Center for Balkan Development

Two weeks was the week of field trips.  I was able to join the students from both “Pinkland” in Banovići and “Bolje Sutra” for their trips.  On Thursday, I accompanied the youth from Pinkland to the Sarajevo Film Festival.  Let me tell you, kids on field trips are all the same.  The minute they get away from their parents and onto the bus they go crazy.  They start singing, yelling to their friends a few rows of seats away and of course the junk food comes out.  There is nothing quite like chips, pop, sweet juice drinks and lots of candy to round out a bus trip.  Maybe it would not have been such a great idea considering the condition of the Bosnian highways and the weather that day.  As I’ve mentioned before, the roads are far from the standards of American highways, or even that of roads in other places in
Eastern Europe. They are very narrow and very windy as they pass through the mountains, making passing a very dangerous activity.  The constant turning back in forth is not a soothing thing for those prone to motion sickness.  With the temperature somewhere in the mid 90’s there were many children who were wishing they hadn’t eaten so much junk food to start the trip.  Erna, the social worker from Pinkland, did her best helping to treat children in the back of the bus, while other children rotated sitting next to me at the front of the bus to stifle their sickness.  All and all we made it all 120 km (72 miles) to
Sarajevo in the typical 3 hours of travel time. 

The film festival has done a wonderful job of creating a great atmosphere for the youth films.  When we arrived at the arena where the film was to be scene, there was a member of the festival waiting for us.  He gave us an overview of the activities that we could participate in prior to the beginning of the film.  There were soccer and basketball tournaments, badminton games, dancing contests, and a bouncy castle.  The children were quite happy to have an hour or so to play before the film began. 

We then filed into one of the arenas for the 1984 Olympics with several thousand other youths for the viewing of “The Prince of the Paper”.  It was a very good film, written and produced in
Serbia.  The children all loved it.  I particularly enjoyed the second half of the film when they turned on the English subtitles.  The children from the group laughed and cheered when they came on, happy that I could now fully understand the film.  All and all it was good to spend time with the group from Banovići on one of their activities. 

The next day, I joined children from Bolje Sutra (Better Tomorrow) and Sunce da Lana on a trip to see some old friends in
Požega, Serbia.  Two summers ago a group of youth from Tuzla and Kladan, where Sunce is located traveled to
France for a conference put on by SPF.  While they were in France they met a group of youth who were associated with the Red Cross in
Požega, Serbia.  They became friends since they spoke each others language and I suppose it was easier to forge their friendships being removed geographically from the conflict in the past.  Since that time the organizations have maintained their relationship.  Last year, the group from the Red Cross met the Bosnian organizations in Sarajevo and spent a few days seeing the sights in
Bosnia and of course having time for old friends to catch up.  This year, the members from Požega wanted the Bosnians to visit them.  In total, 15 of us boarded a mini bus and headed across the
Drina
River for a 3 day visit to
Serbia. 

The bus ride was beautiful driving through the country side of
Republic of
Srpska and then into
Serbia.  We had no trouble crossing at the border which was a relief.  I guess that fortune was due to good planning on Binasa’s part.  Each child had a permission slip signed by their parents and notarized authorizing their travel into another country.  The permission slip is essential since there has been a necessary crack down of late on human trafficking.  It was many of the children’s first trip to
Serbia and I think that they were a little apprehensive at the border.  I’m just glad that everything went off without a hitch. 

When we arrived in Požega there was a nice group waiting for us to arrive.  The children were happy to see their friends again.  The adults were equally as happy to see there friends after a year since their last meeting.  I’m not sure what everyone was talking about, but generally everyone had smiles on their faces and there was a lot of laughing.  The had a large dinner prepared for us of soup, salad, roasted chicken, and local rakia.  It was all very good. 

The next day we loaded up into a large bus both the group from the Red Cross and our group and headed out to see the local sites.  First we went to a village at to the top of Mokra Gora.  It was a rebuilt traditional village of the area- everything was made of wood.  The roofs had steep pitches and there was a very nice Orthodox church, St. Sava.  A Serbian film maker likes to use the village as the set of his films.  We had the opportunity to watch one of his film shorts at an underground theatre there.  After the village we headed down to river below for lunch.  The valley was beautiful- it was filled with pine trees, steep hillsides, cliffs, and clear skies.  We found a great spot for a picnic lunch a short walk down the path.  After lunch, we boarded the bus again and headed to Zlatibor, a Yugoslavian resort town.  It was very cool compared to the hot valley floor.  We spent a few hours having coffee, walking around the lake, which was more like a pond for a few paddle boats, and browsing our way through the market.  They had many fine crafted wool sweaters and socks, honey, hand woven baskets, and other handicrafts.  I really enjoy looking through the products of any market, but the market in Zlatibor is one of my favorites I have seen in a while.   

After a few hours in Zlatibor, evening was approaching so we headed back to the bus for the ride back to Požega.  Again we had a great dinner of sauerkraut, tomatos, soup, and some roasted meat.  I’m not sure if it was lamb or goat.  Then the children headed out to the city center together.  They had a great time having pop or lemonades away from the adults.  When they got back, the local children went home and it was only our group of children left.  They proceeded to act like any group of youngsters I’ve been around while being a counselor for camps; they didn’t sleep.  They stayed up most of the night singing songs, laughing, practicing their English with me, more songs, dancing, and I’m not sure what else.  They had a great time. 

Last week the new school year began for the students in Tuzla.  It was fun to see all the kids with their new haircuts and smiling faces ready for the new school year.  With the start of school, the playground and center are much busier than they were in the summer time.  I didn’t expect more kids to be out playing now that they are in school but they definately came out of the woodwork.  I have spent the past week giving small seminars to the Better Tomorrow staff about preparing funding proposals for the upcoming year.  With just a few weeks remaining I’m trying to make the most of the time I have left.

Until next time,

Patrick

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The Better Tomorrow center has had many visitors in the past week.  On Friday, a traveling circus of children stopped by the center.  There were from Paris and all very young, less than 28 probably.  Before arriving in Tuzla, they had spent several days in Kladanj and after their time in BiH they will be heading to Kosovo for two weeks.

All of them wore clown like make up, which was weird for the children.  The children didn’t know what to do with the person on stilts or the “old man” clown who hid behind things, peak out, and then tumble around.  Some of the performers were very talented at gymnastics while others were good at juggling.

After performing their acts for 20 or 30 minutes, the members of the circus invited the children to join in.  Soon it was truely a three ring circus.  There was a group learning juggling, another learning dance with ribbons, more balancing on a large ball, some giving a try to the unicycle, while others balanced spinning plates.    Even parents and the animators were joining in on the action.  It was a wonderful activity for the whole neighborhood.  When the traveling band of performers left, they gave the center many of the props needed to juggle, balance plates, and ribbon dance.  It was a wonderful experience that then children won’t forget anytime soon.  They have been drawing pictures already this week of their experience at the circus.

On Saturday a couple from Central France arrived to provide some much needed information on dental hygiene.  They distributed tooth brushes, children’s tooth paste, and sun screen.  Fabrice and Delphine also explained why to brush, when to brush, and how to brush your teeth.  The children were a little timid to brush their teeth.  I think that it isn’t something that they are used to doing very often, but in the end they enjoyed brushing their teeth with their friends and showing off their pearly whites after they were finished.  In addition to the oral hygiene, they explained the importance of putting sun screen on birth marks and instructed the children on ways to identify changes in their birth marks that could be dangerous.

Gabrice and Delphine were very interesting and wonderful people.  They have been traveling for the past 6 months in Morocco, Italy, Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and BiH.  They are a dentist and a technical dentist by training.  All their supplies had been donated to them by various companies to be distributed to children in need.  http://culturetube.top-depart.com/ 

Their little mobile home with suicide doors was great.  With the vintage 1970’s convey, they said they attracted attention everywhere they travelled.  Apparently groups of people just stop and watch as they travel through neighborhoods.  They enjoy the freedom such a way of traveling provides, and I agree.  Anywhere they are able to find a place to park, they have a place to sleep.   That could be in a city center, on the beach, in the mountains, or in their friend’s drive way.

Fabrice and I had a great deal in common.  We were able to share many of our experiences over the course of the afternoon since we went to Binasa’s home for a “Roštilj”- Bosnian for BBQ.  Both of us enjoyed meeting new people and learning about their way of life.  He wanted to use his skills as a serviceable way to meet others and see the world.  One thing I really liked about this couple was that they were trying to get their own sense of the history in the Balkans region based on conversations with people throughout the region, not just by reading a few authors’ accounts or basing it off of conversations in one city or country.  From talking with them, it seems like they had a very broad concept of the conflict and knew details that are not talked about in other places.  They were very sad to hear about the events of July 11, 1995.  They knew of the tragedy in Srebrenica but didn’t know that it fell on Delphine’s birthday. 

They were also surprised to learn that I was working for free.  Apparently volunteers do not work for long periods of time without compensation in France.  The concept of volunteerism which we have in the US is very different and foriegn to those in other parts of the world.  Further, he was stunned when I told him about the Peace Corps program and the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have served around the globe for the past 40 years.  I’m glad to have had the opportunity to meet Fabrice and Delphine and learn about their service as well.

Until next time,

Patrick

I’m sorry it has been so long since my last post.  The past several weeks have been very busy.  In addition to my normal responsibilities at Better Tomorrow, I have been working in several other areas as well.  A few weeks ago I visited the town of Banovići to see a youth center called Pinkland, which The Center for Balkan Development has a relationship with.   I had a very nice visit with the staff at Pinkland. 

They have a large, beautiful facility and they know they have been blessed with their space.  The center is an old market so it has a great deal of area for activities for the youth.  They have a gym, an art room, a carpentry workshop, a music classroom, a music recording studio, a large computer lab and several other offices.  This wonderful center has the ability to spread out their activities and thus serve more children at a time.  With workspaces devoted to one specialty, it is also possible for them to work on longer term projects and not prepare the space for another activity to take place in the same area.  The staff there was very friendly and seemed like they were constantly trying to train themselves so they could teach the children new skills and provide programs the children wanted to participate in.

We have made it through a pretty severe heat wave. With temperatures reach over 100 degrees for several days in a row, life was a little out of the ordinary here.  People would wake up very early to work for a while and then retreat into the confines of their home or head to the nearest body of water for the mid-day heat.  Around 7 pm, people would re-emerge from their homes.  At this time there were many people out in the streets and in their yards having BBQ’s.  People were up until fairly late hours of the night, for Tuzla standards during this time.  You could hear music and people socializing until mid-night or one in the morning.

A few weeks ago the Better Tomorrow had it’s annual vacation.  I took the break as an opportunity to explore some of the tourist offerings BiH has to offer.  I went down to Mostar to see the Bridge Jumping festival.  The next day I visited a few wineries near Čitluk and Međugorje and ended the day with some swimming at the Kravice waterfall.  Kravice is like a place out of a fantasy film.  It could have easily be fit into the Lord of the Rings or Neverland. 

After a few days in Herzegovina, I made my way up to Sarajevo.  I met up with some folks from the
Northeastern US and enjoyed learning about their activities in the region.  It was good to speak with Maya again about her research on judicial reform in the country.  I also had the great pleasure to meet and have dinner with Barry from the Connecticut Friends of Bosnia.  He was in country to see through the implementation of a few joint projects between CBD and Conn. FOB.  I was really excited to hear about the progress on the agro-business project with the refugee community.  I believe projects like these, especially when the people are given the tools AND the knowledge in business development and sustainability will go a long way in strengthening communities here in
Bosnia.

Next, I headed into the mountains near Sarajevo to get a feel for the life in the mountain villages and to backpack for a few days.  I visited the villages of Umoljani and Lukomir.  These villages are set at nearly 2,000 meters in elevation and are far removed from the hussle and bussle of the cities.  These residents of the villages are primarily shepherds and have a very interesting life style.  In the winter time, they are isolated by snow and steep mountains so the only way to visit is by snow shoe or ski.  While in the

village of
Lukomir, I was looking for a place to buy some of their legendary young cheese.  I found a women who told me she would give some to me if I bought a pair of socks.  So, I ended up with a pair of socks from Lukomir, a pound of young cheese and a loaf of bread for 25 km.  Not too bad.  The views from these villages looking into the Rakitnica valley were amazing.  It was very nice to visit a place that has been able to preserve a traditional way of life.

More photos can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022065&l=c3f0d&id=29303047

7/15/2007

Past week has been very busy for me.  I’m in full swing of all my activities here in
Tuzla. Classes are going very well here.  This past week I have taught the students parts of the body along with “Simon Says.”  The kids love that game.  It is fun to watch them play.  The first few days, they were not very confident giving commands to the other students in English, but in the past couple of days they have become excited when they win the game and get to be Simon.

I have been trying to get a feel for the roles of NGO’s here in
Bosnia so I have been asking a lot of questions from people I meet about their organizations.  I had been in contact with people at World Vision before I came to
Tuzla, so I was finally able to meet up with them and learn more about their programs in the community.  Like many organizations, World Vision came to BiH in 1995, the year the war ended.  They have worked on my projects with refugee communities and now returnees.  In addition to building houses for people, they have worked to encourage economic development through the creation of EKI Micro credit institution.  Currently they are working on an area development project where they focus on the development of the entire community in one specific area.  They work on everything from youth organizations, schools, improving employment opportunities, health programs, and other activities that help all members of the community become economically and educationally sound.

Last Thursday I had a very unique experience.  I went to drop something off for my friend Stephanie at her work, the Missing Persons Institute (MPI), and while I was there I was given a tour of the facility.  The MPI does work to identify thousands of missing persons from the war in 1992-95.  They do this by taking DNA samples from human remains that were found in mass graves.  Some of the remains were found in “primary graves” but others were found in “secondary graves”.  The fact that remains have been moved to secondary graves with front-end loaders and other heavy machinery makes the task of identification very difficult.  Remains from the same person have been found in 3 different burial sites.

The MPI center takes the remains found and sorts them based on which bones provide a sample for DNA tests.  The MPI does so many DNA tests they have developed a way to perform the test cheaper than any other place in the world running about $125 a sample.  The fact that the remains are so mangled together means that the MPI must take samples from every bone large enough to collect a DNA sample from- in most cases this is 5 to insure that all individuals are accurately and appropriately accounted for.  Once test results come back from the lab, they are uploaded into the database and compared with DNA samples collected from survivors’ family members both in BiH and other places where Bosnians live around the world.  Often times this is just female family members because large numbers of men in many communities are those who are missing.  Once a match is made, the families are contacted, and they can come to collect their family member and their belongings and have a proper burial.  This is fascinating work when you think about it from a scientific standpoint, but then when you think about the real nature of the daunting task ahead ofo identifying thousands more cases you become sick.  There are certain jobs in this world that people shouldn’t need to do, and I’m a firm believer that this is one of them.

On a lighter note, Friday I was interviewed by a journalist from “Tuzlanski List”, one of the daily papers in
Tuzla.  The interview view was long and drawn out, as most things are in
Bosnia, lasting about 2 hours.  We talked about many things from what was my educational background, to the work I was doing with the children, to what I thought of Bosnian coffee, to what I had learned in
Bosnia.  I was flattered that the journalist was interested in the work that I was doing and she said, “
Bosnia needs many more people doing what you are doing.”  When the paper came out today, my neighbor came to me and showed me my picture and tried to tell me that now she knows what I’m working on here.  Don’t worry Mom, I’ve saved a copy for you.

Saturday was a great day for me.  I received the box of books that I sent to myself via USPS Media Mail.  In case you are wondering how long it takes to send a package via media mail to
Bosnia, the answer is 3 months.  I had written this box off as gone and it finally arrives with plenty of English reading material.  As a side note, it only takes 7 days for a letter to get here; I don’t know what took the box so long.  In addition to the joy of receiving a package, I also went to the lake so find refugee from the heat with my two friends from Bolivia, Stephanie, and Luis from
Spain.  Who would have thought that I would have met so many people from South America in my work in
Bosnia?

This past week was very busy for me here in Tuzla.  In addition to my normal activities of teaching a few English classes, I was preparing for a few Independence Day parties.  At the center, I decided that we would play games that many families and communities have as part of the barbecues and other celebrations.  We played tag, had a water balloon toss which inevitably became a water fight.  One thing is always true- there are never enough water balloons.  I had made a little timeline about some of the events in early US history and shared them with the students and the animators.  They were surprised to hear that it took so long for the US to become settled.  I figured it would also be fun to have a water melon seed spitting contest.

The kids loved all the games.  Arnell and I were the wettest ones after the water fight.  We had put the watermelon in the refrigerator on Tuesday, so it was very cold.  The kids were so excited to have the cold treat, but many had spit out a majority of their seeds before I could explain to them what we were going to be doing with the water melon and the seeds.  Soon enough the kids found out what we were up to and were practicing the spitting for distance.  Some of the parents who were there, watched on in disbelief as I taught their children how to spit the seeds.  But sometimes kids have to be kids.

Some of the kids were really good in both accuracy and in distance.

Later that evening  I had some of my co-workers over for a BBQ along with some American girls who are doing internships in Tuzla for the summer.  We had potato salad, cole-slaw, chips, tomato and cheese salad, ice cream sundaes and of course, hot dogs. Bosnia doesn’t have any hot dog buns, or if they do, I couldn’t find any.  So I went to 4 different bakeries in order to buy 40 kifle.  Kifle are pieces of bread, like a bun that has a little bit of curvature in them.  One thing I am thankful of this 4^th of July is pre-sliced hot dog buns.We had a great time at the BBQ.  At the beginning we listened to some American rock and hip hop music but as the night progressed, we put in the Bosnian music.  One of the guests was also nice enough to share his home made Rakija (40% plum brandy) with the guests.  This just added to the merry making and soon people were singing along with all the songs.  It was quite a festive evening.

I have also been conducting surveys with staff members and talking with Binasa regarding opportunities to improve services that Better Tomorrow offers the children.  It is nice to work on the organizational development side of the program since I’m very interested in ways to improve service, evaluate programs, and identify best practices.  I have been amazed at some of the insight the staff members have about the children.

I hope you all stay cool until next time,

Patrick

Finally, it has cooled down and the kids have been allowed to leave their homes.  Last week’s heat wave kept many children inside and their parents would not let them go out.  Not even to come to the center.  Come to think of it, there weren’t many people outside at all during the day.  The highs we certainly into the upper 90’s which made it difficult to function during the heat of the day.  Now I know why someone invented air conditioning.  I also may have an idea of why people in
Europe take month long vacations during the summer.  It is too hot to actually get any work done.

Since there were very few students in the center early in the week, I had the opportunity to do some research and interview the staff a little bit about the program’s needs, possible opportunities for growth, and some small fun projects for the children to partake in over the summer months.  I really enjoy planning and discovering the staff member’s vision for the center in the future.

Last week, as I was beginning to prepare lesson plans for this week, I decided I wanted to work in a little bit of Independence Day flare into the class.  Originally my plan was to have the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence translated into Bosnian so the children would know why I wanted to celebrate on the 4^th of July.  I certainly didn’t want to be seen as an Imperialistic instructor who wants to shove U.S. History and culture down their throats, but the more I read the document, the more I realize that the Declaration of Independence was an important document for human rights inspired by the English Humanist writers.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” 

These are certainly words that people all around the world can understand and appreciate. 

Then I began looking at the timeline from when the Declaration of Independence was passed to when the Constitution of the
United States was ratified.  It took 12 years for the Constitution to  written and ratified.  During that time there were significant victories and failures for the new government.  We fought and won the War of Independence, signed the treaty of Paris, wrote and implemented the Articles of Confederacy, made the 3/5^th’s compromise, decided the governing laws of the Articles of Confederacy were too weak so convened to write the Constitution of the United States.  There could be some parallels drawn between this period of American history and the past 12 years in Bosnian history.  

I guess what I’m trying to convey to the students, and I suppose all my Bosnian friends, is that it took a long time for
United States government to begin functioning effectively. 12 years.  It did not happen over night.  It took many people, long hours of debating and compromise to establish a framework of government which would be representative to all people.  I’m certainly thankful that those men, so long ago, took the their time and due diligence to work through conflicts and be precise enough to create a durable legal document giving it’s citizens rights based on their “unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.

I hope you all have a happy and safe Independence Day.

-Patrick

Here is Arnell helping with the painting group.

Maurveta and her pre-school group.

I saw this while I was on the bus a few weeks ago and thought I would share it with the visitors of this website!  Thanks Friends of Bosnia.

The first week of teaching was certainly a learning experience for both me and the students.  As I have mentioned before, I am working with four different groups of students- 3 groups of children and one for parents.  Each group presents its own set of difficulties for me.  I am very happy that all of the students have been patient with me as I learn how to best help them learn.

Group one is 1^st-3^rd grade students.  They arrive each morning eager to get started.  Some take diligent notes of what I’m writing on the white board while others try and repeat everything that I say.  It is fun to watch each style of learner do what they do best whether that is listen, repeat, write, or simply read.  All of the children that I work with during the day, have had or will have English in school.  This group has not yet started their formal English education so I’m trying to provide a base for them to be successful once they begin more structured classes in the elementary school.

The second group in 4^th-6^th graders.  These students have begun to learn English in their classes but are at different levels of comprehension and ability to communicate orally.  This is one of the difficulties of having such wide age groups- some students not only are more advanced or further behind than their peers; the students in my class span three grade levels.  Since this is the case, I have decided that the best thing I can provide these children is speaking in a native voice and with correct grammar and encouraging them to engage in conversation.  I’ll try and help with the actual mechanics of the language, but I think that I am best able to help the students become comfortable with speaking in English.

The third group of students are 7^th and 8^th graders.  They have had formal English instruction in school for the past 5 or 6 years.  Some of these students are very good at English already.  Others are intimidated by their peers’ success.  I am struggling to have those who are not as comfortable to speak up and join our conversation.  This is a very fun class to have.  The students would like to practice their speaking skills and don’t want much written work.  Who can blame them, it is summer time and they are coming in for extra help. 

We have decided to make this class a conversation session focusing on using various verb tenses.  It is fun to talk about what everyone likes to do.  One difficultly I am having with this class is overcoming what Americans like to talk about and what Bosnians talk about.  I know what Americans like to talk about, especially in language classes- where they have been, what they have done, what their hobbies are and those sorts of things.  These conversations are particularly short with these Bosnian students.  Many of them have not traveled much.  They don’t have many hobbies beyond playing soccer or volleyball and talking to their friends. 

When I hear all of this, I realize how much we take for granted the many activities that Americans partake in to fill their free and idle time- for better or worse.  I’m amazed and inspired by what makes these students happy and I wish many people in the states would be content with the many gifts that they have.

Today is the big day; the day that I begin teaching formal classes with the students at Bolje Sutra.  We ended up breaking the students and parents into 4 different groups based on age.  I’m quite excited to begin the challenge.  It will mostly be a challenge because I am still struggling with learning Bosnian.  I wish that I could help the students more by offering some directions and instructions that they understand, but we shall see how it goes.  I know that I will be having help from the staff and other volunteers at Bolje Sutra so that encourages me.

Things are going pretty well for me here.  I’ve been trying to get everything ready to apply for my residence permit and that has been a pain.  I had to spend half of a day at the hospital to make sure I didn’t have any high-risk diseases.  That was certainly an ordeal.  This is about how it went…

One of the animators at Bolje Sutra, Arnel, and I arrive at the hospital at 7am when they open.  We have to pay the nurse extra for my forms; I don’t know why it isn’t included in the fee for the exams. She also gives me a list for all the steps I must go through in order to get the certification. I had to complete the following: blood test, urine test, chest x-ray, visit a psychologist, a neural-psychologist, and a physical.

During my blood test the nurse stopped to take a drink of coffee and a drag off her cigarette.  The guy who took the x-ray of me thought I spoke German and insisted on giving me directions in German.  I tried to tell him I didn’t understand in German, but that didn’t really seem to help.  I failed to mention that before each exam I have to wait 20 minutes or more for the person to be ready to see me.

Next, Arnel and I headed to the first psychologist.  When I entered the office I notice there are many charts to test for color blindness and other little ink-blotchy things.  I thought that this exam was going to be fun and I started to practice the colors in Bosnian.  The psychologist came in, she looked strangely at the two of us and sat down.  She was about 28.   Arnell explained to her what I was doing and why I was there.  She turned to me and asked me how I was.  I said, I was doing well.  She then pulled her stamp out the drawer and stamped and endorsed my forms.  She made sure to write that “He is not too crazy to be in
Bosnia”.  That was the end of my exam.  I particularly liked how she emphasized that I might be crazy but not too crazy for
Bosnia. 

Then came the Neural-psychologist.  There were about 10 people in line.  Arnell jumped to the front and stuck his head in the office.  I followed him into the office after he motioned for me to join him.  Again, Arnell explained my situation.  The doctor got out his stamp and stamped my forms.  The stamps said that I didn’t have vertigo, epilepsy, or schizophrenia.  I’m glad he was able to evaluate me so quickly.  Arnell thinks that the psychologists are psychics as well.

At last I was on to the final test.  I was sitting waiting to have my physical and another doctor walked by and saw me waiting.  He invited us into his office for the exam.  We chatted for a little while about my name being Irish and him going to
Ireland once.  Then the conversation turned towards politics.  He was interested in my stance on politics.  Arnell told him that I was a nice person and just wanted to help people.  The doctor then proceeded to tell me about the needs of his political group he was a local leader of.  Something like the Croatian farmers party or something.  Apparently they are a really old movement and represent the needs of more than just Croatians.  It seemed like a labor union for farmers, carpenters and other people in rural areas. 

Finally we moved into the exam.  He began taking my blood pressure.  Then he realized I had set my water bottle on the floor.  He scolded me for placing it there since I could pick up bacteria and get an infection.  I suppose his reasoning is logical enough; he is a doctor after all.  Next he moved on to finding my heart rate.  No, that’s not right, first he offered me a cigarette, then he lit one himself, then he checked my heart rate.  I know the medical system might not be up to snuff in
Bosnia compared to Western standards, but offering a patient a cigarette during an exam seems a little ludicrous.  I’m guessing they might translate a few of the articles from the New England Journal of Medicine.  Maybe not though. 

Other than that, things are going well.  The students are excited that I will be going to the school soccer game next weekend.  I enjoy watching them practice on the asphalt field outside of the center.  I wish that I could play half as well as these 13 year olds.  Well I’m off to administer a little pre-test to the students.

Until next time- Patrick

I have been in Tuzla nearly two weeks now and I am begining to become more settled here.  My understanding of the language is coming along, slowly.  I can understand some conversations when they are in simple verb tenses.  If they aren’t, I don’t stand a chance.  Bosnian, as all Slavic languages, is very difficult.  A change in one letter in a noun can change the entire meaning of a sentence. 

I am also learning a little more about what my responsibilities at Bolje Sutra will be.  Depending on how many people sign up for classes, it looks like I will have 4 or 5 classes.  The classes will be separated by age group and we will have one class for more advanced students and one for parents so they can learn some English to better help them in their jobs. 

I have already been teaching some to the pre-school students.  This is quite an interesting process.  It begins with Murveta and I teaching each other a little bit.  The communication between the two of us is slow and we need two dictionaries to make things work.  After we have learned a little bit, we teach the children.   

First Murveta will say what we will teach in Bosnian, then she says it in English.  Next, I say the word in English.  At this point Murveta has the kids repeat it in English.  Then we go around the classroom having each of the kids repeat what was said. 

So far we have covered, “Good day”, “How are you?”, “I am fine”, “my name is…”, and the colors.  I have been using online resources for ideas of how to be a better instructor.  I will also be ordering a TEFL book.   

Another way I am interacting with the pre-school kids is by playing with them.  When they are playing with blocks on the floor with they will ask what certain animals we are playing with are called English.  After I tell them it is a cow or chicken or horse, they laugh.  Then they repeat the name.  It is really funny to relate to the kids this way, but for now this is one of the few tools I have. 

In addition to English classes, I will be teaching a computer class.  The basic function of the class will be how to use Microsoft Office.  Computer use for kids is minimal since the elementary schools do not have computers.  The computers at the center are barely functional but they will have to do the job.  I will also try to have DSL access to the internet donated from the phone company since internet access is expensive here.  Having internet would be a wonderful way for the students to learn more about the world they live in. 

During the past two weeks there have been many thunderstorms.  Nearly everyday.  Some come in the morning, but most happen in the evenings.  Even though there have been so many thunderstorms, we have only lost electricity once. 

We were at the center and the kids had all come inside because the winds had picked up.  With the influx of children, Brko, one of the staff members, got out the water color paints.  Then the thunder and lightning came.  Soon there after the power went out. 

Binasa told me that during the war Solina was without power for over 2 years.  I couldn’t imagine such a thing.  She said it wasn’t too bad.  They cooked by fire and used candles at night.  Since there wasn’t imminent threat in the city, the kids were able to play outside.  Binasa said that the worst part about not having electric was not being able to use the washing machine. 

This week I also found and moved into an apartment.  The land lord echoed a similar message about living without what we in the developed world consider automatic and expected amenities.  The day after I moved in he brought up three- 5 liter jugs.  He instructed me to fill them up with water and keep them for when there is no running water. 

Apparently up until about a year ago, there was only 6-7 hours a day of running water.  It was necessary to keep some water around for those other hours to cook, wash and flush the toilet with.  I did as he told and just two days later when I woke up and wanted to have tea and take a shower, there was no water coming out of the shower head.  I thought it was just something with the faucet, so I tried the sink.  Still nothing but a little spit of water.  As I was on my way to the kitchen to see if that faucet had any water pressure, I saw the filled jugs and remembered my land lord’s warning.  Sure enough the kitchen sink didn’t have water either. 

So, I put the water jugs to use and filled a kettle full of water.  After it had nearly boiled, I had my tea while the water cooled and then “showered” in the sink.  This slight inconvenience made me begin to appreciate the stability and comforts of the developed world.  The thunderstorms also leave me with the question, how many kilometers away was the lightning strike if the thunder is five seconds after the flash?  

Until next time- Patrick