Japan here I come

EuroCo 2005 in Makarska, Croatia was cool, and even though I attended the conference for just a few days, it was fun and inspiring. I got the feeling that I was a Local Committee President again and it was fun. I miss those days sometimes.
Now I am back and ready for new challenges.
I have some good news: I got accepted for a project organized by the government of Japan and (can you imagine?) will be going there in 8 days.
I am leaving for Tokyo on the 5th of November and will be back at the end of the month. During my stay I will visit Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto and Osaka. I will meet various NGOs and University students, exchange experiences and create potential projects for young people in Bosnia and Japan to implement together.
I got my ticket yesterday and I am ready to rock and roll...
Can't wait to meet another new culture. I am extremely happy and excited, wouldn't you be?

Chit chat over Bosnian coffee

Today was a wonderful day, after a great first meeting of the school year I had with my new AIESEC members, I had coffee with one of my closest friends in the world.
Vanja and I went to Central Café the most famous café-bar in the heart of the city to demonstrate some Bosnian tradition of sitting round and gossiping over Turkish (or some might say Bosnian) coffee.
Even though it’s Ramadan, I was wrong about people not drinking coffee at all, the cafe-bars are packed. This is proof that Sarajevo is a multi-cultured city where not everyone fasts.
No everyone understands the concept of having coffee in this part of the world. It is not just drinking coffee, it is more socializing and just chilling out, having fun. If you do visit this country, one day you might just find out what it is all about.

Mostar

Mostar is one of the oldest, most beautiful cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was built by the Turkish Empire on the river Neretva and it's the most famous for its 'Old Bridge' which was built in the year 1566 and destroyed during the war in 1993.
Different governments and organizations donated money to get the original rocks out of the water and rebuild the bridge from the same stones using the same architectural methods. It was pretty amazing when they finished it in July 2004. Especially now that Mostar is an UNESCO protected site.
Today I was fortunate enough to visit this gorgeous city and meet some of the members in our local office there.
This summer, Mostar had a record number of tourists visiting the 'Old Bridge' and I can see why.
I can't wait to go again.

Ramadan has began

Yesterday was the first day of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting.
This is one month during which all followers of the Islam religion give up eating, drinking, smoking, kissing, making love and all other pleasures.
This is a sacrifice done for the religion and during the Ramadan month Muslims give up all of the above (and more) from dawn till dusk.
People get up in the morning before sun dawn to eat, drink and pray after which they fast until the sun sets.

The traditional Bosnian coffee which we drink 5 times a day will be served but people who fast will socialize and drink it only after ‘Iftar’ (the time of the day, when the sun sets and people can start eating).

Coffee is probably the hardest thing to give up :)