Tidbits of a Beautiful City and a Few Shots of a Great Apartment!

2 days after posting this, I found a link that describes more of Bosnia's overlooked beauty. Take a gander if you are interested: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32789005/ns/travel-destinations//

Now to the original post! 

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Okay, before we get to the post, I want you to do me a favor. Will you do that for me? No, really! I want you to take a personal quiz (yes, forgive me, for the teacher in me is coming out).  Tell me 5 positives that you know about the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Seriously. Take a moment and think about it... Okay.. don't know 5?  That's okay. How about.... 3? 1???

As I've reflected on what to write about this week, one of the things that has troubled me is  the small amount of information that people know about Sarajevo! I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've heard "Is it safe? Are you scared? What about those land mines?!?" While I appreciate everyone's concerns (I really, really do!), it has troubled me to think about how little people know about what this city is like NOW. 

 Let me ask you something. The last pictures you saw of Sarajevo, were they pictures from the festive 84 Olympics? Or maybe some pictures of beautiful downtown Bascarsija, where it is like stepping back into the 1500's? Of Sarajevo's beautiful parks? Pictures of people, displaying its beautiful cultural diversity? Probably not. If my assumptions are correct, they are of burning buildings from the war that ravaged the city over 15 years ago. While the war has left a huge imprint here, there is much more to this city and to this country!  I hope that this blog will be, among other things, a good reflection of the beauty of this city 

and the people in it.

 

Okay, now to the pictures. The first picture was taken from the balcony on my apartment (yeah.. I know! Pretty sweet that I get to wake up to that every day, huh?! More on that later.) The second picture is taken from the streets in the middle of downtown Sarajevo, in the midst of the walking street. Everyday this street fills up with people walking arm in arm, talking, shopping, and looking for their favorite coffee shop or ice cream place. The best is on the weekends when they are filled with some very unique vendors. (I'll try to capture some of them by photos for a later post!).

This picture is a shot of Vilsonove Setaliste, aka "Wilsons Walk." President Wilson helped orchestrate this and it is named after him. Every weekday at 5:30 P.M. and all day every weekend, this street, located directly next to the Miljacka River, closes down for strollers, runners, rollerbladers, bikers, etc. I LOVE having a comfortable, beautiful, and popular place to go running in the evenings. I'm actually eyeing Sarajevo's fall 2010 marathon if I can find some female Bosnian running mates to run it with me (and if my knees can hold up)! Running can be such a great way to get to know people and it takes too much time to train for a marathon on your own! 

This is a picture of my apartment building. If you look really close, you MIGHT be able to find where I live.....

I thought all you Sooners out there would appreciate me representin' in Sarajevo. And for all you haters out there, no, this isn't on my balcony all the time (But it did happen to be out on GAMEDAY! ha!). I actually had to clean it. Apparently it wasn't the brightest idea to ship over liquid versions of Dayquil and Nyquil... not sure what I was thinking there! Lesson learned!

I got a GREAT deal on my apartment. It was a total God thing. Not only do I have more space than I imagined having here, it is more space than I ever had on my own in the states! And, its far underneath my budget! Even though I'm only paying for a one bedroom, I have the space of a 2 bedroom, without the second bedroom (my landlord, who is a Bosnian living in Canada, keeps the other bedroom door locked so she can keep some of her stuff here). I love the views from the windows, the space, and the location: a 3 minute walk from Wilson's Walk, a lot of young people live in this area, and it is much quieter than living in downtown.  It is fully furnished, and I am currently in the process of decorating and making it feel more home-y! 

Some of you may think I'm weird for this, but I would rather deal with a squatty potty than a weak shower. I know this is a bit of a selfish request, but as I was praying about where to go, I specifically prayed that for wherever it is and whatever I was doing, I would be able to have a shower with great water pressure! (pray for all types of requests, right?) Guess what? My prayers were answered!  Its great, and, if my previous experiences in the city are correct, a LOT of apartments in this area have weak showers! So, praise the Lord for that! 

Here is a view of my living room with my office to the left. You can also see the balcony with my jeans drying off after I got caught in the rain on a long walk! I love all the space and all the great windows! The random pink post it notes are vocab words as I'm trying to learn language.

 

In this picture, my kitchen is behind me, and you can see my dining room and office. I can't even tell you how thankful I am to be living in this apartment- the space, the windows, the shower, the neighborhood, and all under my budget! Woo hoo! Praise the Lord!

This is me, on my balcony, inviting you to be my first coffee date. There will be a prize for whoever makes it over here first! I might even make Turkish coffee for you, if that's your style. :) 

As I'm sure you can imagine, this is only the tip of the iceberg.  I'm trying to NOT make this the longest post ever, so I'll wait to post more pictures later! I also hope to have a lot of pictures posted on facebook very soon.

As always, I can't thank you enough for all your prayers, support, encouragement, and every other way that you, in your own way, are playing a vital part in this. PLEASE let me know if you have some ideas on posts for this blog! It is always a work in progress (just like me), and I am always trying to figure out the best use for this! 

Till next time- Kat