DREAM COMES TRUE: BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA (Part-3)

Under The Weather History Follows Forever

After a long time (like more than 1 month) here I keep on going…and of course the other part of my Bosnia and Herzegovina trippin’…Konjic

Konjic is a small town in a wonderful valley of the Neretva river. The town is located on a half a way ride from Sarajevo to Mostar. Konjic owes its magnificent scenery to the crystal clear green water of Neretva which runs through the town, a couple of smaller rivers joining Neretva, and mighty mountains (Prenj, Bjelasnica, Igman) surrounding the valley…

Even if the weather wasn't good enough for walking or discovering Konjic; we found a way and have seen almost everywhere of Konjic...We reached to Konjic via bus journey from Sarajevo and it took only 1 hour by bus...even this 1 hour showed us so many interesting views cause the villages which we passed inwardly were amazing...I cannot count how many photos I took...and even from that time I clearly understood that we were going to a great town which has a great and long history...

When we arrived there as I mentioned above the weather wasn't good enough unfortunately but we had a great willing and ambition so we didn't give up and started to walk and started to discover this great town...

In 5 minutes we came across one important square about Bosnian War...It was The Square of Alija Izetbegović...and there is a statue about the people who died in 1992-1995 War...it was such a heavy moment for me and probably for my friend from France too cause when you see these kind of statues whatever you do is not working and you feel yourself really sad...

After that we reached to The Bridge of Konjic...This bridge has a great but also sad history...

The stone bridge in Konjic was built in 1682/83. According to the historians we can understand this from the tarih (chronogram) incised on a plaque at the centre of the bridge above the upper korkaluk (parapet of the bridge).  But this  plaque disappeared in 1944 when the Germans bombed Konjic and part of the bridge was destroyed...After that in 1946 a new concrete bridge was built in Konjic somewhat lower than the stone bridge, which is now used as the main bridge for both road and pedestrian traffic...

When the calendars showed 2004 the reconstuction of the bridge began, financed by the Turkish governament and Municipality of Konjic and the opening ceremony took place on 12.05.2006

The Bridge of Konjic (Turkish&Bosnian)

Before our journey to Konjic while we were in Sarajevo...many people claimed that People in Konjic are very easy going and friendly so feel free to ask someone for directions or to engage in some small talk...We absolutely saw this is a true thing about them...Even if some of them didn't know English, they tried to help us especially for best drinking-eating places...I am so happy that I have been at Konjic...

Of course while we were walking every each step I was thinking our dear Bosnian friends especially Senida-Lejla-Emina who suggested us to see this great town...I am so glad that they suggested us this town for discovering even with Konjic you can understand that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not formed by only Sarajevo and Mostar...so 

...I FEEL BOSNA i HERCEGOVINA...

DREAM COMES TRUE: BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA (Part-2)

More Than a Feeling

And now it is time for 2.part…

As I mentioned from the first part of these memories; Bosnian hospitality was absolutely amazing…At least for me it was. Because whenever I wanted to get info about Sarajevo or any other city etc. Even if they don’t know English good enough; they were ready at there for helping…Sometimes we used body language sometimes English sometimes even Turkish…

They exactly know how a country should host foreign people even if these people are tourists and only come there for 3 or 4 nights :)

Sarajevo due to the century long tradition of tolerance and religious integration, this city is often referred to as the “European Jerusalem”. If you really would like to see this; it is enough just to see around of you in Sarajevo. Mosques, cathedrals, churches and synagouges are located in peace and harmony within the range of 500m...

Serb Orthodox Cathedral in Sarajevo
 

The Cathedral of Jesus' Heart in Sarajevo

Franciscan Church of St. Anthony of Padua in Sarajevo

Sarajevo is also a place of great historical events and contrasts. It is the city the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in 1914 triggered the  spark of the First World War. This event happened on The Latin Bridge. The Latin Bridge was built in 16th century and near to this bridge there is Muzej Sarajeva (Museum “Sarajevo 1878-1918”). You can find every kind of materials about this assassination also before this period. It was only 2 KM (Konvertible Mark) approximately 1 euro entrance fee for such an important history museum like this…You can also find waxes of Ferdinand and Sophie at there. It was quite nice and important experience for me because most of us have been listening and studying this event for years and I was there. I felt the atmosphere of this assassination…

Museum “Sarajevo 1878-1918”

Me, Sophie, Austro-Hungarian Archduke Ferdinand

Sarajevo also hosted the 14th Winter Olympic Games in 1984. You still can find billboards of this Olympic Games near to the bus station of Sarajevo…

 

Actually there are so many things which I would like to mention but unfortunately I have to summarize otherwise I can write pages and pages…:)

I also would like to mention about Sarajevo’s nightlife…There are some quite nice clubs; discos in Sarajevo…I visited some of them like City Pub; Celtic Pub but in my opinion and for me the best one is Bičakčić…If you would like to make salsa; here is perfect place for you…

Bičakčić

DREAM COMES TRUE: BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA (Part-1)

Actually I wanted to mean “dream became true”…because for a long time I have been planning this Bosnia and Herzegovina trippin’…

Firstly everything has appeared and developed so suddenly and quickly…I was supposed to go B&H with my valuable friends Angélique and Bisila together but than something came up and we canceled our potential trippin’ cause of some reasons. But after a certain time one day Angélique offered me about going there again…She was so sure…and I didn’t hesitate even for a minute and have started to arrange the equipments about Bosnia and Herzegovina trippin’…as I was imagining now dreams come true from my side finally…

Even before our departure, I clearly understood that I really have unbelievable connections in Bosnia and Herzegovina…I cannot classify them as my friends only…They are values for me…Even from first minute they were ready to help me about Bosnia and Herzegovina…of course after that attention I started to feel that I am completely ready to discover B&H…

And the big day came up…we were ready for going to B&H…I was excited also for journey because after a long time this was my first long journey time by bus…also it was my first international bus travellin’…it was quite a long journey for me…because it took almost 13 hours from Ljubljana to Sarajevo…but of course even if it was quite a long journey I have seen some interesting things for me…I appreciated from some things which I have seen in this journey…

Firstly I clearly understood that and saw that Bosnian people are so happy…I clearly was understanding this whenever  I wanted to look at their faces and eyes…Eyes can mention about  many things…I really surprised from this and actually this atmosphere also brought me more happiness and mirth…

Second one happened on the B&H border with Slovenia…The police officer was so hospitable not only to his citizens also against to me and my French friend…He for sure surprised when he saw my passport…He smiled ( I have never seen this view before in my life cause as we clearly know mostly the officers at borders are extremely stressful cause of security!? reasons) to me and said maybe not loudly but I clearly heard it. “Welcome to Bosna i Hercegovina arkadaş (arkadaş means friend in Turkish)”…It was such a nice moment for me even if it was almost 3 am in the morning…Thanks for Bosnian police officers also for their hospitality…

As I mentioned above…after a long journey we arrived to Sarajevo…Sarajevo was bigger than my imagination…The city is located on a large territory so it is a little bit hard to go from one place to another but they have solved this problem for many years ago…They use tram for center transportation…so even if the city was located on a large territory…we didn’t have any problem cause Trams of Sarajevo are good enough for transportation…

When we arrived there the weather was so foggy but even if it was foggy…this also showed the city in a different way…Uncertainly never came into my mind such a pretty way like that :)

When I was going by tram to the house where we would stay…I clearly saw that Sarajevo is also developed…especially the new part of the city is highly developed…

Sarajevo

                                       

When we arrived to the house of our friend…we were so surprised also…cause we were going to have a great host in Sarajevo…He was one of the best host I have seen after a long time during my whole travellin’ life…If our B&H journey passed really awesome…we owe it to him too…

The Sebilj is a pseudo-Ottoman style wooden fountain in the centre of Baščaršija

Sarajevo…Sarajevo…when we arrived to city center firstly we visited The Old Town called as Baščaršija…Baščaršija is the main street of Sarajevo, as well as being the cultural and historical center of the city and one of its landmarks. It is located in the old town part of Sarajevo, designed in the Ottoman-Turkish style…Even from first minute I smelt this atmosphere…It was unmentionable…I also surprised about the restaurants, places at Baščaršija…There were so many restaurants…if someone would like to taste traditional Bosnian foods; Baščaršija would be an excellent choice for them…except hot salep (because as far as I know and my experiences salep mostly is served as hot but in Bosnia and Herzegovina they have a different style as I saw) nothing was new for me…but of course it was also nice…the taste of it reminded me Mesir Herbal Paste. Because it contains so much cinnamon like  Mesir Herbal Paste contains…

We also saw; attempted Baščaršija Nights but unfortunately not the one which is famous as the biggest festival in Sarajevo because as far as we know this festival which occurs annually from July 1 to July 31, the festival exhibits various aspects of the nation's culture…These nights include performances of classical music, rock and roll, folk music, theatre, various exhibits, folklore, books, film, children programming, opera, ballet, and much more…But even if we couldn’t have attempted these nights…we saw how is the nightlife in Sarajevo also at Baščaršija…Not only in Baščaršija but also whole Sarajevo clearly showed us that we don’t need to only drink alcohol if we need have fun at nights…Thanks for this Sarajevo…Because unfortunately many people around the world think that if we don’t drink alcohol; we can not have any chance to have fun…But of course we have…(with a big company and cordial people)…

TO BE CONTINUED

Springsteen&R.E.M.-Man On The Moon

Mott the Hoople and the Game of Life. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Andy Kaufman in the wrestling match. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Monopoly, twenty one, checkers, and chess. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mister Fred Blassie in a breakfast mess. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Let's play Twister, let's play Risk. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
See you in heaven if you make the list. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Hey Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are we losing touch?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool

Moses went walking with the staff of wood. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Newton got beaned by the apple good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Egypt was troubled by the horrible asp. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mister Charles Darwin had the gall to ask. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Hey Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are you having fun?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool

Here's a little agit for the never-believer. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Here's a little ghost for the offering. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Here's a truck stop instead of Saint Peter's. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mister Andy Kaufman's gone wrestling (wrestling bears). Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Hey Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are we losing touch?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool

If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool

4 Seasons in Slovenske Konjice as a foreigner (EVS Volunteer)

Photos will tell everything to you...my dear followers;

 ---Spring---

 

---Summer---

Özkan Uzelli

 ---Autumn---

                               

 ---Winter---

 

 

 

Slovenia Diaries (Episode 2)-(English Version)

EVS is a different experience in Slovenia

EVS, EVS, EVS…EVS is one of the projects which contains the theme of  ‘Volunteerism’ organised by European Commission has been shaping my last 1.5 years...

 The first time when i heard EVS, the calendar were showing March 2009…How come i could have a chance to keep in mind this EVS was going to shape my last 1.5 years which have been discussing in a really nice conversation with my friends…

When i have graduated from my university especially from my department which i like in June 2009, i clearly was knowing that i can’t have enough chance to get a job easily with only bachelor degree for this reason even before graduation i had already started to search master possibilities about my department and on my last year i participated to one international conference in Ankara in Turkey and i had an exam which had been organised by Estonian Universities and i  passed their language test…I was extremely happy cause Estonia was a country which was started to become famous especially with its master possibilities for foreigner students but after my graduation i confronted with one fact unfortunately. The fact of how hard to find a scholarship…Even with this case i tried to do my best but i missed the chance to start my master for that season…

As far as i know that for someone who is looking for new things and is trying to do new things has always chance to get new things from this life and i suddenly remembered this EVS possibility and i thought ‘why not’…then after a certain time my EVS journey; my EVS experience has started and i came to a town in last february which has a spectacular view of nature live approximately 7.000 inhabitants is located at northeast of Slovenia.

I have lived this 10 months journey of my self-evaluation passionately and probably i will pass my last months in this mode…

When i started my EVS Project as the editor of youth newspaper which have been creating by my organisation (Mladinski Center Dravinjske Doline/Youth Centre of Dravinja Valley), i had some serious worries about will i be successful or not…but all these worries were unnecessary cause i understood that i was going to work with an awesome EVS co-ordinator…Alma Udvinčič…Even before my arrival to here she was so ready to help me about almost everything in Slovenia and Slovenske Konjice…And especially my arrival…she was more than a co-worker more than an EVS co-ordinator…she was like a big sister for me and i am still glad that to know her as much as the other valuable MCDD crew…

EVS is a really different kind of programme doesn’t look like the other programmes completely…In this programme all the thing is you…ONLY YOU…If you really want, you can do really good-profitable things for your hosting organisation,for your own career even for the country where you start your EVS…But if you start your EVS with a mind of like Cyndi Lauper’s song "Just Wanna Have Fun" you can’t supply input so enough...

While we were making interview with our valuable EVS volunteer Bisila Viudez Torao

When the calendar showed in the middle of August 2010…My EVS experience was going to become an international situation...cause i had a great comrade who was also an EVS volunteer in this nice country…I have been knowing him from my pre-departure trainee (the trainee which you need to take before your EVS Project where you take in your own country) and in one of our discussions we were talking about the insufficiency of the virtual materials about EVS also the other EU projects and then suddenly one idea appeared in our minds…We were going to record videos about EVS with EVS volunteers/EVS mentors-coordinators via interviews with Slovenian cities backgrounds…And with this aim we recorded 28 (Twenty-Eight) EVS videos in not only English and Turkish but also Italian-French-Slovenian-German-Serbian-Ukrainian-Russian-Hungarian…so with this way we found a chance to reach young people who were worrying about their English level…They found a chance to understand what is EVS, how they can apply and the other important procedures from different current EVS volunteers eye via interviews in their own mother languages…

Briefly…This EVS experience clearly showed me that everything can actually under our controls if we have enough willing to do something in spite of every hard cases…

I will never FORGET my EVS EXPERIENCE in SLOVENIA…

Engin Yüksel Medin

Slovenia Diaries (Episode 2)

Farklı Bir Tecrübedir EVS/AGH Slovenya’da

EVS, EVS, EVS… Yaklaşık son 1.5 yılımın en önemli gündem maddesine oturan EVS/AGH; AB Komisyonunun düzenlediği projeler bütünününden ‘gönüllülük’ temasına sahip olanıdır.

EVS yani Avrupa Gönüllülük Hizmeti’ni ilk duyduğum zaman takvimler Mart 2009’u gösteriyordu…Güzel bir sohbet ortamında açılan bu EVS temalı konunun yazımın başında da bahsettiğim gibi benim yaklaşık 1.5 yılımı şekillendireceğini nasıl öngörebilirdim ki…

Üniversitemden özellikle çok sevdiğim bölümümden Haziran 2010’da mezun olduğumda elimde salt lisans diploması ile bir işe girmenin ne kadar zor olduğunu çok iyi bilmekteydim ve daha  mezun olmadan aynı alanda master/yüksek lisans üzerine odaklanmış ve özellikle master başarılarında hızla yükselmekte olan Avrupa’nın şirin Baltık ülkesi Estonya’nın dil sınavını geçip alanımda master yapmaya çok yaklaşmışken çok nahoş bir gerçeklikle karşı karşıya gelmem uzun sürmedi. Burs bulmanın bu kadar zor olduğunu daha önceden yani okurken öngörememiş olmam beni bu isteğimden maalesef ki o zaman için alıkoydu…

Fakat yeni bir şeyler arayana sürekli olarak farklı bir şeyler ortaya koymak isteyene sayısız olanak şartlar ne olursa olsun var olduğundan ve var olacağından EVS-AGH aklıma geldi ve neden olmasın diyerek EVS maceram başlamış oldu ve 18 Şubat 2010’dan beri Slovenya’nın kuzeydoğusunda yer alan ve yaklaşık 7.000 kişilik şirin bir kasaba olan Slovenske Konjice’de EVS yapmaktayım.

Yaklaşık bu 10 aylık süreci avantajları ve dezavantajlarıyla birlikte tutkusal bir mod içerisinde yaşadım ve kalan aylarımı da bu mod içerisinde geçireceğim kuvvetle muhtemel…

Slovenske Konjice / SLOVENIA

AGH sürecine gönüllülük yaptığım kurumun çıkardığı gençlik gazetesinin editörü olarak başladığımda  her  ne kadar daha önce yaşadığım son derece kayda değer bir Erasmus sürecim olsa da üzerimde  bilinmezlikten kaynaklanan endişeler vardı. Fakat o zamanki koordinatörüm ve bir kardeş gibi sıcak gördüğüm Alma Udvinčič vardı yanımda ilk aylarımda ve özellikle onun yönlendiriciliği gerek Slovenya’ya fikren ve ruhen alışmam gerekse de projeme-kuruma- ve hatta ülkeye neler katabileceğim konusunda tüm bunları yaparken de aynı zamanda bir kültür elçisi gibi çalışıp güzel ülkemin de tanıtımını her ortamda sağlama konusunda bana güçlü bir referans olmuştur…

EVS-AGH öyle bir programdır ki bu programdan binlerce kazanım elde edip ayrılmak veya kendinize hiçbir şey katmadan ayrılmak sadece sizlere kalmış bir şey. Ben kendi olanaklarım çerçevesinde bu programdan-bu uzun süreçten maksimum fayda sağlayıp ayrılmaya daha gelmeden önce karar vermiş olduğumdan ilk günlerden itibaren ortaya bir şeyler koyma-üretme arzusu içerisindeydim ve bu süreçte özellikle ağustos ortasından itibaren aynı ülkede EVS yapmaktan son derece gurur duyduğum ortak bir kişisel proje yapmaktan dolayı da ayrıca mutluluk duyduğum bir diğer değerli gönüllü dostum olan Cem Bilen ile birlikte EVS’i tanıtıcı videolara başladık ve bu videolar serisini kasım başında sonlandırdığımızda elimizde 28 adet EVS videosu vardı ve bu videolar salt EVS nedir ne değildir tarzda değil EVS’i bu işin içinde bizzat bulunan EVS gönüllüleri, kurum koordinatörleri ile röportajlar ve arka fonda bulunduğumuz ülke olan Slovenya’nın şehirlerinden de kareler olduğu videolar şeklinde hazırladık ve bunun geri dönüşümlerini yavaş yavaş almaktayız ve ulaşılamaz-görüşülemez-ilgilerini çekemezsiniz denilen AB Komisyonundan da hatrı sayılır geri dönüşler de aldık…

Aslında yazmış olduğum tüm bu yazının ana fikri yani vermek istediğim mesaj gördüğünüz gibi eldeki fırsatları ne kadar kullanabiliriz neler yapabiliriz…Hamlet’in dediği gibi ‘İşte tüm mesele budur.’

EVS  tecrübesi bana kendi geleceğimizi şekillendirmenin her türlü olumsuzluğa rağmen (ki olumsuzluklar biz onlara olumsuzluk dediğimiz için bu ismi alırlar) BİZİM ellerimizde olduğunu NET bir şekilde göstermiştir…

Salt bunun için bile EVS benim için muhteşem bir süreç seyahatidir diyebilirim…

Engin Yüksel Medin

EVS Gönüllüsü

Slovenske Konjice/ Slovenya