Handle with Care

Most people say that life in other countries is slower and while I'm sure that's not true for some places, it's mostly true in Bosnia.

People here take their time and it's nice. It's pretty normal for people to spend three or four hours sitting in a cafe drinking coffee. My host mom thinks I'm working too hard if I cook a meal and always tells me to rest afterwards. Most things are closed on Sundays here and my host mom never does any unnecessary work then either. No knitting for her u Nedelju.

I can't speak for everyone here, but I find that with a combination of the culture and my circumstances here, I handle things with a little bit more care here too.

From clothing to time, I care about thing here. When you have less clothes, you take better care of them. Same goes for shoes - we brush our shoes every week and spray them down with waterproof stuff. At home I had way too many pairs! Here I have three - nice ones, 'play' ones and ones for the rain. You take care of stuff when there's less.

My time is precious too.

I only get nine months here.

To see these friends.

Drink tea in that cafe.

Attend the church in the center.

Cook with Mama Ruza.

Study Srpski with Tata Chaslav.

Love and serve the people of Banja Luka.

Here you get to care about the weather too. At home it didn't matter that much. I only had to run from the house to the car, from the car to the destination and then back again. Here I walk 25 minutes to school and to a cafe for break and a bakery for lunch and back home. If I want to meet someone, I walk 20 minutes into the center. 15 to the National theatre. 30 to Duga (more on this soon :). 20 minutes to Delta Planet (shopping mall). Every night my family walks to the center and back with Johnny (1 hr).

Getting around on foot makes you notice things going on outside. In the car, I could talk to the driver or go on my phone and never see anything, but here I have to notice things. While driving at home, I'm focused on the road, other cars, that construction sign, and the song that's playing and I can drive 30 minutes and never see anything about the weather or nature.

But here, you do see it.

It's nice. I check the nearly weather everyday (something I never did at home). I have to dress accordingly because I walk nearly two hours a day. At home, I frequently hurried to school with no coat. Here I don a hat, mittens, coat and waterproof boots.

This probably all seems sort of mundane. And it is. And that's what makes it so cool. Being out in nature is mundane here and I think America could take a tip. Just look around and see how un-walking friendly our cities are built. We drive from one store to another in the same strip mall. People in Bosnia (and Europe) laugh at us for it.

And another thing... the rain. Besides the occasional trampoline jump in the rain when I was younger, at home I never went in the rain. One sprinkle and people run for their houses in the U.S. But here I've learned...

Never leave the house without your "kishobran" (umbrella) in Bosnia! But life goes on and you still walk. I like the rain and even look forward to it.

Anywho... If you can, find a place to walk in the next week. Even if it's cold, even if it's snowy. Go outside and see, smell, and take in things around you.

It's really lovely.