a nomadic lifestyle

Ok I have gone far too long without posting, and there is a lot to report.

First off- I have moved. Twice. Yep, becoming quite the little nomad over here in Sarajevo. The first move was precipitated by the arrival of Lauren McAlister from Mostar (well, originally from Vancouver) and our mutual desire for a roommate. We met through some friends and embarked on a rather tricky search for a place to live starting sometime in December. A friend explained to me that there are more apartments here than potential tenants, so there are lots of options available. The tough part is actually getting in touch with the people who are offering these options. The “classifieds” only come out on Fridays and you have to buy them separately. After purchasing them on 3 different occasions, and making about 70 calls total with the help of Bosnian-speaking friends, I think we only ever found 2 or 3 possibilities. Sometimes the apartments would already have been rented out, but more often people just didn’t answer their phones. A lot of this can be chalked up to how people view the way they fit into the economy here. As part of the former-Yugoslavia, BiH is a post-communist country that still isn’t convinced that life under the old system was all that bad. Or, even if they accept that, they have not fully embraced the “go get ‘em” energy of capitalism and continue in a more apathetic socialist “someone will take care of me” vein. This is also hindered by the job market here, which isn’t exactly booming, as well as political machinations and organized crime. This combination serves as one massive deterrent to hard work and forward movement. So in the end, no one cares too much about what they do- like actively trying to rent out property. Although then the fact that they paid for an ad at all seems a bit silly, but making a ½ effort is also often the way of things. What will be will be, but no need to inconvenience oneself in the mean-time.

This is also evident in the way a lot of business does actually get done. Once again it’s not what you do that matters, but who you know. The first place we did manage to move to- as Lauren’s arrival date rapidly approached and nothing was working out- I found through a friend of a friend. One of the women I have met who is doing her Anthropology PhD research here, mentioned to me on Jan. 2^nd that her cousin’s wife’s sister (a bit convoluted, I know) was trying to rent out a floor of her house. After further inquiries, she warned me that it was a bit far away, but I told her we might still be interested. Well, come Friday the 4^th I gave her a call b/c Lauren was arriving on Monday and all other options had fallen through. We went to see the place on Saturday, I moved in on Monday, and Lauren came on Tuesday- all in the blink of an eye really. It was far away, but it was really nice, cheap and certainly better than nothing- and better than not having any personal space or privacy as had been the case in my original situation. So that was that- but after not too long it was clear we would want a more convenient place. So Round #3 with the classifieds took place and Lauren shockingly enough met with success- but only with one place. This was Saturday the 19th- we went to see it on Tuesday, and moved in on Wednesday. Once again- all in the blink of an eye.

So now its Tuesday of the following week and we are settling in nicely. Our location could not be better. We are 5 minutes walk (if that) from Bascarsija (add in little v's over all the s's and c's) which is the old Turkish quarter. This is still a good distance from my work, but instead of being out in the middle of nowhere, we are right in the middle of everything. I love feeling the daily hustle and bustle of a city. In my last 2 housing locations, I didn't really have to opportunity to experience it- but here it is perfect. I try to leave here around 9 am to get to work, which can take between 30 and 45 minutes. If I walk for a bit at first, I can go through Old Town and see all the shop keepers gearing up for the day- unlocking their doors, opening windows, cleaning off the sidewalk. The past couple mornings have been sunny too- which makes all the difference. Last Thursday the weather was so great it had a noticeable impact on everyone. Several friends dubbed it "the day of life being fabulous." Funny how a clear blue sky can create that feeling, while a grey foggy one so quickly destroys it. In Sarajevo, grey is the norm so I feel lucky to be getting so many sunny days lately- our luck will probably not last.

So, yes, moving has been keeping me on my toes. The other big news is that Winds of Change will be performing next Thursday at the opening ceremony for Sarajevska Zima Festival which first took place during the 1984 Olympics here. The initial invitation was very exciting, but the disorganization of the festival is creating more and more problems. Willem will arrive next Monday, on Tuesday the group is supposed to record 3 songs, Wednesday there is a dress rehearsal, and Thursday evening is the ceremony. I have a feeling nothing will actually go according to plan, and next week will be utter chaos right up until Willem steps on the plane to head back to the Netherlands. I'll let you know how it goes.

One other interesting note. Last Thursday, Baya and I attended an awards presentation for the Ars Aevi Contemporary Art Museum here in Sarajevo. They were being recognized by the Dutch charitable foundation the Prince Claus Fund. We were equally impressed by both the museum and the foundation, and had a great time first looking at the art and then chatting with people at a reception afterward. Baya pointed out some important people who were there to me and we even spoke with one or two of them. What completely shocked me though were the words of one particular Middle Eastern Ambassador. When I told him I was American, he advised me to say I was either Dutch or Canadian in the future. He then proceeded to go on a tirade about how Americans stereotype all Muslim people as extremists and terrorists, how we are so close-minded. In the face of all this, I barely managed to get a word in edge-wise. It was basically all my worst fears of the world perception of Americans come to life right before my very eyes. However, at the same time I was offended. Excuse me sir? "All Americans" stereotype? well, I think with your statement you have just done the same and made a bold and sweeping judgment about 300 million people. And to hear all of this coming from a diplomat I was particularly shocked. Fine for an individual to espouse these opinions, but shouldn't a state official have to be a bit more careful about what comes out of his mouth? I would think something a with a bit more tact might be in order. When he was done he gave me his card and laughingly said I would probably not want to be getting in touch with him. Now I am trying to imagine a situation where our paths would in fact cross again- maybe we'll need to bring some of his country's musicians to BiH- or better yet to the U.S.

an un-Orthodox Christmas

There's so much I could write about the Christmas trip to Serbia and Belgrade- overall we had a really great trip that involved a lot of lounging about Katie’s place which was just what I think we all needed. Poor Katie was had an ear infection though and had to spend some extra time away from Katie H. and I in attempts to get to the doctor and trips to the office. Her apartment was really cute/nice and much bigger than the place Katie has in Mostar (where we lived together for 2 1/2 weeks) and so it was really nice to spend time hanging out there together. We watched Love Actually, a ton of Arrested Development and the entire 1st season of 30 Rock (Chad I am now obsessed, I want to BE Liz Lemon), and a very strange Serbian movie that was supposedly a comedy but involved a lot of people dying and speculation about fate... I guess it reflects the dark sense of humor of the region. Oh and a movie called In America (a rather ironic thing to watch in Serbia) that was also really great and about an Irish immigrant family in the 80s.

Women in Black had a Christmas dinner for us on Christmas Eve, complete with turkey which was amazing b/c it’s not easy to come by in Europe and gifts for Katie. She had spent the day making chocolate chip cookies to give in exchange which worked out well for Katie H. and I who acted as quality control, eating all the broken ones and the not so broken ones and the slightly burnt ones and a little of the dough and...

We tried to do some tourist-y things too while in Belgrade but this proved harder than you might think. 1st Katie M. kept getting taken away from us trying to fix her cellphone, fix her ears, and then for WiB stuff. So we ended up having to do a lot of these things just Katie H. and I which was fine but we felt bad that Katie M. wasn't getting to enjoy her week too. The National Museum in Trg Republike (the main museum in the main square) was closed for rennovation and has been for awhile. So that was a no go. Then we wanted to go to the Contemporary Art Museum which is supposed to be great but involved getting 2 different buses, crossing the river and walking a ways through a cold and snowy park. We arrived on the door step only to find this museum was also being renovated. We elected to take a walk for awhile in the park so we at least wouldn't have come all that way for nothing- and Katie M. was also planning on coming to meet us at the museum so we had to hang around at least somewhat nearby so we could return there to meet her. ( Another complication in all of our activities was that our Bosnian cellphones could not send messages or make phone calls in Serbia. Katie M. could send us messages but that was the extent of our communication once we were separated.) So we just had to wait for her text to know when to return to the museum steps and that was pretty much all we could do. When we did finally meet up with her we took another bus together to Zemun which is a district of Belgrade up in the North-west corner of the city, past Novi Belgrade. Its supposed to be one of the prettiest parts of the city because it was a town built during the Austro-Hungarian empire. Clearly the architecture is a lot better than the communist parts of town. We stopped and had a snack in Zemun after walking around a little and Katie was also able to find a hardware store to buy some new hinges for her closet- you have to get excited about these little things when in a country where you don’t speak the language.

The next day we decided to try going to the Jewish History Museum. Katie H. and I arrived there around 2:30 pm very excited to finally experience a museum. Sadly this was not meant to be- they had closed early due to the holiday season. (Note: this was Friday, not actually a holiday and not even during their week of Christmas which they do not celebrate until Epiphany in the Serbian Orthodox Church.) So we returned to the streets to wander for a bit. We saw a sign for Belgrade's Mosque and decided to check it out. We found it, entered the grounds and looked around to see what we could see. We weren't sure if it would be ok to go in or not, especially because it was Friday and we didn't want to interfere with any ceremonies or otherwise. A young man came out though and asked us if we wanted to see inside. He spoke some English and was really excited to hear we were there all the way from the U.S. He took us in and found another friend of his who also spoke some English, so between the 2 of them they did very well. The mosque itself was very small and is the only one left in Belgrade of the 100s that used to be there during the Ottoman Empire. This particular one was built in 1473, so its amazing that it is still there and in use. They also took us upstair to a little balcony that is an area for women to pray. They said we could ask them any questions we wanted, so we ended up finding out a little about them too. One was a student in Turkey and was home in Belgrade for the holidays. The other lived in Belgrade and works on ambulances with emergency services. It was funny though- the one who is studying in Turkey said that he would always come back to Belgrade, it is his city and it is where he wants to live. The other though said he would like to leave- he does not like the discrimination he experiences in Serbia as a Muslim. Basically they were both really wonderful though and really friendly- Katie and I were very pleased to feel like we had finally learned something more about Belgrade. Very funny though that one of the few things we saw while we were in intensely Orthodox Belgrade was the mosque and we only ended up there b/c we were turned away from the Jewish museum. Fate has a wry sense of humor.
One of the other really great things we did get to do while we were there though was visit Kalemegdan which is an old fortress which was originally built during the Ottoman empire. It is in the middle of a great park with lots of trees and paths and walkways and then around the fort itself there are different paths and bridges and all kinds of exciting things to explore. We went at night, on Wednesday, right after a full day of new snow which made it feel like a very fabulous and mysterious adventure. It was so beautiful- I took a bunch of pics (see facebook). We also had a really great dinner afterwards at a restaurant which is considered a great traditional Serbian place.

I’ll mention our Christmas very quickly so as not to completely exclude it, but it was somewhat sad because Katie was away all day and we weren’t able to do too much of anything we had planned. Once she left the apartment in the morning, Katie H. and I realized we couldn’t access any of the Christmas music on her laptop b/c she hadn’t told us the password. We solved the problem though by singing carols together, which was really quite nice (my personal favorite from our repertoire was definitely The 1st Noel). We spent a lot of time reading and writing which also wasn’t bad- except for being worried about Katie M. the whole time. We did cook a very nice dinner though, and when Katie finally reappeared it was with some really great pastries for dessert. Not exactly how we had envisioned Christmas, but for the week as a whole we did alright.

Ok that wasn't exactly in order, but it’s at least some of my adventures from the last week. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Sretan Bajram, and Happy New Year!