Slobodan Dan No More

Written 10/11

Our week off is over—back to work!  Today we had our first rehearsal for our next concert, which is on Friday in the neighboring city of Zenica.  The concert is sponsored by the Bosnian-Herzegovinan Society for the Arts and Sciences, a foundation based in Chicago that partially sponsored the exchange program that brought me here.  So, I believe that we will be able to meet some people involved with our exchange program on Friday for cocktails.  I’m looking forward to talking to them, and sharing both the positive and negative aspects of living in Sarajevo.

An American conductor is leading this week’s concert cycle, so once again our rehearsals are in English. (yay!)  We are playing a lot of short pieces, including Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture”, which is one of my favorite concert overtures.  The orchestra did not play the Brahms very well today, which was disappointing, but I’m sure we’ll be better by the end of the week.  We are also playing a Mozart flute concerto and the Rodrigo Concerto de Aranjuez, featuring a Bosnian-American guitarist and an American flutist.  Both of the soloists live in Pasadena, the hometown of my in-laws!  I was able to talk to them only briefly today, but they suggested having lunch with our American quartet sometime later this week.  I’m looking forward to it.  I’m really surprised Ross hasn’t encountered the guitar soloist before, considering that he’s from Pasadena and knows Ross’ former teacher, who’s also Bosnian-American.  The classical music world is awefully small!  On top of all of the connections mentioned above, our conductor for the week conducts in Midland/Odessa Texas, at a concert hall where Ross was invited to play a solo recital a few years ago.  And (according to google) she conducts operas in Chicago and has accompanied at Northwestern.  So many coincidences...

I had a lot of fun at the rehearsal today, listening to the guitarist play so well.  Hearing classical guitar brings out a flood of emotions for me, since it was a constant part of my life for so long that now is (usually) missing.  I have realized that I really enjoy hearing Ross practice in the other room.  It’s a good thing he plays the guitar, since I’m not sure I could ever feel that way about some other instruments. (I won’t specify any by name, lest I offend someone.)

After rehearsal ended, the rest of the day was pretty non-eventful: riding the tram, eating lunch, skyping, practicing, eating dinner.  This evening, I went down to a gathering at Admir’s apartment to watch a soccer game.  Bosnia was playing France, and if they won, they would go on to the Euro-cup, so the game was a big one.  The game ended up being a tie, so we’ll have to watch a rematch later this week.  (I have to get into soccer so I can feel like a real European, haha.)

Bosnia played Luxemburg the other night, and won 5-0.  The reason I know this is that Sara, Morena, and I were having a quiet evening in the apartment until we heard what sounded like explosions.  Sara had the gumption to look out the window, and reported that some people from our building were throwing down firecrackers from the roof.  I said “I bet there’s a soccer game on”, and flipped to a local channel.  Sure enough, there was a game on, and Bosnia was kicking ass.  The firecrackers are a little loud and scary, but it’s fun to be here in the midst of a very good soccer season.

And I thought Comcast was bad...

10/10/11

Well, today wasn’t so great either.  We once again had a little flood in our bathroom.  This time, Sara was running the washing machine and when she checked on it, she realized that our floor was sopping wet.  I suggested that she go downstairs and ask Matt and Tim for help again.  Fortunately, Matt arrived just in time.  The hose that drained the washing machine was loose, probably because we were fiddling around with the pipes and hoses trying to fix our other leak on Saturday.  Right as Matt walked in, the hose completely popped off, and water came gushing out!  Matt had the soundness of mind to grab the hose and hold it over the toilet until the washing machine had drained completely.  Otherwise, our entire apartment might have flooded.  It was a lot of water!

Once the washing machine drained, Matt managed to reattach and secure the hose.  I did laundry tonight without any problems, so all is FINALLY well with Megan and Sara’s water.  (Knock on wood)

I think by the time I’ve lived here for 10 months, I may know enough to become a plumber. (Hahaha)  We are learning very quickly how to take care of maintenance issues ourselves, since there isn’t a maintenance man in the building.  Or maybe there is, but we don’t understand enough to figure out how to call and get help.  I am so glad we have a Bosnian friend from the orchestra (Admir) living downstairs, so if something ever goes REALLY wrong, we can get help through him.  It’s tiring to live an hour’s commute from the National Theater, but I think it’s worth it to be living nearby so many of our friends and colleagues.

Beside the flooding problems, we had more problems today with getting internet in our apartments.  The internet company actually came this time, but the paperwork was incorrect, so they couldn’t install anything.  I am trying not to get frustrated, but I couldn’t help getting a little teary about the prospect of going another week or two without a reliable way to communicate with Ross on a daily basis. 

Sara cooked a really delicious pasta sauce for dinner, with tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, and onion.  Having a tasty, filling meal accompanied by some good wine (from Mostar!) really cheered me up this evening.  I am so lucky to have a roommate that not only puts up with me while I’m grumpy, but also hangs out with me until I feel better.  We both told long, nostalgic stories, reminiscing about Northwestern.  It made me miss home but, oddly, comforted me at the same time.

Our break is coming to an end, and we have a rehearsal early tomorrow morning.   I can’t wait to “go back to work”, since being busy makes the time fly by.  And that means that before I know it, I will be in Italy!

Ack

Written 10/9:

           Some days, things go my way.  For example, on Friday, I found out that the internet company will try to come back on Monday (rather than weeks from now) to install internet in our apartments.  I also learned that we are getting bonuses for travel to Zenica next week, and Italy later then month.  And I was recommended for teaching a master class or two in the music academy.  So lots of good news at once! 

            Yesterday, things didn’t really go my way.  L  Nothing too terrible happened, but we had some issues with the water in our apartment.  Late in the morning, the water went out.  I was relieved when I stopped by Matt and Tim’s apartment downstairs and the water problem seemed to be throughout the building, and not just in our apartment.  The water came back on in the afternoon, but had a weird rubbery smell and taste.  Sara and I carried on, getting work done and having a normal day.  It helped that I was fasting for Yom Kippur, so not having water didn’t really matter, since I wasn’t trying to cook anything anyway.

            After breaking fast, I suggested to Tim, Matt, and Sara, that we go into town for a drink.  (It was Saturday night and I didn’t want to be bored.)  Matt was a little shaken up because he had just been a tram accident!  Nothing major, but his tram derailed, and everyone had to get off and walk to another station.  (Poor Matt has terrible luck with trains.  He and Sara had to evacuate a train a few weeks ago because something was burning.  Also, when he got back from Germany this week, he was pick-pocketed on the tram! Fortunately, there was no cash in his wallet, so someone dumped it in a cemetery. A Good Samaritan found it, noticed Alisa’s business card in it, and called her.  So Matt got his wallet back almost as soon as he noticed it was missing.)

Anyway, right before we were about to leave for drinks in Ilidza, Sara noticed that, “our washing machine is leaking”. It turns out that the washing machine wasn’t leaking, but a pipe right above it was dripping.  It was just dripping a little, so I put a bowl under the leak. Matt and Tim took a look at the pipe, and noticed that the leak had to do with a certain screw.  Tim tried to turn it, but the screw was stripped so we had water spraying every where!  Yikes.

            After quite a to-do, and help from Tim, Matt, Morena, and Admir, the leak was plugged.  We went out for drinks, finally, but everyone was a little cranky after all the commotion.

So far, things are back to normal and the water is starting to smell and taste okay again.  Fingers crossed.

TV Guide

            Since I had this week off, I’ve been watching quite a bit of TV. Probably more than I should.  I’ve been trying to watch some Bosnian TV every day, to get used to hearing the language, but after about a half-hour, I am overcome by temptation, and switch to one of the channels in English. 

When I was trying to think of a blog topic today, I didn’t feel like writing about anything too heavy.  As I was giving up, and about to turn on the TV, it occurred to me that I could blog about TV!  Sarajevo’s mix of cultures, languages, etc, is quite evident on TV, and flipping channels can actually be quite educational and interesting. So…

Here’s a basic summary of what our cable TV is like:

Channels 1-30 are mostly in Bosnian.  There are a lot of local news shows, which seem very similar to local news shows in the US.  There are some public access channels as well, one of which sometimes shows the orchestra. (I saw a brief clip of our Brahms 4 concert one evening!)  It seems like there are a few Bosnian sitcoms.  And sometimes sports are on, particularly soccer.

Some of the “Bosnian” channels are actually Croatian, Slovenian and Serbian channels.  It’s usually hard for me to tell them apart, because the languages are so similar. I can distinguish the Slovenian channel because there’s a little word on the side of the screen that says “Slovenia” on it.  The only other way for me to tell what’s what is that the Serbian channels have Cyrillic writing, and both the Serbian and Croatian channels have local news that focuses on their respective countries.  I think there might be separate channels for Republica Srbska (the Serbian territories within Bosnia) and Serbia itself.

Also, I’ve noticed that the “Bosnian” channels sometimes play soap operas in other languages, with Bosnian subtitles.  I’ve seen soaps in English, Spanish, and Russian.  Watching Russian soaps with Bosnian subtitles is quite mentally taxing!

            The channels in the 30s are mostly in English.  Channel 33 is my favorite.  It’s called “Foxlife”, and plays sitcoms all day, including How I Met Your Mother, Nurse Jackie, Sex and the City, and Entourage.  I think the subtitles are Croatian, because “Hello” is translated to “Bok”, a common Croatian greeting.  There is also “Foxcrime”, which plays crime shows (of course) and “Universal” which plays movies, and sometimes “ER”.  Some of the channels in the early 40s are in English too, including CNN on 43.  CNN is the only English channel without Bosnian/Croatian subtitles.

            Next, there are a bunch of sports channels.  Some of them give commentary in Bosnian, and some in English.  At any given time, there is usually soccer, American football, golf, baseball, and cricket.  I’ve asked my Bosnian friends whether people play cricket here, and they say no, so I’m not really sure why they always are showing cricket on TV!

The last 20-30 channels (Channels 50-70 something) are a mix of German, Italian, and music television. I find it interesting that the English channels have subtitles, but not the German and Italian channels.  The German channel plays a lot of American sitcoms with German dubbing.  Sara loves this channel.  The Italian channel plays a lot of game shows, singing competitions, and sometimes movies.  Morena loves this channel.  So maybe I will end up learning some Italian and German words from the TV shows that my friends watch.

There is a lot of music television on Bosnian cable!  There are two MTV channels and VH1, and they actually play music videos instead of reality shows.  There are also a lot of Bosnian musical performances on TV, mostly of pop and folk music.  After watching some singing competitions, I must say that Bosnia, despite being much smaller, seems to have better amateur pop singers than the US.  (Well, at least than the people who get on American Idol.)  The TV folk performances are quite impressive as well, and are usually accompanied by elaborate costumes and dancing.

Shows start and end at weird times here. (e.g. 9:10am, 11:55pm, etc)  I think it’s because there are fewer commercials.  In fact, I think there are about 20 commercials in Bosnian, and they just keep repeating them on all the channels.  Haha.  I already know most of them, like the a soup commercial where they say “ooh ooh” in the middle, and the Nivea lotion commercial with the pregnant lady moisturizing her belly.  Also, each channel will advertise what’s coming up later on their network.  Foxlife has really annoying commercials that manage to make even their good sitcoms sound like junk. 

            So there you have, Megan’s guide to cable TV in Bosnia. 

Eating Out in Bosnia

           This week has been very relaxing, but pretty non-eventful, so I don’t have much to blog about.  I was supposed to FINALLY get wireless internet in my apartment on Wednesday.  Alas, due to some miscommunication, it didn’t work out.  Maybe the internet company will come back again next week.

            Tuesday was the 9^th anniversary of when Ross and I started dating.  I got to talk to him on Skype before he went to work, but it was really sad not having him around to celebrate.  November 17^th (when he arrives in Sarajevo) can’t come soon enough!

            Okay, enough whining.  The topic of today’s blog post is: Bosnian Restaurant Etiquette.  It took me a while to get used to the way that restaurants work here, because they are run quite differently than in the US.  I think I now have a good general sense of what to expect and how to behave.

1.     Seat Yourself.  Or, at least, this has been the policy of every restaurant I’ve eaten at so far.

2.     If you sit near a lot of people, the server will probably come up and take your order.  However, if you sit in a more isolated area, you have to get the server and tell him/her when you’re ready.

3.     There is usually one menu per table.  Be prepared to share.  I’ve been known to steal menus from other tables J

4.     It’s okay to wave down your server if you need something.  They will probably leave you alone if you don’t, since people like to sit around and talk for hours.  Say “isvini” or “isvinite” (pronounced eesveeneetay), meaning “excuse me” to get a server’s attention.

5.     A lot of cafes/bars don’t have food, so make sure that you’re going somewhere with food if you want it.

6.     Most places serve a mix of Bosnian food, pasta, pizza, and crepes.  There aren’t too many other choices.  Pizza can be weirdly sweet, and it’s sometimes served with ketchup!  Pasta seems to usually be a good bet.  If you want something else, look around and see what other people are eating, because that’s probably what’s good.

7.     Some restaurants with Muslim owners do not serve alcohol.  If you want a glass of wine or beer, check that they serve alcohol before you sit down.

8.     Expect to pay between 1-3 marks for drinks (except for wine, which is a bit more) and 5-15 marks for food at a mid-priced restaurant.  I’ve had a mineral water and a meal for as little as 2 marks at cheaper places! (A dollar=about 1.6 marks)

9.     Sometimes, they bring the check with your meal.  Otherwise, you may have to flag down your server and ask for it.

10.  If you are just getting coffee, I think you can leave money on the table, as long as it’s just a few marks.  Otherwise, get up and find you server to pay him or her.  Sometimes, you are asked to pay someone else in the front.  Don’t be shy, or you’ll just end up waiting around for hours!

11.  Tips aren’t really expected.  If you do leave a tip, usually just round up to the nearest mark, or hand in one extra mark.

Why We Drink: A Comprehensive Guide to Bosnia

Written 10/1

Okay, so I promised Matt I would give my next blog post this title.  Matt thought of this title when the American quartet was walking around Bascarsija the other day.  We were joking about how when something is difficult here, the only thing to do is get over it, relax, and have a party!

So this evening, I’m going to write about stepping back, enjoying life, and accepting that sometimes things won’t go as expected.

As I’ve said before, people in Bosnia are quite laid-back.  There are a lot of cafes where people sit around for hours, just drinking their coffee and chatting.  Unlike the US, very few people appear to be doing work while getting their coffee fix.

Lately I’ve gotten a bit frustrated by how long it’s taking to get the internet installed in my apartment. When I complain to my Bosnian friends here about how slow things are, they basically tell me to chill out.  “This is how it is”, or “I don’t know when it will come.  We just have to wait.”  Actually, not having constant internet access available has been a sort of blessing in disguise.  Instead of sitting in my room and going on the internet, I’ve been hanging out every night with my new group of friends.  And as much as I miss Ross and wish I could Skype him more often, there is something very satisfying about the face-to-face interaction that comes from leaving my computer off and spending time with the people physically around me.  The last time that I’ve been this technology-free was the year when I went to Interlochen Arts Academy, which was one of the best years of my life.  I’m not sure I would have had as much fun or have made such good friendships if I had owned a cell phone, or had high-speed wireless.

Besides becoming a better, more experienced musician, and learning about a new language and culture, my main goal for this year is learning how to roll with the punches.  I’m not sure if I’m improving yet, but I’m trying.  It helps not to have the internet to obsessively google search and pre-plan every minute detail of my life.  I’m having a lot of fun wandering around Sarajevo and discovering the history and the monuments as I stumble upon them.

Speaking of planning, or lack-thereof, Sara, Matt, and I were supposed to all go to Germany for Octoberfest this week.  However, we couldn’t plan anything until the last minute, since our official work schedule wasn’t posted until yesterday.  I got quite anxious about planning a trip at the last minute, and drove poor Sara a bit crazy expressing my doubts and concerns. (See, I’m still a bit controlling and neurotic, even though I’m working on becoming more relaxed.  Baby steps.) 

I think that part of “rolling with the punches” is accepting that I don’t have to be “doing something” all the time.  Sometimes, I crave a quiet night alone: practicing, blogging, and watching TV.  So, I ultimately decided to chill in Sarajevo this week, and am not to go to Munich.  Plane tickets got too expensive, and so Sara and Matt are currently on a 16-hour bus ride to Munich.  I get a bit of car-sickness, and so a 16-hour ride winding through the Alps might be quite unpleasant for me.  I think Sara and Matt will have a blast, and it’s probably good that they don’t have to drag along a worrying old married lady. J  Also, I am saving some money, which I hope to use to explore Europe later this year.  I really want to spend time in Croatia, and wouldn’t mind a trip to London or Paris to visit my friend Emma this spring.

A lot of my friends in my building are leaving for their hometowns this week, and so I was a bit concerned about being here by myself.  However, I found out that my friend Morena is staying in town too, so she will sleep over at my apartment, or I will stay in hers, so that we’re safe and not alone at night.  Tim is also around, and Mattia and his family will be here, so I don’t think I’ll get too lonely!

I’m getting hungry for dinner, so I’m gonna shut my computer down and make a pasta salad versions of my “Bosnian Salad”.  We have leftover, cold noodles (p.s. non-English speakers apparently think the word “noodle” is hysterical!) so I’ve been mixing them with olive oil, vinegar, tomato, pepper, and feta.  Yum Yum!

Being Jewish in Sarajevo

Written 9/28:

Happy New Year Everyone! L’Shanah Tovah!

First of all, I have to confess that I have failed to find members of the Jewish community in Sarajevo before the high holidays.  I had hoped to visit the Old Synagogue and the Jewish Museum by now, but I haven’t yet figured out exactly where they are. (Yeah, excuses, excuses, but I’ve been quite overwhelmed and busy adapting to my life here.)  However, I know they are in the “centar”.  I’m sure I’ll discover them one day when I walk by.  It’s very difficult for me to find things via map here.  First of all, a lot of the streets are not labeled.  And Google Maps, as helpful as it is in the US doesn’t seem to have much about Bosnia.

I have a small story to tell, as a preface to the rest of this blog entry.  When I was a little girl, I remember the day, in my parents’ bedroom in our old house on Glencoe Street, when I asked my mom what the word “minority” meant.  She explained the words “minority” and “majority” to me.  I replied, “oh, so Jewish people are the majority and Christians are the minority.”  You see, because I went to Jewish elementary school, almost everyone I knew was Jewish.  So my mom had to explain that even though I knew mostly Jewish people, there are actually very few Jews in the world, compared to Christians and people of other religions. Hmmm.

Since I’ve left Herzl, I think that most of the people I’ve met are not Jewish.  However, living in urban areas within the US, I still encounter many Jews, and usually have friends to celebrate the holidays with.

Tonight, I had a bunch of friends from my building over for apples, honey, and, of course, some drinks.  It was interesting to hear from my European friends that they did not know many, or any, Jewish people from their home countries.  I totally felt like a “minority” tonight!  I know that there are very few Jewish people in Sarajevo (according to my guidebook, less than 700), and even fewer in the rest of Bosnia and throughout the Balkan region.  But I also know that at one time, there were so many Jews living in Europe, especially Eastern Europe. It struck me how much anti-semitism, and especially the Holocaust, affected the Jewish population here.  However, I also wonder if the Jewish community is more isolated in Europe.  I know that there are very observant Jews in Chicago who mostly socialize within their own community, but they certainly aren’t isolated.  I see Orthodox Jews all of the time, out walking in the park, at the grocery store, etc.  Maybe the Jewish community here is more inconspicuous.

10/3/11 Update:

Today I found the Sarajevo Jewish Museum.  The courtyard was open, but it was completely empty, and the building was locked and abandoned L   I guess I’ll try again later.