1 day to go

Specimen one (1): Clearly this man requires a break
as he is seen here wearing a chicken mask as
a coping mechanism

Specimen two (2): based on the crazed look in her
eyes and the slight foaming of the mouth we can
clearly observe she is heading for meltdown

As a teacher holidays and breaks become events of great importance. The countdown started about two weeks prior. Paul and I have been tallying the seconds and minutes and tomorrow at 2:15 pm we will be officially on spring break! This break seems essential for various reasons but here are just a fee.

* Hate ON: a term coined by James Foss, meaning to carry hate on your sleeve, or to be consumed by negative feelings pessimism, anger, discontent, and at times bewilderment. Paul and I have " had our hate on" as of late. It is difficult to take the hate on in fact.

* Spring time= burn time: As the weather warms everyone takes out their winter supply of plastic bottles, bags, and containers to burn them on the side of the road. Air quality= poor. Visibility= poor. This is a great metaphor since we are quite burned out ourselves.

* Inefficient poop slide: Korea had the squatter, Bosnia has the poorly designed toilettes wthat leave poo smears. You have to use a toilette brush each time you poop. I'm getting pretty tired of having to do this , and quite honestly I'm okay just leaving it there until it's gotten exceptionally gross. ( what have we become?)

* Aerobics: Paul and I have been nominated king and queen of our aerobics club because we are such frequent visitors.. Since we are cheap we try to get the most out of our 30 dollar a month membership and have been going up to 4 /5 times a week. For working out in large groups of 60 women ( plus 2-3 men) we deserve time off to eat Donair all week in Turkey.

Check it out on http://www.aerobic.co.ba/index.html and click on video ( atmosfera u nasu clubu) if you are patient maybe you can see us in action.

*Ant Infestation and radiator explosion: Maybe because we are slobs and leave crumbs around. Maybe because we closed off the heater and caused pressure build up leading to an explosion of water. Maybe because these kinds of things just happen to Paul and I.

*Time Change: As you get older the time change really hits you like a ton of bricks. Ever since we thought the time change was going to happen ( three weeks ago) to last weekend ( when the time change actually happened) our now highly regulated circadian rhythms have been messed up.

Having said all this Paul and I fully understand we don't quite know how to relax. I worry our week in Istanbul will be spent stressing about all the things we need to see when there, and do when we get back... but at least there will be Donair.

2 more days to take off.

Dinner with the Fortunes

Paul and I drive up and up and up the hill to Yuewn and Alistar's new home for a Saturday night dinner. Little do we know what we are in for. As we enter Yuwen is cooking what looks to be a feast of Chinese delights and the twins grab our hands and lead us upstairs to a puppet show complete with disco lights, sound effects and of course puppets. Pumped about their efforts they give us a double feature and perform twice, until finally their tire themselves out and go to bed.

We sit down, all 10 of us at a massive table as Yuwen keeps bringing dish after dish after dish of amazing Asian cuisines. My heart begins to beat faster as the smells make me feel as though I've had 8 rather than 2 glasses of wine. Sadly our camera sits at home in a dark corner and all I have is the camera inside my brain that keeps trying to take picture after picture of this feast worthy of Michelin stars. I think for a moment that perhaps we have entered an Asian restaurant where all of the food has model replica of plastic and wax and at any moment I will bite down and realise someone is playing a cruel joke. Luckily the food is not plastic!!!! It is full of rich flavour, spice and TASTE! I keep grinning like an idiot each time I take a bite and keep complimenting the hosts who by now are beginning to see that I am getting a bit rowdy as my wine glass magically remains full even though I am certain I keep taking large reckless sips.

I try to make conversation to slow down my pace but like a fat kid on candy I can't stop. At some point 5 hours of eating and drinking have passed. Everyone is laughing and talking. I have given everyone kisses, made dirty jokes and attempted to give Julie a piggy back ride. (Why do I feel like I want to carry people when I have had a lot to drink)


We are ten people at the table. We are from Canada, Poland, Scotland, the US, China, and Bosnia. We are sharing an Asian meal in Sarajevo. We are between the ages of 27 and 72. All at different points in our life span, in our trajectory. We have met and come together to share a meal and laugh. There is little more fantastic than that.

My eyes begin to blur. The buzz of the wine begins to wear into a dizzying sate of tiredness. We jump into a taxi and roll down the hill and back up another to our downtown apartment. It is late now and too dark to see anything but the blinking lights of town below. We crash soundly on our pillows not thinking of the exterior of our bedroom wall that faces the sky. Shot out bricks- remembrance scars of a time we were not a part of, are hauntingly behind our heads. I wonder the next day how people made it through the war without food and laughter for such a long time. I try not to dwell, even though the day is grey and I now face the shot out wall. There are some gyowza in the fridge we brought back last night to have for breakfast.

The Cat and The Princess

Being a teacher has it's perks, like getting up at five in the morning to transform oneself into an actor from the cast of cats. Last Friday was " Dress up as your favourite storybook character" Day. Paul went as The Paper Bag Princess and I was the Puss in Boots. Guess all of that make-up knowledge came to some good.

Dubrovnik Take Two

So there you have it- the new hair cut. None of the 4 year olds seemed to notice. Often they comment on change in a very honest way. I'm happy it didn't offend them.
We had to climb all of these stairs to get to the apartment we rented. At the end the Adriatic.
I wish we had a boat to float in.
The road into old town.
Who can resist cotton candy?
The flags or Croatia and Christianity as part of the parade in old town.


Last Friday 2:15 pm rolls around; Paul, James and Myself are promptly fitted into the szkoda as it screeches out of the school parking lot en route to the coast. Our minds not yet made up as to whether or not we should stick to the original plan and head north up the coast to a mellow town called Makarska for hiking and relaxing, or to take a left on the coast returning to Dubrovnik for the Dubrovnik Day Festival. After a stop at Zdrova Voda the famous lamb roast on the side of the highway restaurant for some roast sandwiches our ideas of health and exercise quickly get side swiped by promises of Marti Gras like festivities in Dubrovnik. As I lay in the back seat of the car, James taking over my very important role as navigator, all I can see is the big dipper coming in and out of my view as we wind down the coastal highway.

Dubrovnik as beautiful, sunny, and breathtaking as always proves to be in the thick of St. Blaze day the patron Saint of Dubrovnik. Needless to say the streets are full of families in their Sunday best and processions of Catholic Croatians in their national dress and outdoor masses. A very surreal and 'local" experience compared to the usual throng of tourists the town tends to see in the summer months. Perhaps not the wild atmosphere we were hoping for but still lovely and enchanting in a surreal hyper sensory kind of way.

Back in Bosnia Paul has now moved both the ironing board and the drying rack into 'my make-up room". Which means we now share the room since Paul is the only one around here that touches the laundry.
Back for another week of school. Happy Valentine's Day to all of you lovers out there. Also good health to our dear friend Denny who just got out of the hospital from a bout of pneumonia. Good to see him back in the hood.

Hiarcuts and Heels

These are only the first set of stairs we have to climb
Would you trust this man with your hair? This street is very narrow, the tram comes wizzing by. Lovely on sunny days

In our corner… finally snow in Bosnia, we were openly crossing our finger for enough to fall so that we can have a snow day, but alas and alack global warming yet once again beat us to the punch. Everything has almost melted, and the roads are quite drivable.

Paul and I are trying to get in shape. Hopefully all the stairs we have to climb will help the cause. If anyone has any suggests for us regarding work out idea let us know. My personal goal is to get more active. Being in Blagovac I found we drove everywhere, and since we are now in the city we hope to park the car when we get home from work and actually get ourselves moving. January is almost over and I keep wondering where the time is going. We are back on trying to figure out what to do next year mode, which can be a bit stressful and daunting.
Tonight we are joining our friends the Teichows for a Men in Back night, which will consist of eating chili and popcorn and watching- you guessed it-Men in Black.

Tommorrow, I am heading for a much deserved hair cut and colour. I must say I am starting to look a bit like a ragamuffin so I’m pumped. My hair dresser speaks English well enough and seemed to do a good job last time on my cut. The colouring, however, makes me nervous since there are so many women here in Eastern European Apple Reds and Purples on their head. When did I get so square?
One of the things being here that I miss, which I missed quite a bit in Korea as well, is the lack of subculture. Everyone kidda looks, dresses and behaves relatively the same. No one stands out in bright colours, or eccentric garb. There are no punks, no hippies. Very homogonous and proper. The women also seem to really care about how beautiful they look. No one leaves the house without their high heels and fur coats. Well exept for Ms. P that is.

New Pad

The front room
The sitting room
The dining room and kitchen

The view from our windows

Paul and I, after a bit of a rough ride, have finally moved to downtown Sarajevo. We found a place last Thursday and were fully moved in by Friday night and entertaining in our new digs by Saturday. The beauty of being transient is that you live you life rather minimally, therefore it was not too stressfully of a move. Our new place is an apartment on top of Sarajevo overlooking the city. The view is amazing and the place itself is lovely, clean and fully renovated. We plan to have buns of steel as there are, what feels like, 1000 steps to get to our pad from street level.
There is something about moving that gives one such rejuvenation and a new perspective on things. All weekend there was sun and unseasonably warm conditions which inspired me to go on a picture taking craze. Sarajevo is so beautiful in the sun and there are so many interesting details among the “garbage and the flowers”.

Louis and Ludwig

Blinded by the swift sharp advertising of Louis Vinton in most major cities, I could not bring myself to step into their glossy interiors in my pauper's brown padded jacket from last seasons' Canada sheik collection at Jacob... Connection. Instead we chose to visit another Louis's house, mad king Louis that is. His claim to fame- building the castle that Disney would replicate in several of it's cartoon's and eventually Disneyland. King Ludwig's ( I think that's Louis in German but I may be mistaken) castle is nestled in the alps upon a menacing mountain, and has features such as rooms devoted to swans, Wagner, and an indoor grotto. Our goal is to clear up Ludwig's name and drop the mad and replace it with gay. The fabulous king never married and died mysteriously while boating on a lake with his doctor. I want a swan room, I want a swan room!

Kitty trucks on

Now that we are back the journey across Europe in dear Kitty La Rue seems so distant. So many kilometers were traveled in that little cat in such a short time. Back home one would never dream to head on such an absurd journey as driving to from Edmonton to Vancouver back to Edmonton, and then to San Francisco and further still and then back.Paul is the one oriented with actual distances and numbers, and of course his analogy would include more of an Eastern Canadian example.

We continued on to Vienna where we found much joy in contemporary art and the “Christmas Market” full of steaming hot mulled wine to get through the cold winter days. In Salzburg we found the world’s largest egg store, which sold thousands of hand decorated eggs. In Munich, we of course drank beer, and stocked up on Korean food staples at a little Korean shop across from our hostel, where we slept cozily on wooden Ikea bunk beds.

Our long journey: a figure 8 through europe

We found ourselves on the side of the road at a gas station with 6 mechanics and no gas. Coincidently, I locked both our car keys and our jackets in the car. This is how the journey began, with James and I running around a random Bosnian hamlet looking for a metal coat hanger and Paul waiting patiently on the side of the road with little than a t-shirt on in the frost. 1 hour later we were back in the car with no aid of the mechanics and only Paul's clever hand and James' street fighter wit.
Stop number two : Zagreb for some sausage at a market. Then our first night sleeping on the side of the road in Kitty. Bundled up in layers of warmth we slept cozily into the morning, and wound up the next day in Vienna.

They sell Poopsicles all over the place in Vienna. Paul would be a hit!!!

Poncho Paul and his Gang

The Coffee in Bosnia is strong enough to stop your heart but it comes served ever so beautifully on these wonderful copper sets.











Last week we played the Canadian edition of Canium with some American friends. We were out of play dough so we some soft cheese instead. Fun was had by all as the wine kept being poured.




Do these Ponchos look familiar? We discovered them at the Jenkins old residence. Thinking they were little fleecy blankets we look them home only to later realize their multi purposes uses. Now we make our guest wear them for warmth and style. Sorry little nieces you’re not getting these back.

In the thick of the Fog

Up above our house the mountain looks beautiful. It's only about a ... 1 hour walk up. Look down below, yes indeed we are living in a huge cloud. The whole valley of Sarajevo and area has been in this cloud for about a week. No planes are landing or taking off. Everything is moving in slow motion and everyone's mood matches the grumpiness of the fog. It's like living at a highschool dance... when they put on those wretched smoke machines to make Stairway to heaven more unbarable for all of it's award 25 minute lengh. I guess Paul and I will just have to keep on dancing.
left

A Differnt Perspective

Look again. Bosnia and Herzegovina has absolutely no fast food chains, although it tries it's best to bring western charm to it's eating establishments. Hamby King looks just like Burger Kinger, however, the food is subpar. Whomever thought it was a good idea to put cabbage into a cheese buger was an idiot. Plus they do not serve fountain pop, but rather a measly glass of coke that tastes like rust. The lady behind the counter seemed confused and totally uninterested when we wanted to pay at the till. Thinking we were honest folk she brought out our meal on cute plastic trays and and waited for us to pay at the end. Did I mentioned we were the only folks in the establishment aside from a couple who were clearly chewing their food and feeding it to eachother with their mouths.

The sheep roam near the mine fields at the Volkswagon plant. Clearly this field is "safe" since a shepard has led his flock onto it. These hefty beasts are large enough to trigger mines. Sheep who seemingly are "lamb of god" kind of animals are actually quite dirty and disgusting. I am considering throwing out all of my woolen sweaters.


They have finally started to demine the field next to our house, after some poor drunk chap stumbled into to the bushes to take a leak and "kamboom!!!". The yellow tape means they are in the the process of going over the field with a fine toothed comb to remove all the land mines planeted there. The general rule in Bosnia is do not walk on the grass. So much of the nature around us looks prestine and has been reclaimed by animals who frotic in delight that men have set traps for themselves, and not for the creature of the forest.

More Slpit Fun

The palm trees were so beautiful. They made me think if shishtaok roasters, but alas no loose meat was to be had. Instead we ate Dalmation ham. (Not of dalmations but rather refering to the region of Croatia called Dalmatia. We are not sure who came first the dog or the reagion, but apparently the islands in the area look much like dalmation spots from an arial view) .

Don't be too jelouse though, back in Bosnia there are no palm trees to be seen. Everything is thick with coal smoke, since this is what people seem to use to heat their houses- that or sometimes they just randomly chop down trees. Not much is left of school. Something like 18 days. Then we head for our road trip in the szkoda, which we have not yet named. Any suggestions? (for the szkoda and the trip)

Weekend in Split

We had a picnic on a pier from all the ingredients we gathered at the best market I've ever been to. We sat at cafe, drank coffe, adn enjoyed how old everything was.



I feels like winter will never come. I am wanting some snow to get into the christmas spirt. Being in a mostly muslim country there definatly isn't the ho ho ho feeling you get back in canada. We went to croatia this past weekend and even though there were lots of christmas decorations it didn't feel like the holidays with all the Palm trees. Our friends Denny and Sandy joined us for the trip and we had a blast acting like a nuch of 18 year olds.

this fat cat makes me think of Ania's Tiny who passed away this week. RIP

I miss my girls

Hey Everyone
We really miss the Jenkins crew being around us.
1)Me wearing my new birthday hat as promised( and yes those are really peach coloured sofas with pink walls to match)
2)Laura enjoying-- what else but meat!
3) Paul looking a bit blury, did he have too much wine or I who took this bad picture that is not post worthy material
4)Me and Molly making pierogi, who knew I had it in me... how did our grandmas and moms do it. It takes so much work! 5)Katie with her buddy Kaya- the sweetest little girl around
Seriously though it's not the same without the crew. We miss them a lot and their cozy house to hang out in.

Birthday Blog

For the first time in exactly 20 years I am in the same time zone for my birthday as I was born in. This should mean something cosmically but I don't think it does. I am turning 27 and as you all know in about a month I will say I am 28. I have always added a year and will continue to do so. I must also add that I still do not look a day over 18 and am resolved to remain looking this young untill I am well into my fourties... at which point people will begin to wonder if I am Paul's trophy bride.
People here are a jolly sort, and perhaps because of the war seem to pay extra special attention to birthdays. Yeah for me. Today I recieved many birthday hugs, several necklaces, and a very wild green hat. ( I promise to post of photo of me soon as I know you are all dying to see how fabulous I really am) . Paul has promised to take me on a date tonight, so I will put on some fresh underwear, brush my teeth, and jump into the szkoda to eat some Indian food, and watch Borat. I think this will be jolly good fun. Lots of love!!!!Sandra