Christmas

I know its been half a year, but I am finally sharing a few photos - these are all from the past few weeks.

First, our Christmas tree. This year I went all gold and white - with a snowflake, star and bird theme:

It might be Christmastime, but its been in the 60s and 70s for the past few weeks so it hasn't been too wintery. Here is me grading papers on the front porch last week in a t-shirt and capris:

And Miran putting lights on the bushes on Christmas eve, also in a t-shirt:

Though its been warm, we've kept in a festive mood by lighting a lot of fires. Miran loves making them and it does get cooler inside at night. We are already out of firewood and will get some more before our company comes this week.

 Here we are opening gifts on Christmas. I got a handheld scanner from Daddy and Miran got a handheld clothes steamer from me. 

We both really enjoyed our low-key, very quiet Christmas at home. Though it was a little weird to think this was the first Christmas ever I haven't been with any of siblings, and in fact, that none of us were together on Christmas day. I'm so glad almost everyone will be here in a few days. When I am in a madhouse full of people and activities - that will feel like Christmas.

Trip 4 - Mostar

 Miran and I went to Mostar for a couple of days this week to visit friends and the city and to do a little research - mostly picture taking, but also gathering a few books and documents. Here is a picture of me in a cafe with Senada and Sule Demirovic and their spouses. Sejla is behind me, and Piga is by Senada in the front.

One of the gifts we brought was a copy of "The Little Prince" for Sule's daughter Neira. Here she is practicing her reading for her mother, me and her cousins, Senada's daughter's Esma and Azra. Neira is in 2nd grade, and has now had two years of English, so I asked her what she had learned and to say something in English. She said "crocodile"! Not "hello" or "my name is Neira", but "crocodile". Pretty cute!

We were also in Mostar for Senada's son Hamza's third birthday. We gave him the quilt Mommy made him for his birth. Three years late. The year he was born, I brought it to Bosnia, but left it in Sarajevo when I went to Mostar to visit. Then I took it home and forgot to bring it back to Bosnia at all the next year. Last summer I didn't come here at all. A few times I've come across it in the closet and thought about mailing it, but felt too foolish to send it too late. This time I finally managed to deliver it. Senada says they still use the one's Mommy made for Azra and Esma as beach and picnic blankets, so Hamza's isn't too late, even though he isn't a baby anymore!

One night while we were in Mostar we went to hear my friend Jesenko's band play in a bar, which was really an open garden. That night they were playing covers of old pop-rock songs from ex-yugoslavia in the 70s and 80s and so Miran, and even I, knew most of the songs. We had a really nice time. Here is a picture of Jesenko and I during a break in the playing, as well as a picture of Miran and I enjoying the music and the night out.

Trip 3 - Sarajevo part 2

We had lunch with the two guys who work for Miran at a restaurant called Park Princeva that is up on a hill with a fabulous panoramic view of Sarajevo. I took a company photo ... Haris is next to Miran, and beside him is Adem, along with his wife and two daughters.

As long as we were up there we also had a picture taken of ourselves ...

Last week we went to watch the Bosnian national soccer team play Albania. We wore all our gear, plus some new stuff we bought on the way. Fortunately, Bosnia won this time, which was nicer than when we drove to Atlanta to watch them lose against Mexico.  For reasons we haven't yet figured out, the game wasn't in Sarajevo, and we drove about an hour to another town, Zenica, to watch the game. Here we are walking from the car to the stadium ...

Because we weren't sure how long the drive would take or how crowded it would be, we ended up arriving 2 hours early. The stadium eventually filled up, but here is Almin (and Azra behind him) while we waited for the game ...

And here is Azra, Almin and I as well as Miran's co-worker Adem and his wife (again, 2 hours before the game started) ...

Trip 2 - Sarajevo Part 1

 Me enjoying some bosnian pie in the center of Sarajevo ...

Senada, Senka and I on a tour of an tourist eco-village under construction on a mountain near Sarajevo ...

Us with Azra and Almin and two of our good friends here, Elmir and Medin, preparing to go out to a party at a huge club for which you had to dress as tackily as possible ...

Here is Miran with Medin and Elmir in the taxi on the way. As you can see, Miran is really enjoying hanging out with his old friends. He went to high school with Elmir (on the right), who was also the best man at our wedding, and Medin on the left he has known since his first year in college here ...

We have seen Miran's grandparents a few times as they are also here in Sarajevo this summer. They split their time between Denmark and Bosnia, and have apartments in each place. Here is Miran's mother Milada and grandmother Cerima on the balcony of their Sarajevo apartment ....

And here are Miran and his grandfather watching some crime show on TV after dinner. We've all decided Miran looks like this grandfather, especially after we saw Gijo's (Short for Angijad) army picture from when he was a teenager. And in this after-dinner pose, the resemblance is clear ...

Trip 1 - Belfast

the main building of Queen's University, the location of the conference I participated in in Belfast:

A "peace wall" (big green thing on the right) cutting through a neighborhood in belfast - this view is on the catholic side ...

the City Hall, Belfast's most impressive building ...

Senada and I inside the city council chamber of the City Hall ...

Book 2 !

The book I co-authored with my former professor from Columbia, John Stubbs, finally exists. I received my advance copy in the mail yesterday. Its so exciting. Here's the cover:

Istanbul !

I had a great time in Istanbul last week. I spent two days at the conference and two days sightseeing. It was a really interesting conference and I heard a lot of thought-provoking papers. And I saw some buildings on my life "to do" list so all in all it was great. Here are a lot of pictures (it was hard to choose).

A typical street in the tourist area (I bought a bag in the store on the right):

The Hagia Sophia exterior and interior:

Me in the Hagia Sophia:

Courtyard of the Shezade Mosque:

Inside the Suliymane Mosque:

The Sultan Ahmet Mosque (exterior and interior):

At the Topkapi Palace - the Heir the Throne's Living Area:

Also at the Topkapi Palace - the exterior of the pavilion where the Sultan and his Vizier heard complaints and other business from officials:

mom and dad visit

Mom and Dad were here this week-end on their way home from two weeks in Arizona visiting Aunt Maggie and Granma. We packed a number of activities into the 48 visit, including the ballet (which we forgot to take pictures of ourselves dressed up for). We did take some pictures in a lovely little garden that we toured and in which we all got inspired - even Miran wants to build a vine arbor in our backyard like he saw there.

While they were here, Dad also installed a light bar in my bathroom, which as you might recall we started redoing a few months ago. I replaced the dated medicine cabinet with built in light with a larger mirror (that Dad made), but hadn't replaced the light so have been getting ready in the dark. A few weeks ago we bought the fixture, but Miran hasn't had time to install it. Dad took care of it in an afternoon. He also replaced the light switch with one that includes an outlet, because there isn't a single outlet in that bathroom, which is very weird. So now I can put on make-up and straighten my hair in my bathroom for the first time since we moved in almost two years ago!

100,000 miles !

As we were leaving town yesterday for Atlanta, we also passed an important milestone ... the Passat went over 100,000 miles. I've had my camera in the car all week because I wanted to catch the moment. Its been such a good car these past few years and there are a few little things that need fixing, but overall its in great shape. Last week-end it got an oil change and I splurged on a car wash (including interior detailing) so it would look good for its big day.

Bosnia vs. Mexico

Yesterday we took a half day adventure and drove 4 hours to Atlanta to watch the Bosnian national soccer team play the Mexican national team. Needless to say, the Mexicans outnumbered the Bosnians in the stadium, but we were really impressed and though that maybe 1/5th of the crowd was Bosnian. We talked to some people who had driven all the way from Connecticut. I'm not sure we'd have gone that far, but we had a great time and it was well worth how tired we all are today. I managed to deliver my lecture this morning without a problem, and even got up early to add some extra slides into my powerpoint. Azra  made it to school and Miran is still at work. I think we'll be headed to bed early tonight!

Anyway, Bosnia lost to Mexico 0-2. It was a friendly game that didn't count for anything, so neither team played very hard - no one was diving for balls, but just letting them roll past. Bosnia dominated the first half, but didn't manage to score, and the Mexico came out strong in the second half and scored twice in the first few minutes.

We definitely felt like the away team, not only because there were so many more Mexican fans, but because the entire thing was in Spanish. All the announcements, the programs, even the ads. We never had any idea what was going on. Us Bosnian fans didn't even realize when their team was being introduced so didn't cheer. It was probably meant as a nice gesture by the Georgia Dome for the Mexican fans, but I guess they weren't expecting so many Bosnian fans! We had fun anyway and definitely focused on watching the field.

The most exciting thing in the second half was a streaker who ran across and all around the stadium, which you always hear about, but I've never actually seen. The guy kept his underwear on, but must have been pretty cold, even in the Georgia Dome. The police seemed very slow to bother running after him, but of course eventually three officers cornered him.

Here are some shots from the trip.

Miran as we are pulling out of town ... still smiling because he hasn't yet driven 8 hours and seen his team lose.

The view from our seats ... we splurged and didn't buy upper balcony tickets.

The teams during the national anthems.

And some shots of us fans.