Sarajevo

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 07 September 2008 13:31:52

I'm sat in “Club Bill Gates”, in the middle of Sarajevo typing a post on my Apple computer and stopping for lunch before continuing my quest to find somewhere with wi fi. I'm also feeling very guilty about not updating before now on my travels.

Here's the story so far : A week at a WSCF confrence in Nitra, Slovakia learning about domestic violence and helping run the language sessions. I wouldn't have got to the confrence without the help of a lovely women I met who spoke perfect english (she went to uni in Newcastle) and ended up asking her mother to come and find us and take me to where I was meant to be. We got slightly lost...

The conference was great, the people were fantastic and I hope to do more WSCF events in the future, but in a way I was glad it was over and I could start travelling. My first point of call was Pecs, in South Hungary. I only spent 2 nights there and really enjoyed it - the hostel was fantastic, clean, friendly and had wifi. I only had one day there which was spent exploring the city in the morning and going to an outdoor swimming pool/spa in the afternoon. The spa was amazing - 5 outdoor pools of varying temperature and it only cost me 2 euros for 6 hours there as I went in the afternoon.

I then had the joy of a 9 hour train journey to Sarajevo. Most of the hostel seemed to be going to Sarajevo, and as there was only one train a day I had a travel companion and learnt a very important lesson. Always have enough food or water for the whole journey as there may not be a buffet card. Arriving in SarajevI'o I found the hostel and ended up talking to one of the owners in the evening. Which was great until he asked to get to know me better (!) at that point I went to bed. The next day was spent exploring sarajevo, and I ended up making a friend in one of the shops, and we arranged to go to coffee at 6pm on Sunday (today).

Yesterday I went to Sebrenica. Which was an amazing expereince, mostly because I spent 10 hours on busses through rural Bosnia. Sebrenica itself was a small town, about the size of the one I grew up in, every building was bullet scarred, and despite the fact it was Saturday the town seemed deserted. The actual memorial and graveyard was about a mile out of town, but I didn't get there - just passed it on a bus. Thousands of white graves, bearing names and dates, and hundreds more, green and brown which didn't seem to have names on them. Travelling along the roads I saw memorials to people who had presumably been killed there and signs warning of mines. it was very sad.

I had a fun experince in Sebrenica though, I ordered lemonade, and drank it. Once I was ready to leave I suddenly realised that I had left my purse on a wall. I explained this in English to mysitified bar staff and patrons, and then sprinted to find my purse on the wall where I left it. Returning I waved it triumphantly, and everyone smiled and suddenly understood why this mad english women had ran out. Then a guy brought me a drink and started chatting me up in bosnian. Which was less good.

Today I went to mass in the Catholic cathederal, and ended up doing a reading. Which was an experience and certainly made the trip that bit more special. I've now eaten pizza and am quite enjoying relaxing here with my computer looking as though I'm working very hard so will stay here a while.