I had Monday off this week, so I went to Sarajevo Zoo with my roommate Sara and my friend Adi. I don’t usually think of going to the zoo as a normal wintertime activity, but we went to see a special exhibition with life-sized dinosaur (and other pre-historic animal) sculptures. So, we got in touch with our inner-5-year-old and checked out the dinosaurs. I really did feel like a child again because all of the labels were in Bosnian, and I couldn’t read them very well! Adi translated some of them, but I kind of liked just enjoying the exhibit without having to read anything. (I have a tendency to spend 50% of my time at museums reading about the exhibits rather than looking at them.)
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| Feeding our new pet stegasaurus |
I think the best part of the dinosaur exhibition was the fact that the sculptures were life-sized, so you could get a great perspective of the size of the animals.
We posed for lots of pictures.
Of course, what would a trip to the zoo be without seeing some live animals as well? After making our way past all of the sculptures, we wandered back to the terrarium to see turtles, monkeys, a caiman, and a snake.
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| Majmun/Monkey |
We also went to see if any of the other animals were outside, and surprisingly, many of them were doing just fine in all of the snow. Most of the animals were “farm animals”: goats, donkeys, bison, ponies, llamas, and hens.
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| Llamas |
The highlight of the trip for me was the donkeys. For some reason, I have a special place in my heart for them, haha. It was hard to see them, so I jumped up on a ledge of snow to get a better look. I must have surprised one of the donkeys, because he got a bit excited when he saw me, and started carrying on. “Hee-haw, hee-haw” for a good full minute! My roommate wanted to make a video, but unfortunately, he stopped by the time she got the camera ready.
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| Mr. Hee-Haw |
Monday wound up being an eventful day not only because we went to the zoo, but also because Sara and I had the worst luck ever getting back to Otes. I don’t want to be whiny, but I think that the story of our Monday afternoon commute is a classic example of one of those days when nothing goes your way. It’s very tiring at the time, but rather funny when you look back on it.
We tried to leave the city center via tram a little bit after 3pm. We saw the trains running as we were leaving, but by the time we got to the stop, no trams were working. We waited 15 minutes, and then tried another stop. Still no luck. I suggested getting a cab, but there were probably 50 people trying to do the same thing, and all of the cabs were full. We tried walking toward Bascarsija, but still couldn’t flag a taxi. Grrr.
So, Sara suggested that we get a coffee and try again one hour later. I said “forget coffee, let’s get a beer”. Why not? So we went to a nearby pub, had a beer, and by the time we finished, the tram was working again. Hooray!
Of course, the tram was incredibly crowded because of the delay. I was so thankful that I didn’t have my instrument with me. I found a nice little corner to stand in so that I didn’t get too pushed around. We very slowly headed toward Ilidza, until we got about 3 stops away. Then the power went out. Ack!
If the tram had broken down anywhere else, it would have been better, but it broke down right along a busy street with no sidewalks or open cafes. We were pretty close to Ilidza, so Sara and I tried walking. But walking along the side of the highway at dusk is not the safest thing, and we wisely decided to stand up on a curb and figure out another solution.
The entire tram’s worth of people were trying to call and flag taxis. None of the cabs would stop, I think because the drivers can only make a few marks between where we were stranded and Ilidza. I called almost everyone I knew to ask if they had a taxi driver friend who would come for us. Alas, we didn’t get any reasonable offers (though someone offered to take us the one or two kilometers for 50 marks!)
After standing around for about a half hour, a white bus pulled up and a bunch of people started to squeeze on. Sara and I had no idea where this bus was going, but it was going in the right direction, and I figured that anywhere was better than along a busy road with no sidewalk. I was relieved to hear some people say, “do Ilidze” as we were boarding. Fortunately, the bus did indeed stop in Ilidza, and we didn’t get in trouble or have to pay for boarding it. Normally, the walk from Ilidza to Otes seems like a bit of a hike in the snow, but in this case we were so happy to be back in familiar territory that it felt like a breeze. I collapsed on the couch in our apartment with relief around 7pm. I’m glad it doesn’t usually take 4 hours to commute home!
Tomorrow, I leave for Istanbul, where I am meeting Ross for a little 4-day vacation! I can’t wait to describe the city, and post pictures for you readers, so stay tuned.
*Photos courtesy of Sara. Thanks Sara!
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