Banja Luka MUN

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of Model United Nations (MUN).  Highly motivated and intelligent students coming together to discuss, debate and “solve” some of the world’s most pressing issues, and having a blast while doing it. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to participate in a MUN conference back in the United States.  That changed last weekend when I attended the third annual Banja Luka model UN conference.  The four days of the conference flew by- as I look back it’s hard to remember where one day ended and the next began! I will certainly never forget the experience!

I represented the Commonwealth of Australia as an advocate on the International Court of Justice.  The case regarded Japans use of lethal methods in their whale research program. It was my job to persuade a panel of judges that Japans use of said methods was in violation of international law.  There was also an advocate representing Japan trying to convince them of the contrary.

This was the first time that the Banja Luka MUN conference had an International Court of Justice. While many other participants on the court had prior MUN experience, none had ever been part of the International Court. We were all trying to figure out how to make it work.  We were mostly successful; while there were some particular rough spots, everyone helped each other out in order to keep it going. At the end of the trial, all of the participants on the court had a conversation about how to improve this part of conference for future years.  I am certain to stay connected with this event so I can hear how this part of the conference evolves.

Although much of our time was spent in sessions with our committees, we did have a good amount of free time. In this free time I had the chance to meet and get to know fellow delegates from all over the region. This year at the Banja Luka conference there were over 200 representatives coming from Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. Although I have never been to the last four countries on that list I now have friends in all of them. This part of the weekend, the forming of connections and networks, is one of the best and most important parts of an experience like a MUN. These conferences bring together students who never would have met otherwise, giving them a chance to form connections and expand their “cultural boundaries” without even traveling to a different country.  It didn’t matter where you were from, whether a small seaside town in Croatia or the busy city of Belgrade (or if you were an exchange student from the USA!) – we were together with a common goal at the MUN.  The connections that I made and that I witnessed being made around me were strong and I truly believe that they will last.

I am extremely grateful that I was given the opportunity to go and be a part of this conference. Somebody once told me that when you look back on the past you don’t recall individual events, you remember people and the relationships you make. For this reason, this conference will stand out in my memories of exchange. The memories of the fun times and hilarious conversation might become blurry with time, but  I will not forget the pleather of motivated and intelligent individuals that I met in the four days of the BALMUN conference.

A picture by the school in Banja Luka with the other exchange students

My fellow partner and I listen to the opposing sides closing statement

A a group picture of almost all of the delegates

My partner and I giving an opening statement

Until next time

Daniel Herschlag

Three gratitude’s

1. I more or less finished my capstone project today!

2. Some of my host mom’s family came over today for dinner

3. I found a pair of working headphones that I brought from the united states- they had been MIA since around December.

441

441, that how many “gratitude’s” I have written in my journal since I came to Bosnia. 441 little things that made my day just that much better. 441 things that I might not have realized if I wasn’t making the conscious effort to be “aware” of them. 441 things that I would surely have forgotten if I hadn’t written them down. On my first blog post ( Znaci boze that feels like a life time ago) I gave a brief description of why I would be doing the three gratitude’s at the end of my blog posts. I don’t think those 2 or 3 sentences does justice to the significance of this practice. In my sophomore year history class, my teacher introduced the whole class to “the three gratitude’s”. Every history class we would say our three gratitude’s to the person sitting next to us. The teacher claimed that this daily routine would be the most important thing that he would teach us. He said that actively searching for three things for which we should be grateful would “rewire” our brains. I was skeptical, to say the least.  For the whole first semester, I thought it was entirely pointless, a waste of class time. I remember one day in particular: we didn’t have a full class period and we were just doing a lot of fun activities. At the end of the class we made a circle with the desks and everyone went around and shared one of their gratitude’s. Like everyone else,  I shared a gratitude-but it was some BS one like “I’m grateful that I didn’t have a hard bio class”. Then we went around the circle again, again I try to give some BS gratitude- but Mr. Flaherty (my teacher) kept on pressing. Finally I gave up and just said something like “I’ve got nothing to be grateful for”. Up until that point, I’ve never seen him even remotely annoyed but my response seemed to have really gotten to him. Now I clearly see why this response would annoy him- THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING!

It seems like such a little thing- and how could such a little thing, writing maybe 5 or 6 sentences every day, how could that actually “change how you think”.  Once you consistently write those 5 or 6 sentences daily (and take it a little seriously) it really does make a difference. Since the beginning of my exchange I’ve become aware of things that I would have been oblivious to prior to coming to Bosnia. I see the significance in things I might normally dismiss. “Today I found a new café” or “Having a conversation about the neighbors”:  these are small occurrences that I would normally not give a second thought.  But before I call it a night, I write about these moments and I can see how they have affected the course of my day.

Religiously writing these gratitude’s, no matter how tired I am at the end of the day, has been a critical part of my exchange. Before coming here I had this fantasy that I would experience this one “moment” where it would be “this is why I am here”, where I would feel like I am truly carrying out the mission of the YES abroad program. That perspective was truly a fantasy. It is apparent to me now that there will be no “one” moment for me.  My exchange will be the sum of the small occasions of life. Doing the daily gratitude’s has created a record of these small moments. Without having all of these little parts of my day documented in one place, it would be easy to feel as if I am not using my time here to the fullest – that I should have experienced that one moment. If I ever do feel like that, I simply open up my journal and flip to a random page and read what I wrote about that day.  The negative feelings are immediately banished from my mind.

And there lies another reason why I do the gratitude’s- exchange can be tough. Bad days are bound to happen – days where nothing seems to go your way. Although it can be difficult, when I do have days like that (which have been few and far between, thank god) I still force myself to write the daily gratitude’s.  Because, as I said before, there is always something.

Finally the third big reason why I obligate myself to do this- I want to remember. Before this year I’ve never ever kept anything like a journal before. A bunch of my other YES friends were talking about keeping some sort of journal during their exchange. So maybe only 6 or 7 days before my exchange to pop into a book store to buy a journal.  I knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep a regular journal- just writing everything about my day seemed…. To intimidating! So I did the three gratitude’s along with some a few other thing daily in this journal- to have structure, so I wouldn’t feel obligated to write every single last thing about my day.  If you asked me five months ago if I thought I would actually keep it up, I would’ve responded with a resounding NO, at last I actually did! I have found that now when I read my entries from each day, even though it’s not a lot, I can almost always remember that day in detail, things that I had forgotten until I reread the entry. My gratitude journals will be the most important “souvenir” that I bring back to the states at the end of my exchange.

The simple black journal that I bought from the Harvard Bookstore back in August

Until next time

Daniel Herschlag

Three gratitude’s

1. I read two more chapters of “Igre Gladni” ( The hunger games). This is the most Bosnian that I’ve read in one day thus far
2. I had a skype conversation with my Bosnian tutor that I had before I came to Bosnia
3. I went to the store to buy some bread and had an extended conversation with the cashier.

“Home life” Differences.

Staying in touch consistently with my friends back in the United States has proven to be much more difficult than I anticipated. Many times when I start talking to a friend back in the States, the question “how is Bosnia” (or something along those lines) comes up. It’s hard to answer. How can I possibly condense everything I have learned and experienced in Bosnia into a couple of Facebook messages or a text?   Often, the easiest thing to do is to talk about the differences in my life here vs my life in Massachusetts. My Sarajevo “home” life is quite different.  I went from living in the middle of suburbia, in a fairly large home, with a lot of other people to living in a capital European city, in an apartment, with just one other person.

In real estate terms, the Bosnian apartment is “homey” (a.k.a. small at l), but there is more than enough room for two people. It’s certainly a big change from my Easton home, where there is a lot of space. (In fact, with both my older sister and I out of the house, I’ve heard that my young brother and sister now effectively have their own “wing” of the second floor.)  In my apartment here in Bosnia, there are three rooms where I spend the majority of my time. There is my room (which I do not need to share).  Outside of sleeping and watching Netflix I don’t spend too much time in my “soba”. Next there is the kitchen/dining room. It is here that I jump headlong into Bosnian cuisine and eat anything that is put in front of me; sometimes I know what it is, sometimes I don’t.  Finally there is the “living room”. I spend the most time here. The furnishings are minimal but very cozy. There are two couches, a chair and a TV. This is the room where I get the majority of my language practice. My host mom and I have the majority of our conversations here. Our conversations range from discussing “Indian” soap operas (if you have never seen one of these before, find some way to watch them, probably one of the funniest things I’ve seen…. and the show is trying to be serious) to debating the merits and demerits of eating until you physically can’t any more (I apparently don’t eat enough food?)  In addition, almost every day I read either a fairytale or a newspaper article out loud to her so I can work on my pronunciation. I have adjusted easily to the smaller spaces here – in fact, it has been a relatively easy adjustment to make. And aside from the setting, how I spend my time at home here in Bosnia is not that different to how I spend my time at home in Easton.  Sometimes I “forget” that I’m living in Sarajevo, Bosnia when I am at home.

When I am out of the house, however, it’s impossible to forget that I’m living in a city thousands of miles away from the USA.  My apartment is about 25-30 minutes on public transport (on a good day) from my school.  In Easton, I’m about a 10 minute car from home to school. My Bosnian school has a very interesting schedule – more like a college schedule back in the U.S.  I’ll have a three hour break in the middle of the day, and coupled with the fact that I try to use the trolley bus only twice a day, I usually just stay around the city center during those breaks. Sometimes I’ll just wonder aimlessly around the city, simply enjoying the many years of history that is omnipresent.  Even when I go out with friends here, there is rarely a “set” plan.  Usually we will just meet up somewhere in the city and then find somewhere to go from there. This approach seems typical for Sarajevo, where people rarely make plans more than a day in advance. In the US it isn’t uncommon to make plans 1-2 weeks out- even when it isn’t a “big” thing.  Another major difference in my lifestyle here is that for the past three and a half months I have not ridden in a car more than seven or eight times (at home in Easton, this might equal a week-end’s worth of rides)!

One of the biggest differences which I’ve had to get used to is being in a home with just one other person. In my home in the United States, the house is NEVER quiet.  With three teenagers (and a dog) in the house and my sister who goes to college about thirty from my town, someone is always coming or going. In my apartment here, silence is perfectly normal- that took some getting used to. When I first arrived in Sarajevo, I felt like I had to talk to my host mom 24/7.  It felt impolite not to. However, when I first got here my Bosnian would only go as far as “I want this or I like this”, so trying to make constant conversation was difficult. I would feel awkward if, for instance, I was sitting in the living room reading a book, and my host mom was in the next room doing something.  After three and half months the majority of that awkwardness has faded- I’ve learned to embrace the quiet.

These are just a few of the differences with my “living situation”.  There are soooooooo many more, and they will almost certainly be the topics of future blog posts. What is striking to me now is that these differences are getting harder and harder to pick out. The more time I spend here, the more these “differences” are normalized.   They are not as striking or as obvious to me anymore.  I think it may be because many of the differences (e.g. size of my apartment, how I get around, how my school day is scheduled) are physical.  But I am discovering that many of things that affect how I feel or how I interact with people are not that different at all.

Until next time

Daniel Herschlag

Three gratitude’s

1.I was finally able to get WiFi on my laptop at school.

2. I watched some National Geographic today, Na bosanskom

3.In English class we gave a presentation about thanksgiving. After we finished we preceded to gorge ourselves on american junk food, courtesy of Rachael and yoga.

Fourth Episode of Saying Yes: International Education week?

Last week was International Education week, in addition we were able (after trying for like a month) to record another episode of Saying Yes. We are going to try to record on a more regular basis, key word there  being “try”.

In other news, I have a blog post that  I have about 2/3 or the way written, so that should be up soon.

Until Next time

Daniel Herschlag

Three gratitude’s

1. I got to meet some more of my host mom’s family

2. I started reading a new book today, “Unbroken”, already 150 pages in!

3. I found 2 Euros in my jacket from when I was in the Frankfurt airport, 103 days ago.

Disclaimer: The State Department is very generously giving us the opportunity to have this experience. However  we are  just high schoolers! Any opinions expressed are our own and don’t reflect on the official stance of, well, anyone – not the State Department or the United States government or even our implementing organizations! As always, thanks for listening!

Gdje je trolley bus

Gdje je trolley bus? (where is the trolley bus) , I ask that question every day. I use Sarajevo public transport daily.I spend around an hour or two each day, either waiting for it or within its confines. It is a notable part of my life here in Sarajevo.  It can be extremely frustrating but is also the source of many unforgettable memories.

First of all,  here is a little background. I have five main ways of getting around the city of Sarajevo. Each has their pros and cons.  In my opinion, the best way to get around is walking. Sarajevo is a fantastic city to wonder about on foot. It is next to impossible to get truly lost. When in doubt you can simply head towards the river and from there it is easy to get your bearings. If for some reason couldn’t/ didn’t want to use any other means of transportation except for your own two feet, you wouldn’t have to – I don’t think it would even be a real inconvenience.

The next way to get around is a taxi. Although taxis here are relatively inexpensive, I still rarely utilize them. I have taken a taxi twice since I have started living here and only because I absolutely needed to. Rather than hail a cab I would rather walk to where ever I need to go regardless of the distance.

Sarajevo has three main “public” systems of transportation.  The fastest and most consistent is the tram. It runs on the street among the traffic and sometimes in the space between the lanes of traffic which is why it is  the fastest way to get from point A and to point B. The tram does have its cons, the most obvious is how crowded it can be (and it seems that whenever I need to take it, it is beyond crowded). As with the two other forms of public transit that I will talk about, Bosnians always try to cram as many people as humanly possible onto one tram car. I have seen “maximum” capacity signs, but they are only there because I think they have to be- no one really follows them. One time I was taking the tram and I was being physically “smushed” into the door. When the door opened at the next stop, I legitimately fell out (how I avoided falling flat on my face is a mystery to me). However, I rarely take the tram because there is no stop in my neighborhood.

Picture of a Sarajevo tram ( I just took this picture off the internet)

Up next is the “commercial bus”.  The commercial bus is run by a privately owned company, its lines closely follow those of the trolley bus. This bus is rarely as crowded as the tram or the trolley bus. Its route is also slightly faster than the trolley bus. However my public transportation pass doesn’t work for it, so I have to pay 1.60 km every time I take it. Sometimes if I have had a particular long day, and I feel the need to splurge, I’ll gladly fork over the 1.60 km.

this is the type of commercial bus I take the most often. ( again just took a picture from the internet)

Finally we arrive at the trolley bus. This is the form of transportation I have used almost every single day I have been in Sarajevo. The trolley bus is simply a bus that runs on electric wires that are suspended above the street.

outside of the trolley bus- right before I got on.

However, I have a love-hate relationship with the trolley bus. First of all, it is extremely, extremely inconsistent. Sometimes you will wait for 20-30 minutes and not one trolley bus will go to your station, and then in the space of 5 minutes three will come. One time, while I was waiting for a particularly long time, I started writing a song about the trolley bus- I entitled it “gdje je trolley bus” (where is the trolley bus).  Now whenever I am waiting for a long time, and have nothing better to do I think of lines to add to my master piece (maybe I’ll post it at the end of the year?) In addition, the trolley bus doesn’t always run without flaw. Today I saw three trolley buses just sitting at a stop- I have no idea why they weren’t running .

they were just sitting there for a LONG time. I ended up taking the commercial bus that day.

This always seems to happen when I need to be somewhere or I am running late.  It is not uncommon for the trolley bus to just break down as well.  Due to its inconsistency,  Bosnians will cram themselves into the trolley bus. Even when it seems there is no more room- they always find a way. Fairly often one of my daily gratitude’s involves NOT being pancaked in between a mass of people on the trolley bus.

Inside the trolley bus on a very very very quiet day.

My personal moto on the trolley bus is “you are your own personal sanctuary”. The idea of personal space simply does not exist.

Just as I am often grateful that the trolley bus wasn’t crowded/wasn’t late/ didn’t break down/ etc etc, I am also grateful for the chance encounters that happen during my journeys on the trolley bus. I have had countless conversation with the other YES abroaders about anything and everything while we are traveling on the trolley bus. Sometimes I’ll run into someone from school. Other times I’ll have conversations with complete strangers. Once, this politician of some sort (I think) came onto the trolley bus and started to talk to people and shake their hands. He came over to me and started to talk me. I really didn’t understand what he was saying (this was at the end of a very long day). So I did the thing that most exchange students are also very familiar with, I smiled and nodded, it worked and he went on and spoke with the next person. The trolley bus defiantly supports the idea of a “small world”.  The other day I talked to a person who had actually grown up in Brockton ( the town next to mine).  What are the chances of that? Although the trolley bus can be very irritating, there is no avoiding it. I follow the old and i thought over used cliché, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

Until next time

Daniel Herschlag

Three gratitude’s

1.I bought tickets yesterday for the Sarajevo jazz fest this weekend

2.  I had a three hour break today in the middle of the school day

3. I finished reading Hillary Clinton’s book “Hard Choices”, today

Moj bosanski rodendan (my Bosnian birthday)

Last Thursday was my seventeenth birthday, it would be my first birthday that I would be celebrating away from home.  I don’t make a big deal out of my birthday;  my usual “birthday celebration”  would include cake and Ice-cream with my family followed by the unwrapping of a few gifts.  My definition of a “party” is as simple as going out with close friends  the following weekend.

There are no particularly important milestones for birthday number seventeen.  It’s not like when you turn 16 and, in the US, at least, are deemed “mature” enough to get behind the wheel of a car. It’s certainly not like the eighteenth birthday, which has a whole set of assumptions mostly associated with being an “adult” such as fulfilling certain civic duties such as voting.   Although no milestones were reached when I celebrated my birthday this year- I certainly won’t be forgetting it anytime soon!

The day started out much like every other birthday.  Before I went to school my Host mom wished me a happy birthday (just like my actual mom would).  I was bombarded by Facebook “happy birthday” notifications whenever I got a Wi-Fi connection.  However, there was a profound difference in my notifications this year. The posts on my “wall” were from people spread over 15 countries around the world.  They were coming from my friends in the USA, my fellow yes abroaders across the world and of course my new friends here in Sarajevo!  It was a great reminder of  all the connections I now have with people scattered across the world.

Otherwise, it seemed to be a very normal day. My YES abroad cohorts took an adventure to one of the  Bosnian public health centers to get forms signed for our visa applications.  I had my classes at school.  After classes, I was planning on having my  individual monthly meeting with my local American Council coordinator here in Sarajevo and then we were  scheduled for our weekly Bosnian lessons. With all of this in mind, I was planning on getting home relatively late. However, in the middle of my chemistry class I received a text saying that our Bosnian teacher had to cancel our lessons.  Perhaps,   I should have been a little suspicious.  Why would our Bosnian teacher cancel less than 3 hours before our lessons?   I figured something must have come up, so I didn’t really give it a second thought.

At the end of the meeting with my coordinator, she said that she would be coming to my apartment to get some documents from my host mom.  Again, I should have been a little suspicious at this point because I knew for a fact that my local coordinator had already been to my house to have a meeting with my host mom.  But as anyone who knows me well could tell you, sometimes I can be more than a little oblivious to things going on around me.  So again I carried on, without suspicion.

I boarded the bus with my coordinator and headed home – about a 30 minute ride.  We walked to my apartment and went inside.  I walked into the living room and saw my host mom’s son standing in the kitchen.  I assumed my mom had invited him to celebrate my birthday – much like what would happen back in the U.S.  That assumption only lasted a fraction of a second because one of my fellow BiH yes abroaders, Rachael – jumped out from behind a corner and yelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!… Another thing that any one of my close friends would tell you – I startle very very very easily… I could not breath for a solid 10 seconds.  After I recovered from the surprise,  I looked around my apartment and realized that all of the Bosnian YES abroader plus 4-5 of my extended host family and a couple of members of the American council’s staff were all there!  They planned an honest to god SURPRISE birthday party for me! I was very much surprised. I found out the next day that even people from school knew about this- I was the only person who didn’t know!

After the surprise, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner together.  Then in a very traditional Bosnian fashion everyone had a cup of Bosnian coffee.  After our coffee my host mom brought out a birthday cake complete with candles!  There was the mandatory singing of “Happy Birthday” in English and then the other yes abroaders made a valiant attempt to sing it in Bosnian… solid effort!  In keeping with the usual order of things, the cake was followed by a few gifts from my host family plus a bag of assorted Bosnian sweets courtesy of the American council’s staff here in Sarajevo.

The biggest “gift” that I received though wasn’t something that I could open. It was a realization. That night during the celebration I felt 100% at home.  I wouldn’t say that I have been homesick since I’ve gotten to Bosnia, but I can say that I have felt like I was in a bit of a “limbo” state.  I didn’t feel that I was mealy a visitor, but I didn’t feel that I was quite “at home” either.   That night, on my seventeenth birthday, that small amount of uncertainty faded. I will now forever have a second home here in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Here are some of pictures from the birthday celebration.

we of course had a Bosnian birthday cake. Complete with candles!

me with my host nephew. I was trying to try on a sweat shirt that they bought me…. it was a little on the small side…

Eating a lot of food. As always!

Me with my host mom… I think I was in the middle of saying something? ne znam… ( I swear that I usually don’t look that spacey…)

Right after the “cohort” surprised me.

Until next time,

Daniel Herschlag

Three gratitudes

1. thanks to the wonders of the internet, I was able to talk to one of my good friends in the USA today.
2. For the first time in like three weeks the trolley bus on my way back from school  was not uber crowded….
3. Tomorrow I only have two classes.

A reminder of home- Scouting

Okay, before I dive into this blog post, let me to take the opportunity to say a few things. First of all, I have SOOO much I want to blog about but I’m trying to only blog once every other week. I guess the fact that I have so much I want to share is a good indication of how “enrichment-full” my time here has been. Of particular interest this week is the Bosnian elections; politics is kind of my thing. So, my next blog post will focus on the elections – probably within a week.

This weekend, back in the States it is Columbus Day weekend. Every Columbus Day weekend my scout troop takes a ferry ride to Nantucket and spends the weekend camping, biking around and exploring the island. Thankfully, I am still on the email list for my troop so I received all the emails regarding the huge amount of planning it takes every year to make the trip happen. This year, there are about 67 people going – all the camping gear, all the bikes, all the “stuff” has to get organized and ready for the ferry – no small feat. This is my by far my favorite trip. In my six years of scouting, I have never missed this trip. I have many fond memories ranging from discovering and hanging around at a skate park, to swimming in the cold October Atlantic Ocean even attempting to perform street music one year. Obviously I am missing this trip this year.

Scouting is a huge part of who I am today, a core part of my identity. Without scouting, I’m not sure I would have been able to have the experience that I am having now. Scouting has taught me many invaluable lessons and skills. It instilled in me a love of the outdoors and a curiosity of the world around me. It taught me how to be a teacher (I really couldn’t appreciate what teachers in school did until I taught at my Boy Scout camp for a summer). It taught me how to take responsibility for myself, it taught me how to be independent, and it taught me to step out of my comfort zone. It taught me that I can do things that I didn’t think I could do. The people I have met through scouts have been some of the most influential people in my life. In particular, my Scoutmaster, comes to mind. He challenged my thinking and through my conversations with him, I learned how to analyze issues and current events from a completely different perspective. He has shown me that learning new things can happen throughout your whole life. I have trouble putting words to how integral scouts is to my life. Needless to say it is one of the things that I miss a lot.
When I first arrived in Bosnia my local coordinator informed me that there was indeed a “scout group” in Sarajevo. I had known about international scouts, but couldn’t find any information about a Sarajevo branch “pre-departure”. I was thrilled when I learned there was indeed a troop here. I was able to make contact with them and yesterday I went to my first meeting which took place on Mt.Igman, just a tram and bus ride outside of Sarajevo. Before I knew it, I was waiting for the kids to arrive at the base of the mountain so we could begin our hike

A few days prior to this meeting, I was in contact with one of the leaders of the troop. She spoke very good English and gave me a little bit of background on how the troop is organized and run. What I understood is that the “scouts” are for boys and girls ages 10-15. Another group leads the scouts; I am a part of that group. My role would be very similar to the role I had back in my Boy Scout troop back home, I would be helping to teach. Beyond that I really didn’t have too much more information. I had no idea what it would be like, how similar or dissimilar it be to scouts back home? Would I be able to be useful? Is my Bosnian good enough to do this? However, one of the many things I have learned since I have started living in Bosnia is not to have expectations so with that in mind I tried to quiet all my questions (I always ask a TON of question like everywhere I go so this was a lot easier said than done) and just let things happen.

It was a blast! It took us about 45 minutes to get from the base of the mountain to where we wanted to go. Once there we broke the scouts up into two groups. One group would be learning how to properly build a fire and the other group would be constructing survival shelters. I started with the group that was building fires but I ended up spending the majority of my time with the group that was constructing shelters. I tried to help where I could, although it was extremely difficult at times primarily due to my language skills. My Bosnian has progressed to the point where I have no trouble getting around the house and having basic conversations with family. Before we began our hike up, I attempted to introduce myself in na bosasnki… I saw more than a few smile and heard more than a few giggles as I tried to form sentences in my heavily American accented Bosnian. When we got to the top of the mountain and we began our activities I was able to communicate if I needed something or if I wanted one of the scouts to do something, However teaching is hard, Trying to teach in Bosnian…. Is very hard … for now. I did a lot of “showing” and gesturing. I am sure that as the year goes on my Bosnian will improve and it will become easier (I am thinking that scouts will be an awesome way to practice my Bosnian as well). For now I will just try to be as helpful as I can be.

Throughout the day I had a definite sense of déjà vu. Even though I was thousands of miles away from home, the atmosphere was so similar. I did these exact same activities in my scout troop back home. The smell of burning pine was in the air, the sounds of scouts crashing through the woods, scourging for the best branches to use for their shelter, the feel of dirt and sap on my hands. I closed my eyes and felt completely “at home”, a reminder that the connections people share and our common experiences can be found anywhere.
Until next time

Daniel Herschlag

Three gratitude’s
1. Yesterday I misplaced my watch, I tore my room apart looking for it…. I found it under the steps going to my apartment.
2. I went out scrounging for some political posters (I have been attempting to collect them) I was able to get a few more today, hopefully I can get a few more tomorrow before they all get tossed in the trash
3. A lot of the other YES abroaders  (from all the different countries) have been liking each other Facebook statuses from like 2010-2011… you can learn a lot about a person this way…. Many laughs ensued.

Here are some pictures from the hike

Judging the shelters

Beginning the hike

the view on the way up

the view on the way down

3rd Episode of Saying yes “we’re in country”

The third episode of Saying yes is now up! Thanks to the magic of the internet, this episode was made in six different countries! across 4 different time zones.

Disclaimer: The State Department is very generously giving us the opportunity to have this experience. However we are just high schoolers! Any opinions expressed are our own and don’t reflect on the official stance of, well, anyone – not the State Department or the United States government or even our implementing organizations! As always, thanks for listening!

Until next time
Daniel Herschlag

Three gratitude’s
1.I found out that I am getting both Friday and next Monday off from school
2. The adorable puppy that try to follow me onto the trolley bus the other day showed up in my neighborhood again.
3. my host mom made me “Bosnian pizza” today

A Note on Trust

In normal day to day life, building trust takes time. Let me assure you that from my experience thus far, life on exchange is far far far from normal. Everyone knows the experience of a “trust fall”; it has become one of those cliché “team building” exercises we have all done at least once, I imagine. This is that exercise while on an exchange. Before the “trust fall”, you don’t get the luxury of being able to glance multiple times behind you to makes sure there is someone there. It’s more like being blindfolded and instead of close friends behind you, it’s some random person. Instead of having the potential of falling onto a padded mat or some grass, it’s a bed of nails.

In almost every exchange setting, whether it’s your new school or in your new home, you
have to trust people, FAST. One particular quote that I read about studying abroad holds very true, “it’s not a year in your life, it’s a life in a year”. You can’t afford to take YEARS to build up trust with people because you simply don’t have the time. You just need to let yourself “fall” and trust that someone will catch you, even though you don’t have any particular reason to believe that they will.

Someone asked me if it was like a “leap of faith”; I think the better description is little “hops of faith”. For example, half the time when my host mom makes me a meal, I have no idea what it actually is. I just have to trust that it will be good (a faith that has not been misplaced). Or when I try to speak Bosnian, I trust my friends to not totally make fun of my (beyond) horrible accent and then to correct me so I don’t make the same mistake again. When I go on my trips to the “selo” (countryside), I’m usually getting in the car with one of my host moms relatives. I have never met them, let alone seen them drive! I just trust that they will be able to navigate the winding roads of Bosnia. You just have to constantly make these little “hops of faith” in the day. I think that if I didn’t take these little “hops of faith” my exchange would not be 1/10 of the rich experience that it has been thus far

I like to be able to trust people; in fact, trusting people, even if I don’t have much reason to do so is a personal “rules of life”. One early fear about my exchange experience was that sticking to this rule would be difficult. Back in the States almost every activity and hobby I did required some level of trust. When I white water kayak, I trust that if I ever got into a tricky spot my friends would be there to help me. When I am sparring in martial arts, I trust that my sparring partner is not going to purposely try to knock me out! When I am dangling 50 feet in the air when I rock climb, I trust that the person belaying me won’t let me fall if I were to lose my purchase on the rock face. Being able to trust someone is not hard for me. But trusting at home is different; the people in whom you place your trust usually have a shared background and many shared experiences. I have known most of my friends for years.

My experience with trust, up until this exchange, has happened in a familiar environment. So one of my personal rules of life, to trust people, has not been tested to any extreme degree. Trust is a lot easier to do when you are in a familiar environment- and let me say, an exchange to a foreign country does not put you in a familiar environment. I’ve been in Sarajevo for 46 days now, and I can tell you, without a doubt that I am still in the early stages of familiarity. One of the many reasons I wanted this exchange experience was to test my ideological convictions. I wanted to see if I would continue living by those convictions. I wanted to find out if they were just convictions when they were convenient and easy. I have learned two important things so far – one, my conviction of trust is not one of convenience. Two, regardless of our different backgrounds and experiences, people everyone seem to want to trust and to be trusted. It is a universal element that ties us together.

Until next time

Daniel Herschlag
Daily gratitude’s
1. I found my new favorite flavor of ness café!
2. I have restful weekend
3. I talked to other YES a broader today using the wonders of the internet.

“What is your favorite thing about Bosnia so far? “

“What is your favorite thing about Bosnia so far? “

Since I have gotten to Bosnia I have been asked that question numerous times. Sometimes from Bosnians who want to know what my impressions of their home is. Other times from friends and family back home. In both bases I usually say something along the lines of “the food here is awesome” or, “the people are very nice”. That answer though feels… incomplete. Sure I have enjoyed the food ( I don’t know how I lived without Ćevapi) and the people here that I have gotten to know are extraordinarily kind and friendly but I don’t think that either of those answers does justice to the question. When I think about it, it is difficult to point to one specific thing about my first month in Bosnia that has made it the fantastic month that it has been.

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”- that is the best way to describe my experience so far and it makes answering “the favorite thing” question difficult (especially if I’m trying to answer in Bosnian!). It’s hard to just recall “the little” parts of my experience so far off the top of my head, but I have certainly had a lot of awesome little experiences so far. Whether a particularly comedic trolley bus ride after a tiring day , spending hours in a café between classes with new friends, spending time at the American Councils office, or wandering the streets of Sarajevo and getting to know the city that is now my home, any one of these things can lead to one of these “little moments”. These moments, on their own have made my day to day life great, but combine them together and I can truly say that my first month in Bosnia has been one of the best months of my life.

I’m sure that as the year progresses, I will have my fair share of “high-lightable” experiences. However, I don’t think that one big experience could ever overshadow all of the little things. It is like an ice-cream Sunday. The big outings and experiences will be like the toppings but the “little moments” combined will be like the actual ice-cream.

To answer the question, “what has been my favorite thing about Bosnia so far?” to boil it all down -I’ll just say day-to-day life. Just living here is my favorite thing.

Below are some pictures showing a little bit of the Day-to- day life.

From a rooftop café

this little puppy legit ended up sitting on my foot.

from a cloudy day on my walk to the trolley bus stop.

Wondering the streets of Sarajevo.

 

Trying to figure out what we want at a café.
Photo creds- Ewea Tseumah her blog is-http://valentinetravelstheworld.wordpress.com/

Until next time

Daniel Herschlag

Three gratitude’s
1. I took another trip to the country side this weekend
2. the weather report said it was going to pour rain- but except for like one 20 minutes shower it stayed clear
3. I got to have some awesome homemade bread while I was in the country.