The Shades of Wisdom...

The last few of my blog posts have been a bit abstract, so this time I decided to give a more tangible idea of what its like to walk through the streets of Sarajevo through my eyes. You'll get the reason for the pictures above soon enough. (I miss you Stef!)

As I thought through a good way to describe Sarajevo through pictures, there was one idea that stuck out to me more than any other. An idea, really a fact, that does, in fact, give another glimpse to the awesomeness that is Sarajevo. A fact that does, in fact, shed light on yet another reason why its one of the coolest, smartest, hip-est cities ever.

What's that fact? The fact is: they completely agree with the title of this blog! Red heads are, indeed, the very best heads! Female Sarajevans have this thing with red hair-especially the older and, I might add, wiser generation. While it is rare to see a natural redhead (unless you hang out with a certain "oklatexan"), it is very common to see ALL sorts of red on the streets.

After I was struck with this observation, I started taking tons and tons of pictures. Everytime I saw a redhead, I would try to snap a picture of it, thinking I would eventually use it for a blog post. But instead showing you my slightly-stalkerish-and-slightly-creepy picture collection, I decided to give ya'll a clearer glimpse of how common it really is! Except for the first two, all of the pictures below were taken during one 30 minute afternoon walk.

The first two were taken at an international Christmas bazaar for the embassies (one that the USA wasn't a part of, but thats a whole other story....).

The color and tail? I'm impressed! Not sure of many more people could pull that off!

I'd say this one was pretty normal, but we're just getting warmed up!

The following pictures were all taken during a span of about 30 minutes as I walked through the center of town...

I love this one!

"Look mom! Its like the sunrise!"

I saw this lady seconds after seeing the previous picture. Does this remind anyone else of OU/Texas, or is that just me?

Not as bright, but loving how it fits in with the red coat next to her.

This one almost looks like a natural color...

"Yeah.. I'm thinking of getting rid of the brown and going with more of an orange/red color..."

If you notice, all three of these ladies have at least a tint of red in their hair..

Pretty sure the man on the far left was thinking about dying his next.

We might be related somehow...

Again, not as bold of a red, but we young ones can tend to be more timid. :)

I'm not sure why this lady looks so unhappy. Your hair looks fab!

Loving the contrast from the plaid jacket to the hair...

Last but certainly not least!

And to close up this quasi-random post, here's another picture for any of you that have ever doubted whether or not I'm supposed to be here...

Now THAT'S deluxe view! Haha... ha..... egh. Nevermind. :)

I hope that even in the midst of all of my random sillyness, you will somehow gain more of an appreciation of what the city of Sarajevo is like! 

Till next time,

Kat

A Bosnian Merry Christmas!

Up to this year, all of my holiday seasons have looked like what most of yours will probably look like this year: being serenaded by Christmas music ALL the time, expressing disgust at how Walmart puts Christmas trees out earlier every year, playing Sleigh Ride by heart for multiple Christmas concerts (for all you musicians), promising yourself you'll never wait till the last second to buy gifts again, and enjoying more than enough egg nog, pumpkin bread, fudge, pumpkin spice lattes, and gingerbread cookies to last me for the rest of the year. Yumm.

It probably goes without saying that this Christmas is VASTLY different than any I’ve had before! Not only is this Christmas being spent away from family, it is being spent in a city that’s 95% Muslim, which means a city that doesn’t celebrate Christmas.

(disclaimer: There is a small population of those of the orthodox faith here, but they don’t celebrate Christmas until January. More information on their customs, beliefs, etc. can be found in various references.)

Here are some tangible differences: just like all government offices, the post office will be open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (I’m grateful since I’m anticipating a few packages!! Woo hoo!). The only way to make anything pumpkin related is to smash and bake the pumpkin yourself. (There's also no semi-sweet chocolate chips!) There’s just ONE public place that’s been airing Christmas music: the most expensive café in town and even THEY don’t do it all the time. You CAN actually find a few places with Christmas decorations, but they are the exception, not the rule. (5 years ago, you wouldn’t have found ANYTHING!) When you see them, you feel compelled to shamelessly take awkward-look-at-me-I’m-a-foreigner pictures in the middle of supermarkets. Like… this one:

I really wish I could have also taken a picture of the look the woman gave me after I took that picture, but I was too slow with the draw. (A lot of Bosnians have this thing about hating to have their picture taken! I guess I wouldn't be happy about it either is some foreigner starting taking random pictures of me.)

You can also play the game where you pretend that all the New Years decorations are for Christmas. Like… this one!

Did you know that Happy New Year actually means Merry Christmas in English? At least, I'm pretty sure it does.

And of course, the weather is vastly different. While I had gotten used to checking for school closings at the first sign of one measly snowflake, it snowed 8 days straight here with 8 inches falling on just the first night! You can get a taste of that from my picture below. This was in Budapest last weekend.

I'd like to point out the weather was -16 (F) by the time we got back to the hostel. We were troopers! J

I wasn’t sure how this Christmas season was going to be for me. I’ve heard horror stories from others living overseas at how hard it is during the holidays. I knew I was going to miss my family and friends- but how bad was it going to be?

To answer your question, yes, of course, I miss my family and friends, and I anticipate missing them even more over the next few days. I miss being surrounded by the Christmas atmosphere. (Part of the reason we chose to go specifically to Budapest was because they celebrate Christmas) I also specifically have missed being a part of a Christmas concert- whether that be conducting or performing.

But, even with all of that, I’m thankful to be spending my Christmas here in Sarajevo! I have some major hesitations in writing that statement because I don’t want to minimize how much I miss my family. But really, I've already learned so much from celebrating here and am grateful to be here (and grateful for Skype!)! Here the biggest changes/observations from me:

1. Making a conscious choice to celebrate Christmas, instead of doing it just because you are supposed to and are surrounded by it, carries incredible significance.

2. All of a sudden, I’m not celebrating Jesus’ birth because its Christmas time. I’m celebrating Christmas because now is specifically a time to celebrate Jesus’ birth. (Even though, really, we could do this all year!)

3. Seeing the lack of understanding about Christmas has been yet another encouragement to live a life of intentionality.

4. Christmas carols I've heard a million times have taken new meaning as I intentionally focus and reflect on the words. Who knew things I've sang since elementary school had so much depth???

O Holy Night and O Come All Ye Faithful have become my new favorite Christmas carols: the former because it beautifully tells the impact of Jesus' birth and the latter because it tells us what we should be actively doing during this season.

I'll post a FEW verses from each that have been particularly meaningful to me. I'd encourage you to read the words without trying to sing along- at least the first time!

O Holy Night

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn...

The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger;

In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger.

Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother.

And in his name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

With all our hearts we praise HIs holy name.

(check out this fantastic blog for more background on this and other carols: http://wildwoodmark.wordpress.com/)

O Come All Ye Faithful

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord.

Sretan Božić!!! (Merry Christmas!)

Visa Application

This picture is my attempt to give an excuse for my blogging absence over the past few weeks. Now that all the paperwork for my visa is ready (woo hoo!), I hope to post more thoughts to blogging world shortly! Till then, I'm leaving you with a fantastic quote I stumbled upon:  

We do NOT need the grace of God to withstand crises- human nature

and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently.

But it DOES require the supernatural grace of God to

live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, 

going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed,

and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus.

It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God-

but we do not.

We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life,

and holy on the ordinary streets,

among ordinary people- and this is not learned in five minutes."

-Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest" -Oct 21 entry

By the way, if you don't have this book, GET IT!!! Right now, for under $5!!! Go, Go, Go! 

Merry Christmas!

Kat

Giving Thanks in Sarajevo

I definitely couldn't let Thanksgiving pass without a blog post. My first thanksgiving overseas definitely included a fair share of "cultural" moments! In an attempt to help you visualize what it was all like, I've put it all in a timeline with LOTS of pictures. Enjoy. :)

Tuesday, November 25th: Your job? Buy groceries so you can make green bean casserole and deviled eggs. Easy, right? Well.. except you find out that there aren't any canned green beans..soo.... now we're up for Broccoli and Cheddar casserole! Wait.. but there's no cheddar. Okay...  We'll do a random broccoli and carrot with white cheese casserole. Start feeling a bit cranky after running all all around town looking for ingredients, feel convicted about it after watching THIS!!!!!! at ESL that night. 

Later Tuesday, November 24th: After going out for coffee with a people from the ESL class, you come home to find your water has been turned off. Start obsessing on whether or not there are any bills you didn't pay, and wonder how it will be turned on when all the businesses are closed tomorrow??? Thank the Lord for both bottled water and minty gum, and think through how to handle tomorrow's adventures in trying to get it turned back on. 


Wednesday, November 25th-Bosnia and Hercegovina's Independence Day.  Wake up early, have your needed coffee intake, regret not taking a shower Monday night (eww...), COAT on the deodorant, and study new Bosnian phrases to communicate with your building manager about the water. Talk with the building manager and find out you're an idiot because all of Grbavica (your neighborhood) is without water. But still take a moment to have a mental party that you were able to communicate with the landlady.  Buy a few huge bottles of bottled water to last you. Get the realization that people lived in this city, specifically in YOUR apartment, for 3 years during the war without running water OR electricity (except for brief glimpses of it). Running water just turned into something else for you to give thanks for. The water comes on later that afternoon. 

Thursday Morning, November 26th: Big decision time. Do you go to the gym for a needed pre-thanksgiving workout? Or is it ANOTHER trip to the post office to see if the package your dad sent has finally arrived? You go to the post office. You find that it indeed HAS ARRIVED and freak out! In it contains your new camera, instant food mixes, chai tea, jeans, and measuring cups! Among other things, you tell the post office worker "I'm excited! My father sent this to me!" a few times and once again have a mental party for remembering the words for it. Realize 10 minutes later that you were actually saying "I'm looking! My father sent this! I'm looking!" instead. Oops. No wonder they looked so confused. Egh. Who cares? The care package arrived! Next challenge? Figure out the best way to transport the very hot and very much need-to-be-flat casserole among packed bus rides and long walks across town. 


Thursday Afternoon, November 26th:  Spend Thanksgiving lunch/afternoon at the Eberle's homey apartment. Great food and great fellowship! Enjoy the fact that EVERYTHING is from scratch- including the pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake! Yum! 

You walk home feeling grateful for such great people and a great Thanksgiving meal, but you also start to miss your family more. 1 Thess 5:17-18 comes to your mind: "Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks..."  You start naming off things you are thankful for and decide to write down a list when you get home. This is what you end up with...

You head to a friend's apartment to play a few games before heading back to skype with the fam later that night.

Friday, November 27th:  Wake up early to the sound of a city full of gun shots, fireworks, and a few shrieking animals. Forget black Friday,  you'll call it Red Friday! Its Kurban Bayram, the Muslim holiday where you sacrifice an animal (here its usually a lamb). Praise the Lord Jesus for being the sacrificial lamb that takes away the sins of the world. Jump out of bed to take a few pictures...

The pijacas, usually packed with fruit vendors, are almost completely bare except for the many flower vendors...

Look! A marching band! Well.. sorta....

You get closer to get a better picture (and give the trumpet player a few coins). The baritone player on the far left reminds you of a baritone player you had in one of your bands...

Start feeling sick to your stomach after walking around a few more minutes and head back to your apartment to rest and get recharged.  Get an overwhelming urge to pray over the city and head to the best lookout you know.

Meet a few beautiful, friendly, and English speaking young Turkish women... (who don't speak Bosnian, by the way...)

Ask them to take a picture of you too! Play with the effects later...

Decide to have lunch together, but only after they take time to do their prayers at the mosque...

Enjoy some burek, zeljanica, or krompirusa at a local buregdzinica.

Exchange contact info and plan on getting together again soon. Take more pictures around town...

Finish the day skyping with an old friend!

(Kristen, please don't hate me for posting this! haha!)

You finish the week off feeling spiritually and physically drained, but at the same time overwhelmingly grateful to have the opportunity to be doing what you are doing and for having the support that you have.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!

"Falling" Into Change

Whew. What a couple of weeks! More language study, more culture immersion, more challenges, and more and more rewards! 

Before getting too far, I'm going to give further proof that I have the cutest nephews and niece in the entire world. Don't kid yourself in trying to argue because you can't win. 

(Don't you just want to hug them? I for one think they should wear their Halloween costumes all the time...)

Alright, now that I've gotten that out of my system, on to this week's post! 

I've had a few people ask me how I've changed since being here, and I thought it would be a great question to address for this blog.  I don't know if I've really changed that much (its only been 7 weeks!), but I know a few of my normal activities have. So... without further ado, to this week's post:

Changes in the (chilly) air....

 My homemade tortilla tribute to balloon boy...

Yumm for cheap market fresh vegetables!!!

Cooking Can Be.. Fun??? Gasp!!! Lets be honest. I always counted cooking as a waste of time. I was fine with eating the same thing every day as long as it was healthy, fast, and cheap. If it required more than 3 steps, I'd just go to a restaurant.  Due to a combination of reasons (no instant mixes, cheap fast food = unhealthy food, wanting to learn how to practice hospitality..), I'm cooking a LOT more and actually enjoying it? Who saw that coming?

Sleep is Important... Who Knew?  For the first time since high school, I'm averaging 7-8 hours of sleep a night. It didn't take me long to figure out that language learning was futile on less than that! I must say, it amazes me at how much different I feel (and even look) now as opposed to when I was averaging less than that. 

TV Choice  Watching TV is a GREAT way to learn the language! It is so useful, in fact, that it is covered in my monthly business expense reports. One thing that you might find amusing is WHAT I'm spending my time watching.... I've found the most productive things for me to watch right now are soap operas (they are VERY expressive and tend to talk slower) and kid's shows (smaller words). Someone grab the bon bons. 

Appreciating the Little Things... My forced slower pace of life has helped me to better appreciate the small things, and I'm growing more and more convinced this is the biblical way to live your life. I walk slower, take in the sights and smells (when I'm not surrounded by cigarette smoke), have never been more appreciative of sunny days, and love those days in which I have no set plans! 

Bigger Belief in the Power of Prayer...To be completely honest (maybe too honest?!?), as someone who believes strongly in the sovereignty of God and His concern and involvement over big and small things, I've never fully understood prayer.  Why pray if God already has a pre-ordained plan anyway? Is it mostly to put your perspective in the correct place?  I always knew it made a difference, and that it somehow made an impact, but I rarely knew how or rarely could point to specific ways in which I was CONVINCED it made a difference. Here, that is VERY different. I feel an almost constant dependance on prayer, have FELT when people are praying for me, and have seen incredible answers to prayer that would otherwise be unexplainable. This had made me pray more often, more specifically, more personally/specific, and with bigger requests.

Fluctuating Dress Code....  I guess I'll be honest about this one too. In the states, I didn't really care what was "in." (that won't shock anyone!) I wore what was inexpensive, comfortable, and what I liked! If it didn't fit those three requirements, I didn't wear it. Well... here.. because I want to stick out less as a foreigner, I've been more sensitive to what is most popular. In addition to constantly wearing  a dressier black coat, I also occasionally sport the skinny jeans + black boots on the outside thing. ( I know, I know...) One thing I won't adhere to? The whole "wear heels all the time thing." I really don't know how they do it- even on the snow and ice?!?

Adhering to a Sabbath... Honestly (again, maybe too honest?), before coming here, I had always treated the Sabbath as something else I was supposed to "do" but rarely did. It became the forgotten commandment.  I DEFINITELY don't see it that way here- the sabbath is something that I desperately need. It's a day (yes, an entire day, and rarely Sunday for me) that is devoted to resting spiritually, emotionally, culturally, and physically.  And in case you were wondering, it is not because I have more time on my hands! Even on the weeks where I fall behind on my language learning and other responsibilities (such as this week), it remains a top priority because I know it is so needed.  In Mark 2:27, Jesus said that "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." My goal is that no matter how crazy busy my life becomes, I will always remember to have a day for remembering the Sabbath and the need I have for it. 

I'm sure there are other ways, but that should give you a pretty good idea on some basic ways in which my normal behaviors/mindset have changed since being here. Maybe next time I'll mention a few things that HAVEN'T changed. (And for all you faithful blog checkers out there, let me know if YOU have an idea for a post I can write about!)

Thanks for continuing to check in. Till next time-

Kat