Croatia and Bosnia: Part 2

After our trip to Mostar, we headed for a three night stay in Sarajevo, Bosnia. This was a really neat town. Very tourist/pedestrian friendly. During our stay here, we got the chance to visit the U.S. embassy. We had to go through pretty intense security but had a meeting with the political counselor from the US who advises Bosnian government officials. He was really open to all of our questions and gave us a lot of background on the problems the government has had since the war. We also got to visit Srebernica, a memorial site where 8,000 Bosnians were massacred  in 1995 (the largest genocide since WWII). This was a very sad day. We walked through the cemetery where the bodies are now buried and watched a short documentary film that showed the stories of some of the refugees. The United Nations was present at the site but was unable to protect the Bosniaks from the Serb forces. It was sad to see but also important to realize that something so terrible should never happen again!

Split, Croatia 

We spent our last few days in Split, which is right on the coast. This was a beautiful few days. Me and my two friends Meagan and Alyssa took a pretty short ferry to a nearby island called Hvar. It was absolutely gorgeous. Good place to relax after a long and tiring week!

On our last day in Split, something kind of unexpected and scary happened (and I figure it should still go in the blog). I was eating lunch with a group in Split and had a pretty severe allergic reaction to something that I ate in my meal. We're still not sure if it was shrimp or something else that I'm not used to but luckily I was with a group of adults who kicked into action mode and quickly the paramedics arrived to administer a shot of epinephrine which is an allergy blocker. Luckily I was completely okay but it was still a bit traumatic. I've tried to take it easy the last few days and continue to rest up. Now I know to be more cautious about food when traveling. Not an ideal situation but God was watching over me-- I was with a group of adults and the director of my program knew how to handle things.

All in all I'm pretty pooped from the trip-- it wore me out in every way! But was ultimately a good experience and lots of good memories came from it. I can't believe that I only have two weeks left in Bologna!

Sending love and hugs,

Jenna