The Soccer Game

Two Brave Ladies
Up in Flames
Note the riot police enjoying the game
Pat and Paul
Towards the end of the game



The Europeans take soccer very seriously. Before we entered the Bosnia Turkey Match at the Olympic Stadium we were thoroughly checked. No bottles, knives, or handguns were allowed. Since no trash bins were anywhere to be seen we were encouraged to throw our empty beer bottles on the grass which looked like the city dump. With our Canadian sensibilities we all looked at each other reluctant to add to the filthy mess, but we were assured by our Bosnia friend "someone cleans it up in the morning". A separate entrance was marked for Turkey fans heavily guarded by riot Police. Even though we were seated closest to this entrance the cops would not budge even though we told them we were CANADA fans.

Upon entering the second checkpoint we were once again frisked and then stepped into what looked like a modern Colosseum of cheering, veering, swearing, and the most hardcore set of fans this side of the Adriatic. Myself and Monique looked around and realized we were 2 or 4 women in our section of thousands. We cheered right along as Bosnia scored it's first goal, but as Turkey scored the stadium was filled with anger and flares and toilet papers roles got thrown on the turf, making the masses of riot police edgy. The Plastic advertising banners began to burn up in flames, and holes were burned into the turf and quickly extinguished by the on site firemen.

Bosnia scored again, as did Turkey and everyone seemed thrilled with what was to be a tie, and then in the last 9 minutes of the game Bosnia scored once again. The crowd went wild, and everyone went home happy and safe. The atmosphere in the stadium can only be described as nuts, however, the aftermath- once the fans filled the streets, was nothing compared the the 2006 Stanley Cup finals. There were no women flashing the crowds, no men hanging from streetlights and barely any honks. Just large crowds of jovial men happy that their team was was game closer to the World Cup finals.

Mine Awareness

The Mine
Waiting for the police
The address we gave to the police to try to find us

Last Saturday Paul and I took off from our flat in Ciglane for a walk in the sun into town. Ciglane is a very urban neighbourhood situated on a hill facing the city. It is a series of buildings at various points in the hill and it's pretty cool safe neighbourhood.


Nostalgic about our nearing departure Paul and I looked extra closely at the details of our neighbourhood trying to capture them on film and in our minds. Then looking down into the grass, a stretch where the concrete building end, Paul noticed something unusual under the 11th guard rail in the shade of a tree. He called me over and asked what I thought it was. Instantly I flashed back to our mine awareness presentations.

Mines look like small brown hockey pucks that are brownish in colour( check )
Mines are usually found in fields but after rain storms they can be shifted and moved into residential areas ( check)
Do not touch a mine and resist the desire to poke it with a stick ( check )

We looked at the "mine" with a cautious distance. We resisted poking it with a stick We kept walking. Then several meters further over come with strong sense of responsibility and guilt we turned back. If we did not report the mine what if someone got hurt? What if some child picked it up? Or the rain moved it closed to the street and a car drove over it?


Yup it sure looked minesque. Unsure of what to do we called all the people we had logged into our phone. Finally after several calls we learned the number to the police ( something we should have probably known ourselves) . The operator spoke limited English and the word mine had to be repeated 8 times before she seemed to get what we were trying to say. We hung up and crossed our fingers that she understood our location.


1 hour and once ice cream later, the police showed up. They smiled politely as they got out of their car and let us lead them to the mine. Officer one looked at it closely, hesitated for a moment, and then picked it up and threw it in the large dumpster near by. Paul and I stared at each other slightly horrified and embarrassed. The officers took our names as a formality and said something in Bosnia which I could only assume meant " you idiots tore us away from the soccer game for this". Once they pulled away Paul reached back into the dumpster to take a closer look at the plastic 'mine like" object which we can only now presume is the top of a giant water jug.

At least no one got hurt.

Our Love On

Homemade calamari
yesterday's diner
Our basil
Coffee on our balcony
Chicken truck in our neighbourhood
Street Art in Tuzla
A replica of a small village from centuries ago

Paul and Amra in the village in Tuzla


As you are about to approach a time when you know you have to leave a place something in you begins to transform. A nostalgia builds that makes you miss the place you are about to leave before you have left it. Everything becomes more animated, more green, and more fun. It appears as though Paul and I have reached this point in the year, with six weeks left it go. We have finally found a groove, are enjoying our friends, the weather, the people. Last week we even found a fish market in town. Now as you know we struggled to find fish of any kind on the coast, and there in front of our noses, in the city we live in, which is nowhere from the sea, fresh fish of all kinds for dirt cheap prices. The Calamari and Salmon we had been dreaming of is now at our disposal.

Even the last few days, full of intense rain and fog, have felt romantic and enchanting. Perhaps the only way to love a place is to know you are leaving. As you know Paul and I were quite burned out before Spring Break, here is the new list of reasons why we now have our love on for Sarajevo (and Tuzla).
The Markets: The markets are places where food lovers can get their sensory fill. It's all about walking around and to check who has the best stuff out. As summer has gotten closer the market has gotten more colourful. We can now get half a kilo of cherries for a dollar fifty. Fresh strawberries, lettuce, dill, peppers, mean that our fridge is constantly full of amazing produce to munch on. The market is literally down the hill from us. There we can also get our fill of DVDs flowers, and knock-off runners. It's truly amazing.
Bubbly Sarajevska Water:This is a new habit we have developed. Drinking tons and tons of carbonated water. With it's perfect sized bubbles you get all of the "ahhh" of drinking a pop but non of the calories. This habit will drive us into the poor house back at home where gassy water comes only in fancy bottles with expensive labels.
Tuzla: A couple of weekends ago our friend Amra took us to her home town to meet her family. We stayed with her parents who adopted us for the weekend and made us feel loved. Amra's dad magically, on one of his 8 satellites, found the CBC for Paul which was coincidentally broadcasting 2 back to back Hockey night in Canada games. I was so relaxed I feel asleep on their couch. A bit hung over from the barbecue we had the night before which involved her family cooking delicious meats for us, and the kids (us) staying up till all hours of the night playing the guitar. There is nothing more soothing than hearing Canadian TV in the background. I felt like I was at home, and when I woke up I was surprised to find I was not actually on my mom's couch.

Our balcony: We hauled stuff off of it and put it in the storage room. We scrubbed it until you could eat right off of it. We weeded our flower box garden, and brought out our basil plants. Now the balcony over looking the city, with it's little coal barbecue and two lawn chairs, is quite possibly the most perfect place in all of Sarajevo. Here you can sit and have a coffee, enjoy a book and some light conversation and soak up the sun.

Improving my Bosnian and Smiling: Ever since I have been trying to speak more and smile a lot a people, everyone seems to be more friendly back. Maybe because the summer makes everyone inevitably less miserable, maybe because you just have to show overt happiness to get happiness back. Smiles are infectious.

6 more weeks:Officially there are only six more weeks of work left. And perhaps in the end it is this that is keeping us pumped. When we began this year, it was impossible to separate our life from work. Some nights we would stay till 8pm, only to go home eat sleep and do it all over again. We have finally found the balance, and leave our work for the most part at the school, which we leave promptly after it is time to go home. This separation between work and LIFE is what makes being here so much more rewarding.

So now with all this new found optimism, which might make some of you pessimist want to vomit in your mouths, we are ready to enjoy the next little bit like it's the last little bit we will have here. Which it is.