Settled In

I spent the early part of the week trying to find somewhere to live, but i did not have to try too hard; when i got to work on the first day, my colleage Anisa was like "What?! You haven't found a place yet? I will find you one right now!" So she called some agencies, and showed me a good hostel in the meantime. So after i moved my stuff into the hostel, the owner, who does not speak English, and her son-in-law, who sort of speaks English, asked me how long i was staying, and when i explained my situation, they were like "What?! No, hostel is no good for that long, we will find you an apartment!" (Keep in mind they are losing money by doing this.) So Ernes, Nerma's son-in-law, went out and made some phone calls, then came back and told me the elderly woman who lives upstairs from the hostel has an extra bedroom, and brought me upstairs to meet her. She offered me some coffee and juice, and we talked through Ernes for a little while (she does not speak English) and she invited me to rent her room for 6 weeks for 300 marks (that is very cheap.) This Bosnian super-hospitality stereotype seems to be very true.

She is very nice, her name is Kimeta, and I call her "Tetka Kimeta," which means "Aunt Kimeta." She is over 80 years old, and recently had a leg injury which makes it almost impossible for her to walk. So Ernes and Nerma come up often to help her. There is a little corner store downstairs, and Kimeta used to go all the time. When the woman who works there, Elvira, noticed Kimeta stopped visiting, she went upstairs to see if Kimeta was ok. She and her 7-year old daughter sleep there now every night in the other room until Kimeta's leg heals- not because they need a place to live, but because Kimeta needs some help, and that is the "normal thing for neighbors to do" here. I am enjoying talking with everyone there and getting to know them- even with the language barrier, it's not that difficult to communicate.

The other night, i was wandering around and apparently found “one of Sarajevo’s best kept secrets,” “To Be or Not to Be,” a romantic little Bosnian/Mediterranean restaurant, made of stone, only two tables downstairs, and a few upstairs. Delicious vegetable risotto with eggplant and several kinds of squash, flavored with green apples for sweetness and rye seeds, delicious. Then i walked around book bazaar at edge of old town, bought some books on Sarajevo at BuyBook. Ernes and Elvira got me a Bosnian-English book, and I am learning some basic phrases.