The final countdown.

As of Sunday 31st July I will no longer be residing in Bosnia. The 12 months or so are at an end and many months ago it was decided that it would make more sense, especially financially, to live and work in the U.K. I am unable to work here, other than a bit of teaching here and there. Mr B is on a shockingly low wage - not shocking for here, but not enough in the rest of Europe, and he is always unsure as to when and how much he is going to be paid each month, if at all. Prices are too high in comparison to wages and to set up life here, when we have other options, would be foolish. So here comes our "try out in the U.K" period. Unfortunately I have to leave without Mr B as it will take some time to get my house in order so that he can apply for a spouse visa. We are looking at, at least, 4 months apart.

I have had a wonderful year here, that said. This country is beautiful, with so much of it unspoilt. My family in law are amazing and have struggled along with me as I try to get some sort of grasp of this difficult language.

Yesterday was a glorious summer day and I met the "American in Sarajevo" in the little Pivnica near the hospital. We sat in the sun drinking limonade (I love the way they do it here, fresh squeezed lemon and water - add sugar to taste).

Burek... nyummy.

In lots of ways I know we are making the right choice in going back to the U.K, but I will miss it here, if not for the government and the economy, for it's people, scenery, and BUREK!!*

*which I am nearly able to make on my own - still need a little guidance from Ma B. 

Some photos from my walk into the city yesterday...

Yesterday I took my phone out with me and shot some pictures as I walked to the city. No real point, but thought you might like to get a look at what Sarajevo (not central) looks like.

The road from our house.

On my way...

The hill of DOOM... not one to try in heels!! If you don't believe me check out the guy's face in the next picture....

:)

Local woman hanging out her washing, typical house wife clothes here.... I haven't succumbed to THAT pressure...YET!

If these were anywhere else someone would sue!

Already prepping for winter.

My final destination. The BBI Centar on Tito.

 There we are.

The day of two weddings.

Wedding number one

The first was a typical Bosnian wedding, with beeping of horns as the wedding party goes first to the groom's house and then travels in convoy to collect the bride, then to city hall, then to the mosque, finally followed by a huge convoy to the place where the merriment can officially commence. The merriment was on the outskirts of the city and involved the usual wedding Bosnian songs and dancing in circles and on tables. The heat was pretty unbearable though which made dancing, especially in stillettos, a "no thanks, maybe later". Instead I drank beer like water in a desperate attempt to cool off - maybe water would have been more advisable.

Wedding number two.

Around 9pm we left the first wedding, a friend and colleague of Mr B, and made our way to the second in the heart of the city, in a beautiful venue opposite the English embassy - Lovac. This one was for the "American in Sarajevo" (blog) who was marrying her Mr B. The couples both looked great, but the now Mr and Mrs B looked like they should sit atop a wedding cake - just gorgeous!

We sat with a bunch of Californians, or Californian Bosnians, and drank the remains of the bar - or so it felt, finally being the last to leave with the newly weds. Great day had by all.


The clouds have finally come to Sarajevo, just in time for the 17th annual Sarajevo Film Festival - typical. I hope to go and see a few screenings again this year before heading back to the U.K. 

The Golden Arches cometh...

Yesterday the first McDonalds opened in Bosnia, here in Sarajevo. I loved the fact that Bosnia had no chain American fast food places. There was a lot of resistance to the first McDonalds, but this has now paved the way for more chain restaurants to hit the high streets here. It is hard to believe that people will pay 4.5KM for a meal deal when you can get a burger the size of a football for 2KM, however if the queues yesterday were anything to go by, it would seem that McDonalds is wanted in this part of the Balkans.

http://www.rferl.org/content/mcdonalds_comes_to_bosnia/24271772.html

Boracko lake revisited...

Boracko Jezero on my first visit Oct 2008

The weekend before last we decided to embark on a family outing to Boracko lake. This came to pass as some friends of ours had mentioned they were there and it sounded like a perfect way to spend a day in this ridiculous heat.

I have been to Boracko lake twice before. The first time I ever came to visit Mr B he took me to the lake for a few hours. At that time it was deserted, as it was October, and it soon became "our" lake. The second time was in the middle of summer last year when it was crowded with families, and groups of friends, all swimming and having BBQs, not at the same time - I believe this wouldn't work.

This time we took my in-laws with us. Ma B had not been on a lakeside excursion for 20 years. They used to go  most weekends before the war, but since have never had the time, or health to do so. Needless to say Ma B was very excited.

We spent a day playing cards in the dappled shade, swimming in the vast waters of Boracko, and eating watermelon. Bliss. The sun was powerful and so I could only manage 15 minutes at a time in the sun.

Rostilj by the lake

At one point, when me and Mr B were swimming in the lake, 10 or so ducklings suddenly appeared about our heads. They couldn't have been more than an arms stretch away, just swimming along at a level with our eyes. I wanted to reach out and grab one to bring home - so cute - but Ma Duck looked on a little distance away making sure that the vast reddy/pink coloured shapes in the water were friendly ones, so I chose to just watch instead.


The water was divine and the day went by far too quickly. We all came back exhausted and a little bit sunburnt, but well worth the trip.

Boracko Jezero July 2011

Caesar skills

A few weekends ago a group of us ventured up to a holiday home just outside of Sarajevo for some BBQ and drinking fun. The place belonged to a friend of Mr B's. As we started the BBQ I noticed a wild dog hiding in the undergrowth. She was intensely timid and had obviously just given birth to a litter, so was most definitely hungry. She was so scared of us at first, but with a little of Caesar magic by the end of the day she was eating, gently, from my hand.

The long way back...

Last week, after 2 weeks in the U.K (working and interviewing), I travelled back to Sarajevo. As I had had to cancel my original flight I was made to fly from East Midlands airport to Dubrovnik to avoid spending a ridiculous amount of money... there a dutiful Mr B would be waiting to drive me home... a further 5 hours. Seeing as we had no other choice we decided to celebrate our 1st anniversary, a week late, with a day by the sea.

After a few glasses of wine with Miss M and Winner of the Bosnian Big Brother last year, I set off on an overnight coach from Manchester, via EVERYWHERE, to East Midlands airport. At one point I looked up to see dawn breaking behind the twisted spire of Chesterfield, my seemingly spiritual and professional home. Wish I had taken a picture.

The airport was packed at 5am with thousands of Ryan Air, Easy Jet, and Thomson travellers off to their various cheap destinations. At one point I actually heard "Dubrovnik?! Now, that's a funny destination isn't it?! Who wants to go there?!" I believe they were on their merry way to Costa del Blackpool, which explains it.

Mlini

Then the plane nearly crashed on arrival at Dubrovnik... true story. Maybe a tad exaggerated, but who am I to say... All of us passengers certainly felt like it was a close call. The wind was ridiculous flying into Dubrovnik airport and it was a very bumpy and speedy descent. As we were about to touch the ground I knew we were going too fast and the lady next to me, more or less, got into the crash position as demonstrated by the laminated cards. As we landed one wheel lifted and threw the plane a good 35 degrees, where everyone let out a little scream and finally it righted itself... guess we were all waiting for the wing to catch the runway. Needless to say everyone was a little wide eyed and panicked getting off that particular BMI Baby.

The view from the Croatian/Bosnian border

However, the sun was shining and Dubrovnik was beautiful. Mr B and I drove to a small place called Mlini, near Dubrovnik, just spotted it from the road and drove to it, and settled there for half a day. We swam in the crystal blue, cold, sea and lazed in the hot sun on the pebble beaches. Bliss.

Around 3:30pm we set off back to Sarajevo, with the intention of stopping at anywhere that took our fancy on the way. One place that did was Stolac, in Bosnia. A beautiful old town, one of the oldest in Bosnia. We stopped for coffee and a walk down by the river, where I spotted ruins of a house that I would love to buy and rebuild. Just gorgeous.

Walkway across a river to the ruins in Stolac

On the road out of Stolac we stopped to look at some ancient gravestones. These were made before the Ottoman Empire took over Bosnia and Islam became the most prevalent religion of the country. The gravestones were from a time when Bosnia had its own church. I believe it's foundation was in the Christian faith, but it had broken away from Catholicism and become totally independent and not influenced by any other section of Christianity. If anyone knows more about them then let me know. I haven't even Wikipedia'd it yet... tut tut.

Gravestones of Bosnian Church

Another stop was for a late anniversary dinner in one of the lamb restaurants in Jablanica. Lamb portion for me, Pljeskavica and chips (Big hamburger) for Mr B, roast potatoes, cabbage salad, cucumber and tomato salad and two drinks all for the huge sum of £18!

House in Stolac

After one hell of a round trip Mr B got us home around 9pm where the in laws wanted to hear far more than we had the energy to say.

Cherries and mini strawberries and yet more cherries.

Our family day out, in Podhum, this time involved tresnje (cherries) and the action of picking them.... mainly to just wolf them down on the spot, as I am sure those who have strawberry picked in the U.K will understand... 'they don't charge for what's in your belly, right?'

The B land

These cherries, however, were free as they grow on the Family B's land. We spent a day in the sun climbing ladders, taking pictures, picking and eating our body weights in cherries. Nyum! There was a rostilj (BBQ), chatting, and pleasant walks throughout the B land. All of that area belongs to the extended B family as it was given to a Turkish soldier/commander after the Ottoman Empire conquered Bosnia. All of the B family descend from this man and the name is rooted totally in that area. So, in a manner of speaking, I married into the aristocracy.... not that I see the monetary benefits of that presently, just a belly load of free cherries...

Mini strawberries are also on offer up the mountain. They are tiny strawberries the size of a pea, but perfectly formed. They taste like the sherbet straws I over indulged on as a kid.

As I write these blogs I sometimes wonder why, on earth, I am planning on heading back to the U.K.

Ooops been a while..

Hello there. It has been a month since I last wrote anything. Can't believe how fast time flies. The reason I haven't been particularly communicative is because not a lot has happened. I paid a brief visit to the U.K for an audition, which did not go according to plan and so was a massive waste of our joint money, which we don't have any of in the first place, but I did get to have some lovely time with Mr and Mrs T and lil Miss B in London.

Since my return all eyes have turned to my return to the U.K. Work has been generally unsuccessful here and Mr B struggles to make ends meet as his work just don't pay him. We are now 2 months behind on wages and so the move to the U.K is looking more and more necessary. It says something when a company can get away with not paying their workers and yet working them harder and harder, and not ONE of them has got up and left. The working climate here is scary. No one dares leave for fear that they will have nothing to go to. I have no personal problem with the bosses of Mr B's company, but it is a terrible way to run a business and I don't see them going hungry. The day before yesterday we had, in our fridge, 2 spring onions, courtesy of Ar&Es' home grown veg, mayonnaise and 3 sausages. That's it. We have had some really interesting meals all involving potatoes recently.

In other news yesterday, on my way to meet the Yank in town, I was stopped... here we go, I thought, get ready to explain that you only speak a bit of Bosnian so to slow down etc etc and the guy asked "Excuse me, do you speak English"... "well, yes, I am English".....long pause whilst bloke computes this and realises this is not what he expected to hear and suddenly begins to worry that he in fact, does not speak English. Made me smile. The only Brit in Bosnia gets stopped and asked if she speaks English.

No pictures today, but tomorrow we are off picking cherries on the family land so expect some soon.

1st May and other stories....

For the first time since we went on honeymoon Mr B has had 4 days off work. It was a national holiday here to celebrate the 1st of May, so we had Saturday, Sunday, Monday AND Tuesday free.

Look away veggies! Lamb cooked over coals.

On the 1st of May we got up early and the B family all drove to Mostar via Podhum, to pick up the most senior B. (Dedo - Grandpa) The intention was to have a rostilj on the mountain near Mostar, but as the heavens opened the location was moved to an outhouse in Mostar instead.The tradition is to buy a whole lamb and cook it on a spit, this generally is the way people celebrate coming together. I thought I would be put off by the image of a whole lamb, including head, eyes, teeth, everything, on the spit, but in fact I took over the cooking. My sole duty was to keep the spit turning..... but cooking a whole lamb over hot coals takes a considerable amount of time, so I was there for nearly 3 hours!!

It was a lively gathering with most of that side of the family there. The 3 brothers of Babo (means Dad, but my Dad-in-law), a couple of their wives and a few of their kids. There were also some other guests, people just turned up, ate, chatted and left.

The family rostilj (BBQ) in the rain.

I have been having a few medical problems and so our host took me out in her garden and picked some leaves for me. She seems to know a lot about herbal remedies and has given me a plant for general health and one for my specific issue. I have been making a kind of tea out of it for the last 2 days and I have to say, it appears to be helping. She is a woman after your own hearts Bevells. You would adore her. There is a lot of nonsense here (old wive's tales) about what you should and should not do when you are ill, how to prevent illness etc, but she seems to actually be clued up about herbal remedies as opposed to just hearing that a through draft can cause anything from an upset stomach to a life threatening illness, or that if you do your washing on a Tuesday you will.... get the plague, for example (ok, these may be slight exaggerations, but I am not far off what people say here).

The Yank is in Spain at the minute, so I have noone to drink excessive amounts of coffee before school with. Hope you and your Mr B are having a whale of a time!

I may be popping back to the U.K in the next few weeks for an audition. It will only be a very fleeting, London-based, visit though, as don't have the money to do the visiting thing this time, but have to speculate to attempt to accumulate eh?! 

A final farewell to Colin McIntyre who died yesterday. We thought you never would... that you would go on forever. You were the most impersonated man I have ever had the pleasure to meet sir. Sleep well.

On Saturday me and Mr B went birthday shopping, he needs a new pair of trainers desperately and as I had just earned a few KMs I could actually buy it with my money as opposed to him having to pay for his own gift, or taking it out of our very limited joint savings. It is so surprising how expensive it is here for things such as clothes or shoes. The average cost for trainers that we saw was around 110KM, now that works out at about £50, but take into consideration that around 46% of the population are unemployed, and the lucky, employed ones are averaging around 800KM per month (400 Euros) and you have a VERY expensive pair of trainers. I really don't know how people manage. We did find some lovely trainers in the end, from Office of all places!! Miss Marron, you would love the shoes in there! Better to stick with the office outlet though.

Right, that is all for now.... oh, just in case I don't update before, Happy Birthday to my lovely little sister. Sorry I can't be with you this time, love you!

The most recent mini adventure...

Yesterday, as promised, we headed to Jajce, via Travnik. It was quite a hefty drive, but such a pretty one. Travnik is an old city about 1 and a half hours from Sarajevo. It has a well preserved old walled town and fortress, which visitors can get into for 2KM per adult. Inside they have information about "stari grad" (the old town), and amazing views of Travnik and the surrounding area.

Bridge to Stari Grad Travnik

We spent about an hour walking around the old town and taking pictures before we got back in the car and headed for Jajce, stopping on the way for a coffee. Unfortunately the sun gave in at this point and allowed the rain to start. Didn't spoil our day, but it would have been so much prettier in the sunshine.

Jajce Vodopad

Jajce is a beautiful town. It has a huge waterfall and a walled city. What I noticed about Jajce was that an effort had really been made to present the town well. Fresh flowers had been planted everywhere and there was much less garbage than you get used to in Bosnian cities. We took a walk around the old town for some time. Walking right upto the Royal fortress and around to the miniture mosques that seemed strewn throughout Jajce. One was so small we could not imagine how people could have ever gathered in it. A lot of Jajce was destroyed during the war so a great deal of refurbishment has been done and everywhere you can see plaques with written information about buildings that are no longer standing. (Mr B engraved them).

The waterfall is beautiful, however there is some restoration happening on that too, as apparently the water is erroding the rocks too fast and will divert the water away from Jajce, so the area is spending millions trying to prevent this from happening.

There are numerous restaurants, bars and cafes in and around the old town, some sunk into the hillside. A definite recommendation if you are visiting this area.

I almost forgot to mention that on our way back we stopped in Kakanj (kaka - poo....thought you might like that sis, always comes back to poo). Mr B's friend, from his time in Turkey, has just opened a Cevapi restaurant and take away there. He opened it on Saturday and is trying to serve good quality product.

Cevapi is basically a sausage without a skin made with beef, salt and sometimes extra spices. They are generally served on bread with onions or kajmak (milk froth). As with all food these days most try to make it look better or more by adding water, fat, MSG, etc etc, but he is trying to just stick to the natural and tastier, in my opinion. way of making it. The locals, however are used to cevapi that looks bigger and is "juicier" (full of water, fat etc), so he will have a way to go before he convinces people.

As MR B has been doing some printing for him we ate for free and were the taste testers for him. Free food - will travel!

Summer in Sarajevo has arrived.

Not too much to report at this juncture, however the sun is shining in Sarajevo. The snow disappeared as quickly as it arrived and made way to 22 degree temperatures. Time to get out those summer clothes!

I haven't written for the last couple of weeks as very little has been happening here. We haven't been on a mini adventure for a while now, but we have one scheduled in for tomorrow. We intend to head to Jajce where there is supposed to be a spectacular waterfall and on route stop in Travnik, a city built in the Ottoman era.

I have done a little teaching in the last two weeks, taking over classes from English teachers who were unavailable, or just thought their classes needed to practice conversational English.

Yesterday I had some time in the city, meeting friends for coffees etc and the Yank and I went for our "swim" which normally involves a bit of swimming, a lot of time in the sauna and steam room, and a general gossip. We ate in the "Urban Grill" off Tito, which seems to be a reasonably cheap and tasty place to eat.

Sending my love to the Bevells today.... x

That's all for now.... will update after our mini adventure tomorrow! 

The weirdest weather in the world....

Yesterday I went out to the shops in the evening in jeans and a T-shirt, because it was around 20 degrees outside. Storm clouds gathered later last night and this morning I woke up to this.....

Now can someone explain what that's about?!

Oh well... good job I didn't leave my winter coat in the U.K, last time I was there, because I thought spring had arrived..... oh...ermm....that's right... I DID!!

Bijambare - another mini adventure...

Entrance to Bijambare National Park

On Sunday Mr B and I took a trip out to Bijambare National Park, about 40km outside of Sarajevo. It is a huge national park which has a network of caves in and around it.

The 3 main caves were the upper, middle, and lower caves, with the middle one seemingly going on for miles, but inaccessible on the day we went as there were no cave guides to take visitors safely through.

For the first time on a visit to a "tourist" spot in Bosnia, I felt like the place was well run, taken care of, clearly signposted.... you could even hire bikes in season!!

Jezero (lake) in Bijambare

There are several hikes and different paths you can take. We took the main path, with a few little diversions along the way. There was a beautiful green lake on our way to the caves, where people sat and had a chat and a picnic. The photo does not do the green justice.

We could go in to the upper cave which was relatively large, but not lit... so quite spooky. We could have done with a flash light, but had to make do with the mobile phone flash.

Outside the middle cave there were information boards about all aspects of the caves and what has been found in them. They have found tools dating back from 500,000 to 2 million years, as well as Cave bear bones, an older, larger, ancestor of the brown bear.

We had a great day, just taking in a bit of nature and it is yet another tick on my "want to see everything I can in Bosnia" list.

Just beautiful up there. Hot day and snow!!?!

Sunday evening comprised of a visit from Mr and Mrs A with baby H, who has now become officially cute!  (officially meaning he was no doubt always cute, but I find babies cute once they start to have a bit of personality) He is becoming a proper little man now. The in-laws came down for a bit of baby time too and baby H stole the lime light for the couple of hours they were here for.

I have been asked to run some classes again next week! Lovely news and always a pleasure, as well as a little bit of pocket money.

Washing windows....

Before I came to Bosnia I don't think I EVER washed a window and yet, here I am again, washing all the windows in our flat. It's like all women in Bosnia think..."It's a nice day for washing windows". I liken it to a dad saying "It's a nice day to wash the car".

Don't be fooled... this is no ordinary washing of windows... oh no! This involves a procedure that has probably been passed down from generation to generation and woe betide anyone who should wish to deviate from the window washing scheme of things.


So here I am...waiting for the first stage of the window washing to dry and thought I would share my day with you. Right, off to do the second stage. Wish me luck!!

Bosnian Pyramids...

Yesterday Mr B and I went on a mini adventure to the Bosnian Pyramids. I have to say I was quite sceptical whether or not these massive hills were, in fact, ancient pyramids, but it would appear that some excavating has now been done by archaeologists all over the world and they have now discovered that these areas are man made. They are yet to confirm that they are in deed pyramids, but it would appear most are leaning that way.

If this is true it will be huge news for Bosnia, as well as for historians and archaeologists everywhere, as it would mean these are the largest pyramids in the world and also possibly the oldest. Follow the link to find out more, or just google Bosnian Pyramids and there is a wealth of news coverage and website references.

http://www.bosnianpyramids.org/

Mr B and I drove through Visoko to the base of the hill, where we intended to climb up to the archaeological site, but our way was blocked by an 'official' who wanted to charge us to climb the steps. Only 2KM each towards the dig, but it was not a voluntary donation it was a charge, so we decided against it. For now it is nothing more than a big hill where they have exposed some brickwork, so a bit naughty to charge people to climb it. It does not belong to anyone at this stage either, so a voluntary donation would have been suitable.

View from the top of the pyramid to possible smaller pyramid.

Instead we took a drive up around the back of the hill where we climbed up to the ruins of a fort built atop the 'Pyramid of the Sun'. We climbed to the top and looked out on a beautiful 360 view of the surrounding hills and mountains and down to the River Bosna. For all we know we could have been sat on the top of the oldest pyramid still in existence. Pretty great for a Sunday lunchtime!!

Gorgeous view of the valley. Outskirts of Visoko.

Visoko and River Bosna from the top of the Pyramid.