Written 11/2:
One of my favorite things about living here is that I already have a big group of friends. Of course, the American quartet instantly bonded, since we all came to Bosnia together, not knowing anybody else. I feel like my American friends are best able to relate to how I feel about life in Sarajevo, and I know I can trust them when I have problems.
However, I didn’t expect to have made so many other friends as well, both within my building and in the orchestra. Any time I’m bored, I can walk up or down the stairs, and knock on the door of a friend’s apartment to chat, have coffee, or drink a beer. All in all, there are ten of us from the orchestra living in my building, so we’ve got quite a good-sized community. It’s kind of like living in a sitcom, especially with all of the funny lost in translation moments. J
There are also many young members of the orchestra who speak excellent English and have been very welcoming. Even the members who don’t speak much English are quite friendly. One of the American guys, Matt, is dating the principal cellist, Ivana, so she often hangs out with my groups of friends. (She speaks English with a perfect American accent—I think her grandmother is Canadian.) Alisa, one the orchestra’s administration has become a good friend of ours as well.
I really like that people in Bosnia make the time to regularly interact with each other in person. While I lived in Baltimore, and later in Evanston, I sometimes got pretty lonely for a group of buddies like I had in high school. Of course, I have met some wonderful people in both cities, and have made some great friends, but sometimes we barely see each other. The excuse is always that we’re too busy. But I don’t think that’s really true. We have plenty of time to surf the internet, update our facebook profile pictures, watch a complete TV series on DVD. We are addicted to technology. I like watching TV and reading facebook updates as much as the next person, but I have found that they are not a good replacement for face-to-face interaction. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a rather large family, but I really like having others around me most of the time.
I like that we always have an excuse for a party in Bosnia. Last Saturday, Sara and I hosted a Halloween party. It seems like most Bosnians know about Halloween from watching American TV, but it’s not really celebrated here. Well, maybe a little bit. I saw some squash jack-o-lanterns sitting in front of one of the houses in Otes this past Sunday. Anyway, all of our friends were very excited to celebrate the holiday and dress up in costumes. Sara and I cooked some food, put out a big bowl of candy, and Sara even found a pumpkin at the market in Ilidza. I had a really good time taking pictures, talking, drinking, and dancing.
I also have a lot of fun in smaller groups, going out to eat, explore, etc. Yesterday, a flutist from the orchestra, Adi, drove the American quartet to a restaurant at the top of one of the hills surrounding Sarajevo. Despite a little bit of fog (there’s always fog) the view was spectacular. It was so nice of Adi to offer to show us a part of the city we had never seen, and all four of us really enjoyed his company, and hearing about what it’s been like to grow up in Sarajevo.
I really look forward to Ross’s visit in two weeks. I think he will really enjoy hanging out with all of my friends, and I can’t wait for him to meet them. I hope that living here might help both of us become more relaxed and outgoing so we can enjoy more time with friends once I’m back in the US this summer.
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