"Naš put je mir"

It’s hard to describe what the town of Sanski Most does to me. Every time I enter this beautiful rural Bosnian town… my heartbeat slows, my mind is quiet, and my body is at ease. Coming back to this town reminds me so much of my neighborhood at home because of the sense of community. Although there are internal dynamics to any town that an outsider will never fully understand, Sanski Most has been the most hospitable and caring community that I have ever entered for any period of time. My friends here remain some of the most loyal people I know; they always are willing and able to help me when I am in a bind and they always include me in whatever they are planning. I have a feeling that soon they will get tougher on me with the Bosnian language, but as of now, they are wonderful translators when I begin to lose my footing in the conversation.

Sanski Most is also the home of the Center for Peacebuilding, or CIM in the local language. My heart lies in this NGO, and has since last summer when I first traveled to Sanski Most. Their motto is "Naš put je mir" (our way is peace). Simple yet powerful. I have used this phrase in so many aspects of my life, from academics to friendships to merely growing up. The people that put their time and energy into CIM are some of the most amazing people I know. I look up to them and have made it my goal to help them in any way possible. If I had my way, I would stay here... but sadly I need to graduate college first haha.

I haven’t started any work on my Independent Study Project yet, mainly because it takes about 2 days to get truly settled into your surroundings, at least for me. Caitlin (my friend who is also doing her ISP in Sanski Most) and I made a massive run to Konzum (Bosnian grocery store) to pick up a TON of groceries, put all of our belongings away in our beautiful apartment in the center of town, and went out for drinks with some of our new Bosnian friends, some of whom already knew me and/or Matt (our other roommate and fellow Center for Peacebuilding volunteer). Going out for drinks = networking ☺

Well… I’m currently out on the balcony, enjoying some natural heat and the beautiful Bosnian landscape around me. I’m going to use this day to prepare myself for the next four weeks to come. To be honest, I’m terrified of the work not getting done but I’m pretty sure that Vahidin won’t let that happen. Today, I’m just going to enjoy the peace that’s around me.