By ISA BELLE
The Old Town, or Stari Most as the locals say, is the pride of Mostar. It was inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2005. The showpiece is the famous Old Bridge (Stari Most), built by the Ottomans in the 15th century and characterized by cobblestones, truly a beautiful place. The bridge, however, is not as old as you may suspect. It was destroyed during the Bosnian war and has been rebuilt since and opened just in 2004.
This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Herzegovina.
I was abruptly woken up by the alarm clock. My head was heavy, and I could not properly open my eyes or get out of the bed. Why should I anyway when the bed was so warm? But you know what? It was not even my alarm clock. Shit! I could have slept for at least half an hour more.Situations like these await you every day living in a three-person dormitory room. But who complains? There are some sacrifices you have to accept when you want to experience the adventure of finishing your high school abroad, sharing a small territory with two incredibly interesting roommates from the United States and Russia in an incredibly interesting town called Mostar.
I never cut my hair while traveling, but I did so in Belgrade. Why? Maybe so I could be in a closed environment with Serbs?
Psychologically, you cannot say anything bad about the person who tries to make you beautiful. I sat five meters across from Jelena’s former boss who had returned to work after recovering from an apparently terminal illness only to find she was now reporting to a former subordinate who was less qualified. Now she looked forward to her early retirement. While walking about the city, Jelena mentioned an invitation from a cousin whom she had not seen in a long time and wondered if I would not mind going there with her so she could spend time with both of us. I didn’t want to appear over-zealous, but secretly I wished Jelena would take the cousin up on the offer and take me there with her right then.
Belgrade is the ugliest city…I arrived in Belgrade with no map and plan, so I left it up to this Serbian friend whom I met accidentally in Andorra. How many people travel to Andorra for just one day and rush back for their flights on the next day? How many of them end up staying with the same host? How many will return to Spain on the same bus? How many will then flight at the same airport? How many will fly on the same morning requiring an overnight sleeping on the same bench? And how many are the exact people you are trying to meet? That was how I met Jelena.
This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Herzegovina.
Partisans or Yugoslav partisans were a communist-led resistance movement during the Second World War who fought both the Axis of power in Yugoslavia and their collaborators. Thanks to them, Yugoslavia was the only country in Eastern Europe not liberated by outside forces but by its own people. This led to a lot of praises for these heroes and massive support for the communists after the war. Because of the overwhelming support for former partisans, their leader, Josip Broz Tito, abandoned other political parties in Yugoslavia as he deemed it unnecessary.
This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Herzegovina.
A student’s life is not the most active. Thus I like to go for a run once or twice a week. Running keeps me fit and makes me feel healthier and stronger, but most of all after the exercise I feel an incredible surge of energy. Running gives me the opportunity to empty my mind and to listen to the rhythm of my steps and the beating of my heart.
This article was submitted by LISA DRITTENBAS, a traveler in Bosnia.
My friend Yanush and I arrived in the pouring rain one cold, early December day in Mostar. We tried to find a couple of hostels but they were all closed. Finally, we ended up at Hostel Miturno, the last hostel on our list, whose doors were also closed. The nice lady in the shop next door called the hostel manager, Armel, and soon we were comfy in our sleigh beds with a big powerful heater drying our drenched clothes. Although there were only a few guests, Armel was so hospitable.
Belgrade is an ugly city…Jelena dragged me here and there which I had not the slightest idea where in Belgrade, which I found to be big, ugly, dirty, gray and polluted. I stealthily looked at almost every Serb who crossed my path to find something, something to explain the reason for my disdain.
No matter how hard I looked, I could not discover anything new, and yet I kept recalling old memories. Hearing the familiar Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian/Serbo-Croatian language made me deliriously happy. The Croats, Bosniaks, and the Serbs speak as if they are singing. When I hear them talk, I feel I can see a river flow. Everybody from old to young, from the capital to the countryside speak loud and clear as how a language should be spoken, especially for a foreigner because you are assured that if you try hard enough, someday you will understand. I looked at men, women, at the way they looked and dressed and turned to Jelena. “You are no different from the Bosniaks in Sarajevo.” “No, we don’t.” She replied.
“Life is what happens when you are making other plans.” – John Lennon
Do you plan your life to the minute details of how it should be? Most Americans will tell you yes, thanks to all those bargain-on-the-shelf, flying-off-the-chart pop psychology, self-development books like how to organizing your life in 30 minutes, life skills for dummies, etc. and etc. Your school counselors grill you about your life plan: how do you imagine your life five or ten years from now? Heck! Job interviewers interrogate you about your professional outlook to know what you see yourself doing before letting you dig into their 401K. A former boyfriend of my high-school friend told her the age marks when he would buy his first car, mortgage his first house, get a wife.
This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Mostar, Herzegovina.
Trebinje is a city in the far south of Bosnia and Herzegovina, part of Republika Srpska entity. Only 10km from the Adriatic Sea and 24 km by road to the jewel of Dubrovnik makes it a perfect day trip from there. It is a little bit longer by bus from Mostar for those who want to start the excursion from there.
My name is Cindy, also rhymes with travel junkie. A friend said I was probably a gipsy in my previous life. One of my many secret missions in life is to convert you to run off every once in awhile.
