Greetings from Bosnia
Brcko
Chainsaws ring out from the neighboring houses, a mosque calls indicating afternoon prayer, two men mill about below my flat window picking up leaves and discussing the match from last night, and horns blast from passing cars marking the wedding of another couple. This is Bosnia and Herzegovina in October.
My time here has been full of ups and downs. After a frustrating first two weeks, during which I spent most of my time occupying various administrative buildings trying to get registered as a foreigner, life has calmed to a somewhat predictable manner. Most of my days are spent at the local youth center where I am serving as an intern or "volunteer" as they like to call me here. In the evenings, I am usually strolling about town and occupying various cafes with my language tutor/colleague/friend Mujke.
I came to Bosnia to learn colloquial Bosnian and to research youth empowerment. My tutor has responded to my language objectives through a variety of pedagogical methods. To expand my knowledge of grammar I teach English classes twice a week. To understand slang, I read and translate popular comic strips, watch local movies, and listen to and translate famous Yugoslav punk music (mainly Azra). This has only been going on for two weeks but I am already noticing a difference as each day I catch more and more from conversations. While eight weeks of language study in the US provided me a sound foundation, nothing compares to living in a place where all you hear is Bosnian.
Chainsaws ring out from the neighboring houses, a mosque calls indicating afternoon prayer, two men mill about below my flat window picking up leaves and discussing the match from last night, and horns blast from passing cars marking the wedding of another couple. This is Bosnia and Herzegovina in October.
My time here has been full of ups and downs. After a frustrating first two weeks, during which I spent most of my time occupying various administrative buildings trying to get registered as a foreigner, life has calmed to a somewhat predictable manner. Most of my days are spent at the local youth center where I am serving as an intern or "volunteer" as they like to call me here. In the evenings, I am usually strolling about town and occupying various cafes with my language tutor/colleague/friend Mujke.
I came to Bosnia to learn colloquial Bosnian and to research youth empowerment. My tutor has responded to my language objectives through a variety of pedagogical methods. To expand my knowledge of grammar I teach English classes twice a week. To understand slang, I read and translate popular comic strips, watch local movies, and listen to and translate famous Yugoslav punk music (mainly Azra). This has only been going on for two weeks but I am already noticing a difference as each day I catch more and more from conversations. While eight weeks of language study in the US provided me a sound foundation, nothing compares to living in a place where all you hear is Bosnian.
posted by tim at 11:47 AM
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