Some more pictures from my trip to Split, Croatia last month— enjoy!

Last month, my host family and I spent a weekend in Split, Croatia. My host mom, dad, sister, and I piled into our family car on a Saturday morning and made the six hour drive across the country. The trip was gorgeous and I was glad we chose to travel during the daytime so I could see the beautiful Bosnian countryside! After a day of rest stop junk food, Balkan folk music, and backseat dancing, we finally arrived at my host aunt and uncle’s apartment. We unpacked our things and immediately went out to the “Riva”, the walkway by the water. The adults sat and drank coffee and gave Ena and me permission to walk through the town by ourselves. We walked by the water, visited some little shops, and had a really nice evening.  I ended the night by practicing my basic-but-somehow-understandable Bosnian with my host relatives over pita and ćevapi.

The next morning my host uncle took Ena and I to a beautiful park on the top of the city. After an exhausting hike, we finally reached the main lookout point. My host family kindly humored my inner picture-taking tourist before we went back down into the main city. After some delicious lješnjak topla čokolada (hazelnut hot chocolate, mmm!) and some more time spent down by the water, it was time to go home. Although it was only a short trip, I am really glad I had the chance to visit. I got a new stamp in my passport, bought a Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian dictionary, rubbed the lucky toe of Gregory of Nin, met my wonderful host relatives (who have Skyped me several times since the trip), and got to visit another beautiful Balkan city.

Our neighbors hosted a wedding last week and I got to go with my host family.

The first picture is me with Emil and Ena (my host siblings) and some of Emil’s good friends. 
The second is some of the food we had at the wedding. Every special occasion is an occasion for food here….. (not complaining!) 

These pictures are from the BiH vs. Romania basketball (košarka) game on September 8, 2012. Ena (my host sister) and I went together. People are really into sports here… they were singing, chanting, stomping, clapping, wrapping themselves in flags, and throwing toilet paper/scraps of paper onto the court. It was crazy, unexpected, and super fun!

Here’s a shout-out to SHAKE! (Savannah, Helena, Anna, Katie, Emma)

I couldn’t find a good place for all of these pictures but they were too cute not to be shared so I decided to make my grand return to blogging with them!

These girls are some of the sweetest girls I have ever met and I truly enjoy being here with them this year. Check out the rest of their blogs if you have the time, they’re all doing a great job with them! 

Emma
http://blogsnia.tumblr.com/ 

Anna
http://annawrightblog.wordpress.com/

Katie 
http://katieelise27.blogspot.com/ 

These are all pictures from my neighborhood, Pofalići! It’s a really nice neighborhood up on a hillside. All the houses up here are so charming and beautiful. I love it!

More delicious food pictures! My host family thinks I’m silly because every time we have something new to eat I say “Wait, hold on, let me go grab my camera!” Actually, it’s not just food…. I do that with pretty much everything around here. I’m trying to document everything as well as I can!

Also, here’s an interesting fact about the milk here in BiH…. it’s sealed and kept at room temperature! My host family keeps milk in the pantry and don’t refrigerate it until they’ve broken the seal on the lid. I was really cautious about/suspicious of room temperature milk for the first few days but I think I’m getting used to it now. It’s funny…. the little differences between the two countries are what surprise me the most!

More delicious Bosnian food….. mmmm mmmm good!

Last Thursday Selma took me to the National Museum of BiH and I had an amazing time. Bosnia-Herzegovina has an incredibly rich history and the museum was very interesting. BiH has been invaded and inhabited by many different ethnic groups and types of people so the museum had artifacts and pieces from all of the different time periods and influences. (Roman, Greek, Slavic, Ottoman, Germanic, etc.) For more information about the history of Bosnia-Herzegovina, click here. That link can provide you with much more detail and accuracy than I can. I’m trying to learn, but I’m not nearly an expert yet!

Anyways, the trip was wonderful. We got to see a lot of ancient jewelry, room replicas of a traditional Ottoman house, the Sarajevo Haggadah,  and many of Bosnia’s famous medieval tombstones (stećci) in the garden outside. (Side note: the museum was surprisingly empty! From what I’ve been told, they’ve had a difficult time keeping it open even though it’s a very interesting museum. It’s a shame.) 

 It was an amazing trip and I learned a lot of new information. Make sure to check out the links I provided, Bosnia’s history is definitely worth reading up on!

On Friday I got the chance to sit in on the other girls’ very last BCS language class. Although I didn’t understand anything, it was still fun to see the inside of my school (their classes were held at Druga Gimnazija, the school we’re all starting tomorrow!) and to see what they’ve been doing for the last two and a half weeks. 

I got to sit and observe while the other girls wrapped up their lessons and I have some precious pictures from the experience!