Waiting

Today Caitlin, Eli, Anja, Azra and I ventured to Sarajevo. We left this morning at 8 with other friends and were dropped off in Old Town. We shopped and shopped and shopped and then ate lunch followed by more shopping. It was a great time to spend with everyone and I enjoyed the city very much. Today is the anniversary of the war and we passed the mosque during the memorial service. There are many things on the news surrounding the genocide that took place here. The people are still grieving and the aftermath of war is apparent. Most are trying to move on and look to the future. We saw the oldest mosque in Bosnia and the man who does the call to prayer with just his voice. It is a very interesting thing to watch and it intrigued me so. My questioning led to a very brief discussion with a store owner. Also, while waiting for my friends to stop shopping (I was done at this point) Azra and I began to take pictures with the dummies outside the store. The candy shop worker next door noticed us and said he wanted to take his pic with Azra so we obliged. Eli called him swarmy but I am not sure if this is a real word or not. Teresa seemed to understand it. Anyway, he thought he was way cool but he liked to speak to us in English so I stayed and visited for a short time. He knew exactly where Texas was located. It is funny when people ask me where I am from. I never respond that I am from America but from Texas. Anyway, we ended our day with a walk to the bus station and began to wait at the local coffee shop. The 3:30 nicest, air conditioned bus came and we decided it was too crowded so we would wait for the 4:30 bus. Little did we know how long of a wait was actually ahead of us. 4:30 comes and no bus. 5:30 comes and no bus. 6:30 comes and no bus. At 6:35, our bus pulls in. This bus is not like the one we passed on earlier. There is no air, no windows to open and standing room only. I don't mind standing on a bus but I have no balance and fall very easily. We stood on the bus for 2 hours on very winding roads. It made for a great little adventure and I was able to talk to the girls more. I would say we bonded over this experience and I would do it all over again although I cannot speak for them.