Life's Adventures: Back In Sarajevo

We left our hotel in Istanbul at around 10 am. Our ride from the agency came with a van around 10 am. I thought it was too early for a 1 PM flight, with only a 30 min travel time to the airport, but then again I am usually late to places.

The driver again spoke very little English, only a couple of words really, but he was very chatty. We were still able to communicate how to turn the AC on/off, or klima fan as he says it. We got to the airport around 10.45 and went through security control at the entrance first. We didn't have to take our shoes off, but did have to put our big suitcases to be checked in onto the conveyor belt to go through a scanner. The check in line was much longer, and the passport control too, so I appreciated that we got there earlier. It was interesting to see airline counters from other countries that I usually don't see in the US: Iran, Emirates, Kuwait,.... I found this airport to be rather small for the size of the city that Istanbul is.

Around noon we saw on the monitor that our flight was boarding. We made our way down to the ground floor, only to discover another security line, much more chaotic this time. There were several gates close to each other, and they put flights for Sarajevo, Belgrade, Zagreb, Pristina, and few others, all leaving at approximately the same time, all in this area. People from these countries genetically, it seems, do not have a sense of following the line in an orderly way. Someone is always trying to cut in ahead of others. We got to the gate, a very narrow area and crowded and people were already standing in front of the counter with nobody on the other side. I set down and started chatting with a man from the Turkish side of Cypress who was going on vacation to Sarajevo for the first time. Mom saw her friend that we ran into on the bus the day before, and was standing in line. The line was not moving. Little after 1 PM, when we were already supposed to be on the runway, they announced the flight is delayed 30 min. A bit later another announcement came, only in Turkish, about a 45 min delay. People were still standing in line, and at about 1.30 min a man came to tell everyone to find a seat. They had to look further away, because all the chairs near the gate were taken. Just 5 min later, that same man was at the counter checking the boarding passes and letting people go through. This was another example of how disorganized life in Istanbul seems to be, or an organized chaos as someone called it. We finally took off 1h 15 min late.

The weather in Sarajevo was much colder, but at least it wasn't raining. We ate dinner and had coffee on the balcony, and then went for a stroll to get some cake. It was about 20 min walk, and my calf muscle was really hurting that I was limping the entire time there and back. We got rained on a bit on the way back, and rain cools down temperature in Sarajevo very quickly. I am hoping to rest my leg for the weekend so it doesn't turn into something more serious.

This Sunday I went to Mass at the cathedral downtown. They had at least 15 priests, some celebrating their first Mass and some 50 years of priesthood, plus they had a choir of some 6 priests and the church was full. I had a hard time concentrating on the readings not being in English. The sermon was not related to the readings, but on the year of the priests and the calling. The priest who was preaching was ordained few years after WWII, and was talking how during those communism years many religious, including him, ended up in prison, and some were even killed. I was a bit agitated to hear so much anger and hatred being talked about in these times when people here should be trying to reconcile and look into the future. I also never like when the Catholic church in Bosnia is associated only with Croatian people, because I am not one. I am Bosnian. The priest was emphasising that lay people should evangelize too, but at the same time he requested that the Croatian national anthem be sung just before the final blessing (if it was after I would have left). How can we bring other people into our faith if we don't open it to all the nationalities?

Mom and I then went for a stroll, kabobs in the old city, and a coffee in a new restaurant on top of a tall hotel with 360 views. By the evening my leg was feeling better.