Good bye Sarajevo

My days in Sarajevo are coming to end. I am leaving for Belgrade, Serbia tomorrow, where another field office of our project is located.

On Thursday night, I had an opportunity to experience the “night life” of Sarajevo. One of my local colleagues is a singer, and she was signing jazz in a newly opened bar. One other staff brought me to the bar, which was very nice with a great ambiance and excellent décor. They even had sushi on their menu (though it was with feta-cheese, guess it is a Balkan roll.) I had so much fun. I had Baileys’ and also tried local beer. Let’s put it this way: I haven’t drunk like that for a while. The music was great, and it was nice to chat and get to know my colleagues in a different setting other than the office. Later in the evening, a group of old friends of my colleague joined us, and the guys bought us drinks. Then, we went to another club, which was around the corner from my hotel. I am too old to pull an all-nighter now, so I left about 2pm (!)

Work-wise, it could have been little better. I felt that I was not as productive and organized as I wished. It was good to participate in a meeting, tele-conference and another meeting with heads of a local public health institution. (One great thing about International Development work is you get to work with senior government officials in the country.) I got a better feel of the project, and I guess that itself is worthwhile to come all the way. One week was just not enough to get used to the local office, write a report and collect information that I was required. I did my best and I will do some more work to make it more complete. I have a same mission in Serbia, so I feel more prepared for this one.