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Published: July 16th 2014
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Hello, Banja Luka! And a 6 hour bus ride...the first of two in three days. We did get a few breaks though. One was at an island in the Middle of Nowhere, Bosnia, on Ramsko Jezero (Rama Lake) that had a monastery on it. Dave and I tossed around a frisbee for a bit, then he and Victor and I all grabbed our swim suits and FINALLY went swimming. We've been waiting for the chance since day 1. The water was absolutely perfect, although given the weather lately any water would be perfect. Of course, it was made more interesting when Dave and I were playing with the anchor lines to the dock a bunch of girls were sitting on and our professors took advantage and untied the dock. One of the girls tried to leave and found a 10 foot chasm of water (and the bottom drops at about a 45° angle, so she couldn't walk it). Our professors chuckled "where you going?" Needless to say, Victor and I had to swim the dock back in. No harm done, but very well played on our professors' part.
We also got dumped on during lunch in Jajce, which is the
birthplace of Socialist Yugoslavia. We only spent an hour there; we had enough time to eat, visit the museum for 10 minutes, and check out the waterfall.
We pulled in at the hotel around 6 or 6:30 and headed downtown for dinner shortly after. This is the first city we've seen that has an "Americanized" downtown; in the others we were near their Baščaršijas, which are old towns (see correction, July 17). Namely, cobblestones, narrow streets, all pedestrian, and all street vendors. Great for the cultural experience, less great for the functionality and accessibility.
We have a packed day tomorrow, with several events planned. As Banja Luka is the capital of Republika Srpska (it's hard to really describe their political system on a blog because it's so messy, but think of RS as the equivalent of a US state. It's the best analogy I have, but note that it's still a really bad one), we are meeting with politicians, including potentially the Prime Minister of RS. Should be interesting!
I have gotten a few people who asked me about my language and pronunciation skills since I got here. Language: almost none.
I can say maybe 10 words? Pronunciation: pretty good. Having studied linguistics does help, as it's easier to understand how they pronounce things. Here's your crash course: most letters only have one sound, and if there are no vowels, put them in (i.e. Srpska = Serpska). The 'š' is as in "shade", the 'č' as in "check," and the 'ž' as in "Asian." The 'ć' is like "check," but with less emphasis on the 'h' and more on the 's' part of the sound. The 'j' is a 'y' (so Jajca = Yise-ah). It's not entirely unlike English, just simpler, honestly.
I am excited for tomorrow, but I also can't wait for Friday (or, really, Saturday). Friday we leave for Belgrade and then we're mostly done traveling! Minus day trips, we spend the rest of our time there. It's a much bigger city than Sarajevo, and it should be a lot of fun. Keep checking in!
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