I am going a bit crazy with the anticipation of Ross’s arrival tonight! I knew it would be hard to be apart from him for two months, but I couldn’t even imagine how much I would miss him. I hope his travels go well. Poor Ross had the final leg of his journey rescheduled, so it will take him 28 hours, and four layovers, to get here! Right now, I am fluctuating between anxious, ecstatic, nervous, and relieved by his impending arrival. So, in order to distract myself, I’m trying to stay busy cleaning, practicing, studying, and blogging.
I have been meaning to write a post about my commute between Otes and Sarajevo. It takes me about an hour each way every day, so it takes up a good 1/8 of my waking hours. However, I really don’t mind it. I’m used to long commutes after regularly schlepping from Evanston to the Chicago Loop for the last couple of years.
My commute begins with either a bus ride or a walk from the front of my apartment building to the tram station in Ilidza. I think the bus takes about 10 minutes, whereas walking takes about 20. However, taking the bus puts you at the mercy of the bus schedule. (The buses run about once an hour.) I prefer to walk, especially because it sometimes is my only way of getting exercise during our more busy weeks.
On the way to the tram, I first pass several blocks of small houses. Despite the bullet holes and mortar scars left over from the war, the houses still look quite welcoming and cheerful. There is always laundry hanging outside to dry, stray cats and dogs hunting for a meal, and people outside tending to their yards. Everyone has a courtyard, garden, and fruit trees. Cabbage patches and apple trees seem to be especially popular.
After about 10 minutes, I cross the train tracks via a tunnel, and then the highway via a bridge. I’m glad that there’s a pedestrian bridge, or the highway crossing would be a little scary. Once I get past the bridge, there is a field with about a dozen small gardens and a basketball court. I’m not sure who owns all the gardens (sometimes I see some old couples out harvesting). At the end of the gardens, I turn left to head down the street that leads directly into Ilidza’s center.
After passing a few more houses and small shops, I have to cross the highway one more time. (There is a crosswalk light.) Entering the center of Ilidza can be a little overwhelming, since it is so crowded by an outdoor market. Vendors sit on the sidewalk and hawk produce, handmade knitted woolen mittens, cheap plastic household goods, etc. Well, they sit on the parts of the sidewalk where no one has parked. You see, in Bosnia, people park on the sidewalk, forcing the pedestrians to walk in the street. It seems a little backward to me.
I pass about one block of vendors, as well as the downtown Ilidza shopping complex, called the Sara Centar. Right past the Sara Centar is the Ilidza tram station. Starting October 1st, I have been getting monthly passes, so I simply swipe my pass under a machine and can board the #3 tram toward Bascarsija. Before I had my pass, I could go to a little kiosk next to the station entrance and buy a 1-ride or 10-ride ticket. The kiosk also sells snacks, drinks, gum, and magazines, which is pretty convenient when I’m running late and forgot to pack a water bottle.
A word of warning to anyone interested in visiting Sarajevo: at most stops, you can board the tram without having to show your ticket. So, once you board the tram, you have to run your ticket through a little machine to “validate” it. You might be able to get away with a free ride if you board sans ticket. However, there are guys who randomly come through the cars to check that you have one and that it’s validated. If not, you have to pay a fine. One time I was riding the tram with my friend Mattia, and his ticket had gone through the validation machine without actually getting stamped. When the “tram cops” checked his ticket they pulled him off the tram and gave him the fine. Poor Mattia. So the moral of the story is to have a ticket, validate it, and then make sure that the validation was actually stamped.
The tramcars themselves are quite old, and usually very crowded. I have figured out where and when to board, so I can usually find a seat. Standing isn’t so bad as long as I don’t have my heavy instrument case with me. People in the tram are usually pretty considerate about giving their seats up to the elderly. However, there seems to be no etiquette regarding personal space! Sometime the train will be pretty empty, and someone will board and then come and stand with either their butt or their gut pressed right up against your face. Yuck. The best solution is to try to get a window seat so no one can stand next to you.
I think that the trams are fairly safe, but sometimes the doors don’t close all the way and it makes me very nervous that someone is going to fall out. So far, I have neither been in nor witnessed any accidents though. (Matt was once on a car that derailed, but it was pretty minor and no one was injured.) I think the biggest risk is getting pick-pocketed, so I always keep my purse zipped up with my arm wrapped over the top.
The whole tram ride lasts about 30 minutes until I get off at a stop right in front of the National Theater. I guess I could bring a book to read, but I like to pay attention and look out the window every day. There is always something new going on. We pass several landmarks, including a rebuilt Olympic swimming pool, the national TV station headquarters, the National Museum, the American embassy, and the ubiquitous yellow Holiday Inn.
To return home, I pretty much make the same trip, but in reverse, although I do board a couple of blocks north of where I get off in the morning. The tram makes a loop around the city center, so it is much fast to board the tram on its way back out of town.
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