, thank you all for joining me on this adventure and take care.<br />
<br />
Until something fantastic happens,<br />
-Katie (Sarajevo, Bosna-Hercegovina, YES Abroad 2012-2013)<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ja sam bosanka i ja volim Bosni. </td></tr>
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<br />Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-78809154315779787742013-06-07T01:19:00.003+02:002013-06-07T01:19:32.180+02:00The Suitcase And thus it begins.<br />
The daunting task of packing the suitcase, carry-on, and backpack to head home after spending ten months in one place. Looking at all of my things, I thought before that it would be easy - kind of like adult tetris.<br />
Let's be clear: it's worse.<br />
I've probably rearranged my suitcase five times right now, deciding I don't need that top or maybe this book could squeeze in this corner. Once again my room is a disaster of laying out outfits for my last three days here (*nervous laughter*) and slowly things are disappearing off my shelves. My suitcase isn't even completely full and I know it's going to be <i>super</i> overweight. My mom even took one of my suitcases back with all my winter stuff! <b>How on earth did I acquire so much stuff over this year?</b> The answer to that is that I shop all da time.<br />
Packing I usually always save until the very last moment. Before I came here I packed everything the day before I left and I planned on doing the same thing this time round. But once Anna convinced me I should start early, I did so, setting on the task of filling my suitcase to the brim.<br />
And <i>oh</i> is it filled. How can such little things take up so much room!? My shoes aren't even in there yet and I'm running out of space!<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The practice pack</td></tr>
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<br />
Maybe one of the reasons I'm so stressed about my suitcase isn't just the fact that it's really difficult to fit all those things in one. It's the fact that starting the suitcase task means that this year really is <i>over</i>. I have three days left here. <i>Three.</i> Tomorrow is the beginning of good byes at school and then dinner at a friend's house. Saturday is finishing gift shopping (ha. haha. I'm out of space guys!) and then barbecue at Anna's house, followed by Swiss night at a friend from church's house. Sunday is my last day at church and my last full day in Sarajevo.<br />
And that thought is depressing.<br />
I've had such an incredible year here and I think the reason I'm hating packing up my suitcase is because it feels like I'm also packing up memories. I don't care how terribly cliché that sounds or how corny, it's true. Slowly I am packing away the life I've built here and carefully taking it apart and shoving it into a bag. I don't like looking at my empty drawers in my desk, or the bare shelves with no books or letters, or the vacant wardrobe. It simply reminds me that the life I've formed here is coming to a close and soon I'll be back on a plane back to Oregon and have to readjust to being a normal American teenager who just graduated.<br />
No more getting excited when I hear people speaking English on the streets.<br />
No more people getting excited when they figure out I'm foreign.<br />
No more using, "I don't speak Bosnian." as an excuse to get out of trouble with GRAS guys.<br />
<br />
My suitcase now lies mostly full in the corner of my bedroom, waiting to be finished, zipped closed, and hauled on a plane, similar to me and my exchange. And once I hit American soil, I'll have that bit of Bosnia in me and I'll get to rip it open and share it, just like my suitcase carrying all my Bosnian trinkets and memories.<br />
Yes, it's sad I'm going home. I've established myself here and I'll miss it so much I can't even begin to fully describe.<br />
However, I'm excited to see where life takes me now.<br />
Canada.<br />
Camp.<br />
College.<br />
I don't know anything else I'm doing in these next few months that start with a 'C'.<br />
<br />
So here we go. Finishing up the best year of my life, my last year of high school spent in Sarajevo.<br />
<i>Je bilo odlično i hvala puno svima ko mi su pomogli ova godina.</i> (It was excellent and thank you so much everyone who helped me this year. <- I did not use google translate, so I do not know if that is correct.)<br />
<br />
Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll have time to write before I leave, so if not... I'll see you on the other side.<br />
<br />
Until 'Murica (možda),<br />
-KatieKatie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-66095852005866877092013-05-30T19:22:00.001+02:002013-05-31T16:12:06.838+02:00Drawing To a Close It's been awhile! But here we go!<br />
<br />
Two Saturdays ago was our End-of-the-Year Orientation where we began the wrapping up of our year abroad. We talked about reverse culture shock and wrote thank-yous to our senators and the US Ambassador here in Sarajevo. Together we came up with ideas how to battle reverse culture shock and ease back into our life back as a regular American where it won't be weird to hear people speak English. Seriously. I'll be walking in a mall here and I can hear two words of English and I will get excited. I've mentioned this before. It was sad to think that this meant we're drawing to a close. All of us talking about our bittersweet feelings towards going home; what we're looking forward to, what we're not. I try not to think about going home and live in the moment. But when every second you are reminded that you're going home soon, it's a little difficult.<br />
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After our monthly meeting and the wrapping up of the orientation, we headed over to Anna's house to work on CAS stuff and just bum around for awhile.<br />
Yeah, we ended up bumming around for six hours.<br />
We dyed Emma and Savannah's hair, we talked about weird stuff (as you do), we took Hogwarts housing quizzes where we figured out I was a Hufflepuff, and we just chilled. And it's really sad to think that in two weeks I won't see these girls again for a ridiculous amount of time. From hanging out with them almost every day to not at all, I'm not sure how I'm going to cope with this. Guess we'll find out.<br />
As evening came along, we headed out to the <i>kino</i> (movie theater) to watch the new Star Trek! And oh my gosh, I think I just became a Trekkie. I don't know, man, but the soundtrack and the storyline and the acting (Benedict Cumberbatch aka Khan is <i>incredible</i>. Watch BBCs <i>Sherlock</i>. Seriously. Go watch it. Now.) and the action was just <i>so good.</i> Not to mention I got to see it with my favorite girls and have Helena freak out when the original Star Trek theme song started playing (if you don't know it, apparently you're the spawn of Satan according to Helena.) and Anna grab your hand for dear life when something dramatic was happening. Needless to say it was an excellent end to a great day with those girls. It always makes us realize how grateful we are that we got put together all that time ago.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">English Through Tolerance class + SAKE</td></tr>
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Last Saturday, SAKE visited Žepče where there is a two schools under one roof. This high school has two separate entrances and curricula for the Croatian/Catholic students and the Bosnian/Muslim students and the students have no contact with each other within the school. However, the reason for our visit was to meet up with the Tolerance Through English program, where students from both schools joined together to learn about American culture and speak English. We met up with the class of about eight or nine students and talked for about a half hour about the school and their life, while they asked us questions about differences between Bosnia and America. It was nice talking to them, especially as they told us how despite the two schools under one roof, they still are friends with the other school's students. Žepče isn't a very big town, so it's hard to just ignore one another and the students are all working at easing away the tension.<br />
<br />
We were then all paired off with a student to have them show us around the town and get to know one another. I was paired off with a girl named Kristina, who was one of the Catholic students, and we became really good friends during our half hour walk around the city. We talked about both our lives and she told me how she wanted to become an English teacher in Bosnia, which I found really, really cool.<br />
We then met back at the school with the rest of the students and said our goodbyes! It seemed like we were just getting to know them and it was already sad to just be making new friends and having to head out so quickly.<br />
<br />
After our goodbyes, we headed out to Vranduk where there was an old fort that we were able to explore, as well as get our coffee. Once done there, we went to Zenica where we mainly grabbed snacks and hung out for about a half hour before heading home.<br />
<br />
Since then, my friend Alex came to visit for the past four days. She's also an American exchange student, studying up in Banja Luka, so we've only been able to hang out twice. We had a great time with lots of movies, games, and food. I'm going to miss her so much, but thankfully she lives fairly close to where I live in the States so we're going to meet up sometime soon :)<br />
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<br />
In that time, we had coffee and cake with the Ambassador Patrick Moon at the American Embassy, where we talked about our year and how it incredible it all was. And if you don't know this already, it was a really, really incredible year.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">l-r Luljeta, Helena, Selma, me, Savannah, Ambassador Patrick Moon, Emma, Anna, Toma Mesa, Emily Armitage</td></tr>
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And now we prepare for the last ELEVEN days here. Well. Ten now, if you don't include today. How is that even possible? We have so many things to do still, including so many last minute adventures and goodbyes. Pretty much everyday for the next ten days is completely booked, but that's ok! I'm excited to do as many things as I can in these next few days. And then, next thing I know, I'll be on a plane home to the US of A.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I better go write some more thank you cards and figure out what college courses I'm taking next year.<br />
<br />
Until after the SHAKE sleepover,<br />
-KatieKatie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-31338038005804528352013-05-11T22:23:00.001+02:002013-05-11T22:23:21.060+02:00Mother and Me WELL. These past few weeks have been <i>incredibly</i> busy! If you're wondering why, which I hope you are, it's because...<br />
<br />
<b>MY MOM CAME TO VISIT.</b><br />
<br />
I haven't seen her in eight and a half months!<br />
<br />
This was the best belated birthday gift EVER!<br />
<br />
We had been Skyping all the time this entire year and there were brief moments where I wondered if when she came I would be acting like a completely different person and suddenly I'd be like, "Oh dear, I'm so different and my relationship might change with my mom and I love my relationship with my mother, I can't have the happening. What if it's more evident when we're in person? Oh my gosh, oh my gosh." Well. All worries were put aside when I waited anxiously for her at the airport on April 26th.<br />
I waited outside of the arrivals gate with Nizama, not saying a word, just a constant mini panic attack anyone came through the doors. I don't think I was exactly nervous or scared, but my stomach was doing little flips every time I saw a small brunette or the doors slid open.<br />
Then she came out.<br />
In my head, I always try imagining what I'm going to do when I see someone for the first time in a long time. Whether it's pretending I don't know them or hiding and surprising them or just something completely ridiculous. However, even if I imagine and even <i>plan</i> doing something weird like that, I always go for the same thing which is I end up smiling immensely, running to give them a giant hug, and start squealing like a five year old girl who just got a new Barbie (I <i>definitely</i> squealed when I got a new Barbie).<br />
Mom immediately went over to Nizama and hugged her, telling her that it was so nice to see her. In English. And that was the moment I instantly became the resident translator for the next half hour. Mom and I talked like nothing changed, taking momentary interludes to talk to Esad and Nizama. When we arrived home, I showed my mom around the house, letting her meet the rest of the family and experiencing what I experienced eight and a half months ago. When her things were settled in, we headed down to talk to the host family, while I passed on the translator job to Medina. Because she's ten times better than me. If not more.<br />
We talked about everything. At least anything that could possibly come to mind. We ate cake, we laughed, we went on and on about how fantastic it all was that my mom was here. And it was. When we decided we had better go to bed because we were going to Srebrenica early the next morning, my mom and I took a quick picture to show that she was here and alive and well (mostly for my dad who messaged me the second he could asking, "KATE IS MOM THERE YET?"). We then headed to our rooms at around midnight for much needed sleep.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mom and I! We're dopplegangers, I know.</td></tr>
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The next morning, we were up early to go to Srebrenica with SHAKE and our coordinators. Srebrenica was the location of a mass genocide in the Bosnian War after it was declared a Safe Zone. It has been turned into a grave sight and memorial, which was definitely a sobering experience, especially for my mom's first thing to do in Bosnia. We toured around the graves, watched a video about people who survived while family members were taken, and read biographies of people who were identified. Incredibly sad, but fascinating at the same time.<br />
<br />
After leaving Srebrenica, we headed to a small, family owned restaurant for lunch where I had ten ćevapi! Everyone knew that little Anna had a surprisingly large ćevapi belly, so when she ordered ten, nobody was surprised. However, I've never really bragged about it. So when I ordered ten, both my coordinators looked at me and went, "<i>Ten!?" </i>My mom was equally surprised, but she wasn't entirely sure what ćevapi was like, so she was like, "Oh, that's alright."<br />
Well then the food came out. My mom gaped at my loaded plate of bread, onion, and meat fingers (that is the actual translation of ćevapi. SHAKE has never laughed so hard.).<br />
"Kate." My mom said. "You can't eat that <i>whole</i> thing."<br />
"I've eaten ten before." I stated. It was a fact, after all. To her shock I ate the entire plate, just as Anna did and, despite my mom being <i>horrified</i>, Nizama was so proud when I told her. Ja sam bosanka (I am Bosnian)! Woooo!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaUlfk0GSsbDk6JUNCRHF0vw1OqJnToIXpQAWGAU_XpU7kFuxC54h2-1NVeloBDBMicryTLZHyX_kVg5H_x7lzwhyhMfb5M_9KBxQd_vxPpi99-SAKEyVh25XfUnOmUK8Bkf1Do2TqCwQ/s1600/486692_10152759321220346_1434735440_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaUlfk0GSsbDk6JUNCRHF0vw1OqJnToIXpQAWGAU_XpU7kFuxC54h2-1NVeloBDBMicryTLZHyX_kVg5H_x7lzwhyhMfb5M_9KBxQd_vxPpi99-SAKEyVh25XfUnOmUK8Bkf1Do2TqCwQ/s320/486692_10152759321220346_1434735440_n.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom and I in Copper Alley</td></tr>
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When we arrived back in Sarajevo, we headed down to Baščaršija to show my mom around old town. She drank from the Sebilj, so GUESS WHAT? That means she's coming back! Yay! We wandered around the winding streets, when suddenly, I overheard a group of American women speaking. My mom rarely noticed when people were speaking English around her, there was no trigger that went off, while for me, I could hear two words of English and I would seriously stop and point and be like, "English! I heard it!" I wouldn't say this directly to the English speakers, but I did get fairly excited. As my mom and I were browsing a store that I stopped at often, a woman turned around and asked, "I heard English, where are you from?" Her accent was purely American, so I knew if I mentioned a state, she would know.<br />
"Oregon." I replied. "And you?"<br />
"We're from Michigan!" Another lady chimed in, seeming excited about finding fellow Americans in the Balkans.<br />
"What are you doing here?" A different lady asked.<br />
"I'm an exchange student, and you?"<br />
"We're with a program that offers scholarships to Bosnian students who want to study in America." They all seemed excited about their project and I thought their program sounded fantastic.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZ2kVefM5X-NZWpOpOZOuDEK5HF4Jg-Gp5FdVmUs2iuZyfPMC4KgImnupkHdkekcV3vLsLQD_Zivgo2h4YlcCgnM-A9548-FGAJc28TaGk84Xw6CdMG968g-H3aBnh3XlRNoZfNfqLBU/s1600/936886_10152762311375346_486159930_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZ2kVefM5X-NZWpOpOZOuDEK5HF4Jg-Gp5FdVmUs2iuZyfPMC4KgImnupkHdkekcV3vLsLQD_Zivgo2h4YlcCgnM-A9548-FGAJc28TaGk84Xw6CdMG968g-H3aBnh3XlRNoZfNfqLBU/s320/936886_10152762311375346_486159930_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me at my church!</td></tr>
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The next morning was church! I had been excited to show my mom my church forever now. Church is where I've truly found a place where I belong (I went the distance and everything) and showing my mom all my really close friends and people who have helped me along the way was a big deal to me! So we were up early, got dressed and called a taxi to head out, because Nizama insisted we eat a huge breakfast and have coffee before we go.<br />
Because of that, we arrived at church nearly a half hour early, giving my mom the opportunity to take pictures of my church, something I didn't even do when I first started attending. Irfan made fun of my mom for taking so many pictures, saying that not even <i>I </i>was even that bad when I first arrived. And I definitely wasn't! I still have <i>zero</i> pictures of my church on a regular Sunday. The only time I take pictures there are for events!<br />
As we were waiting for the service to start, suddenly four women walk over to the American section where I recognize one woman in particular. She turns towards me and instantly I recognize one of the women from the women we met the other day! Out of all the places to run into them, we see them in my tiny church. It was pretty fantastic :) The service was great and we had fellowship afterwards where my mom met everyone that I had been talking about for the past six months.<br />
Once we were done, my mom and I headed down to Alta to exchange her money and grab a quick coffee before we headed out to Vrelo Bosna, a gorgeous park on the other side of town past Ilidža. We took the crowded, hot tram all the way down and eventually navigated our way to the park! When we reached horse drawn carriages, we couldn't say no, so we plopped inside, letting the horse take us to the main park.<br />
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Once there, my mom and I wandered around, just talking about everything that we could. We had a lunch of fish, veggies, and potatoes along the river where a mini waterfall was. We then decided we had better head home as it was going to get dark, so we began the long trek back to the tram station and headed home.<br />
And that's when my mom saw my walk in the dark for the first time.<br />
She was slightly terrified. I've gotten used to the creepiness of the graveyard lit up in shallow lights, and the wind-y road with partially destroyed buildings. None of it bothers me anymore. My <i>mother</i> on the other hand was all, "Oh Kate, you don't walk this alone do you?"<br />
"Yes."<br />
"In the dark?"<br />
"Yeah, a lot."<br />
"Isn't it scary? Look! I just took a picture of the graveyard and this is what it looks like!" She showed me a picture of the cemetery, all the gravestones looking an eerie green color.<br />
"That's your camera! It's fine, Mom." Mom was a little bit iffy still. But after walking that road in the evening every time we came home for the next two days, she grew used to it and it didn't even bother her.<br />
<br />
The next few days were mainly me showing her around. I showed her pretty much everything I could in those spare two days. Nizama took us out one of those days and, although she was the one showing us around, we were the one who worked her. We walked <i>a lot </i>and the sun was hot that day. I managed to only get a small burn on my shoulder, but Nizama was completely burnt all over! However, despite that, our adventures were great! We found a great coffee place (one I've seen <i>all</i> year, but never tried. It's called Spazzio's) that had one of the best iced coffee's EVER. There we met two Bosnian girls and one of them used to be an exchange student in Colorado! It was so fun talking to her about exchange student experiences and it's always fun making new friends everywhere you go. I try.<br />
Once all our exploring was done, we headed home to pack for... DUBROVNIK!<br />
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Early last Wednesday morning, we headed out to the bus station to meet up with Anna, Savannah, and Emma and head out to Dubrovnik, Croatia. The bus ride was long and all of us ended up falling asleep. Besides, for the majority of the ride, we've all seen it before. My mom, on the other hand, couldn't believe we fell asleep. She was snapping pictures right and left, too afraid to turn of her camera because she never knew when the right shot would come!<br />
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Later that evening, we arrived in Dubrovnik and it was <i>beautiful</i>. However, we all wanted to get to our villa first and drop off our suitcases so we could go explore. We didn't know how to get there, so we hopped in taxis, giving them the address, and we headed out. And that's when it all kind of went wrong. The drivers pretended they didn't know where they were going and dropped us off at the bottom of a hill, pointing upwards saying it was "just up this road" and opened their hands for the money. SEVENTY KUNA. For a five minute ride! That's almost $12! <i>That is ridiculous</i>. All of us couldn't believe it, but since we really had no other choice, we handed over the money and grabbed our suitcases and trekked up the hill.<br />
And was that ever a hill.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZS_cm0ST8nncTXSNYFrEHAllXJUpJZm05RMua5-1vMimOAhQcRT0O2d5cqPM-x8CZuScs8qkruHUrjz_82n8In-ZbGY9ctAUDOHUEjgc2V5-IkDQdMts5hsKVRmKxhnEZPgfPNAswuLo/s1600/DSCN0328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZS_cm0ST8nncTXSNYFrEHAllXJUpJZm05RMua5-1vMimOAhQcRT0O2d5cqPM-x8CZuScs8qkruHUrjz_82n8In-ZbGY9ctAUDOHUEjgc2V5-IkDQdMts5hsKVRmKxhnEZPgfPNAswuLo/s320/DSCN0328.jpg" width="240" /></a> It consisted of a roughly paved road, going steeply up, which then turned into stairs. We lugged our baggage up and up until finally we came across our host who told us to follow her to the house <i>which was up more stairs.</i> Eventually we reached our villa, where our host immediately brought out fresh pressed orange juice from the oranges that grew fresh in her garden. Best drink to have after hiking up a mountain! Once we were settled and our hosts telling us where to go, we set off for Old Town Dubrovnik! The walk was about twenty to thirty minutes, all downhill and we all knew that coming home would mean going <i>up.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i> </i>We wandered about Old Town, exploring narrow alleyways, shops, stopped for coffee and then, when we decided we were all hungry, we headed out to meet up with Helena and her mom who was visiting also for Hels birthday dinner! It was fun, having all of SHAKE together, plus my and Helena's moms. The other girls remarked how similar we were to our moms and how speaking to them was like talking to an older version of ourselves. After dinner, we loaded into the car that Claire (Helena's mom) rented and headed to our villa.<br />
However... we didn't know <i>exactly </i>where we were going. Eventually we found a parking spot on the shoulder of a road and pointed downwards, stating we were somewhere down there. That led to a half hour trek around streets we weren't familiar with, hoping we'd find our street along the way. Once we reached our villa, we all took our showers and got into our PJs before Claire brought out a cake that she brought for Helena's birthday. We sang 'happy birthday', had a quick bite of cake, and went to bed before we headed out the next day.<br />
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Day two consisted of walking the Old Town's wall that surrounded the entire city. Lots of stairs. Lots of up and down. Lots of sun. The walls gave you a great view of the entire city and ocean. We finished the walls around 11 and then went to buy our tickets to take the ferry across to the little island called Lokrum. When we arrived at the island, we grabbed a quick lunch of sandwiches and then headed out to explore. We went into an old monastery where peacocks roamed about and one was even showing off for us! I had never seen a peacock make it's tail fan out and I had no idea it had little pom-poms of fluff underneath those long, colorful tail feathers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjznhALMr-UlpMnOJTrqVKePHOIXTiQir8xkUAE_W3EpKTGlzmjWDkI11HxtRfq9J7aPxRUWyoqOfx-grbX1-DcMYYtCcAVl3r0koN1gUwhdb9P6SNi5DojVwCUMyv2CeivSSitVNe2ONk/s1600/DSCN0384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjznhALMr-UlpMnOJTrqVKePHOIXTiQir8xkUAE_W3EpKTGlzmjWDkI11HxtRfq9J7aPxRUWyoqOfx-grbX1-DcMYYtCcAVl3r0koN1gUwhdb9P6SNi5DojVwCUMyv2CeivSSitVNe2ONk/s320/DSCN0384.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seriously. What?</td></tr>
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We then started hiking up to a fortress which only meant more hills, which naturally, I complained about the entire way up. I was also stupid and wore fashion shoes, not walking shoes. When we were done exploring the fortress at the top of the island, we headed down to the edge of the island to swim! We found a rocky ledge where several people were, mostly sunbathing, while we quickly changed into our swimsuits and jumped in.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5vww7gOtbyccvr6DapEnmM1wtbZhguIUYm-F03lWO-P6KXcpILcxoqNRObjeV38W-k5CSVAUb3JQGhSZ-5E4_WpT5MEt8Ox41xbT58mgVn9a_-W4QZm8f1LtEGdHiOwnhkauuZeeSVY4/s1600/262531_10152772726945346_2099355930_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5vww7gOtbyccvr6DapEnmM1wtbZhguIUYm-F03lWO-P6KXcpILcxoqNRObjeV38W-k5CSVAUb3JQGhSZ-5E4_WpT5MEt8Ox41xbT58mgVn9a_-W4QZm8f1LtEGdHiOwnhkauuZeeSVY4/s320/262531_10152772726945346_2099355930_n.jpg" width="239" /></a> Except not really.<br />
There was a little ladder at the edge, so we started to climb in, only to figure out the water was freezing cold! One by one, we inched in, teeth chattering from the ice cold water. One nice thing was how we could float so easily because of how salty it was. I would barely have to tread and I remained afloat and my mom never stopped saying how she "has never floated this easily on my back before! I'm just laying down!" Savannah, being our little desert baby, took a little more persuading to get in the water as well as some bribery of a back massage to fully put her head in. After we were all done with swimming, we got dressed, and headed back to catch the ferry so we could explore the other fortress on the other side of a cove from the wall. Which resulted, naturally, in more stairs. <i>Joy</i>. The fortress included spots where several scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed, causing Emma and Anna to fangirl quite a bit.<br />
Once exploring was done, we found a seaside restaurant for some local seafood. Everyone had their different plates and most of us took bites of each others to get a good taste of everything.<br />
We then called it a night and started the long trek back home where all us girls gathered in one of the rooms to catch up on some TV shows and relax after a long day of walking.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHsvNJxwpKYYU5FrNpcPKkDOhixhp0XnAWB2T8qFjs7YinX7GRHwdg8y8ZZmmpx6_s_vWFLzJdf0FDQ8jz0keKqW7C75-CIRt4rQKwdJvoFn4_5BYoF3FFzm_AqF2yxLHDDdWxqdLThRw/s1600/DSCN0398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHsvNJxwpKYYU5FrNpcPKkDOhixhp0XnAWB2T8qFjs7YinX7GRHwdg8y8ZZmmpx6_s_vWFLzJdf0FDQ8jz0keKqW7C75-CIRt4rQKwdJvoFn4_5BYoF3FFzm_AqF2yxLHDDdWxqdLThRw/s320/DSCN0398.JPG" width="320" /></a> Next day was much more relaxed. We ended up leaving a lot later to head up to the gondola/tram so we could go to the highest view point in Dubrovnik. The view was incredible and, while the other girls rested, my mom and I went on a mini adventure, finding an abandoned tunnel, an old amphitheater (we couldn't find the spot that makes your voice echo. It was a sad moment), and I got my feet scratched by grass. But it was overall gorgeous! I was complaining because we were walking (why am I the laziest human being?), but now looking back, I'm so glad my mom made me explore with her (yes, yes, I know, Mother knows best). We then headed back down to the main part of the city where we explored the pier, where we soaked our feet in the cool ocean, relieving our tired feet for a moment before getting up and going to see the old Franciscan monastery. It was gorgeous and interesting, but honestly, pretty much like every other monastery we saw.<br />
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We all wanted to go swimming one last time, so my mom and I offered to "run up" to our villa and grab our swimsuits because Savannah was the only one who remembered. That led my mom and I on another adventure, following a map as our bus took us around the city and we had to make sure we got off at a relatively close stop to our villa. Well. We got off at the stop <i>below </i>our villa, making us walk up that God forsaken hill. Grabbing our swimsuits, we headed back down, glancing at the map to find a nice place to swim. We found a beach and told the girls to meet us there. At the beach, there was only one other person who happened to be a Canadian! Instant bond, once again made. This water was colder and less buoyant, not to mention the sun was setting, so we only stayed in for a little while. When we were done, the girls wanted Mexican food, however I don't like Mexican food (usually. I can handle tacos and nachos and sometimes enchiladas, but still. It's not my favorite.) and my mom didn't feel like it, so we set off to the other marina to find our own restaurant.<br />
I was very happy with this, actually! Together we found a bunch of cool boats, watched the sun set, and found this hidden away restaurant with delicious food! We sat there for quite awhile before deciding it was late (only 10pm. Pffttt. <i>Only</i> 10pm) and grabbed the bus back home.<br />
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Next morning, everyone was up early to back and catch our bus to Mostar! Mostar was... Mostar. I had been there four times already, so navigating the city was no problem. I showed my mom everywhere that I had loved, while I slowly melted away, unfortunately becoming a bit irritable. When we finally stopped for coffee in the shade, I could feel myself getting in a better mood and I apologized to my mom because I realized how crabby I was. I'm not good in heat unless I'm tanning. Once I showed her all the sights and even bought a few things, we headed back to the train station to meet the girls and go back home!<br />
The train ride was hot and stuffy, but we all ate candy and talked for the entire ride, which was nice. When we arrived in Sarajevo, I called Esad and we were taken home and headed off to bed because the next day was Travnik!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsa20MLeqKT_arkKtlhZcNX5Qaik11kvhjJxcc30kFUI4nw7Nngl_1b0tpqMofDeYgEUEEbgbzDRC1r8vymFtqaR3NAj-WHX9jWfvzxBq8XeRNoo99mijKiEMcCpwwRv02HX5-AZGkqFk/s1600/320731_10152780808610346_1961624329_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsa20MLeqKT_arkKtlhZcNX5Qaik11kvhjJxcc30kFUI4nw7Nngl_1b0tpqMofDeYgEUEEbgbzDRC1r8vymFtqaR3NAj-WHX9jWfvzxBq8XeRNoo99mijKiEMcCpwwRv02HX5-AZGkqFk/s320/320731_10152780808610346_1961624329_n.jpg" width="246" /></a> Esad, Nizama, and Irfan took us to Travnik last Sunday! The weather, unfortunately, was a bit bipolar and as we sat down for lunch, it started pouring rain. Not exactly the most fun when we had to go tour around the fort.<br />
But we grabbed our umbrellas and went up to explore the fort. It was my third time, but it was still nice to see it again. When we were finished, Esad and Nizama picked us up and we went to FIS, which is a <i>giant</i> shopping center, bigger than SuperStore or Fred Meyer or... Tesco... I'm not sure on worldwide shopping centers... but FIS is <i>really</i> big! We could pretty much find anything in there, including a tea cup the size of a large mixing bowl. I really wish I bought it, because I can never get enough tea. I <i>love</i> it.<br />
Once we were done exploring both FISes (the department store and the Home Depot-type), we piled into the car and headed back home.<br />
However, we didn't stay long. Mom had last minute shopping to do, so we headed back into town for her to grab last minute presents as well as meet up with Kat, my teen group leader at church. Kat had been a big help in my adaption here, as well as a great friend and general<i> </i>person! So when I asked if it was possible for Kat and my mom to meet, both were eager to meet each other. We met up at Torte I To (great cafe in BBI) and talked for quite awhile. At one point they were talking about me and if I've changed or developed and whatnot, and I felt myself going into an awkward, bashful mode and I didn't quite know what to do with my face. Eventually we had to say good bye and we all headed back home, where we didn't have a lot of time to talk, because we had to pack!<br />
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Now when I say 'we' had to pack, it's because I sent home one of my suitcases home with my mom, so I had to pack it up and send it off. The next morning, we finished all our packing and called a taxi as we headed off to the airport. It was a weird sensation, being on the other side of security. I'm so used to my parents being the ones waving me off and I was going on an adventure, but instead I was waving goodbye to my mom, wishing her a safe flight. And it was just strange! I don't know how else to explain it.<br />
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Then came the complicated bit, which was getting out of the airport. I took a wrong turn somewhere, so I ended up walking in an unknown part of Dobrinja (a neighborhood in Sarajevo) until, about an hour later, I came across a tram stop and I honestly had no idea where I was.<br />
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Since saying goodbye to my mom, everything has fell back into normality. I can't explain how strange it was to have my mom here and she even felt the same way. I've established myself here by myself and suddenly having my mom here was the weirdest sensation. Going to Dubrovnik felt perfectly fine, because it was new to both of us. But having her come to my home for the past nine months and I had to show her everything was just a little bit weird.<br />
It was wonderful seeing her and I can't believe I see her in four weeks. Time has flown by so fast and I can't even comprehend it. Life here has gone from everything being exciting and new, to normal, to a bit boring, and now I'm just settled in. I don't double glance at certain things that used to through me off, I'm not scared to leave my bedroom, and it's strange to think I'm about to be uprooted again and replanted back in Oregon in a month. A <i>month</i>. It seems like the other day I was saying I left in a month! Crazy how this all happens so fast.<br />
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Anyway, I have church tomorrow and this is <i>way</i> overdue.<br />
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Until more stories,<br />
-KatieKatie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-48149353959793027062013-04-21T16:30:00.002+02:002013-04-22T06:41:22.952+02:00Blessed Going about daily life, you don't really go about thinking, "I am such a lucky person for having this" or "I can't believe <i>I </i>get to experience this."<br />
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Everyday here, I should be saying that.<br />
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I really cannot believe that I am in Bosnia studying abroad.<br />
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I am incredibly lucky that I was selected out of so many worthy candidates.<br />
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But most of all, I am blessed.<br />
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I am blessed to have family who support me and love me.<br />
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I am blessed with friends back home who have stuck with me through every tedious detail of my life.<br />
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I am blessed that I was selected.<br />
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I am blessed to have come here with four very different girls and share this experience in very different ways.<br />
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I am blessed to have met such extraordinary people from all over the world.<br />
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I am blessed to have an incredible host family.<br />
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I am blessed with friends here who I will keep for the rest of my life.<br />
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I am blessed that this past year has been life-changing.<br />
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<i>(there's no picture that can exactly portray this... #awkward)</i></div>
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I am blessed that God has worked through me in perfectly subtle ways.<br />
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<i>(there's no picture for that either...)</i></div>
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I am blessed with people who have made this experience so much more memorable.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggScr0d2dAT8yVHjnu_362ydUiU3MunYFvRp9dq-5R300cgbH8-687EqpdfhPAo0ynHb06BO7n42kDxfedGuxBreJZPlhJf5efNDQ83n15Hb0PW41k-MNTuu4orjUlF5L0tgPfH5lsobE/s1600/533887_549778261711452_1254169431_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggScr0d2dAT8yVHjnu_362ydUiU3MunYFvRp9dq-5R300cgbH8-687EqpdfhPAo0ynHb06BO7n42kDxfedGuxBreJZPlhJf5efNDQ83n15Hb0PW41k-MNTuu4orjUlF5L0tgPfH5lsobE/s400/533887_549778261711452_1254169431_n.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I could put twenty pictures in here... pretty much if there's a picture with people, I am blessed because of them :D</td></tr>
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I am blessed to have gone on adventures.<br />
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I am blessed that people have pushed me to do things I never would have considered.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe7tbn4BNrdR4G9IOnRYiyzWU-DowrP_tFp63qcGURE2Q3qtwTVljdcUjv_1KIWPQhd9LNl_aXjHh3edrWgdjFMP-YElozZhqT6SLf0A4n1puO8zXQ2ZRLj6d5rXB91dwj1STul0gSQwA/s1600/45289_4801676488563_1043711617_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe7tbn4BNrdR4G9IOnRYiyzWU-DowrP_tFp63qcGURE2Q3qtwTVljdcUjv_1KIWPQhd9LNl_aXjHh3edrWgdjFMP-YElozZhqT6SLf0A4n1puO8zXQ2ZRLj6d5rXB91dwj1STul0gSQwA/s320/45289_4801676488563_1043711617_n.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The reason I chose this picture is because Anna made me walk up a mountain. I usually won't do that willingly.</td></tr>
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I am so incredibly blessed to be here and I am so thankful for everyone who made this possible. I understand I have seven more weeks here and I shouldn't be dwelling on our inevitable return, but after Kat from church treated me to lunch and a round at the driving range (Ha. ha. Hahaha.), I just couldn't <i>not</i> feel so blessed to have people like that around me.<br />
Church has been my safe haven here, but it's also been a challenge. At times, it's felt like church back home and all I wanted to do was curl in a ball and be like, "but those aren't my friends! This isn't my church! I understand nothing!" But then I've made some of the best friends I could have, people were patient with my Bosnian skills and practiced with me, and I don't think most people realize how thankful I am for them being there when I needed it. True, I don't always understand every word coming out of the pastor's mouth and sometimes I get a wave of, "I miss my friends," but it's less and less now. I love these people so much and it hurts my heart that I have to say goodbye so soon.<br />
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I'm sorry these last two posts have had me thinking ahead to when we go home, but this is what happens during this time in an exchange student's life! I just didn't realize it would hit so hard.<br />
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So thank you, everyone who has made this the greatest experience ever. I'm just happy to say it's not over yet.<br />
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Anyway, that's enough sap for the day. Here's a picture of me attempting to golf:<br />
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Until my mom arrives (FIVE DAYS),<br />
-KatieKatie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com2Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina43.8579639 18.41274069999997243.7663589 18.25137919999997 43.9495689 18.574102199999974tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-3449667671228171812013-04-18T16:11:00.002+02:002013-04-18T16:11:13.780+02:00Far and Away I really love going places. Whether it's a city just an hour away or a different continent, I love seeing new places (which is slightly ironic considering I'm not that adventurous). This past weekend, SHAKE went to Bihać and Plitvice Lakes in Croatia and it was absolutely gorgeous! True, I had to get up at a ridiculous hour in the morning to meet up the car that was picking me up at the school and take us to where the bus was, but it was all worth it! We went with a group from Nahla, which<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> is a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">Bosnian NGO established in 2001 by group of young women who were committed to providing a space for Bosnian woman in which they could feel safe and accepted and get a chance to learn, socialize, broaden and enrich their knowledge and acquire different skills needed to efficiently perform a job and actively participate in social life. The ladies were all lovely and so kind and I was very glad to have met them.</span></span><br />
The bus drive there was long and although we all tried to stay awake to see the stunning Bosnian countryside, all of us fell asleep at some point. Luckily, the group took several pit stops in cities along the way. I don't know a lot of what these places were, but I'm glad we stopped anyway.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By the river Una, near Bihać<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pliva Lakes near Jajce</td></tr>
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One of our pit stops, my favorite, was the 16th century castle in Ostrožac. It was huge and beautiful and situated way up high on a mountain, looking vaguely like a mini Hogwarts. The courtyard was filled with all sorts of interesting statues and, despite the majority of the castle falling apart, we were allowed to freely explore which resulted in me singing "Once Upon a December" from the movie Anastasia. The castle was just purely incredible and everything about it was stunning.<br />
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I don't know man, I've just always wanted to be a princess and this was the closest I could have gotten.<br />
The day ended at our hotel right outside of Bihać, where we had coffee outside on their patio because the weather was gorgeous, plus it was right beside the river. We then continued inside for dinner where we had our monthly meeting which began the talk of the end of our stay. It's so weird to think about that we're out of here in less than two months. Next years YES Abroad students have been chosen (congratulations everyone! This next year of your life will be absolutely insane and incredible and I can't even begin to describe it properly. All I can say is that this was the best year of my life).<br />
However... it is strange to think how far I've come. I'm not the same person I was when I left Newberg eight months ago or when I was selected a year ago. I've explored quite thoroughly an entirely new country and I've tasted foods I never thought I would try. I've spoken a language I didn't know existed a few years ago, I've made friends I didn't think I could be friends with. I've stretched myself in ways I didn't know I could be pulled and everything that has come out of this experience thus far has made this even more incredible and unbelievable.<br />
Moving on from all my sentiments...<br />
The night finished up with all of SHAKE gathered in Helena, Savannah, and Emma's room talking about anything and everything. Anna tried to scare Savannah and Emma when they left the room, but that failed. We talked about books and movies and weirdness and whatever came to mind. One thing I'll miss about SHAKE is that these girls have become like my sisters. We all love each other (I think... I love them at least), we annoy each other at times, but we all know that when we go home, we have made four best friends we didn't think we could have made before this. We never would have met without YES. We live all over the US, how would we have? This also makes me feel like we're the girly, cultural version of One Direction, but that's me just being slightly silly.<br />
And I'm getting sappy again. I apologize. It's what happens when you're down to 53 days left in a certain place.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8lhYEXVMq9LoUBfXvvh0nvnIzRwzXhIHRU7143guNCuT6DZmQKxlBAeTMS2vtXLL56RemFcIUx3joWYU9nrupIoOVDcg0aqH2n5FwlM9Qmx0nn9ql8SioQMP3qDY-4JyZ9S3Mf72petvH/s1600/DSCN0244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8lhYEXVMq9LoUBfXvvh0nvnIzRwzXhIHRU7143guNCuT6DZmQKxlBAeTMS2vtXLL56RemFcIUx3joWYU9nrupIoOVDcg0aqH2n5FwlM9Qmx0nn9ql8SioQMP3qDY-4JyZ9S3Mf72petvH/s320/DSCN0244.JPG" width="240" /></a> The next morning we packed up and got on our bus to Plitvice Lakes in Croatia! There was no point falling asleep on this drive as it only lasted an hour and we had to get off the bus to cross the border. One more stamp in my passport! Wooo!<br />
The falls were breathtaking. True, with a giant tour group sometimes you couldn't squeeze through and snap a decent picture before you were barked at saying we had to move along, but the fact of the matter is that I at least got to <i>see </i>the falls. I have the image permanently implanted in my head and that's something I can live with.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHA2JT7AHvhvZBf19zN6QUASnRFQ1kwGf8Jh1jv9w2rPNQcbS63P77FlSOhxavZAmeIQzBTVV32VpIyO9iAY2ftQ-ztjRsIN7w33jKvh9wSTO2dECDDDUshSFxhAqExK5wPbkjthFx_SM5/s1600/544152_550084661680812_1313675705_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHA2JT7AHvhvZBf19zN6QUASnRFQ1kwGf8Jh1jv9w2rPNQcbS63P77FlSOhxavZAmeIQzBTVV32VpIyO9iAY2ftQ-ztjRsIN7w33jKvh9wSTO2dECDDDUshSFxhAqExK5wPbkjthFx_SM5/s320/544152_550084661680812_1313675705_n.jpg" width="180" /></a> We did a lot of hiking around, through the falls, up and down mountains, on little bridges, and the like to see the extent of the falls that we could. However, many of the lakes had overflown therefore resulting in mini falls all over the place. It was very possibly the coolest type of waterfall I had ever seen. On one of the boats across the lake to a nice spot to grab some food and souvenirs, we met a guy from Paris where I was then forced to speak French with, which, in all honesty, I was secretly hoping would happen. My French is still ten times better than my Bosnian and I can communicate quite easily in French. We only talked for about five to ten minutes, but I still felt special. Once we landed on the other side of the lakes and grabbed our souvenirs, we then began the climb up the mountain to where our bus was. I'm surprised I survived, because I kid you not, that was a mountain. I swear I'm not exaggerating.<br />
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When we were back on the bus, we began the ride back home, but not before stopping in a town for dinner and feeding some dogs (who Anna and I affectionately named Fuzz and Oreo). My legs were a bit Jello-y and going back on the bus was a wonderful thing because it meant sleep. Except that didn't happen either. First of all, Helena and I watched a movie on the way back, taking breaks to look at the scenery we missed on the ride to Bihać and Plitvice and we also took a pit stop in an interactive museum (similar to Fort Edmonton in Canada). It was adorable and the view was absolutely gorgeous. Who am I kidding? All of Bosnia is gorgeous. I say this every time I visit a new place.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I am aware Emma and I are matching.</td></tr>
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Late that night we arrived back in Sarajevo and we all jumped in taxis back home. Esad was adorable when I came home, asking all the questions of how it was and if I was tired. He then told me to go to bed which I did so gladly.<br />
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These past few weeks have otherwise been uneventful. The sun is out and I'm so glad because my mom comes in eight days and I promised her the weather would be nice. And it is! Nice weather makes me happy and motivated and most people can tell, because I get really bubbly when I'm in a good mood. I also zone out a lot more in class because I'm glazing at the sun and flowers through the windows. #sorrynotsorry<br />
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Anyway, I think I've written enough for the day. Not to mention I talked about One Direction and Disney, so I think I should call it quits.<br />
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Until I go places (which will be soon!),<br />
-Katie<br />
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P.S. Remember to follow me on Twitter @KateWells7 and check out my story, <a href="http://www.wattpad.com/story/3390648-starbird">Starbird</a>. <- click on the link. Do it.Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-31557976323783260152013-04-08T19:52:00.000+02:002013-04-08T19:55:38.608+02:00Exploring I'm not one to explore, nor be a bit spontaneous. I like plans and I like to know exactly where I'm going with thorough research. When someone says, "Oh! Let's stop here, it looks interesting." I instantly go, "Umm. How about not?" I don't randomly decide to do things. I like having dates and times.<br />
That's why on Thursday I surprised myself a little bit when I decided I was bored with my hair and I chopped it all off! Well. Not <i>all</i> off. But let's just say it hasn't been this short since Freshman year. It's been awhile.<br />
And then when Anna messaged me Thursday night asking me if wanted to meet up for coffee in Baščaršija the next day and run around and take some pictures, I didn't think much of it.<br />
Ha. Silly me. This is Anna we're talking about. She's kind of an exploration nut.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-DON2r-CmDRKYYKCDKg_ODoYUZ9f0mcchStyVuq9gaoT6IU4ewdMWEBI2FOYJ1d6C5EduFjXlpPrzHIkrIGLcL-zWVScCgvNrVcfiBBO19yr8Fb4940uH2dNALXMCe1aa0_BfPRvtLP4B/s1600/533986_4801674648517_2016305120_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-DON2r-CmDRKYYKCDKg_ODoYUZ9f0mcchStyVuq9gaoT6IU4ewdMWEBI2FOYJ1d6C5EduFjXlpPrzHIkrIGLcL-zWVScCgvNrVcfiBBO19yr8Fb4940uH2dNALXMCe1aa0_BfPRvtLP4B/s320/533986_4801674648517_2016305120_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The next day I walked down to meet her at BBI Centar where we took off for coffee. The day was warm enough to sit in one of our favorite Old Town cafés with a nice <i>cheap</i> array of coffees. We talked for what felt like hours and then decided we should head out. Then Anna suggested after coffee we could head up to Bijela Tabija. After quickly agreeing, I then caught myself and asked her if we were going to take a taxi or walk. She replied walking. HA. No. Instead we settled for another spot of the city, still up a <i>solid</i> hill that was right next to an old military compound.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnWHZhrBKKUdSMFeqztbNd8e3FmmUMzrQWr_4RXnOAvA8XOWKZVWaBU3IWnkFTrsfnGa2L15WSfmsNGrY8IEVQp3PMTcIeRnHgPw3g0QPv1ZLzKlqUX6IyZjhvgo3RV9yD8szW490HHLt6/s1600/534811_4801674448512_812018948_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnWHZhrBKKUdSMFeqztbNd8e3FmmUMzrQWr_4RXnOAvA8XOWKZVWaBU3IWnkFTrsfnGa2L15WSfmsNGrY8IEVQp3PMTcIeRnHgPw3g0QPv1ZLzKlqUX6IyZjhvgo3RV9yD8szW490HHLt6/s320/534811_4801674448512_812018948_n.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="213" /></a></div>
However, we didn't know that area very well so we ended up wandering up and down alley ways, passing broken down buildings and catching wonderful views of the partly-sunny Sarajevo. We stopped along the ways taking lovely pictures, which Anna was excited about because the lighting was perfect. The broken military building was extremely fascinating and Anna and I had to be each others common sense, because both of were tempted to go exploring further inside, but the many signs surrounding the building saying, "Warning: Destroyed" kept us in check.<br />
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After wandering the hills of Sarajevo, we started heading down when we ran into an amphitheater that they started building when we first got here. Well, it's almost finished now! So Anna and I enjoyed running back and forth between center stage to test out the acoustics to the back of the theater where we could hear exactly what we were saying. Amphitheaters never fail to completely amaze me. I mean, how do they work!? I'm sure there's a science to it, however, I just really do not know what exactly happens. Time for a quickee research! Once we were done playing, we then headed to the Alija <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">Izetbegović museum which was a remodeling of two towers and wall connecting them. Izetbegovi</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">ć was Bosnia's first president and held a very important role in overcoming the recent war.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"> One part of the museum focused on his life, while the next focused on the war. All-in-all, Anna and I found it incredible interesting and we left the museum both agreeing Izetbegovi</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">ć was pretty awesome.</span><br />
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Once we were through scanning the museum, we headed back down to Old Town for ćevapi and then sat around in a park looking at the pictures we took until it started to rain. That was where Anna headed back home (which consisted of a long walk home because the public transportation system is on strike) while I headed off to church!<br />
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Teen group this week was exciting and different as missionaries on the <a href="http://www.ywam.org/">YWAM</a> (Youth With A Mission) program in Ukraine were there as guests, who set up the room very nicely and made us dinner! Teen group passed normally as I made new friends in YWAM from the USA, UK, Ukraine, Russia, and the Netherlands! They were really nice and we were equally interested in each other and what we were doing in Eastern Europe.<br />
Saturday was our first day of <i>no</i> Bosnian class, so I pretty much slept and chilled with the host family which was a nice, relaxing change. However, later that evening, my church was holding an Easter concert and a mini art show, so that evening I headed out to that and it was a lovely evening of traditional music, art, and fellowship.<br />
Sunday was <i>busy</i>. I left that morning for church, except yesterday was a special sort of Sunday service as around six or seven different churches were gathered together for one big service. Helena came with me, which I was really glad about because most of the girls don't know exactly what I do when I go to church, so it was nice to finally show one of them. The service was great and interesting, with the pastor using '<i>Shawshank Redemption</i>' as one of his key visuals. Once the service was over, Helena and I headed out for lunch, but not before I made plans to meet up with Lindsay (the American in YWAM) later in Baščaršija.<br />
So Helena and I carried out a quick lunch of freshly made pizza and then she headed off to work, while I went on my way to meet up with Lindsay. Because she didn't know Sarajevo, I was able to take her around a bit and show her certain things (I considered this a test run for when my mom comes in <i><b>18 days</b></i>! YAY!). We had coffee in my favorite Old Town café, shopped around; both of us buying gifts for our friends and family. Once we were finished going through every shop in Old Town, BBI, and Alta, Lindsay told me I was welcome to join the YWAM crew for dinner and a movie at the church. So of course I agreed!<br />
When we arrived at the church, both of us cold and exhausted, soup was simmering and one of the workers put hot water on for tea, which was perfect after a long day of walking everywhere in the 4ºC weather. We all talked around for awhile, eating our soup and sipping tea and coffee and I pretty much was in awe of the Brits and their accents. We then all settled in for a Disney movie, making offhand comments of Hercules having one of the best soundtracks and how Megara has a crazy fringe.<br />
Once the movie was over, I called Esad to come pick me up and I said farewell to my new friends who I hope I will see again someday! When I got home, Nizama asked if I was living at the church, considering that was where I spent the majority of my weekend and I simply laughed and told her no.<br />
<br />
Anyway, this weekend was lots of fun, full of exploring and meeting new people and chilling. Always nice chilling. :) I better be off though, got some homework and then off to bed early! That's what happens when you drink three cups of coffee the night before and only get three hours of sleep...<br />
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Until more people,<br />
-Katie<br />
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P.S. Remember to follow me on Twitter <b>@KateWells7</b> !Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-86435002663936796992013-03-25T15:43:00.004+01:002013-03-25T15:43:58.306+01:00Život Again, this month contains very few posts. Not many crazy adventures, exciting experiences, or new people. In fact, life here in Bosnia has just become that.<br />
Life.<br />
Regular, routine life. <br />
I don't take a double glance at the different types of building, the patchy roads, the signs in a different language. Talking to my host family is usually random, pointless conversation that we just feel like talking about. I go to school, I have coffee with my friends, I go shopping (so much so that a worker at one of my top choice stores knows who I am and we actually have conversations when I go there. Well.), I go to church. All very typical, day-to-day things that I've experienced everywhere that I've lived. Sometimes I re-realize that I'm living in <i>Bosnia</i> and the view from my house is something I'm unlikely to see again and it's just kind of a "<i>Whooaaaaa</i>..." moment.<br />
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But then there's the even weirder moment when you think of going back to 'Murica. I got my return date and it's the weirdest thing ever. SO, Newberg! I'll be home at 9:30pm on June 11th, 2013. Upon receiving my online ticket, I stared at it for what felt like an hour. There it was, solidified, the day I go home. And I hate thinking about it because then I get in this inner conflict of, "Yay! I miss everyone so much and I'm excited to see them and go do this and eat this food!" versus "But I'm probably not going to come back here for a very long time and I'm going to miss all my friends and family here and what about doing this or eating this food that I will never be able to make as well as my host mom." Honestly, though, I'm in a very good position. I've absolutely loved every second of this exchange and I'm sad to leave, but I am excited to go home. I guess you could say I've got the best of both worlds (Hannah Montana, FTdubs).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRPUV-7cz1DncZ7QktVcYzQZbNhk2qeN5a1gbHstYoJC4qaI8Sx7K-V06axhcTVBPTGztW9U-TP12KqZcJH2qizb2st81iHZi6BKvni7A-nr8ins_Al4yjQjsRGrG5Y_G1P0aCQIvwXI4/s1600/DSCN0156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRPUV-7cz1DncZ7QktVcYzQZbNhk2qeN5a1gbHstYoJC4qaI8Sx7K-V06axhcTVBPTGztW9U-TP12KqZcJH2qizb2st81iHZi6BKvni7A-nr8ins_Al4yjQjsRGrG5Y_G1P0aCQIvwXI4/s320/DSCN0156.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-5sKm-JptsXk0r37KyCGk-oVFhL7HzIFXp2sxcfnezrXMSHqUVK9kvq-__0mqdr901dM3D8lfCrDyaRgDkOeGMZrdRW0DWybfJrsQB1c5JWnnxyrKXu5X_TP2-saieHCq8aVO8HjDxtM/s1600/DSCN0157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-5sKm-JptsXk0r37KyCGk-oVFhL7HzIFXp2sxcfnezrXMSHqUVK9kvq-__0mqdr901dM3D8lfCrDyaRgDkOeGMZrdRW0DWybfJrsQB1c5JWnnxyrKXu5X_TP2-saieHCq8aVO8HjDxtM/s320/DSCN0157.JPG" width="320" /></a> Yesterday, I went to Gorožde with my host family and it was nice. Simple, but nice. The weather was around 10ºC and it was a bit windy, but the sun was nice. Gorožde was a beautiful town, mostly there for farming and chilling at cafes. Not much else to do, but that. However, the entire ride there, my host family made fun of my Bosnian (I spent six months saying, <i>"Jesam idela"</i> thinking it meant "I went" when the proper past tense way is "<i>Jesam išla.</i>" and nobody corrected me. Nizama was just proud that I was trying to speak Bosnian at all, so she didn't care if it was correct or not, as long as she understood me. Thanks guys) and Irfan and I tried to teach Esad and Nizama English. <i>Selo</i> is village and <i>grad </i>is city. Ta-da! Learning!<br />
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We also stopped at two of Esad's relatives house for coffee and food, the second house just because we were passing through. A little bit of Bosnian culture for you: it doesn't matter if you show up out of the blue, uninvited. You want to have coffee with some distant relatives, they will welcome you in with open arms and start making a fresh pot of coffee right away. *Sigh* How I love it here. Irfan also started calling me Princess and also promised me he'd buy me a tiara when I mentioned how much I love Disney movies and how I want a poofy, tulle skirt. So, all-in-all, that day was pretty great. Well. Minus playing <i>Angry Birds. </i>I seriously could not get the hang of that game.<br />
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Then today after History class, SHAKE went out for coffee where we've had some of the most <i>interesting</i> conversations ever. I don't even know where they come from, but they're definitely border line 'interesting' and 'weird'.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1T21mYnHITzZMEHUbi4NCZuzYkNVZieEwKkoTacsgymeRMJSOTnbp00bxxA7r4Qh-txfL4KHeozA1esrjeo4HGW1z-9phu2Hz7QwtRr6KhERs8CVlr2DLxzAaw4SKdNR-ktK5kxaZMDu/s1600/DSCN0158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1T21mYnHITzZMEHUbi4NCZuzYkNVZieEwKkoTacsgymeRMJSOTnbp00bxxA7r4Qh-txfL4KHeozA1esrjeo4HGW1z-9phu2Hz7QwtRr6KhERs8CVlr2DLxzAaw4SKdNR-ktK5kxaZMDu/s320/DSCN0158.JPG" width="294" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great Expecations and a smiling cappuccino. I love Bombon.</td></tr>
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Now I sit at home where I was originally enjoying the sun, but now it's snowing like crazy. Why can the weather not stay sunny and pretty? I AM SO DONE WITH SNOW.<br />
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Moving along, I graduate in less than three months and my mom comes in four weeks and I'm just really excited for all of that.<br />
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Anyway, time to go do some more Government homework and remember to follow me on Twitter <b>@KateWells7</b> !<br />
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Until life gets busy or the weather decides to make up it's mind,<br />
-Katie (Keti)Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-397263003225112342013-03-04T22:00:00.002+01:002013-03-04T23:03:34.081+01:00Living Life If you've been stalking my Facebook or reading my tweets, you know by now that<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>These past few days have been absolutely AMAZING and...</li>
<li>I am now, officially, EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE.</li>
</ol>
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But before I begin in all of that, I just want to make a quick apology for not writing at all last month. Nothing really happened, so honestly, you didn't miss out on much. Just me going to school and trying to accomplish something in my online courses.<br />
Moving along!<br />
<br />
SHAKE went bowling on February 22 (Emma's birthday!) and that was fun! I, yet again, owned everyone else's lives which is <i>strange</i> because I typically fail at anything that isn't writing or pinning things on Pinterest. So pretty much, if someone says we're going bowling, I am totally in.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjSixi24-Ki9lp4MQ-xlty9GB1Y6d1Brzzg8sr1ynFmQS5A4bxruM4x-DQX2FNuBtz44ag7euX0QWQBlcNLFMsipQFQEl2kis3Dewo1Yz1i_gza4zNsoMMru0GDjwiT-Xmif6ys5A4gjj7/s1600/DSC03451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjSixi24-Ki9lp4MQ-xlty9GB1Y6d1Brzzg8sr1ynFmQS5A4bxruM4x-DQX2FNuBtz44ag7euX0QWQBlcNLFMsipQFQEl2kis3Dewo1Yz1i_gza4zNsoMMru0GDjwiT-Xmif6ys5A4gjj7/s320/DSC03451.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Savannah!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAlzHh0WciEGXD9mNTSZ0KHn6SRD9bMzjN_1kWB4Nm1Up1dGirors5yBqe_9UepcKB0K6Styd_VUGcMokka_EfF0KHNelXuB90VTTSsU5CXVI-OfH5xTmRAHvmIrpdVR8-bPOBhQtqf50/s1600/DSC03461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAlzHh0WciEGXD9mNTSZ0KHn6SRD9bMzjN_1kWB4Nm1Up1dGirors5yBqe_9UepcKB0K6Styd_VUGcMokka_EfF0KHNelXuB90VTTSsU5CXVI-OfH5xTmRAHvmIrpdVR8-bPOBhQtqf50/s320/DSC03461.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you can see... I kind of won.</td></tr>
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Last Sunday (February 24) my family back in America Skyped me to wish me a happy early birthday and have my Sunday birthday dinner, a long standing tradition. I was in my pajamas and I had no idea that there was an entire crowd over at my house, but they all sang happy birthday and then sat me down at the table in my usual spot as they ate and, once again, it felt like I never left. Something I was kind of, really happy about.<br />
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My actual birthday (February 27) was uneventful, especially when I woke up <i>super</i> sick with one of the worst colds I'd ever had (four cups of tea in a day and three rolls of toilet paper because I didn't have tissues. That's the way to role on your eighteenth.) and I received an e-mail from my History teacher saying that class was cancelled, aka, my only class of the day. So I stayed home, barely talked to anyone except my own family and my best friend for a happy birthday Skype dates.<br />
However! One very, very good thing came out of my birthday. My mom bought her tickets to visit at the end of April! So, as of today, I will be seeing my mom in seven weeks and three days (she just counted) and I am <i>so</i> excited! I've been wanting to show somebody what I've learned and where I've lived, and now I finally get to! SEE YOU SOON, MOM!<br />
<br />
Then came Friday, March 1. We didn't have any school because it was Bosnian Independence Day, so instead my church was holding a teen event all day with some friends from Switzerland. Originally we were planning on going to Jajce for my birthday, but some things came up so we had to cancel. I headed over a bit early as the sun was shining and the weather was pleasant and arrived to see some of my favorite faces. The few people who were there early as well sang me a quick happy birthday and I was happy that that happened. It was the first real happy birthday I got.<br />
Slowly, more people started arriving until the Swiss kids came! Everyone at first mainly stuck to the groups they knew, when the groups started to meld together as we started playing card games. We ended up having a giant game of European UNO and, for those of you who are thinking, "European UNO? How is that even different?" All I can say is that it involved lots of slapping cards and beating people to the figurative punch. Nevertheless, I <i>failed</i> at it and was the key source of laughter. As in I was being made fun of.<br />
On the bright side of things, I met a French girl and her friend who were both speaking in French! And you can guess my glee when I was able to speak a foreign language and <i>not </i>cower back in fear. They understood me, I understood them, we got along nicely. I just have really missed speaking a language that I speak <i>well.</i><br />
Once everyone had arrived, we ate some pizza and then took off to Baščaršija. Selma and I started being a little ridiculous on the way down and it was just fun. I haven't really been my weird, outgoing self here, mainly because most of these people I haven't quite <i>clicked</i> with. But the girls at church and I work well and I have loved the freedom of acting however I want because I know that we're friends because of that. In the past few months I've attended church and known them, I feel like they have learned my little quirks faster than the majority of my friends at school. And I love them for it.<br />
We then arrived down in Baščaršija, with the sun blinding all of us as we posed for a picture by the Sebilj.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEZ9YzvIfiP0MjmO2rX8UT28qYaTRecGfMmfgDnXTN74012BPvs31OpQ1gok_Y3I8yK4qef6jTBsO8RYl6YvqcCyUMTZKMJ9q5mjlVXN-iuneVEMuA91NhnoKMthd52qvPyXP84gp9FTXq/s1600/DSCN0127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEZ9YzvIfiP0MjmO2rX8UT28qYaTRecGfMmfgDnXTN74012BPvs31OpQ1gok_Y3I8yK4qef6jTBsO8RYl6YvqcCyUMTZKMJ9q5mjlVXN-iuneVEMuA91NhnoKMthd52qvPyXP84gp9FTXq/s400/DSCN0127.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you can see by my squinted eyes... blinding sun.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNgrbXpIwwdFwLc1YPTFvnTJ_JyxglA2dum0t7xtrf-BNykg7xnkDeKJiPktXPrIYCzNYenEse6FtHKNssUeyhOIQp-F1qGLkCHj9Te1rL5yUfnpMS9OgWHXY_s5BR-CODSudOJB5bxgq1/s1600/DSCN0130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNgrbXpIwwdFwLc1YPTFvnTJ_JyxglA2dum0t7xtrf-BNykg7xnkDeKJiPktXPrIYCzNYenEse6FtHKNssUeyhOIQp-F1qGLkCHj9Te1rL5yUfnpMS9OgWHXY_s5BR-CODSudOJB5bxgq1/s320/DSCN0130.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Selma and I on the top of the hill.</td></tr>
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After our picture, we headed up a hill (an agonizingly steep hill) where we were offered an absolutely gorgeous view of Sarajevo. It wasn't quite the tallest hill, but it still offered a nice view. However, despite the tall climb, it was fun! I found myself laughing harder at really random things with the girls who were speaking French and some of my older church buddies. Yes, I still complained about going up a hill, but the fact that I was climbing with a bunch of my friends made it okay.<br />
<br />
Once we took our pictures and sang, yet again, happy birthday to one of the Swiss boys (in English, German, French, and Bosnian. How's that for a day of culture?), we headed back down to Baščaršija to walk around freely. Selma and Nadja became my buddies as we linked arms and traipsed down Old Town, giggling at the randomest things, and eventually ended up at BBI. By the time Selma and I got to our first store, my other friend, Rebecca, called me saying that we had to go back to Baščaršija or else we'd be late to meet the group at 6:30.<br />
So we booked it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">l-r David, Selma, Rahel, me, Jovana, Daniel, and Nadja<br />
BEFORE we had to run back to the Sebilj.</td></tr>
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We sped walked the entire way there, me losing my breath because I started showing them the "proper" way to speed walk with you elbows up and out and your feet walking in a straight line which caused all of us to lose it. By the time we arrived at the Sebilj, all of us were out of breath from laughing so hard. And early.<br />
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A half hour later, we were back at the church for dinner and then the Teen Alpha Course, where before it started, they were blasting music from Teenstreet which is this big youth conference in Germany in August that thousands of teens from all over Europe go to (much like YC in Canada and Generation Unleashed in America). I didn't know the songs (even if they were in English) or the dance moves that everyone else seemed to know. A few people were sitting around, me being one of them, but the majority of people were singing and dancing around. I was then convinced to join them and follow the dance moves and, I'm not even kidding, it felt like ZUMBA. Just watch and repeat and hope nobody is looking at you. By the end of our impromptu dance party, everyone was laughing and out of breath and all the windows were open to let in the cool night air.<br />
We eventually all settled down for the Alpha course, where everyone was split into language groups. Bosnian, German, and English. The lesson was good, even if everyone was confused where we were and didn't necessarily know what was happening.<br />
The night passed and eventually we were all saying good bye and I knew that for all the Swiss people, that was my first and last time seeing them, so the good bye was pretty solid, even if I had several guys try and convince me to come to the next Teenstreet where I had to inform them that I would be starting college and that wouldn't be happening. When the last few of us were waiting to go, David brought up how a "stupid One Direction song" was stuck in his head. Being me, I asked him which one where he then proceeds to sing the one line that he could remember, "that's what makes you beautiful." My entire face beamed as I turned to Selma who then joined me in singing the entire song at the top of our lungs at 10 at night. Nadja, Jovana, and Kat all joined in and soon we were belting the song, doing our own little ad-libs and even Kat changed the lyrics to Bosnian saying something about how girls should know they're beautiful anyway.<br />
By the time I came home, I was in a great mood. Hanging out with all my friends that day and making new ones simply made me so happy and I couldn't wait for the next teen group to see most of them again.<br />
I'm just glad that when I leave, I have so many things to come back for. And that's special to me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHuLoAoAe-Nmf0NJ5-UOon39RqJdO2iUlR7vL7UzsfXCjiPTskHjB5_FlEPb8lRwtT_JFiqO1Eb-POuDNeCEJANOB-6ugmn6PPMj6yZbY2VIDgLW0ObQASthaxTrYtwuaLQ4zyXr5tOzW/s1600/DSCN0146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHuLoAoAe-Nmf0NJ5-UOon39RqJdO2iUlR7vL7UzsfXCjiPTskHjB5_FlEPb8lRwtT_JFiqO1Eb-POuDNeCEJANOB-6ugmn6PPMj6yZbY2VIDgLW0ObQASthaxTrYtwuaLQ4zyXr5tOzW/s320/DSCN0146.JPG" width="320" /></a> Now we move to Sunday! Sunday was my birthday party day as SHAKE + Irfan headed up to Zmajevac, a really pretty spot up on the mountain that overlooks all of Sarajevo, but not before Nizama timed out the arrival of the girls so we could have lunch before we headed out. We had pita and hot chocolate (weird... but that's what we ate) and we gathered everything up and headed to the hills.<br />
The walk to Zmajevac wasn't <i>too</i> bad. Yes, it was mainly up hill and it took about a half hour to get there. But it was still fun hanging out and walking with SHAKE and Irfan. True, Irfan and I complained the majority of the walk, saying we were both tired and didn't want to move, but both of us eventually got there while SHEA was perfectly intact. That's cool, guys.<br />
The view from Zmajevac was gorgeous as we stopped for a snack break. After awhile, we then began the climb to Barice. Barice would have been a fairly easy and fast climb if we left from our house. But because we decided to go to Zmajevac first, the walk was long. And tremendously uphill. Helena and I at one point ended up singing old songs from musicals, driving Irfan up a wall and we stopped to pet dogs on several occasions.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl8TESzO3nJ-LpII2ZznqiM2RqJyydt4X9vTBp9oYBGYiuGfgxkTirBZj-KkcCwfurbVh1MPbvz6km2WXhvTX-H4yUa_GNU2sDearliiMaUR1-uFRQPMtkQAH_PcgGxcmSMBejoTB-dLie/s1600/DSCN0153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl8TESzO3nJ-LpII2ZznqiM2RqJyydt4X9vTBp9oYBGYiuGfgxkTirBZj-KkcCwfurbVh1MPbvz6km2WXhvTX-H4yUa_GNU2sDearliiMaUR1-uFRQPMtkQAH_PcgGxcmSMBejoTB-dLie/s320/DSCN0153.JPG" width="320" /></a> What felt like <i>hours</i> later, we arrived at Barice which was at the very top of the mountain. Sadly, we couldn't see all of Sarajevo due to the smog. We settled down for some sandwiches, oranges, and water and just chatted simply as everyone rested.<br />
Once everyone felt good to go again, we headed down the steep and rocky hill to home. I didn't realize how close Barice was to my house, but it was <i>ridiculously</i> close.<br />
Upon arrival, Nizama had food ready for us as we set down for dinner of musaka (I am 90% sure that is what it's called...) and we then headed up for a movie.<br />
Except we didn't exactly watch a movie right away. At first, we were just bumming around my room, talking and eating the American snacks that Emma brought (Goldfish crackers, Froot Loops, and Reese's Mini Peanut Butter cups. THANK YOU EMMA, I LOVE YOU). But then Savannah asked Emma to toss her a Fruit Loop into her mouth and then the game was started! Emma switched places with Anna who threw us Fruit Loops one by one. If you caught the first, another was thrown until you didn't catch it, where the thrower would then move on to the next person. I won with a max of six in a row.<br />
After presents (a scarf, purse, and ring from my lovely ladies. LOVE YOU ALL! LOVE THE GIFTS!) we then settled on my bed to watch a movie where Emma and Anna fell asleep. When the movie was over, we had a quick piece of cake before they decided it was best that they head off because we had school in the morning.<br />
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All-in-all, these past few days have been awesome. I think I've just had a bad case of winter blues along with a bit of senioritis, but lately, my motivation is up and I've just been in a really good mood.<br />
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Anyway, sorry for the really long post. But that's been my life for the past week and a half.<br />
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Until more sun and happiness,<br />
-Katie<br />
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P.S. This time, last year, I wrote my first blog post. It's weird to see how far I've come from freaking out about the IPSE and NSLI-Y. I mean, now I'm here.<br />
P.P.S. Remember to follow me on Twitter <b>@KateWells7</b> !Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-47466763029580755442013-02-16T14:48:00.001+01:002013-02-16T14:49:39.843+01:00Little Things<br />
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So I realize I haven't written in, I'm pretty sure, three weeks. Pretty much all that's happened is I've gone back to school and it's snowed a lot. Boring, I'm aware. Hence why I haven't really written anything. Moving along.</div>
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Two days ago was my six month anniversary in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. And when you hit that mark, all I can do is think back to my first day here. And believe me when I say it is the weirdest sensation to think back to that moment the plane landed and the two old people sitting beside me refused to let me look out the window to see Bosnia for the first time (I'm not even kidding. They kept giving me dirty looks and then shifted so I couldn't see out. Meanies.). But I'm not going to get all nostalgic right now (ok, I was nostalgic, because I just went back and read all my August blog posts about my first few days. It's. So. Weird.) and instead I'm just going to say that this is a strange feeling. Being so close to the end and feeling like it's all happened so quickly.</div>
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Three days ago, though, I brought my dishes downstairs to put in the dishwasher and Nizama was already there. Instead of doing the awkward put-dishes-in-the-sink-and-walk-away move I would constantly do with my own mother, I started helping her load the dishwasher. Nizama seemed to appreciate it and it wasn't that difficult. She then proceeded to ask me about my parents and I was able to tell her that they were currently in India for church. We then launched into a conversation about how her daughter, Nermana, went to India when she was in university and how she loved it there. Moving along, Nizama asked me about university and what I was planning on studying, where I told her that I was planning on English and maybe French. I wasn't sure how to say Cross-Cultural Studies or Journalism, but English and French have always been on my mind, so that's what I mentioned. We talked for awhile about colleges and where I was going to study (start off in the States, move on to Europe later) where Nizama then brought up the American University of BiH. She wouldn't stop hinting that I should go to that school and it made me really happy that she was telling me that I needed to come back to Bosnia and go to school here.</div>
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When we finished our conversation, she headed back downstairs and I headed up to my room and I felt really <i>happy</i> as I bounded upstairs, but at first I didn't realize <i>why.</i> Then it hit me. I just spent the last ten minutes <i>talking</i> with my host mom. Simple conversation, but we talked. Not just about how it's snowing outside or something that just appeared on TV, we actually talked about things that I would talk about with my family or friends. True, it was simplified to the <i>n</i>th degree, but it was a real conversation and that made me proud. I've been hating myself because my Bosnian skills have always been lacking. This language has been extremely difficult for me and I just haven't been able to pick it up. But the fact that I was able to converse fully with my host mom makes me proud and I think she enjoys it, too. There have been moments where we've both just given up because we haven't been able to understand each other. We'd have to go grab Irfan or Medina to translate and that would be that. But not then. We found our happy medium and we can actually have conversations with each other. And I'm loving it.</div>
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I just find it sad that we figured this out four months before I go back to America.</div>
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Then came Valentine's Day, where my mom back in Oregon packed my Valentine's Day gift back in August and sent it along with my Christmas gift.</div>
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I laughed at the cutesy Valentine's day card that I would have gotten in elementary school and was extremely excited about my tea, chocolate, and hand lotion. Needless to say, it put me in a great mood before I headed off to school with my own valentine's cards for SHAKE. I wish I had a picture of them, because they were great.</div>
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Last night was my teen group's True Love Party, which was very nice. It was all decorated in hearts and ribbons and I met lots of new people as well as met up with some older, familiar faces from past church events. Despite the fact that I couldn't understand half the games we were playing, it was interesting to see me participate in certain things because slowly I was able to decipher some words and say the answer. However, that also led me to blurt out the wrong answer because I completely misunderstood the answer. Oh well.</div>
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Needless to say, hanging out with some Bosnian friends and attempting to speak Bosnian with them (even though one girl just kept on saying, "Speak English. I understand English." I'm pretty sure she meant that my Bosnian was terrible that her ears couldn't take it anymore) was lovely.</div>
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Anyway, time to go write some more of the story that I'm working on. If anyone cares to read it, go <a href="http://www.wattpad.com/story/3390648-starbird" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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Until my birthday (*coughELEVENDAYScough*) and when Savannah and Anna arrive for movie night,</div>
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-Katie</div>
Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-21137791147489715462013-01-23T18:30:00.002+01:002013-01-23T18:30:38.985+01:00Second Semester Second semester of someones exchange is always the fastest. Everything becomes routine and familiar and, all of a sudden, next thing they know they are on a plane back home thinking, "Where did the time go?" I've experienced this once before, in a much smaller dose, when I was in France. The first three weeks were slow. My host parents were still working (remember I was there for the summer), so everything we did was mainly stuff around the city. But those last three weeks passed in a whirlwind of last minute travels. The French Alps, the Mediterranean, theme parks, birthdays, <i>everything</i>. And at the end of those six weeks, Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne became another home and everything was finally becoming familiar. But then I bid my farewells and was gone. And here I am again, beginning my second semester of exchange once again.<br />
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When winter holiday began and we had a month off of school, I thought that this month would pass uneventfully and, for the main part, it did. The first week or so of January, I rarely left my house. I talked with my host family, I went to church, and that's about it! Then I went to Mostar, which was very exciting. I was then on my way to the office when I got back and decided that I could take the tram one stop to get to the office five minutes faster.<br />
Well.<br />
That one stop proved that anything can happen. And by <i>anything</i>, I don't necessarily mean <i>good</i> anything.<br />
I was careless. And even a bit naïve. But apparently being pick-pocketed on the tram turns you from being an American to a Bosnian. Lots of Bosnians have their pick-pocketing stories and I get to add mine onto the list. This just goes to show that not all exchanges can go so simply and freely without a single care. It's now the second semester and guess who doesn't have a wallet? This girl. Right here. Sitting at her computer, with a make-shift wallet currently holding a maximum of 10KM, a new bus pass, and two emergency contact slips. Old ticket stubs and ID cards gone, random coupons I've acquired, and some really important stuff that really sucks to lose. However, after many phone calls, mini lectures from my host parents, police reports, and being extremely flustered, everything <i>important</i> is on its way back. Chances are I will never see my wallet again, nor its contents. But I can hope and pray that it somehow makes its way back.<br />
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Moving along to better, <i>happier</i> things. SHAKE went to Travnik! And I know I already went there with my host family, but I just really enjoy it there! I like the fort, I like their ćevapi, I <i>love</i> the scenery. And going with my pretty-much-sisters-aka-SHAKE made it that much better.<br />
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We toured around, visiting the colorful mosque as well as climbed up to the fort again, where we were surrounded by the mountains covered in fog. I wish I was able to capture a perfect picture of what it looked like, but unfortunately my artistic abilities in that area are lacking. However, we had a great time, drinking lots of coffee, eating, and trying not to get stuck in the downpour that occurred right before we left.<br />
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Then last Saturday was Anna's birthday! The first one of SHAKE to turn 18! So we went classy and headed out to a restaurant. The restaurant was gorgeous, but apparently 7pm is way to early to have dinner. The restaurant was completely empty for the first hour and when we walked in, the entire staff was there and ready to go. It felt awkward at first, having the place to ourself, however it was nice to pretend that we were mature young adults. We gave Anna her gifts (I could only offer a card. Wallet stole, remember?) and we had some delicious food. That restaurant is amazing. Really.<br />
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My second semester of school starts on Monday and I know that when that happens, these last couple of months are going to fly. And that's a strange thought. When I talk with my friends back home, they tell me it doesn't feel like I've been gone five months. And I agree! How can the second semester possibly go faster than the first? The first was over in a flash! But, next thing I'll know, I'll be on a flight back home and graduating from high school. Ok. Graduating from high school I am very, <i>very</i> excited for. That aspect can come as fast as it pleases.<br />
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Anyway, I should go begin my online Government and Economics courses which I received my materials for yesterday. Need to get that done before I can graduate!<br />
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Until more adventures which will most likely take place in February *coughBIRTHDAYcough*,<br />
-KatieKatie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-24491462071130867832013-01-14T21:16:00.002+01:002013-01-14T21:16:16.041+01:00Half Way Today is my five month anniversary. In short, it means I am at the half way mark of my exchange. In five months I will be back home in Oregon, graduated from high school, and about to move forward with the rest of my life. It's just strange that it has flown by so fast. It always felt like forever from the beginning of the school year until winter break and now it feels like it's hardly been any time at all. People always say that exchange flies by in a blink of an eye and it has felt like that. So here I am, five month anniversary, excited to see what the next five months here bring.<br />
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As for news of what's been happening in my life, I just got back from Mostar yesterday! I was there for a youth conference with my church where I met up with a lot of friends that I met at the last event in October. It was a lot of fun and not to mention we stayed at an American missionary's house and it felt like a home away from home. As soon as she pulled out the top sheet for the bed we had to make, I was in a flurry of, "Oh my gosh it's a top sheet! I haven't seen one of these since August!" All the Bosnians thought I was acting really strange and they thought the top sheet was the weirdest thing in the world. Then later she pulled out Reese's Peanut Butter cups and I swear, I could have died happy in that moment. I also managed to meet a couple Brits and even another Katie from Scotland! We bonded over the fact that our name was both Katie and it wasn't short for anything. However, I managed to make a fool out of myself when I responded to her once with a British accent. I swear, I did not mean to do that, it just happened! She didn't seem to notice, but I mentally slapped myself. Too much 'Doctor Who' and 'Sherlock' and Jane Austen stuff and One Direction. Oh well, I'm not complaining.<br />
Although the weather was quite rainy and cold, we did plenty of walking around and I saw more of Mostar than when I went in November. Surprisingly, I remembered a lot where everything was and I felt immensely proud of myself.<br />
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The beauty of my weekend in Mostar was how quite a lot of people actually spoke Bosnian with me. One person in particular refused to speak English and we managed to have an actual conversation in Bosnian. Yes, I would not know a few words and ask for help, but ultimately, I felt very proud of my skills. Even if they told me I sound more like a Russian.<br />
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And then today, best thing of all happened...<br />
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LETTERS AND CARE PACKAGES. If you are wondering why I am so excited about this, it's because I hadn't received one. I have been here five months and not one letter nor package had came. But I come home from Mostar with letters from my cousin, best friend, and a package waiting for me at the post office. Now. I thought that I would have to go get the package myself. But no. This morning (at an unreasonably early hour after talking for three hours with my best friend from Canada the night before), my Granny (host grandma) yelled from the bottom floor telling me that my package had arrived! I booked downstairs (not before grabbing socks! Bosnian customs are getting to me) and then Granny told me to grab my passport, money, and receipt so I could claim it. Dashing back up and down the stairs with my things, I quickly signed off on the package and, giggling like a fool, I ran back up to my room to rip it open.<br />
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Out pours the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Cards from my friends, jewelry, a scarf, Goldfish crackers, Starbucks hot chocolate, and comics! I was smiling and laughing, despite my tired state, but I have been waiting since December for this package and it's finally here! So thank you to Es, Char, Grace, Soph, Ash, Anna, and Mom for all the lovely gifts. I love you all very much!<br />
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Anyway, I should probably go do my Bosnian homework for tomorrow.<br />
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Until something cool happens,<br />
-Katie WellsKatie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-26041656230326870242013-01-01T21:27:00.001+01:002013-01-01T21:30:05.898+01:002013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's crazy to think that another year has flown by. But I have to say 2012 was the busiest and most fulfilling year of my life. This time last year, I was freaking out about so many different things, most of them exchange related. My interview for NSLI-Y, my application to come here, finals for school were coming up. And now I look back and see that all that work paid off. My entire year was full of the most amazing things, things nobody could have possibly predicted.<br />
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I finished my application in the nick of time in January.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeJZnjhJvvRskFLugPeTJz8Nlvctu7USPDdUwKi9uv0TTIfiDYrkaSwJk89O7LjaVM_KwxZV2uCfmiItov_Ea_vtWfwgOTor4h94loAUfokzha1yoxylMiD384d9XQ3oy8v2k3JeejADa/s1600/426924_10150809699417598_74928283_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeJZnjhJvvRskFLugPeTJz8Nlvctu7USPDdUwKi9uv0TTIfiDYrkaSwJk89O7LjaVM_KwxZV2uCfmiItov_Ea_vtWfwgOTor4h94loAUfokzha1yoxylMiD384d9XQ3oy8v2k3JeejADa/s320/426924_10150809699417598_74928283_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last years New Years :)</td></tr>
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It was my birthday and YES semi-finalist notifications in February.<br />
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March was the IPSE weekend, where I met some pretty fantastic people.<br />
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On April 13 I was awarded the YES Abroad scholarship to Bosnia.<br />
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Then came performance season with Tournament of Plays and State for choir.<br />
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Good-byes and hellos were filled in June with my last day of school and the PDO in DC.<br />
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Eventually, camp and Canada rolled around in July.<br />
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Finally August came with the hardest goodbyes, but the most exciting beginning in Sarajevo.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">VBS!</td></tr>
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Bosnian school began in September which thus began the beginning of the end.<br />
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October brought new friends, Race for the Cure, and the witnessing of Bajram. Oh! And the beginning of snow :)<br />
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We traveled to Mostar and I shared with my host family Amerian Thanksgiving in November.<br />
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And December was a million Christmas parties and the ending of the best year of my life... so far.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skyping the family back home.</td></tr>
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As 2013 dawned, I realized that Sarajevo has become my home. When I first arrived and had to tell people that I needed to go back to my host-family's house, I would say, "I need to go back to where I'm staying." I've realized on several occasions now that I simply say, "Hey, I need to go home now." I've stopped calling my host parents and siblings, <i>host</i> parents and siblings. I've started to say my brothers and sisters and my parents. "Host" is just a term that I use if I ever need to clarify. I've stopped being nervous to meander through the house and find it as comfortable as my home back in Oregon. The city has become extremely familiar and it's funny to think that five months ago, I had never stepped foot here. Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina is now my <i>home</i>. And I wouldn't give it up for the world.<br />
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Twenty-twelve was brilliant and I wouldn't change any of it. Thank you to everyone who has gotten me to where I am today and I wish you all a Happy New Year. I am very excited for 2013. Here I am, half way through my exchange and there is still so much to happen. I turn eighteen in two months, I graduate in six, I begin college in eight. Let this year be filled with new opportunities, new challenges, new friendships, and new adventures.<br />
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Anyway, time to catch up on some much needed sleep! Hope everyone had a fabulous New Years day and I hope 2013 is even better.<br />
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Until we see each other again,<br />
-KatieKatie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-76438825004558671962012-12-25T23:46:00.000+01:002012-12-25T23:47:17.732+01:00Merry Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5RcaTyUPSBkarmVfgULYXHkkqeYhMsrb4FKIwM2kadA_0SawK9R94qnAmCzxPO3QOUt8T0w3IhhtK7QHI2QXB18_GLIxNlIZTFvbqXR5dgGsigD6MMdyVQ1FUHPgf4b6AaKQdasCpHNQ/s1600/460985711827659210_QGdv371A_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5RcaTyUPSBkarmVfgULYXHkkqeYhMsrb4FKIwM2kadA_0SawK9R94qnAmCzxPO3QOUt8T0w3IhhtK7QHI2QXB18_GLIxNlIZTFvbqXR5dgGsigD6MMdyVQ1FUHPgf4b6AaKQdasCpHNQ/s320/460985711827659210_QGdv371A_c.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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I would like to take this post to say, Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope your holiday has been bright and special, full of family and friends, no matter where on this planet you are.</div>
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My Christmas has been successful and beautiful. Simple, maybe, but I rather enjoyed it. There was the Christmas concert at church which was lovely, the teen group Christmas party where we played some great games and met lots of new people (alongside classic American apple cider and brownies. Perfection), then there was the American Councils Christmas party where we ended up laughing at Youtube videos (aka Christmas Sweats). </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just ignore the fact that you cannot see my eyes in this picture...</td></tr>
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The funny thing with Christmas this year was that we had to go to school on Christmas Eve. Not your typical holiday festivities. But once that class was over, I headed home to get ready for Christmas Eve! Back home, Christmas Eve was always classiness to the max, so I got all dressed up, got my cards and hostess gift together, grabbed a taxi and headed off to Anna's house.</div>
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Anna's house was lovely and every feeling you should have at Christmas Eve was present. The Christmas tree was in the corner, full of lights and ornaments, presents stacked underneath, the table set with Christmas napkins, and the smell of cooking food wafting from kitchen. Everything felt like Christmas Eve and I was finally getting that giddy Christmas feeling. When all the guests arrived, we talked, we played cards, we exchanged our Christmas traditions, we ate some absolutely delicious food (fish, if anyone was wondering. BUT IT WAS SO GOOD.) and exchanged our cards and gifts. Anna got me these absolutely lovely earrings and Savannah made a mixed tape of Christmas songs (which I love! I was seriously lacking in Christmas songs this season) and some cute trinkets from Arizona. After a few games of Egyptian Rat Screw, Hi Jack, and Cheat, we packed up and headed out to the church for midnight mass.</div>
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The mass was lovely, and although I couldn't understand much except for the occasional "Jesus" or "Bethlehem" or "Christmas", it was still very pretty with a nice choir up above. And at 1:30 in the morning, we took our taxis home and fell into a really-excited-night-before-Christmas sleep. AKA Not actually sleeping.</div>
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Early this morning, I woke up and Skyped my family back home where together we all opened our Christmas presents. Keeping Christmas tradition more or less, with a few tweaks. My mom played "It's the Most Wonderful Time" as she carried me down the stairs, just like it always used to be and then "sat me down" where I could see the entire living room. Then we began the rotation of everyone opening a gift at a time and it felt like I had never really left. It was just like every other Christmas I had ever known, and it was fantastic.</div>
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Then, the last present for me came along, the <i>only</i> wrapped present in my stocking (Thank you Mom for sending me my stocking!) and I unwrapped it eagerly. Inside? A gorgeous, new, <i>purple</i> camera. Fact of the day: my favorite color is purple. My mom then explained how she had e-mailed all of SHAKE, telling them to convince me to not buy a new camera until <i>after</i> Christmas, so I could use my stipend on it. It's absolutely perfect and I am enjoying it very, very much.</div>
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The rest of Christmas was pretty much watching Christmas movies, drinking peppermint hot chocolate, and padding around the house with my new fuzzy slippers. Lots of Merry Christmas greetings over Twitter and Facebook and two over Skype, but overall, Christmas was a success. From my little Christmas tree, to the Santa hanging on my wall, to my host parents greeting me with a really happy "Sretan Božić!" Even the small, entirely Bosnian conversation I had today was a complete success, so Bosnian Christmas was wonderful.</div>
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Anyway, I actually have school tomorrow, so I had better be off.</div>
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Until the next holiday, aka NEW YEARS,</div>
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-Katie</div>
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P.S. Some parting thoughts:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAkJYSRd3AunACYebc3bpdQCOeGbJONhAxDF9crXldVxt79S3yMlg4AbrizvhHGg5AASJ4-rmIjYqqgOaCZZG0t7PlxrR2niAmFJtESgRoCx5JrcLdkCMwuBxP1UPgGMcIH4Sg0ZijDkIP/s1600/224265256415945042_p85KQmSp_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAkJYSRd3AunACYebc3bpdQCOeGbJONhAxDF9crXldVxt79S3yMlg4AbrizvhHGg5AASJ4-rmIjYqqgOaCZZG0t7PlxrR2niAmFJtESgRoCx5JrcLdkCMwuBxP1UPgGMcIH4Sg0ZijDkIP/s320/224265256415945042_p85KQmSp_c.jpg" width="254" /></a></div>
Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-86898302445139201952012-12-21T23:13:00.002+01:002012-12-21T23:13:28.553+01:00Not the End of the World? Pretty much this is just to say... it's 11:11pm (MAKE A WISH) on Friday, December 21, 2012 and we are all not dead. No giant apocalypse, no rapture, we're all still here.<br />
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Well that was disappointing. Gettin' us all worked up over nothin' ya crazy Mayans.<br />
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Anyway, guess it's time for bed. I got Christmas stuff to prepare for now that we're all going to have our big Christmas celebration.<br />
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Until perhaps the real end of the world,<br />
-Katie<br />
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P.S. So tempted to post this... I think I will...Katie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424143961988024509.post-91886822755359098912012-12-15T00:49:00.002+01:002012-12-17T16:41:20.476+01:00Christmas Spirit When I first decided to spend an entire year abroad, I had to realize that included Christmas. Christmas away from my friends and family and in a country where it's not as widely spread. It's not as commercialized, it's not so easy to find every store decked out with greenery, holly, Santa Clause, and blasting Christmas music from its radio.<br />
Thankfully, here in Bosnia, Christmas is a little more common than most significantly Muslim countries. Some stores have Christmas trees (however here they are called New Years trees) and Santa Clauses in their windows, one store even had Michael Bublé's Christmas CD playing. Let's just say I wandered in that store for an hour just listening to it.<br />
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Now, my host family is Muslim. Therefore, every day I wake up to a house stripped of lights, decorations, Christmas music, and the lot. No "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" on replay downstairs, no garland stringing the railing (if we <i>had</i> a railing), and most definitely, no giant Christmas tree in the corner of our living room. The snow here has completely taken over Sarajevo and the view from my house is simply a blanket of white. If you can even see the city, because sometimes all the smoke from wood stoves fill the valley and all I see is grey and white.<br />
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Therefore, this Christmas season, I have made it my mission to spread a little Christmas spirit. I started off with blasting Christmas carols from my laptop. Yes, Irfan thinks I'm strange, but it had to happen. I played my music, made my Christmas cards, and drank my hot chocolate. After phase one was complete, next step was the hardest thing to manage at first. The search for a Christmas tree.<br />
I didn't want a big tree. Just a little one to go on my desk that Medina could place my Christmas presents under that my mom wrapped and packed for me to bring. My mom suggested chopping one down from my backyard, my coordinators suggested buying a branch from a supermarket, other suggested a wreath instead. But I was determined on my little Christmas tree. It has been a tradition for me, for the past five years, to bring my little, pink, artificial tree with it's pink lights and gold ornaments, into my room. That's the way it's been and I wanted to keep that up. Even if it wasn't a little pink Christmas tree. So I embarked on my mission, determined to find that little tree.<br />
Yesterday, however, Medina took me to town to buy me a new pair of proper winter boots because Nizama didn't believe the boots that I had brought were sufficient for Bosnian winters. And perhaps she was totally right. On our way down, I asked Medina where I could buy my little tree. She remembers that I've now mentioned <i>several</i> times that Christmas is my favorite holiday and I wanted a tree. A few minutes after I ask her, we trek over to the other side of the street to a small store where I see the most beautiful sight. LITTLE CHRISTMAS TREES. I hope you can understand my glee as I purchased my little tree (intentional rhyme. I'm feeling like Dr. Seuss here) and ornaments and then had to carry it around until I headed back home. However, arriving to History class with a Christmas tree was pretty fun as SHAKE grew jealous of how awesome it was.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My beautiful Christmas tree!</td></tr>
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Also, when I returned home, my new winter boots were now purchased and sitting in my room. Today was the test run and they were fabulous. Thank you Esad and Nizama for my new boots! They are perfect!<br />
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And now we go to today's news. I'll pass over school because there lies <i>no</i> Christmas spirit. Just a bunch of tests and essays, wrapping up the semester. However, when the final school bell rang, I headed over to the church I've been attending where they were holding their Christmas concert. The church has been fabulous and I've loved attending. The people are so nice and already I feel like I belong there. I love that sense of comfortability. I met up with Jovana, Selma, and Nadja, three girls from youth group who I have become friends with, as we waited for it to start. I then took a seat beside Jovana (who is also the pastor's daughter. I told her she was the Bosnian version of me.) as the first people headed up the stage to start.<br />
There were four acts altogether. A duet with a clarinet and a violin, a mandolin group (I think that's what that instrument was...), the American group, and the Bosnian group. They played traditional songs like Silent Night (Tiha Noć) and Auld Lang Syne (Svjetla u noći), but there were also traditional Bosnian songs (ones I'm not entirely sure what they were about...). By the end of the evening, it was just a lot of fun and a lot of Christmas. Something I definitely enjoy. The girls were so fun to hang out with and I am proud to say I'm making new friends.<br />
And I'm sorry for no pictures. I lost my camera, remember? However, Jovana took plenty, so when she puts them on Facebook, I will borrow a few :)<br />
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When the Christmas concert was over and I returned home, I expected a quick "Hello, I'm alive, I have volunteering in the morning." type exchange with the host family before I headed off to bed (clearly that didn't happen because it's passed midnight and I'm still writing this never-ending post.), but instead I was ushered into the living room where Nizama then pulled out a little heap out of nowhere. First thing she pulls out was a tiny little Santa Clause on a swing. I started giggling and smiling at the present and was especially happy how Nizama noticed that I was going a little Christmas-happy. She then pulls out a little heart basket and tells me I can put letters from my friends (*cough* IF I HAD ANY *cough*) in there. When I think that's the last of the gifts, Nizama, with a huge smile crossing her face, opens a shopping bag and pulls out this gorgeous dark purple shawl, kind of to be used as a house coat or an extra layer. You can't really see the shawl in the picture, but you can see my scarf which Nizama bought for me in Travnik.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLiD5RC6nNS3YNzHagb6-xpaxwL_EdNhUhXekO7HT52Fd5KefCP276LmWPF-9SW_yMhrio9HoF5JZQbXMQ8KbONMdK5Ljb5mahW96awJI9XzFYjKkKsFbk1hOnwFvzRqELlDguNkeq5Hf0/s1600/Photo+on+12-14-12+at+11.08+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLiD5RC6nNS3YNzHagb6-xpaxwL_EdNhUhXekO7HT52Fd5KefCP276LmWPF-9SW_yMhrio9HoF5JZQbXMQ8KbONMdK5Ljb5mahW96awJI9XzFYjKkKsFbk1hOnwFvzRqELlDguNkeq5Hf0/s320/Photo+on+12-14-12+at+11.08+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a> Esad then pipes in that while they were down in Baščaršija, Nizama kept seeing stuff and would say, "Katie would like this. Let's get this for Katie." Can I just say this right here and now that I absolutely adore my host parents? They are so <i>awesome</i>. I just love them so much and feel so blessed to call them my host parents.<br />
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Anyway, within the next two weeks, I will be attending our church's youth Christmas party with tree decorating and music and all sorts of fun, Christmas-y stuff that I am used to, as well as Christmas eve at Anna's house where we will be attending midnight mass. And then, Christmas morning, I Skype the parents for unwrapping gifts all together, just like it used to be. I just really love Christmas and I am showing people how a typical American (I'm not exactly "typical" though, am I?) spends their holiday.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKVqEDqCstJ88rGbDVsVnNG6bt85FD6JAqYclR9f6sZl2e3Kvya2_-hnPjIYt2g2153sMrOg5J629y4_AvipGOoDGb5WCIpWBT2fs3Z3_zEmP2flpaK8PZ0vsrBqPR9rJpYMbxoRAcrsi/s1600/DSC_0399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKVqEDqCstJ88rGbDVsVnNG6bt85FD6JAqYclR9f6sZl2e3Kvya2_-hnPjIYt2g2153sMrOg5J629y4_AvipGOoDGb5WCIpWBT2fs3Z3_zEmP2flpaK8PZ0vsrBqPR9rJpYMbxoRAcrsi/s320/DSC_0399.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Until more Christmas adventures,<br />
-KatieKatie Elisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15677488582950100330noreply@blogger.com1