Ways I have changed in three weeks in Bosnia

1. I love techno
2. 90 degrees is considered refreshingly cool (at night).
3. I have no problem drinking cloudy water.


Our class is going very well. The kids are so responsive and they really seem to remember what we are teaching them. It is not uncommon to hear the "ABCs" being sung whenever you walk through the orphanage, and I definitely notice the kids speaking more English. When they see us they ask us how we are and what we are doing in English. Even the kids with whom we have not yet had class (because their school conflicts and does not end until next week) are certainly practicing their English when they talk with us.
One thing they all know now is how to talk about swimming. One day we swam in the freezing cold Neretva River, and the next we walked about 15 kilometers in search of a lake that never appeared. Now every time we leave they ask us if we are going swimming and then tell us that we are crazy because the water is cold.
The older kids are a little harder - our classes with them always seem to get cancelled, whether because of scheduling conflicts, the caretakers, or because the soap opera is on tv (the girls refuse to miss it). Still, just spending time with them and hanging out means that they speak English and practice, and we try to get as much teaching in as possible. For example, one of the kids, Šemso, was reading a Bosnian newspaper, so Laura went over and made him explain to her what every story was about. Listening to music is also a good way to sneak some teaching in.

I still havent figured out the older kids stories. Some of them are definitely orphans, but others have at least one parent living but are unable to stay with them. In some cases, the parents cannot afford to feed and clothe them, and in others the parents have their own issues. Two of the boys told us that their father, who is alive and used to send them money, is in jail in Italy. They are both almost too old to continue living in the orphanage and will have to move out soon. They have living grandparents who may be able to help them, but the others are not always so lucky.

I have a lot more to post about. The orphanage has not yet let us use their internet (I am in Sarajevo now) but hopefully they will soon so I can update more frequently.

The past few days have been great. We went into Sarjevo for the night on Thursday and had a great time. Aldin went to see Lord of the Dance so we went into the city with some friends and met up with him afterward. He enjoyed the show and we had a great night too. The bus ride is a little under 3 hours, so we´ll probably only go back again for a longer period of time. We have weekends free so we are thinking about going back to Sarajevo next weekend. Having a whole weekend there will be great.

The orphanage is hosting a boxing tournament. There are about 60 boxers staying there in their guest houses. They are from all over Europe - Croatia, Switzerland, Hungary, Germany, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia of course - and some of them speak English. We watched their semifinal last night and it was really cool to see. The final is tonight and we might watch some of it. The only bad thing about the boxers being there is that it has made the whole orphanage really busy and crazy. We werent able to have classes yesterday because of it. The boxers are leaving today and tomorrow, so next week we should be able to get into a more regular schedule as well as our own classroom. They are using the biblioteka (where we will have our classes) as a training center for the boxers right now, so we have just been teaching the kids in their living room.

Tonight is our friend Alisa˝s graduation night. We are going to the ceremony and then to her after party. Graduation from high school is a really big deal here - she?s been preparing for weeks and is so excited. It will be cool to see a graduation since it sounds like a lot of fun. Afterwards the whole graduating class has a party at a hotel and then goes into the city to celebrate, so it should be a fun night.

Sunday we will spend preparing for classes and relaxing. We are hoping that once the boxers leave and things calm down we will be able to do more English classes. Right now we have one great class with the younger kids (ages 4 - 7, I think) and another class with the teenagers that is a lot less organized. I am hoping that this week the caretakers will set up a time for us to work with the kids aged 8 - 12 and also that the teenager class will start to be a little less chaotic. If not this week, then next week everything will work out, because they will be done with school and will have more free time for our classes.

Email is not working

I just tried to check my email and it did not work, so I probably wont be responding to those messages for a while. Let me know here if there is anything urgent.

First Few Days in Mostar

We are at the computer club near the orphanage and there is only one computer with internet so I will update quickly. Our first few days in Mostar have gone really well. We moved in Saturday morning and spent a few days introducing ourselves to the kids and just having fun before classes started on Monday. We have two classes a day. At 10 am we teach the little kids and we teach teh older ones at night. The younger kids classes are going really well - we have taught them the alphabet, numbers, colors, and fruits. With every thing we have songs or crafts to help them remember. Today (Wednesday) the kids were still able to sing their "ABCs" that we taught them on Monday. Its great to know that the things we are teaching them are actually sticking. The older kids are more challenging because there is a wide range of ages (11 - 20) and abilities. We have been trying to focus on things they can actually use and on making things fun. Later today we are taking them to get ice cream. We are paying for them, but they have to speak only in English while we are there.

Tomorrow night we go back to Sarajevo to hang out with some friends. Aldin has tickets to see Lord of the Dance so we are going to take the train back with him. It should be fun and it will be nice to have the break. The kids are great, but we are with them all of the time except when we sleep. It will also be nice to be around more people who speak English.

Laura was sick for a while but is feeling better now, so hopefully we will start going into the city more (the orphanage is about a ten minute walk outside of the city proper).

Sarajevo

I arrived in Sarjevo yesterday at about noon local time. The flights were really tiring, since we didnt get to our hotel until about 11 in London and had to wake up at 2 30 to take the first bus to the airport.

We lost two out of seven bags in transit. Laura and I each have one personal bag and the rest were supplies and donations for the orphanage. Unfortunately Lauras personal bag was lost along with one orphanage bag. It would have been better to lose two orphanage bags, since we dont leave for the orphanage until Saturday. The bags are supposed to be delivered to our flat today.

Last night Laura and I went to the Mexican restaurant in Sarajevo with our friends Aldin and Zuti. Its crazy that some of the best Mexican food Ive ever had is in Bosnia. Another American, Will, came as well. He has been in Bosnia for the past 10 months working for TWI, the UN Development Program, and now OSC. He is living in an apartment owned by Zutis grandma. I think its really cool that he started out working with TWI and then worked for the UN doing development work, since thats what I hope to do after graduation.

Four Hours Until I Leave!

I just finished packing and I am leaving in about four hours for the airport! I procrastinated quite a bit with my packing, but I think it’ll actually help me because I’ll be tired enough to sleep on the flight.

While packing, I found my notebook from last year. It was fun to read and remember. I wrote down the names of some of the kids I’ve met at the orphanage in past years, so I hope I’ll be able to remember at least one or two of them. There is one boy, Sasha, who speaks some German, who I will make sure I greet by name. Besides the formal lesson plans I wrote about last time, I’ve been trying to think of games and songs and crafts that will make class fun. We’re also planning events, like a “disco,” for the older kids. Living with the kids full time means that we’ll be teaching constantly – they will have to practice their English if they want to talk with us.

I have four days in Sarajevo before I go to the orphanage. I’m going to be in meetings and training for part of that time, but I’ll also have a lot of time free. I’m going to meet Aldin’s family which should be a lot of fun. Aldin is so enthusiastic and funny, so I’m sure his family will be too. I’ll also hopefully get to see all of the interpreters who have done camps with me before. Sarajevo is a really cool city and I can’t wait to be there.

Planning in New Jersey

Laura and I met on Tuesday to work on some lesson plans. We decided that our overall theme will be "My Life." Each week will have a different topics within this theme. Week 1 will be “My Life Before”, so we can review the English they already knew as well as introducing topics like introductions (“my name is…”/“I am …. Years old”). Week 2 will be “A Year in My Life” and we will be teaching the kids about seasons. The other weeks also follow this theme. We have, using an old lesson plan as a guide, come up with games, crafts, and music to accompany our topics and make our lessons more fun and interactive. Right now we’re gathering all of our supplies. We’ve had donations from a wide range of people. Laura’s dentist has donated some toothpaste, people from my church have donated magazines, and others have donated supplies like paper and crayons. We still have some supplies to purchase, but hope to get most of those costs covered by donations.
Tonight Laura and I are meeting again to finalize our plans, and tomorrow we are meeting with Bobby Houser, the director of TWI. TWI is the organization that is sponsoring us. It has facilitated our placement with the Mostar Orphanage, hired our interpreter, Aldin, and organized most of the details of our program. There is a link to their website, with information on their wide variety of programs, on my post below.
Our flight is on Monday at 8 am, so I’m very busy packing, planning, and shopping for last-minute supplies and necessities. The next time I update will probably be in Sarajevo next week.