Reasons why you should plan your next visit to BiH

After a short trip around the beautiful and interesting BiH, I realized that this country is like a micro model of the Balkans. In one place you can find from everything – Christianity and Islam, communism and democracy, bloody history and bright future, abandoned buildings and shiny shopping centers, people living together and apart at the same time. Bosnia and Hercegovina has it all.

Here are only some of the hundreds of reasons why you should plan your next visit to BiH:

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/21/travel/10-reasons-to-visit-bosnia-and-herzegovina/index.html

Super old

Sometimes, when you play a song which is from 60’s, 70’s or 80’s somebody says:

“Oh my God, that is suuuuuper old”

The funny thing is that when they listen to some song from 2003 they say the same. This is obviously one more side of our “let’s hurry up, everything is old fashioned, let’s buy new stuff (it doesn’t matter if we need it or not) and let’s listen to music as new as possible (it doesn’t matter if it is just a pile of crap).

Anyway, people are quite happy listening to Rhyana, Britney,Enrique, Pitbull  “music” to realize they are listening the same song for years.

“Party, baby, you and me, tonight, my soul, my love, let’s do it, let’s make it”

So if I have to choose between the old song and the 2000 songs which are the same one, I know what to do…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXdNnw99-Ic

My favorite book

This is one of my favorite books. I have never laughed so much with a book, I strongly recommend it:

These are some quotes:

“Is my paranoia getting completely out of hand, or are you mongoloids really talking about me?” 

“I mingle with my peers or no one, and since I have no peers, I mingle with no one.” 

“When Fortuna spins you downward, go out to a movie and get more out of life.” 

“I refuse to "look up." Optimism nauseates me. It is perverse. Since man's fall, his proper position in the universe has been one of misery.” 

“I suspect that I am the result of particularly weak conception on the part of my father. His sperm was probably emitted in a rather offhand manner.” 

“Oh, Fortuna, you capricious sprite!” 

“I also told the students that, for the sake of humanity’s future, I hoped that they were all sterile. I could never have possibly read over the illiteracies and misconceptions burbling from the dark minds of these students. It will be the same wherever I work”

BRILLIANT book

I've been there

I was talking to my boss the other day and he told me “ Oh, god, you have been everywhere!!” I didn’t realize before but in the past 12 months, only in one year, I have been in all these places:

Valencia Madrid Leipzig Dresden Berlin Sevilla Zagreb Samobor Rijeka Sarajevo Paris Istambul Kavala Thessaloniki Berat

Tirana Skoder Budva Dubrovnik Split Zadar Belgrade Viena Prague Trieste Padova Florence Budapest Ljubljana

Two conclusions came to my mind. If someone doesn’t travel is because he/she doesn’t want, because it is not about the money, for sure.

It is not about the city, the most important thing is with whom you are, if you have nobody to share what you are seeing there is no point to travel.

Dreams come true...

We all dream. I prefer to say I don't have dreams but rather goals to achieve, yet it's not always easy to define where the line between realistic goals and fancy dreams lies. As all people on this planet I want to be happy, and sure, not average-happy but blissfully happy.

For me being happy doesn't mean much at the moment: having the job I love, traveling much, having time to enjoy life every day (forget about Ukrainian 9-to-5 office hours: you work for 11 months and 2 weeks and afterwards, half-dead go to Turkey for a week being unable to crawl out of the hotel).

Being back to Zagreb after my last trip I feel: mission completed!
I do the job I love: coordination of international projects, organisation of local events, assisting on training courses, working trips round Croatia. I love people and I love working with people, and I reached the point when I gladly return to the office after 2-weeks trainings and enjoy staying in front of my lap top with a cup of coffee and dozens of unread emails.

Our first 'Open Stage' event in Zagreb

When I was coming to Croatia with expiring Estonian visa I couldn't imagine I would be traveling all around every month and fall in love with Italy (hate countries and places that are too much talked about). Yet, having explored all neighboring countries, I keep returning to Italy. Why? It's awesome. Not only awesome but amazingly different: mafia-Naples, touristic Pisa, gorgeous Florence, Shakespeare Verona, middle-aged San Gimignano, irresistable Cinque Terre and dark Genova.

Tuscanian San Gimignano

It was 1 month ago when I decided for myself that it would be cool to move traveling to a new level. Meeting locals, tasting national food, sightseeing is cool but getting boring at some point. And here it was: eureka! I should start going to places to participate in either special occasions or some well-known events like Venice carnival, Siena horse-racing, Pisa luminaria festival. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Andy Warhol exhibition in Peschiera del Garda (a freaky guy eating tomato soup every day for the last 20 years and making a fortune out of it), a day in Italian Disneyland - Gardaland (although Disneyland tells us the stories of most beloved catroon heroes, Gardaland has much to offer for every taste) and tadadadam - Milan World Expo 2015 with 145 countries presenting their culture, food and best practices to save energy and feed the planet. Turkmenistan food, Burundi coffee, Cuban pina colada and Chile dessert - a small part of what I tried in this crazy village of food and cultural melting pot.

Tree of life, Expo-2015

Qatar literally built a palace, Russia overwhelmed everyone with loud music and free food tasting, UK went for scientific approach, Korea once again proved everyone to be highly-tecnological country. Each country was unique and told the story in the way it's importnat for them. Apart from it, Cirque du Soleil, boxing fights, fountain shows - one day is not enough.

And as for enjoying ife, sure: salsa, people who became important for me in this one year, good food after all. What is next? Being happy and create more success in life while enjoying it. September will definitely bring new challenges and new emotions.

Wednesday salsa party

Kisses and hugs, Juliya.

Small/Big difference

I guess everyone has had a situation when you buy a new shoes and the shoelaces just doesnt work. So I had this one too I bought a new shoes with ‘’broken shoelaces’’ after few days of irritation I realize I should google if there is something that could be done to solve this challenge.  The answer to my question was suprisingly simple.

,,sometimes a small advantage someplace in life can yield tremendous results someplace else’’

http://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes?language=en

Step by step instruction see here:

http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm

Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!

I feel like sharing my favorite TEDx talk with you today. This talk I saw it before coming to Croatia as a EVS volunteer and it really opened my mind a bit .  

When most well-intentioned aid workers hear of a problem they think they can fix, they go to work. This, Ernesto Sirolli suggests, is naive. In this funny and impassioned talk, he proposes that the first step is to listen to the people you're trying to help, and tap into their own entrepreneurial spirit. His advice on what works will help any entrepreneur.

 “I decided when I was 27 years old to only respond to people, and I invented a system called Enterprise Facilitation, where you never initiate anything, you never motivate anybody, but you become a servant of the local passion, the servant of local people who have a dream to become a better person. So what you do -- you shut up. You never arrive in a community with any ideas, and you sit with the local people. We don't work from offices. We meet at the cafe. We meet at the pub. We have zero infrastructure. And what we do, we become friends, and we find out what that person wants to do.“

Watch the whole video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXsLtHqfdM&list=PLRErot00B6d6bmfOg4_osxBtiiQ0V0ntm