mostadventure

It is almost the end of winter break and it is only now that I have realized that I did not post anything about my first term here. First term has been going by so quickly and so many wonderful things have happened, but it is hard to describe all that in a single blog post since I would not even know where to start. I will try to summarize it though, it has really been an adventure and I have met some of the most wonderful people I have ever met, I have encountered places so different from home and created memories that will stay with me forever. I am really happy in UWCiM and although first term also had it downsides I have never felt so alive like I have in Mostar, so I am excited about going back now in a week. Down below are some glimpses of first term, some blurred and others sharp, in a non-chronological order.

Skopje.

Pristina, Kosovo.

Hiking on Bajram break in Hvar.

Red Cross building in school.

My room in the residence of Musala.

Old town in Sarajevo.

The way from school to the canteen.

Sarajevo city hall. A beautiful building.

Inside Old Bank, a building that was supposed to become a bank but then the war started and it was used as a sniper tower instead. Now it’s abandoned but it’s full of beautiful street art. From the top of Old Bank the whole city of Mostar can be seen, it’s a fantastic view.

Bajram break in Hvar, Croatia.

A night in Mostar near Stari Most, as seen from the Mejdan residence.

Mostar in August. It was so hot in the city at that point (at least for me).

The Neretva.

Pristina, Kosovo.

National Library of Kosovo.

Bill Clinton Boulevard in Pristina, Kosovo.

On the way home to my residence Musala after school.

City walks in Skopje on project week.

Lovely coyears.

Stores in old town in Sarajevo.

View from a park near the school.

Outside school.

Old Bank.

Mostar.

Hiking in Čvrsnica, a mountain in the Dinarides of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Skopje.

Hiking in Hvar part 2

Amharic lesson in World languages CAS.

In an art gallery in Mostar where we went with our visual arts class.

On project week in Skopje, Macedonia. Our project week was called ”The Framework of Comprehensive Crisis Management” and we went to Skopje and two cities in Kosovo, Mitrovica and the capital Pristina, to meet different organisations such as OSCE and EULLEX that work with crisis management within the country.

Bajram break in Hvar, Croatia.

In less than 12 hours I will be in Mostar, however it still feels surreal although I’m already on the train to Stockholm where my flight to Sarajevo will leave from. I thought that I at some point would realize that I really will go to Bosnia, somewhere between trying to squeeze my Swedish candy in the already overweight suitcase, saying goodbye to friends and family and trying to get some more sleep (no success on the latter one).

Somehow it feels good though, not really knowing what to expect when I arrive in Sarajevo, since I don’t know the people, the country, the daily routines or the language (all I can say is volim te, I love you). It feels indescribably exciting to get the opportunity to experience this adventure and I will try to regularly share parts of it here, but I can’t promise anything. Until then, goodbye Sweden!

The train makes up for the missing air conditioner with the blinds that prevent me from becoming a fried lobster in the sun.