Dobar dan

Or hello, in Bosnian. Maja, little workaholic that she is, had to come by the office this evening for some reason, before we take off for Turkey tomorrow, so here I am writing a very brief update. I have already managed to get myself in trouble with the local craftsmen (read- filigree silver jewelry), local food, and local homemade liquor. The liquor in question was served by Maja's stepfather- according to Maja, I was a hit with her mama and stepfather for my appetite, drinking the homemade liquor, and for my good pronunciation of Bosnian words. But she could be making that up for all I know, since I could only understand the little bits spoken in English, and some of the body language. Unfortuately it has been raining quite a bit, but that hasn't stopped us from painting the town red! Actually, at the moment, it has pretty much cleared up, and the late evening sun is making a beautiful old Ottoman building across the street from Maja's office glow a soft gold the way the Radcliffe Camera will in Oxford with low (winter) light. Generally speaking, "old town" Sarajevo is absolutely gorgeous, while "new town" pretty much looks like any other city. And to make the old town even more quaint and authentic, all the craftsmen are located there, traditions which are sadly dying, with less and less young people wanting to continue in the footsteps of their parents.

Anywho, I have discovered that Bodrum is the Turkish answer to Ibiza. While I did know that a number of Arabian princes of one sort or another attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts (where Maja got her degree), I wasn't really aware that there really is a pretty big representation of rich eastern European folks at Fletcher, and Maja tells me they all party at Bodrum. Good thing I brought a lot of going out/clubbing gear, and now I have the beautiful jewelry to match ;-) I was lamenting never doing the Ibiza thing some time ago on here, guess I do get to live the life after all!!

Oops, gotta go, we're headed back to Maja's place to get ready for a late dinner and night of dancing in a bar/restaurant that looks out over the top of Sarajevo. Ciao!