Random Thought: 15

Hi,

The following is a list of my favorite things so far about this trip.

1) Visiting Sarajevo during Ramaddan (sp?). It was so cool to see people lining up around 7:30 PM at all the bakeries and restaurants for food, only to then be scared shitless as the huge fireworks went off every night at sunset, signaling that everyone could now eat. I also enjoyed the call to prayer that sounded over loud speakers in every town, which was so loud and so eerie, yet beautiful. If you ever visit a muslim country, the first time you hear it will be a great experience.

2) Our hostel in Sarajevo was up an extremely large hill. Based on distance, it was actually a great location…but the incline of the hill and its length were literally enough to ruin your day and make you need a shower and a nap. I don’t even…whatever. So we were walking up it the first day in the city and after 15 minutes of uphill walking, we just stopped because we were so out of breath. I asked Kristina ‘Soo…what do you want to do?” she replied “I want to take a cab.” And literally 2 seconds later a cab drove by. We hailed it and it took us the 5 blocks to our hostel. It cost 3 Bosnian marks.

3) The Cuban music festival in Banja Luka. Yesterday we saw something with a huge mainstage being set up in the main square of BL. When we asked someone what was going on, they told us that at 9 tonight, there was going to be a huge Cuban music festival. We went and it was so great to experience something so lively and huge and crazy in Bosnia, and if you watch the videos I plan to upload to facebook, you’ll know what I mean. It’s just the last thing you’d expect when thinking about such a damaged, war-torn, supposedly ‘conservative’ country. There were probably 700 people dancing and drinking and having a great time and it reminded me of home.

4) When we arrived in Banja Luka, we wanted to eat somewhere. Our hostel owner told us about this great restaurant that was pretty far away. We had to ask these girls for directions, and they were very nice and walked us to the restaurant, and then we saw them again at the Cuban music festival! They were with this gay guy that looked like their best friend and it was cute because it also reminded me of home.

5) Learning so much about Autralia and Denmark through my friends. These Danes are crazy about their dark bread. And they had never had cornbread! They loved it and thought it was like a mix of bread and cake.

6) Learning how much people in Europe LOVE Michael Jackson. His songs are always on the radio, in every country. And my Danish friends also hold a strong affinity for him still.

7) Finding out that people from all over the world watch Grey’s Anatomy with as much verocity as I do…and apparently that Meredith gets better.

8) Postcards. I have discovered that I am a postcard FIEND. It’s honestly my favorite thing to do every single day. As soon as I arrive at a new destination, the first thing I do is buy a handful of postcards. I have sent at least 20 thus far, and I plan on sending many, many more. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I find writing the postcards to be very grounding and relaxing, and I find sending them to be so rewarding. I carried 7 around for 6 days, unable to find a post office and when I finally did, you’d think I had won the lottery.

9) Seeing the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje.

10) Meritt. I love Meritt. Enough said.

11) The fact that I again did not make it to Istanbul. This is both humbling and humorous, and above all I am proud of the fact that I adjusted.

12) I also love the fact that almost every backpacker and local I meet is ready to have some kind of intellectual or political discussion, and that they are all extremely well-educated about American issues, such as health care reform, immigration, gay rights & the war in Iraq. On the other hand, I could talk about Israel, Prostitution, development or the Roma with any of them too.

13) That going abroad has made me less sure about graduate program I want to go into.

14) Hanging out with Genevieve was really a lesson in independence. She is only 19 and literally just decided to take a year off of college to travel all over Europe for 5 months, and she didn’t care what anyone had to say. She went on her own, as a single female traveller, all over extremely less-traveled countries, where there are significant linguistic, cultural and bureaucratic barriers, and though she definitely had her ups and downs, she just dealt with it and took it all in stride.

15) I have more stamps in my passport!

16) Everyone told me and all the books said that Dubrovnik was way better than Split. So I spent more time there, but I liked Split much better and was even going to go back before tagging along with new friends. It felt like a realer place, much more lived-in and it was easier to get around, and the beach was great.

17) I loved that southern Germany felt just like northern Italy in many ways. I totally got to see the freakin Disneyland castle. Which, ps, is only like 5% completed, and that’s what you get to see. But it was nice.

The following is a list of the funniest interactions I’ve had with my Danish friends.

1) They asked if at American parties, people really drink out of red and blue plastic cups, because, seriously, in every movie ,people always drink out of those plastic cups. They bought some actually for breakfast one morning and when they saw me went ‘Whooo Paaaartaay!”

2) I asked if either of them had tweezers I could borrow, and they had never heard this word before, and first they assumed I said ‘freezers.’ As in, ‘Do the people of Denmark have freezers?” and then they thought I asked if they had ‘Breezers’, as in a kind of malt beverage. We laughed a lot.

3) When talking about women’s health care issues, I informed them about Planned Parenthood and free clinics. They didn’t know what PP was, but that night we watched Mean Girls, and Planned Parenthood was mentioned

4) Sometimes when they ask me what a word in English is, I’ll make something up. I tried telling them that a towel was an ‘up-dick’, but they didn’t believe me. I think they already knew what a towel is.

5) Hearing them attempt southern accents…which is like, one of their favorite things to do. I told them it’s just as funny in the US. Unless you’re from the great country of Texas. They always talk about getting a on a horse and their speed of speech increases tenfold.

6) Hearing what they think the words are to certain songs…Believe, Pokerface & Ms. Jackson were highlights. Example: I’m Sorry Ms Jackson (ooh ooh ooh ooh), I am for real. Never meant to make a dolphin cry, I apologize a trillion times.

Ok, miss you guys,
Josh A.