Tower of Babel

Written 9/27:

My brain hurts from trying to understand so many languages over the past 24 hours!  It all began with a ride to a meeting yesterday with some Albanian friends, who speak a mixture of Albanian, English, Italian, and Bosnian, and who, in the car, like to listen to pop music in Portuguese and French! 

The meeting was about what to expect during the upcoming week.  This week we are rehearsing an avant-garde theatrical piece for Sarajevo’s annual MESS festival.  I can’t exactly understand everything that is going on, but I think that the piece is a commentary/parody of a conductor’s relationship to the audience and the symphony orchestra.  The piece is in Italian, and involves an Italian singer/actor pretending to lead the orchestra while a real conductor, hidden from the audience, actually directs us. 

At least that’s what I think is going on.  At the meeting yesterday, the actor explained the piece and what we’re supposed to do.  However, he spoke in Italian, and then a translator repeated what he said in Bosnian.  So I had to figure out what was being said by trying to piece together the little bit that I understood from each language.  Sadly, even though I have been studying Bosnian very hard since arriving here, I still understood a lot more of the Italian. (Between knowing a bit from musical scores, and hearing a lot of words that are similar to Spanish/French, Italian isn’t too hard to figure out.)  After the meeting, some of our friends helped us Americans confirm that we at least understood the basics (e.g. what time to show up for rehearsal today.)

Getting to rehearsal this morning was yet another confusing adventure, since the Sarajevo public transit system was shut down due to a strike.  Blech.  Apparently the strike is expected to be over soon, maybe even tomorrow.  I sure hope so.  Fortunately, we had a very nice and honest cab driver get us to rehearsal on time.  We misunderstood the price of the ride to be $40 marks instead of $14, and the cab driver very sweetly shook his head, repeated “chetnaest” (meaning 14) and handed us our money back!  It makes me feel much less annoyed by some of the nuisances of living in Bosnia when I constantly encounter welcoming and considerate people here.

The rehearsal this morning was utter chaos.  The conductor (the real one, not the pretend one) led the rehearsal in English, (thank God!) but the actor kept directing us in Italian, with and without a Bosnian translation.  I have an Albanian violist friend, Flobens, sitting in front of me who speaks fluent Italian and English, so he helped me figure some stuff out during the breaks.  In the mean time, my colleagues, who are prone to chatting during rehearsal in the first place, were constantly talking to each other in Bosnian, trying to figure out what was going on.  According to Sara, the timpanist kept babbling in German for no apparent reason.  I think he was hoping the conductor might understand him in German since he doesn’t really speak Italian or English.

Fortunately, we were able to get a ride home, rather than having to take a cab.  Flobens saves the day yet again!  Then Sara wanted to watch her German TV shows.  We are getting pumped for a possible trip to Munich for Octoberfest during our time off next week.  However, I couldn’t handle the German TV just then, so I told Sara I was on language overload and took a nap, haha.  I have this afternoon and this evening to recover and get ready for another hectic day tomorrow.  I really hope that the trams are running.

And to add one more language to the mix, by the time this gets posted and read, it’ll be about time to wish everyone a Chag Sameach! (Happy holidays in Hebrew in honor of the Jewish New Year.)

Mostar

            After a late night partying with the drunken Bosnian neighbor, Sara and I got up at the crack of dawn (before 6am!) so that we could visit Mostar.  I was so tired, as was Sara, and I was worried that the trip would be a bust, and not worth losing so much sleep over.  I was also worried about finding the correct bus station, buying the correct ticket, and getting on the correct bus.

            The night before, our Bosnian friend, Admir, called the bus station to get information for us, so we knew that a bus was leaving for Mostar from the main station at 8:15am.  Admir told us that the bus station was right behind the US embassy, which we pass every day on the tram on the way to the National Theater.  Fortunately, Sara and I had little trouble finding the bus station.  When we got there, the woman selling tickets didn’t speak English, but she was able to ask a younger guy for help, and we managed to get round trip tickets, leaving for Mostar at 8:15 and returning at 4pm.  We got on the bus, and asked “Mostar?” just to make sure. J

            The 2-hour bus ride to Mostar was incredible! I have never in my life seen such picturesque scenery!  We wound through the mountains, passing rivers, lakes, waterfalls, and small towns.  The mountains here are small, so they are covered with trees and green foliage, interspersed with unique rock formations.  Perhaps the most beautiful area of all was the town of Jablanica and the huge lake that surrounds it.  I hope I can spend a long weekend there, hiking, swimming in the lake, etc.

To top it all off, the bus was quite comfortable, and air-conditioned, which I was not expecting.  Even though I had planned to sleep, I spent the entire ride gawking at the views and attempting to take pictures.  It’s very hard to take pictures from a bus, and sadly the ones I took do not do the scenery justice.

The bus station in Mostar is about a 20 minute walk from the Old Town, which was the part of Mostar we planned to visit.  On the walk into town, we crossed a bridge (but not THE bridge) with a great view of the river that divides the city.  We also got a chance to see the massive destruction caused by the war.  It is very sad, but there is a lot of construction, growth, and rebuilding, which gives me hope that one day Mostar will be able to fully recover.

Old Town Mostar looks very similar to the old town in Sarajevo, with cobbled streets, cafes, and vendors selling silks, beautiful handmade coffee service sets, and other small items.  Sara and I were surprised to find the old town to be filled with tourists, mostly from Northern and Western Europe, but also from the US and Asia.  The old town in Sarajevo certainly has tourists, but there are also plenty of local people out for shopping, eating, or taking a stroll.  With the exception of the people working in the stores and restaurants, we saw very few Bosnians in Mostar!  Also, when we went to pay for our food, drinks, etc, we were given the price in Euros, and had to explain that, actually, we were living in Bosnia and only had Marks.  I can see why Mostar is such a popular tourist destination, though, with the combination of a charming old town, beautiful architecture, and mountainous backdrop.

Sara and I visited the Old Bridge, which the city is name after. (“Stari most” means “old bridge”.)  The old bridge is really a new reconstruction of the actual old bridge, which was destroyed in the 90s, during the war.  It offers picture-perfect views of the old town and river, surrounded by the mountains.  In some ways, the bridge symbolizes the link between East and West, and the Catholic and Muslim inhabitants of the city.  On one side of the river is the Muslim part of the city and on the other is the Catholic side of the city.  I actually found few differences between the sides, with the exception of one side having a lot of mosques, and the other side having a large church and a prominent cross decorating the mountaintop.  Maybe if I spend more time in Mostar, I would find more differences between the east and west sides of the city.

Sara and I went to a restaurant that was in my Bosnia guidebook, since it said that vegetarian main dishes were available.  We were seated in a peaceful courtyard, with a fountain flowing in the middles, and cats everywhere.  (There are so many cats here, and for some reason they love Sara and follow her around.)  The one Bosnian couple there was pretty conspicuous, because they sit for hours drinking coffee and smoking.  I think almost everyone else was a tourist, and we heard a lot of English!  I had a delicious polenta dish with a creamy sauce, and Sara had Cevapcici.  Eating at the restaurant, and later getting drinks at cafes took up much of our time in Mostar, because service is very slow in Bosnian restaurants. (People are expected to sit and talk for hours, which is a lot of fun, but it means not going to a restaurant if you’re on a strict schedule.)

            Around 3pm, Sara and I walked back to the Mostar bus station, to make sure we didn’t miss our ride back.  We both had to use the bathroom, and were happy to find a public restroom at the station.  I was worried that it would be disgusting, and felt a wave of relief when the entrance was manned by an attendant, who charged one mark to use the facility, and kept it clean.  But then…we opened the stall doors and saw that there were no toilets or toilet paper, only holes in the ground!  Fortunately, Sara and I have both learned to carry toilet paper with us, since a lot of bathrooms in Sarajevo don’t always have it in stock.  I’ve never been camping before, so I have to brag that my first squatting pee was a success.  (Not urinating on myself before a long bus ride was quite a victory!)  Not sure it was worth a mark to use a hole in the ground though, even a recently cleaned ground.

            Fortunately, Sara and I got on the right bus, and wound up back in Sarajevo by 6:30.  The bus let people off at a stop very near Ilidza, so we had an extra-short tram ride home.  I made my “Bosnian Salad” for dinner, and collapsed into bed for 9pm.  I was completely exhausted, and slept a refreshing 12-hours.  Good thing we have another day off today!

The Party Crasher

Written 9/26:

Saturday was my Albanian friend Ingrid’s birthday.  All of the orchestra members who live in our building (I think there are nine of us) went up to one of the apartments to celebrate.  It started off a little awkwardly, with everyone politely sitting around the living room, but ended up being quite a party!!!  The Albanian girls cooked some delicious food, including a vegetarian potato salad so that I could eat with everyone.  Apparently, people eat potato salad in the Balkans that it very similar to American potato salad (potatoes, mayonnaise, some other crunchy veggies, sometimes meat), but it is usually popular around Christmas and New Year’s rather than in the summer.  At some point during the party (I was on the balcony, so I missed when exactly this happened), the neighbor from across the hall crashed out party.  A drunk, elderly, toothless, Bosnian man, who loved to dance!  Matt, Sara, Ingrid, and a few others danced with our uninvited guest, (trying to keep a foot of two of separation, haha) and I got some funny videos, which I may use for blackmail, muah ha ha.  The elderly man kept going home and coming back wearing less and less clothing as the night went on, until he was only in his boxers and undershirt.  At this point, Sara and I decided to call it a night!  We knew we had to get up early the next morning, since we had planned a daytrip to visit the city of Mostar.  I think that the guys managed to kick out the party crasher shortly afterward (before he could take off any more clothing!) so all ended well.

The Great Outdoors

Written 9/26:

            I’ve let too much time pass since I’ve written my last blog post!  I hope that I can remember everything I was going to write about.

            On Friday evening, I had a chance to Skype with Ross, and then I went to a walk with my American friends plus Arvida and Admir.  We went through the downtown of Ilidza and into the park.  Once you get to the park in Ilidza, you can follow a long, straight road, covered by a canopy of tree branches, out to the source of the Bosna River.  However, when we got to the path, we saw a bunch of film trailers and found out that it was closed.  Boo.  The security guard was nice though, and tipped us off that they should be done filming within a half hour, so we decided to go to a nearby restaurant and wait it out.  (We also found out that they were filming a movie with Penelope Cruz!  Sadly, we never saw her, so I guess I missed my chance for my first Bosnian celebrity sighting.)

            After some Croatian wine and Bosnian doughnuts, which are little buns of fried bread served with a creamy cheese to spread inside, we finally proceeded down the path.  The air smelled so good and so clean, and walking outside along trees and fields was quite refreshing.  The air quality is quite bad in Sarajevo, and people smoke all the time, inside and out, so fresh air is a scarce commodity!  We also had a great view of the sun setting behind the mountains.  Unfortunately, we kept being following by a hungry, stray dog, which was a little creepy and really scared my friend Arvida.

            It was getting dark by the time we got to the river source, but we could still tell how stunning it looks.  There are a series of intersecting streams, with footpaths and bridges creating a grid around which people can walk.  There is also a group of white swans that will swim up to you looking for a snack! (Mom, I will take you here if you come to visit.)  The actual “source” is very cold and quite small; basically it’s a stream that comes straight out of the mountainside.  It was too dark for me to take pictures, but I plan on going back many times, so I can get some later.

            By the time we headed back, it was close to 9pm, and I was tired, hungry, and a little cranky.  I hope my friends forgive me for whining about wanting to go home, and vetoing the idea of going out for drinks!  For some reason, the combination of Skyping with Ross earlier in the day, being out in nature, and feeling hungry and tired made me quite homesick for America.  I ate dinner and went to bed straight away, which fortunately allowed me to feel much better in the morning.

Lost in Translation

Written on 9/23:

I am so happy to have a day off today.  I’ve been working so hard: commuting, rehearsing, trying to keep up practicing, and still settling in my apartment. 

We had our first symphonic concert last night, which to my relief was an overall success!  We played two pieces by a Turkish composer by the name of Erkin (our conductor and violin soloist were Turkish) and Brahms 4.  The orchestra played quite well, especially considering how rough we sounded in our first rehearsal.  I was mosly happy with my solos, though I don’t think I played with much nuance since I had to play so loud to be heard.  The violin soloist played some really cool Turkish music for his two encores, and since I didn’t have to play in those, I could just sit back and enjoy. 

The concert hall was full, and we were briefly broadcast on TV.  It is so much fun to have a large and supportive audience. After the performance, a reception was held in the lobby, where we could drink wine, eat hour d’oeuvres (did I spell that right?), and chat with the audience and the administration.  There were a couple of Americans that we met, who were involved with Navy and stationed over here at the NATO base.  It was nice to meet some other Americans who are living in Sarajevo, and they offered to take us to the tunnel museum sometime.

Now we have a long weekend to recover, and then a week of rehearsing for a giant arts festival that takes place every fall.  After that, we have ten days off, so Sara, Matt and I are trying to plan a way to get up to Munich, Germany for the end of Octoberfest!  I hope it works out.  Then we have a really busy late October in the orchestra, including a trip to perform in Zenica, and in Northern Italy, near Venice!!!  It looks like I will get to see quite a bit of Europe next month!

My topic of the day is “Lost in Translation”:

Since I’ve moved here, sometimes trying to communicate has been frustrating, and sometime has been quite hilarious.  Here are some examples (most of them are funny things that got lost going from Bosnian to English.  I’m sure I’ve said some really funny things in Bosnian, but, alas, I don’t usually realize how I’ve misspoken.)

- Sarah and Matt went to buy fruit at the market.  The woman at the stand we frequent offered a mysterious fruit for them to taste.  Her daughter, who speaks English, told them it was an “apple grenade”.  They came home and told me the story, and showed me the fruit.  It was a pomegranate, haha.

- The Bosnian word for house is kuci (pronounced koochie).  The American quartet giggles every time…

-The arts festival that is taking place next week is called the MESS. This is quite funny because people keep saying, “your rehearsals next week will be a mess”.

Cooking in Bosnia

Written on 9/21:

First of all, I want to thank all of you who sent me emails about life back in the US.  Keep ‘em coming! I really like hearing from everyone, and it makes me feel like I’m back home when I read them.

I’ve been in so many rehearsals over the past two days that I haven’t had time to write until tonight.  On Monday night we had a four-hour rehearsal.  Then, yesterday we had a three-hour rehearsal in the morning, and awkwardly long break in the afternoon (not quite enough time to go home and come back), and then another rehearsal yesterday evening.  Then we rehearsed again for four hours this morning!

It continues to be frustrating to play with colleagues who talk during rehearsals, and who often don’t listen to each other when they’re playing.  However, it has been an exciting week because the conductor has demanded that the orchestra improve both their playing and their behavior.  I really enjoy hearing how much better we sound at each rehearsal, and hope that the concert tomorrow night will go very well.

As I start settling into a routine here, rather than giving a play-by-play of each day, I will try to talk about specific topics relevant to my life here.  To start, I will write about my most favorite topic of all—food. J

Cooking in Bosnia:

Although a lot of the food here is very fresh and delicious, there fewer choices of things to buy and cook, especially being vegetarian.  I think that as time goes on I might have to be pretty creative if I want a varied diet.  Otherwise, I’d end up eating bread and cheese for every meal. (Not that I don’t love bread and cheese, but it can get a little boring.)  Since I love cooking, I am actually looking forward to the challenge of trying to cook new meals with a fixed set of ingredient and only an electric stove/oven.  So far I have “invented” two dishes.  I will share the recipes because I’m proud of how simple they are but how good they taste:

“Megan’s Bosnian Salad”:

-1 red bell pepper chopped (sorry folks, but it won’t taste as good with American peppers)

-1 large tomato chopped

-2 small cucumbers chopped (probably 1 American cucumber would be plenty.  They are much smaller here.)

-1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled or chopped

-Lemon Wedge

-Olive Oil

-Salt and Pepper

Mix vegetables in large bowl.  Squeeze the lemon wedge over the salad.  Add olive oil, salt, pepper and feta.  Toss.

“Pasta Sauce” (Now that I figured out how to boil water and found a place that sells Italian pasta, I can make yummy pasta.  Score.  However, Bosnian pasta sauce tastes a little funky, so I made my own.)

-2 large tomatoes, chopped

-½ small onion, chopped

-Olive Oil

-Salt

Heat olive oil.  Add onions and cook until slightly tender.  Add tomatoes and cook until carmelized.  Add salt to taste.  I’m sure garlic would be excellent in this too, I just didn’t have any on hand.  Next time.

Short Update

Written on 9/19:

Sarajevo looks quite different today because there was a dramatic change in weather.  It went from hot, sunny, and a little smoggy to incredibly windy, and then pouring rain.  The view of the mountains is quite beautiful, with the houses and trees peaking out from the mist.

We had our first rehearsal for our second concert this evening.  I have to wear earplug a lot because everyone overplays.  It’s so loud and so sharp…ugh.   I am trying not to be bothered by it and lead by example.  I am on my best behavior, very attentive to the conductor, trying to never overplay, and to play as in tune as I can.  On the positive side, our conductor is fabulous.

Tonight was my first night eating one of the popular, cheap meals from a Bosnia bakery (Pekara, I think it’s called).  I had a huge pastry (burek) stuffed with spinach (spinat) and cheese (sir).  See, my Bosnian’s getting pretty good, right?  We’ll I’m leaning the important things, like names for foods, haha.  I also bought a loaf of bread for the next few days.  Everything cost 2KM, or less than $1.50!  So, even though it’s harder to cook here with the electric stove and no microwave, it’s so much easier to eat out on a budget.