Sarajevo Diaries VIII

Time for a bit of Routine...maybe.

It's been funny to see the ways in which routine tries to take hold as we get into our third month here in Sarajevo, and how sometimes no matter how hard you try, you just cannot get into a rhythm.

The school schedule ebbs and flows, but the workload is steadily increasing. Hopefully in the next couple weeks I'll be able to hammer down on what my thesis topic will be, so that I can really get to work on it in advance of the inevitable spring and summer slowdown. Masa and I are both starting a Graduate Diploma program in Islamic Studies this coming week, and really looking forward to it. Two times per week in the evenings, traversing some of the history of Islam in the Balkans....and our first reading assignment? "The Koran for Dummies." Will either be the start of something fabulous, or of something altogether different, but no doubt another adventure!

I've been thinking a lot about what a "typical day" is like here for me. On days when I have class to get to, I usually make some time for an espresso at home and a little bit of internet news of events back home. On my into school I'll stop into the "Pekara" (the bakery) in front of our place to pick up a sandwich or two, or a croissant, and to practice a small bit of my Bosnian with "the ladies" at the counter. No matter how well I think I've pronounced things, or how I try to vary my delivery, they always smile nicely and have a little laugh. They are terrific though, and always friendly - and so far their initial assessment of me is about right, as they said "either he'll have to learn Bosnian or we'll have to learn English...and well, we're not learning English."

Other times we laugh at how we ought to start a counter of some kind on this blog as to the number of times I get better service as an obvious "foreigner", or when Masa gets the deal as a "local." Last week we went to the dry cleaners to drop off a bunch of our gear, and when we got our receipt, we realized why she never even asked for our name or phone number...it simply said, "foreigner." Not sure if this is a sign a great service for me, or a slight indicative of the owner's lack of desire to interact, or worse yet, were we being charged more since I'm an "international?" As it turns out, she was kind enough to tell us that she simply cannot catch up to all of the names of the foreigners she deals with in her business, and it is simply faster to always write "STRANAC" (foreigner) on the receipts....and we even got a bit of a deal. Maybe we would count this one to the local.

Later on we went to check out a new spa "wellness centre" that is opening near our house. The were not officially open yet when we peeked into the window, but the owner did open the door a crack to answer a couple of Masa's questions. When he heard me say "it's really nice" he opened the door wide, and said, "Oh, English, come on in!" And he proceed to give us our own little private tour of the new digs. Chalk one up for the foreigner.

Needless to say still getting used to trying to simultaneously fit in a little bit and deal with the obviously different expectations that people have depending on where you come from. Maybe now different than anywhere else...