Sick in Bosnia

Last week was nothing compared to this week. I will start from Monday.

On Monday we left London early in the morning to catch a flight to Dubrovnik, Croatia. I got sick on the coach and threw up, again, which was no fun. Throwing up is bad, but throwing up on the coach in front of 40 some people is even worse. Luckily everyone on the trip is so wonderful and loving and tried to comfort me. We were also running pretty late for our flight because the traffic from downtown London to London-Gatwik was insane, but we made it on time. The flight lasted close to 3 hours, and luckily I didn't feel sick after my coach incident. We arrived in Dubrovnik in the late afternoon and were greeted by the guides who will be with us during our time in Bosnia. Originally we were supposed to stay a night in Dubrovnik, but they couldn't find a hotel bit enough for us, so instead we just spent a few hours in Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is a gorgeous town, located on the Adriatic Sea. The old town is surrounded by a wall which was originally built to protect the city from invaders. At its high point the city rivaled Venice, but went on the decline after a crisis in Mediterranean shipping and a terrible earthquake in 1667. We went on a walking tour of the city and after the tour I went swimming in the Adriatic with my friends Ryan Zoradi, Bo Mangels, Charley Cullen, Brandon Woods, and Eric Jen. The water felt incredible and it was pretty hot outside. After spending some time in Dubrovnik we loaded back onto the coach and made our way to Trebinje, Bosnia, where we stayed the night.

The next morning we woke up and loaded back onto the coach to make our way to Rujiste, Bosnia. On the way we stopped at a Tvrdos Monastery, the town of Blagaj for lunch and to visit a Dervish Tekija (a mosque), and the town of Mostar. Mostar was a cool town with a famous bridge that went over a river that cuts through the middle of the town. At the bridge there were drivers who would jump off the bridge in the water for 20 euros, but no one really wanted to pay that much to see them jump. We went on a walking tour of the town and then did a little shopping at the bizarres along the walkways in the town. After Mostar we made our way up into the mountains to stay the night at Rujiste, Bosnia. It was much colder in the mountains. Seven guys, myself included, didn't actually stay in the hotel itself, but a separate chalet. It seemed cool, until we arrived at the place, which turned out to be a spider infested dump. Within the first 20 minutes of being there I counted close to 10 of the biggest, ugliest spiders I have ever seen in my life. I was not excited, but managed to get some sleep.

On Wednesday we left for Konjic, where we were going to do some white water rafting. I got sick again and threw up on the bus, which has turned into a terrible tradition. I did feel much better after throwing up, and we made it to Konjic around noon. It was cold outside and no one was super excited to go rafting. We were provided with wet-suits and booties, but the water was still freezing and it was cloudy and cold outside as well. Bosnia is actually a very beautiful country, which surprised me. I guess I imagined an ugly country ravished by the war, but we rafted down a beautiful canyon. Rafting was okay, but our guide didn't speak any English, which made for an interesting trip. Also, the trip lasted for about 5 hours, which was maybe an hour or two too long, given the weather. But we all made it though and then got on the coach to make our way to Sarajevo. We arrived in Sarajevo sometime in the evening, had a group dinner, and went to bed.

Thursday morning brought a whole slew sick kids. More than half of the group got sick, with food poison-like symptoms. As a result, all our our lectures except for one were cancelled. Luckily I did not get sick on Thursday, and felt great for most of the day. The lecture was given by a man named Mark Wheeler, who has been involved in the situation in Bosnia for a long time. He gave a fairly pessimistic lecture on Bosnia's future, essentially concluding that the future here looks bleak and the country could be headed towards dissolving. Currently Bosnia is trying to gain membership in NATO and the European Union, but there are several major road blocks that the politicians here cannot come to an agreement on, mainly police reform and education reform. Later in the evening we had a discussion with Dr. Susan Penska, who is a professor at Westmont and it working in Bosnia this year on a fellowship from the US government. Dr. Penska's take was less pessimistic, but still acknowledged that Bosnia is in a dire situation. During the day on the Thursday we had a group lunch, but less than half of the people attended because everyone was in their rooms feeling miserable. Later on Thursday night I started to feel sick with an upset stomach, which bothered me most of the night.

Today, Friday, I woke up and felt miserable. Luckily I didn't throw up, but I spent most of the day feeling sick. There was an excursion scheduled, but most of us didn't go because we felt too sick. I spent the day sleeping and watching a movie with everyone who felt sick and reading. Being sick in Bosnia is no fun and I think everyone is ready to move on the the next country. Luckily we leave for Vienna on Monday.

I am doing alright, other than being sick in one form or another this week. Please pray that I do not get sick on the coach rides anymore, it is no fun the throw up in front of everyone. Also pray for the health of the group as a whole and pray for the situation in Bosnia. That's all I have for now.
Love and Blessings,
Mikey