Bosnia 2

Life in Bosnia is completely different than I had envisioned it, but I love it even more than I ever would have imagined I would. My family is so, so wonderful, and I know that this experience wouldn't be nearly as lovely as it's been if I didn't have them hosting me. I feel so welcomed and looked after, and like I'm a member of the family.Most of my evenings are spent cuddling on the couch with Franjo,Erna and Mama, watching really bad English made-for-tv movies with Bosnian subtitles. Another main activity that takes place in my household is playing Uno. Games get pretty intense, and it's been a good way for me to learn some colours and numbers in Bosnian.

The language barrier might be the hardest thing to deal with, aside from group dynamics, which I will get to in a later post. Everytime I walk the street, especially the first week I was here, people(mostly men) would call out things, or kids would giggle and say things that were clearly directed at me. I found this hard to cope with, because I don't like to get male attention when I'm walking down the street in Canada, either, but with the language barrier it makes defending myself essentially impossible. I guess it's led to me feeling a little more vulnerable here then I do in Canada. And to be fair, I'm not even sure that what the men are saying is overly rude or sexist, or aything like that, but I don't like the feeling I get when their attention is put on me. It's getting better as more people se us around town and around the Centar, but at first we were the new faces everywhere we went, so the attention was intense and I often felt isolated.

I'm very slowly learning the language. Some od the other intercordians are learning it much faster than I am, out of necessity. My sister is completely fluent in English, and my brother and mother understand a substantial amount, so I don't really feel that need to learn it. We do have language classes for 2 hours a day, though, and that's been helping a lot. Also, just going out for tea or coffee(which I learned last week is a highly political word, the Croatian side calls it kavu, while the Muslim side calls it Kafu...) is a good way for all of us to practice our Bosnian.

Living in a divided town has been an interesting experience. It's so deeply engrained in people's minds that a lot of the time I don't even think about it, but the way the divide bleeds into every area of people's lives is definitely striking.The fact that there are different words for coffee and bread depending on which side you're on, for example, is something that's hard for me to understand. I'm hoping that as this summer progresses, some of the reasons behind the divide become clearer for me, but also that I'm able to see ways in which people are working towards reconciliation.