Ciao!

Even though "ciao" is Italian, it is often used here as a casual greeting.

Let's see, what did we do yesterday??

Arthur, Emma, Skylar, & I walked to the Bosinak Institute.  The architecture is cool, one part was an old Turkish public bath (hamam) built from 1537 - 39!    It was built from stone and has a domes as roofs - it had a men's and women's sides.  The second part is a very sleek modern building that houses a library and a gallery.    We tried to visit the gallery but they only give tours on Saturdays, so we might try again on Sat.   The girls then went to the bank, passports in hand, and exchanged their money.  It was so cute and they were so excited.  I think Arthur was able to snap one photo (no flash of course) before he was told to put the camera away.  What tourists we are!! 

We then met Jen and Freddy for yet another yummy lunch - our "chickentarian" Emma, has had a relatively easy time finding chicken to eat.  Beef and veal are also readily available, but due to fact it's a Muslim country, pork, needless to say, is pretty much not existent except at the PX out at Butmir.  The sausages here are beef and Arthur has found a new favorite food, ceveapi: sausages served on a thicker, yet lighter pita bread(somun), and you can have onions, cheese, etc on it.   Potatoes seem to be some what of a staple here, mashed, fried, etc.  Overall food is very reasonably priced.  Ott and I ate dinner tonight at a small little cafe, and it was only 11km (approx. $8.00).   

After lunch we walked again through Bascarsija (this word has 3 accents; one over the each s and one over the c - they use the Latin and the Cyrillic alphabets here).  Some of the artisans are amazing.  We spent a while in a Bosnian rug shop.   The rugs (kilims) were all made on hand looms by women in the area.  There were some older rugs made years ago in some of the villages with different patterns signifying different villages or areas of the city.   So needless to say we all bought something, including the girls.

After the afternoon of wandering, we walked home.  I know I have mentioned the driving here - it is crazy.  But I may not have said that to get your license you must be 18 and pass a course where you drive 30 hours with an instructor!!  So although the drivers are crazy, they are skilled.  But that aside, everyone walks here!!  I mean the roads can be snow covered/slush covered,  below freezing, and the hills can be very steep, yet everyone still walks!  Heath walks to and from work every day.  To us at home, what might seem like a long way, is nothing here!

And, many of the younger women walk in high heeled boots!!  It's just so funny!  As most of you may know - I don't exercise - but my heart rate as been well into the 90s a good part of each day due to all the walking, and then being greeted by 3 flights of stairs when we arrive home at Jen's!!

Today (12/27) we slept in then went to the American Embassy  to meet for lunch.  It was neat.  We had to pass through security 1st, although not to the extent most people would due to Heath being our escort.  Most visitors, children included, must pass through metal detectors, bags searched, possible pat downs (not too often), etc.  We pretty much only had to show our (me and Ott) our passports and that was it.  We went into the unclassified building first.  Some really neat wood work and this gorgeous curved door.  This is where we at lunch - in the "cafeteria" - a very small one with about 6 long, table clothed tables in the dining area. Also, located in this building are various departments - medical, travel, a small gym, etc.  Then we headed to the classified building up to Heath's office.  He showed us a couple of cool security things along the way and what the marines do that are in the control-room looking things around the building.     In his side of the classified building are the security and legal departments.  The other side is the diplomatic - ambassador - and political departments. Anyway, overall neat mini-tour.    

The American Embassy inherited the pre-existing buildings from some former communist agency.  Before the 1992 war there was no embassy because Bosnia was not a country.  During the war, the State dept worked out of the only Holiday in town - which was also the hotel where most of the journalist covering the war stayed.  We (the Americans) lease the land and building for $1 a year!  There is a new American embassy being built - we've seen the land that's fenced off and cleared.  Not sure the ETA for completion.

After our tour there we headed over to the corner and bridge (The Latin Bridge which crosses the Miljacka River)) where  Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sofia,  of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were shot to start WWI.    It was an interesting place to stand, so full of  - well I can't describe it.  There is a small museum there, but we were 10 minutes late!!  We'll try again tomorrow!

 Then Jen drove (yes drove) us around the city.  We went up on some of the hills around the edge of the city and the sights were beautiful, what we could see.  The snow clouds, pollution and the fact it was getting dark (well it was 3:30 already!!) made seeing more difficult, but still pretty cool.  Then she drove us over the bridge that is memorialized with a small monument marking the sight of the 1st two people killed in the 1992 war on April 6, 1992.  They were just 2 regular people walking wherever they were walking and never made it home.  I guess because it is so, so recent, it is really so, so real to Ott and me.  It is difficult to comprehend this peaceful, multi-ethic regular city was continuously bombed and shot at by snipers for 4 years while we were just living our regular lives.  

Anyway, then she drove us by a huge brewery.  It is currently open still as a brewery and a lovely restaurant.  Well, during the war, because it was Serbian owed, it received very little damage - it was not shelled at all, and this particular brewery became the spot where very large numbers of Sarajevo citizens would come for their water.  You can see pictures of people lined up down the block, around the corner waiting for water with their milk jugs, etc.  And this went on for 4 years!!  We saw a couple of other cool sites, then Jen dropped Ott and I off down town.  

Arthur and I wandered a bit.  We really wanted a custom, hand-made brief case so we wandered the leather workers shops.  It was a neat experience, especially with the language barrier!  On our way to dinner, in this part of town especially we were approached by some Roma/gypsy women begging for money.  We both said no and kept walking.  Well, apparently my no was not forceful enough, because I was then surrounded by 2 young women and a very short older women  carrying a wrapped up "baby"  - it was fake - jen told me to be aware of this as they think it increases sympathy (I know, I know, some of you may be asking "What's Ott doing at this point?" - I'll get to that). Anyway, one young woman is behind me, one in front of me, and the older women is walking with me, yet she has grabbed my left hand, and her other hand, sneaky as she was, was under the blanket draping from the fake baby and it was headed straight for my bag, which was slung over my one shoulder and across my body like it should be (except not under my coat - thanks Jen - but that's another story!)  Well, when I realized what was happening I reached for my bag, lefted the blanket to see if she had anything in her hand, and more forcefully said"NO!"and walked over to where Ott was, oh yea, laughing!! Now, don't be alarmed, the Roma 

only hang out in this one area. And I'm fine, by the way. Now, Arthur may have another version, the

one from 10 feet away not protecting his wife, but let his version fool you when he tells it to you

later (which he is sure to do)!

We're all home now, ready for bed and a full day tomorrow!

Love and Peace to you all!

M