Yesterday, the American quartet had the opportunity to (finally) visit the US embassy in Sarajevo. In order to get past security, you need to have an appointment, but fortunately, Sunshine, a cultural attaché, offered to have us for lunch and show us around.
The embassy is in a big, new, fortress-like building that was completed just last year. It is surrounded by fences and armed guards, with a little station that acts as the “visitor entrance”. It’s not exactly welcoming, even to American citizens. In order to get into the embassy, you must have all of your bags sent through a scanner, and then hand-searched. Furthermore, you have to go through several metal detectors and be hand-searched with a wand. I guess the security is deemed necessary to keep the embassy safe, especially after the shooting earlier this fall. However, to me, the security measures give off an air of self-importance. I worry that by coming off as elitist, the American embassy might actually be fueling some hostility toward the American citizens it is supposedly here to protect. I’m not sure how to find a happy medium between being secure and being welcoming, but I do think that seeming somewhat friendly is important.
After having my instruments, my cell phone, my tuner, my camera, my ipad, and my 2 ounce bottle of pink hand-sanitizer confiscated, we were safely through to the other side of the fence. Sunshine showed us around the immaculate new building and then took us to the cafeteria for lunch. The food wasn’t bad, nor anything special, but I enjoyed listening to Sunshine talk about the role of the embassy, the political state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and her past experiences in Vietnam and Mexico. We told her a little bit about our experiences here, and asked if she could put us in touch with some other Americans who live in Sarajevo. Sunshine happily obliged, so in the past day, we have already received three invitations to various embassy-related events later this month. I’m happy that we are now feeling more included and will be able to meet some new people.
After lunch, we were shown the embassy’s resource center/library, which doesn’t have many books, but does have access to many scholarly online databases. It’s a pain to get inside the embassy, but the library may still prove useful to me later this year. (I might need access to some online resources as I begin working out a final project topic for my doctorate at Norhwestern.) Sunshine also took us to the embassy store, which is filled with American junk food, and offered to buy us a few treats. I decided to pass, since I’ll have plenty of opportunities to eat chips and candy bars in California next week, but Sara and Tim were able to get some of their favorite treats. J
I also got to see some other new places in Sarajevo yesterday. After our visit to the embassy, I went Christmas shopping with Sara and Ivana at a large mall located about halfway between the centar and Ilidza. On the top floor was a store that is very much like a SuperTarget. The grocery section was immense, and I was finally able to find a place where I can buy English Breakfast tea, and tortillas! Later, my oboe student offered to point out a few shops and restaurants in Bascarsija that I am now anxious to try. I am glad that I now have ideas for things to do this winter, and hope that I will be able to keep my life exciting and busy, even when the weather is a bummer.
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