An American in Sarajevo

I know it's been a LONG time since I've updated everyone, but in my defense this is the first time I've sat down in front of a computer (for more than 5 minutes) in a very long time. I'm feeling inspired, anyway, since I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Sarajevo which is literally a hole in a wall. Actually, it feels more like an old stable or storage room, since the walls and floor are all stone (my chair will NOT sit flat because the floor is uneven cement over large sones... painted in a weird dark green). The walls are also white stone, but I can't really see them because they are covered completely in old carpets. The ceiling is made out of really dark wooden beams that look like they were handcut, and there's a poster of Tito on the wall. Very cool.

So what am I doing in Sarajevo, one might ask. And what in the world have I been up to for the past 3 months (menawhile, I am completely confused by this Bosnian keyboard... I can't find the question mark!... so I just won't ask any more rhetorical questions). I spent 3 weeks in Maine taking a few lucky people on an inn trip and a camping trip. Not much to say about that, except that I now know how to cook 3 dozen lobsters on a propane stove in the wind... I can check that one off the list. I learned the art of Backroads Leading there, and then off I went to Croatia. I spent the first week in Dubrovnik waiting for my luggage to get in from Heathrow (my layover was ONLY 12 hours there... I can see how they might not have had time to get my one suitcase on the plane). I also had to spend some time getting a Croatian work permit (which I don't have yet; but I do have the letter saying that I've applied, which is apparently good enough, since even the Croatians know how ridiculous the process is). For those of you familiar with my past run/ins with post-communist governments and their visa/passport restrictions, you will not be surprised to hear that I am not exactly working here legally (yet!). At that point, I set off on my 6-day familiarization (or "fam" as we call it here at Backroads), getting my first taste of the islands I have been living on ever since. Our Croatia trip takes us on 4 of Croatia's best-known islands: Mljet, Korcula, Brac, and Hvar. They really are ridiculously beautiful, and the Adriatic is just as blue as it looks in pictures. So once I finished my fam, I started the first of 3 trips in a row... I just finished my last one a few days ago, and that brings me to my first week off in a very long time, and this internet cafe in Sarajevo.

The job with Backorads so far has been everything I thought it would be, except that I'm not sure how long I'll be able to continue working for tips. I like telling myself that I don't work for the tips, I work because I enjoy it, but the truth is that we get paid very little by Backroads and have to rely on the generosity of middle- to upper-class Americans (I used to be one, so that's why it's so scary). It's amazing what a bad taste it leaves with me when I have a great week with people, and they tip me less for a week's work than they would have at a nice restaurant. But on the plus side, my office is no longer in a 'vault', I get to ride awesome bikes up really tough hills with killer views at least twice a week, and so far I have gotten along really well with my fellow co-leaders. Oh yeah, and I'm in the Balkans.

Which brings me back to Sarajevo, a city I can't believe I haven't visited yet. I just got here this morning, and I'm already in love. I think I'm going to be a dork and take the touristey city tour tomorrow, mostly because I don't want to miss anything! I got off the bus from Mostar, and tried to find the right tram to my hostel (which, it turns out, is not a hostel but some old lady's extra bedroom... very typical). I just hopped on the first tram that came along and took it toward what looked like downtown and the main square (which sounded vaguely familiar from the online hostel booking website). I got off the tram (since I never bought a ticket, I was really nervous that some mean old lady would yell at me for not paying my 20 cents like they do in Russia) at a somewhat crowded place... and it turned out to be the Latin Bridge, right where the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated before WWI. Then I walked around and just happened to find my "hostel" a few blocks away (the office was a few blocks away... it turns out that my old lady's house is a couple MORE blocks away, as in AWAY from the city center). Since I don't really feel like spending a whole lot of time in her old parlor with her Ivo Andric collection, I have been walking around all day, through this old bazaar area, peeking into all of the mosques, churches, and synagogues. Most of the buildings here look pretty good, but there are an amazing number of them that still have bullet holes and even large holes where bigger weapons hit. Some of the buildings are still destroyed, although I haven't seen any with trees growing in them, like in Mostar this morning. The most amazing thing I have seen yet was a building with bullet holes in the window shade (those german rouladin type shades). I mean, how long are they willing to put up with holes in blackout shades? (ha, found the question mark!) It made me wonder, did they ever fix the window itself, or does that still have holes in it too? Every little town I passed through on the train to Mostar yesterday and the bus to Sarajevo today had buildings with LOTS of bullet holes in them, almost as if the war had not happened 10 years ago. I really think people just don't have enough money to fix all of them! Despite the aesthetics, people are incredibly friendly here (just like they are in Croatia), especially when I try out my pigeon Croatian. Sometimes they actually believe that I can speak the language, and speak back really quickly, so I get myself in trouble pretty frequently. But there have been many instances in both countries when I've met people who don't speak a word of English, and I've been forced to try out all of the words I know in Croatia. I have to say that's my favorite part about being here. Even in Bosnia, the language is the same and the accent is only a little weird, especially with the old people. I can't wait to go to Serbia and try reading their crazy cyrillic. Yes, I'm a dork, but that's why I'm here.
I have a few days in Sarajevo, and then I head home to try and finish the work permit process and start another trip. I will finish out the season in Croatia, and then... who knows! Maybe I'll tour the states a little, and try to visit some of the friends and family I haven't seen in a while. I miss everyone tremendously, but I'm having a lot of fun with my new job. I did have the chance to feel cool when someone brought a spent shell from Bosnia, and wanted to know what kind it was. Other than that, I've been taking a break from all things military... (okay, I did stare really hard at the NATO ship exercising in Dubrovnik, but they were boats, they don't count. I never even saw the MiG-21s that were also supposed to be there, according to the papers). Okay, maybe I miss it a little. I have to say I miss the people I worked with much more than I miss the job (as you can tell, I have been anti-computer since I left!).

That's all I have for now- I promise I won't wait as long to write the next update! I will be back home in November, but I'll have more adventures before then, and I will make some free time to put them in this blog.