I left for Bosnia last Monday not knowing what would await me here. I had a bit of an emotional goodbye with my parents at the airport, but was mostly ready for the experience. Or perhaps it is better to say that exactly what I was doing this summer hadn't hit me yet, and I'm still not sure that it has.
At the airport I met two of the girls who are doing this Intercordia experience with me, Magali and Elise. Our plane for Istanbul was delayed about an hour so we had some time to talk and get to know each other.
The plane was large and full, but it was a nighttime 9 hour flight, so I tried to sleep.
We arrived in Istanbul at about 4pm their time on May 6th. It was hard to get much of a sense of what the city looked like from the airport and I can't say I felt like I was in Turkey.
We wandered around the airport a bit trying to figure out where to go and eventually had to ask for help, the airport didn't seem that big, not compared to Toronto anyways.
We had to wait a bit for our flight to Sarajevo which was only about an hour and a half.
We landed in Sarajevo, and entered the country without so much as a word being exchanged between us and the custom officials.
Waiting for us at the airport was Natasha, another Intercordian, and Majda our contact her in Bosnia who speaks English really well and works at the center where we are all going to be volunteering.
She also had a driver with her who was going to take us to Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje, the village where we are staying which is about a 2 hour drive from Sarajevo.
The first thing I noticed about Bosnia was the driving. People just kind of do whatever they want, and they like to go fast even though the roads are all winding.
The second thing I noticed was the country's beauty. It if beautiful here, everything is green, and you are surrounded by hills and mountains.
We made it to the town safe and sound, and one of my host sister's was waiting for me at the center where they dropped us off.
Her family was still awake when I arrived at her house (which is like 2 seconds away from the center) and they all greeted me warmly. Her mother even insisted on feeding me right away.
I feel extremely welcomed here and their home has really started to become mine as well.
I will write more later in more detail.
Just wanted to share a little bit first! :)