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There's nothing quite like your first morning waking up in a new place. Particularly when you only got 8 hours of sleep after 2 almost-sleepless days, and, according to your body, it's approximately 4:00 am. Although the realization that breakfast is almost over does wake you up quite quickly when your stomach is grumbling.
We went from breakfast on a walking tour of Sarajevo. While we certainly didn't hit all the city - I went further on my own the day before - it was interesting to get a local's perspective. Mo, our guide, was quite knowledgeable and enjoyed telling his jokes...which were that much better with his broken English. There are so many things about this city, like any, that you simply wouldn't know (or at least understand the gravity of) without a guide. For example, the holes from the shelling after the wars in the 90s were filled in with red concrete to symbolize blood and earned the nickname "red roses." Mo himself was actually injured, in what would have been a much funnier story had it had a happier ending: his mother, a nurse, brought home sleeping aids for the neighbors, which Mo stole and snuck to
his grandmother so he could go outside and play. While he ended up with (only) 34 stitches after the shelling, the point was made quite clearly.
Although this city is gorgeous, it's been through so much. There have been fires, corrupt governments, wars, battles, crime, and weather to deal with. The local caravan-motel (for traders traveling to and from Greece) burned down - see the picture of a foundation I attached. World War I was started on a street corner we walked by - see 2 more photos. There were fortresses built to protect the city. The temperature fluctuates between -25 and 115 fahrenheit. It's simply not an easy place to live.
After the tour, we went to the Office of the High Representative. Simply put, this is a position created by the Dayton Accords that has the power to replace and/or remove any public executive or legislative position in the country. The position is meant to be temporary, ending when the peace and security of Bosnia and Herzegovina are ensured. Otherwise read as: the position will end when they damn well feel like it. We met with his second in command, an American, who had a very
interesting perspective. The conversation focused mostly on what the government and the people are doing to help the country move forward, with occasional connections back to the OHR. While they've made some progress, he made it clear there's a long way to go before they join the EU.
After we got back to the hotel, a group of us got together and went for a hike up to one of the old fortresses, called the Yellow Fortress. The view of the city is, as of yet to my experience, unparalleled. There's a cannon that is fired off nightly during this month to signal to the Muslim majority in the city that they can break the fast of Ramadan. There's also a drink and snack bar on top, with surprisingly amazing drinks that we fully felt we deserved.
Coming down, we went to the Old Town for dinner, where I tried more new foods. My plan has basically been to look at a menu and choose the coolest-looking word. I got cevapcici, which is best described as pita, onions, and "meat fingers," whatever those are (maybe beef or lamb?). One strange thing here is that their yogurt is liquidy.
To the point where they literally drink it. As in, I didn't have a glass of water with dinner, I had a glass of thin yogurt. It was definitely a new experience.
The rest of the night passed fairly quietly back at the hotel; we're still all catching up on our jet lag and sleep, and definitely have done a lot over the last two days to exhaust us further.
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