Back to Bosnia

I spent last week in Bosnia - it was a great trip. I am so glad I was able to go and see my friends that I haven't seen in so long. Here is a bit of the trip at a glance...

I spent the first day with Janice, but I didn't get any pictures because we were going to meet up again but we failed. But we had fun playing games. We also hung out a bit with Joy and it was fun to see her as well.

I was able to spend half a day with Miss Lina... We ate some yummy Turkish doner kebobs for brunch. I miss those. This actually was posed with the jogurt on the nose, but a few minutes before, she really did have an unknown jogurt dot on the nose :) We also did some shopping, which of course was a lot of fun.

Walking around downtown, we spotted these two guys on the rooftop - what was funny was that if you look at the guy on the right closely, you'll see he has a laptop. Where else are you going to see two guys on a roof with a laptop? Ok, probably other places as well, but it just struck us as really funny.


It was so much fun to go up the hill (in a taxi, mind you) to my first home and visit Slavica and Zdeno. As usual she had a nice lunch waiting for me, and it was just nice to hang out with them and catch up. She just had some kind of stomach surgery 10 days before me visiting so she seemed to be recovering well.

It's always good to see Zdeno... he always cracks me up. He hasn't been able to find work in over a year, so that is a huge bummer. But otherwise, things seem to be going well for him.

Wendy and I went out the dinner at the brewery, and you cannot tell from this picture, but it seriously is the best parking job ever. Up a curb and literally, a half an inch at most away from the light pole. We were both quite impressed - it was a pretty sweet parking job.


Donovan and Jocelyn came down from Visoko and picked me up in Sarajevo and we hung out for a bit there and then for coffee with Bruegger in Visoko before heading to Zenica. This picture was taken right after Donovan dumped Coke droplets on my camera. It was actually kind of funny. I guess it's not funny now because you kind of had to be there.

In Zenica, I had dinner with Paula, Tiffany, and Beth. It was a blast.I miss them all so much. What crack-ups. I was so glad it worked out for all of us to get together.


I didn't know it, but there was a home group that night at Nedžada's house. It worked out perfectly for me to see Nedžada, Donata, Merlina, and Caca. They had no idea I was coming, so when Donata opened the door it was the first time I ever saw her perfectly speechless. Kind of fun for me :) It was really good to see all of them and to be a part of the small worship service. It was great to sing songs I know once again!

Of course I saw Nela and Andrej. I can't believe he will start school in the fall. We had a really nice time catching up. It was hard to say good-bye once again. Saying goodbye was definitely the bad side of the trip.

Nela and Andrej

My last evening, Slađan, Tiffany, and I went to my favorite place for čevapi. Oh my gosh... it was even better than I remembered. It was beyond fabulous. My shirt still smells like the restaurant. I really don't want to wash it, but yeah, it's gross so I will :)

Oh my goodness what a horrible picture of me - I was so tired! Tiffany looks fabulous as usual, and look at Slađan in the reflection. he was a pain as we're standing there smiling, and he's taking a video of us instead of a picture... boys... it was kind of funny, actually, but you have to be harsh with Slađan :)

Tiffany and I walked home from the restaurant, and after we were chatting for a couple hours, I realized ' "hmmm, I think I have a fever!" I didn't feel well most of that day, and sure enough, I had a slight fever. It broke in the night, and while I didn't feel great in the morning, I decided to take the bus back anyways. It wasn't so bad, but I was definitely glad to get home (to a very happy dog) and go to bed. I stayed in bed all day yesterday as well. I feel pretty much back to normal today, so I'm glad what ever I had didn't last.

So... there it is in a bit of a nutshell. It was so great to see people and to be where I feel at home. So much changed, but so much remained the same. I love Bosnia and all my friends there. I can't wait till my next visit...

Bittersweet

I made it to Bosnia safely last night. It was an uneventful trip which is always good. In ways it was almost if I had never left. My favorite mountains, my favorite bend in the river, all the trash in the river... It was kind of nice to sit in a smoke-filled restaurant for dinner last night. My clothes still smell like the burning cigarettes. It's not a smell I thought I would miss.

I've missed the character and charm of Bosnia. There is just something about this country that grabs you and wont let you go. I can't believe I haven't been here in over a year. A lot has changed, but so much remains the same. I knew I missed living here, but I didn't know how much till we crossed the border (and a smooth crossing it was, I may add).

I'm looking forward to seeing more friends today and the rest of the week. I wish my trip could be longer, but I'll just have to try to fit as much in as I can. I probably won't post again till I get back to Croatia, but then I'll post with pictures.

Till the weekend...

Dogless for three hours

Wow... and it's going to be a long three hours. I love that dog. I took her to the vet this morning for her vaccinations, but I didn't know he was going to knock her out and do an IV drip! She was actually kind of very hyper (no surprise to people who know her), and so I don't know if this is normal, or he just figured it would be easier if she was sleeping. It just broke my heart to see her trying to fight the sedative while just sinking down on the table.

I have to go pick her up in three hours so I have the house totally to myself. It's just so weird to not have her sitting by me or following me or whining or begging or licking me or barking or playing or just being with me. She's six years old this month - I can't believe it! Oh, and they weighed her - good grief! She weighs 60 pounds! You'd never know it to look at her - she's got muscle :)

I also found out she needs a new microchip. He couldn't find the one we got in Bosnia. That's so frustrating because I was told the chip from Bosnia was good throughout Europe. Sigh. So, he's going to implant the new chip today as well... and check her ears and some other stuff. I'm going to make an appointment to get her teeth cleaned as well.

So in honor of my under-anesthesia dog, here is a video of her talking back to me :)





UPDATE!! Now I understand the anesthesia... I also wanted him to clean her teeth - I thought we were going to make a separate appointment for that, but he did everything I needed today! Poor thing is so traumatized... but her teeth are beautiful, her ears are clean, and she is vaccinated against every bad thing they have vaccinations for. And she takes her anti-parasite meds in the morning. The new microchip works fine, and she is such an easy dog to walk on the leash when she wakes up with some of the anesthesia stuff still in her blood :) It's the nicest walk we've ever had together :) She's napping now - it's so good to have her back!

UN offer to Bosnians: Turn in your machine-gun and win a scooter

Ok, I don't know if this link is going to work, but the headline was too good to pass up :)

Guns and Scooters

Kind of sounds like an 80's rock band, eh??

Oh, and my toaster caught fire today. The day after my landlords came and told me how well I had taken care of the house and all they need me to do when I leave is clean and paint like we had initially agreed... But it was a small fire and it kind of put itself out after I pulled the plug. I love toast and find it quite sad I no longer have a toaster. I am quite thankful I didn't burn the house down or scorch anything. I'm still trying to figure out my reaction. I rolled my eyes, sighed, and walked slowly over to it and unplug it. Then I watched the flames die down, went back to the stove, and flipped my egg - more upset that I didn't have toast to eat with the egg, more so than having an electrical fire in my kitchen. Why did the toaster catching on fire seem so normal when I have never had anything like that happen before?

Don't forget to comment on the post below...

Five years, three months later...

...and I'm seriously thinking I'm having a major case of culture shock.

Why you ask? Well, my next door neighbor has never liked me. It's along story about how I wouldn't let her steal my landlord's rocks almost three years ago. but ever since then, yeah, she hasn't liked me.

This morning I go out to walk the dog at 8am. She starts yelling at me because the other neighbor's dog is barking at my dog - who is not making any noise at all. I proceed to nicely tell her that my dog has to use the bathroom and it's not my fault the other dog barks. Then she tells me I can't walk Skoobi until 10am. I'm still being nice, and I tell her, well, you know your dog was barking last night at 3am... then she proceeds to tell me to shut up and starts yelling at me even louder about how horrible I am! So then, still nicely, I said - you asked me to keep my balcony doors shut, so I have. I waited till 8am to walk Skoobi because I know the other dog barks at her... she then interrupts me, going into another rant about always being woken up by the dog across the street THAT ISN'T EVEN MY DOG! So I asked, still nicely but I was on the edge, if she talked to the people across the street about their dog. The she tells me to shut up again and starts yelling at me again about how it's my dog making the other dog bark and so it's my fault!, And as many times as I've been yelled at for something in Bosnian - for the first time ever... I yelled back. I was so furious. I even did hand motions like the Bosnians do. Nothing bad mind you, just a lot of dramatic flailings.

And no, I didn't use any of the really good (ok, ok... really bad) words and phrases I've leaned from all the soccer games I've gone to... but oh how I was tempted...

I'm amazed at how well I was able to express myself in Bosnian. Maybe I just need to turn into an old mean bitter person (kind of like my neighbor!!!) and live in a rageful state, and then langauge won't be a problem. Of course nothing was resolved as she wouldn't listen to me when I was being nice nor when I was yelling. It may not have been my finest moment in my given profession, but boy, did I connect with the culture.

And I suppose i should ask you to pray for me because I am really really mad at her still. I was in town and was so tempted to go to the bus station and ask when the next international bus left and just hop on and go. But I couldn't leave my mutt behind, and so here we sit, quietly, on the couch, contemplating how poor Skoobi can take her morning pee in peace...

"Tvoje oči su posebne..."

"Tvoje oči su posebne..." I don't know how many times the lady at the eye clinic told me that... "Your eyes are special." Since optic terms were never high on my list of Bosnian phrases to learn, I was so thankful my friend Slađan agreed to go with me to the eye clinic to get my eyes checked. I always knew my left eye was much weaker than my right eye, so I decided finally to get it checked out to see if maybe my headaches and watery eyes were because... sigh... I needed glasses.

Turns out my eyes are special because while my right eye is almost perfect, my left eye is quite far from perfect. The lady was trying to explain to me that I have astigmatism, and that I am both near AND farsighted in my left eye... huh?? How can you be both near and farsighted in the same eye? As I gave Slađan a quizzical look, he gave a shrug that basically said "Hey, I'm just the translator." Of course he was trying hard not to die laughing because while he's trying to explain all this serious stuff to me, I'm wearing this contraption on my head and look like a total idiot.

It was obvious to all (including the people on the street who also saw me in the contraption as the woman twirled my chair around, whipped the curtains open, and had me point at cars and tell her what color they were...) I needed glasses. Slađan also helped me pick out my frames as the other lady pulled out these huge purple, plastic things - they were horrid and I'm sure my face showed as much. They had to send my prescription away to get the right lenses since my left eye was so odd. I was so intrigued, when I got home, I immediately went to google and aha! You CAN be both near and farsighted in one eye - here's the definition (from pendletoneye.com): "Just to make things really messy, there are actually people out there with so called "complex astigmatism."  In these people, some distant light rays focus in front of the retina, and some focus behind the retina.  In a way, these people are both nearsighted and farsighted at the same time." I love it- I'm categorized in a small group called "these people!"

I've been thinking about that definition a lot. Especially on my walk home last night, wearing my new glasses and trying not to walk into poles and off the curbs :) People say that the eyes are the window to the soul... Hmmm... well, if you look into my eyes with a strange contraption it's "messy" and "complex." I actually started laughing walking home - wow... isn't THAT the truth! A messy and complex soul. It still makes me smile to think about. I know in real life when I'm trying to figure something out, things get messy - things get cluttered and look out of control. But I know somewhere in the mess is the answer and I just have to wade through it knowing I'll find the answer when God is good and ready to give it to me. And whose soul isn't complex?? I know people say they want "a simple faith," but is faith really ever simple?? Maybe living in Bosnia for five years has made me cynical, but I don't think much of anything in life is simple anymore.

So while I'm still deciding if I like my glasses, I do like the message God sent me through them. My soul is messy and complex - I kind of like it that way. I like how God is helping me sort through the mess and to learn to love my complexities. I like the growth and the strengthening of my faith over these last few months. I'm changing somewhere deep inside, and I think I'm finally liking the person I'm becoming...

(Thanks for taking the picture Tiffany!! Tiffany got high-speed internet today... I was there and it was a time of both rejoicing for Tiffany and having a pity party for myself... I must go and dial-up now.)

Um... no...

(Just so you know, I am NOT making any of this up... I really, really wish I was...)

So, finally, someone popped the question to me last night... It definitely wasn't the proposal of my dreams, but it did happen... One of my friends called me last night and in all seriousness, asked me to marry her boyfriend... OK, I'll backup.

I went to bed a little early. I spent the day cleaning the house (really cleaning - windows, vacuuming...) and just decided to read a little and hit the sack. I had been asleep about an hour when my phone beeped for a message. I looked and it was from one of my Bosnian friends asking me to call her if I wasn't sleeping. Since the message woke me up and so technically I wasn't sleeping anymore, I decided to call her. She doesn't call often and since it was now kind of late, I thought it may have been important.

So she answers the phone... The phone conversation goes something like this:

- Hey LeAnne! Were you sleeping?
- Well, yes, but it's ok. What's up?
- Well my boyfriend he needs to go to America and he has family there and everything and he needs a visa.
- Ok...
- You know how we were talking and laughing the other day about you marrying a Bosnian to get the paper to get a visa here...
- (yawn) Yes, I remember...
- We were think if you and my boyfriend got the marriage on the paper then he would have the paper to get a visa for a america and then you can have the paper for a visa here... then maybe i can like have the marriage with your brother and then i can have a visa to go to America too.
- (Silence as I try to decide if she is serious or not... then I pinch myself to make sure Im not dreaming) Um... I... um... WHAT?
- Listen LeAnne, it will just be the paper you know and then everyone will have the marriage and what they need.
- ARE YOU SERIOUS? I am not marrying your boyfriend!
- You won't have the serious marriage just on the paper. Look, i woken you up and i know you are tired now, so think about it and we can talk on Wednesday... (mumbled talk in the background as she talks to her boyfriend). It will be ok, we will talk wednesday...
- No, we don't need to talk Wednesday... (cuts me off)
- You think about it, it will work and everyone will have papers for the visa.
- I uh no, no... just no...
- Ok goodnight... will talk wednesday...
- But.. I ... uh... click

I hung up the phone very confused. I woke Skoobi up... why should she sleep when I'm not? I read for a while and just pondered the conversation. It was... odd.

I finally fell back to sleep, and my sister called me at three in the morning. It was kind of funny. We hadn't talked in a while, and she didn't realize i was 9 hours ahead of her... "what time is it there...??" "Three in the morning." "Oooooh..." I love my sister. So I read for another couple hours after that before falling back to sleep. Oh well. I may just shut my phone off tonight when I go to bed!!

Ok, THAT was weird...

I was on my way to Nela's tonight for Bible study when I saw the strangest thing...

I wasn't in the best of moods. I'm kind of tired, and still pretty sad Jana is gone. But I was looking forward to my time with Nela. I walked even though it was still pretty hot (though not as hot as it has been).

For those of you who don't live here, after a wedding, everyone drives around in decorated cars beeping their horns and beeping and beeping and beeping. It's actually pretty fun to watch usually as people hang out the windows, wave flags, and just have a fun celebration. Well, within 15 minutes of my walk, three wedding parties had passed me! It was getting a bit old, with the beeping and all.

Well, as I came to one of the main intersections in town, yet a fourth wedding party was coming up behind me. Not as much beeping, but enough to make me roll my eyes behind my sunglasses. So the first car pulls up to the red light (I'm about 50 feet back) and it had plates from The Netherlands. The next couple cars all had out of country plates as well. Then, and this is the weird part, this huge, white, classy stretch limo pulls up - with TEXAS plates... not just Texas plates, but personalized plates that said "TAKE ME" I did a triple take and everything in me just wanted to bust out laughing!! As the wedding party passed when the light turned green, almost all of the other cars had out of country plates... someone pretty wealthy must have gotten hitched... but goodness... A Texas "TAKE ME" license plate in Zenica... I am so glad I decided to walk to Nela's!!

OWWW

I have an ear infection... I don't know why. I've only had one before and that was way back in high school. I haven't been swimming or anything, but my ear is hurting something terrible. It started on Wednesday and has gotten progressively worse. Liz looked at it today ("ve been in Sarajevo visiting friends since Wednesday) and she said it seems just to be a run of the mill infection. So, I got antibiotic ear drops from the pharmacy, and you know it's great to live here sometimes - they were less than $3! So, hopefully with the drops, Tylenol, and some hot compresses, the infection will go away quickly. I have a lot to do this weekend, so I'm hoping to get a good nights sleep tonight (Friday) and be ready to tackle the weekend (I"m watching a football movie hence - tackle) :)

My time in Sarajevo was fun. I stayed with my friend Janice who used to live here in Zenica. We had fun walking the city, hitting some restaurants, and when Jana came, did a little trip to the Apple computer store - thanks for the directions Donovan! We got lost looking for the store, and I stopped to ask a fireman directions (not a good-looking one, mind you) and he went into the fire station to apparently consult with his cohorts. Well, they told us the address we were looking for was on the other side of town! So I called Donovan (who has been there before), and it turned out it was really just 2 blocks from the fire station! Let's here it for the Bosnian firemen!!

I also got to go up and see old landlady Slavica and her family. Everyone is doing well, and it was just nice to catch up with her and Zdeno for a while. They are building an addition on to their house and getting a new roof, so it's quite a busy time for them. She, as usual, had a grand meal prepared :) It is always so good to go visit them.

Ok, well, I need to put a compress on my head and go to bed... Hope all of you are well and no mysterious ear infections are plaguing you!!

Ceiling Wind Macine of Death...

How long does it take to install a ceiling fan, fix a toilet seat, and change a light bulb?? Very close to 7 hours... sigh... Dreno finally came Saturday (was supposed to come Friday) at 11:00 (was supposed to show at 8:00). We talk about the pension program for about 40 minutes. I have no idea what conclusions we came to, but I'm sure we solved all the worlds problems. The the fan came out of the box. He seemed quite confused. I decided it was better to leave him so I wouldn't have to deal with stress... I went to the kitchen and looked at recipes. Heard massive drilling about 20 minutes later. About an hour later I went in to have a peek... huge hole in ceiling, nothing attached, and Dreno still looking quizzically at the directions - upside down... I knew then my day was just beginning to be long...

Anyways, four hours later, I had a wind machine of death on my ceiling. It works and looks great, but Dreno is still afraid I'll die from the draft. At least I won't sweat to death. Not that i need ceiling fan at the monent. It's freaking cold! But anyways, he moved on to the toilet. He decided not to buy a new seat (thank God) and just bought all kinds of appartus with him. Surely this won't take long, I think to myself. Well, an hour later my bladder is about to burst. Finally I had to say, Look, i have GOT to use the bathroom... Of course, there was NO seat at the time, but who really needs a seat anyway??

So maybe 30 minutes after that, I had a toilet seat.

So then he wants to mess with the outlet in the kitchen - it will be fast he says. I try not to snort and say "Um, well, let's just go change the lught bulb on my security light." "LeAnne, LeAnne... it will be fast." Sigh... a half hour later he tells me he can't fix it with what he has...

So we go upstairs... SURELY this won't take so long... 45 minutes later, the light bulb still isn't in. I'm really not sure what he was doing, but apparently it was important. Finally got the light bulb in and, behold - an hour later and it works!

So then I offer to take him home cause it's raining and all. At first he says ok, but then decided to call his friend so I don't have to drive in traffic. OK, whatever... His friend says he'll come right away - which in Bosnian means, in this case, 30 minutes.

Overall, i shouldn't complain. I got everything done, and it's only going to cost me a batch of cookies. But good grief... OH and my poor Skoobi had to stay locked up in my room all day cause Mr "I'm a Blackbelt" Dreno is terrified of her. Poor baby. She was really good though, and some extra treats.

It was really weird to go potty after Dreno left and not have to balance myself... Did I mention the toilet has been broken since before furlough?? You may remember when I trid to fix it and superglued my hand to it... yeah... that was me.

So anyways, I feel much better now getting all this off my chest.

I think I'm giving the message at church today... it's raining. I doubt anyone will show other than me and Nela anyways. Laura may come too... We'll see. If any of you read this before 10am EST, pray for our church service today.

OK, I could go on, but I shall cease. I really am thankful for Dreno and all the work he did... Living here is just such a riot!