YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett

So life can begin to return to normal as of TODAY, I finished my third Novel, and feel very good about it. The deed was accomplished today around 11:30 AM Bosnian time. I am sitting in Club BIT which is the neighborhood Internet club. I think since this is a school area, I will have a cup of coffee when I am done. B.T.W. the Club BIT staff helped me a lot today, one computer was acting up and they saw that it was and moved me before I either asked or truly lost my temper. They are nice folks like Nerdy Folk the world over. :) Needless to say, I am glad to be all done writing this thing, and glad to go back to some semblance of normal life.

Probably my poor little lap top shares the sentiment. Of course it needs editing, but I think I wrote a good story and that is what counts.

I got out a little earlier than usual, it is unusually nice out, and I needed a break from the house.
During yesterday s trip home I got some pop corn. today I was able to find some nice curry powder for fairly cheap, I also found some lovely tinned herrings with dill, so I am going to go and get more, they are enough for two people for a light lunch and very delicious. For some weird reason I can not seem to get either dill leaves or powdered horse-radish. Here is the almighty word count 42,179 So I need me a few more words by Friday, before would be good. It is only Tuesday so I think I can manage. My computer gave me fits this morning. I had a screen freeze and I am not on the internet at home. So I had to do a hard shut down just to sort things out. It is allright for now. but man that was all I needed ! NOT!

The whole Star wars series is being shown on F.T.V. I watched last night, I was too tired to sit up and read sub-titles. Next Monday maybe.

10 of the Srebenica women got the right to sue the Netherlands. Why only 10 got the right is weird, but I suppose there is some warped legal logic I am too normal to understand.

This is the cool model I was raving about.

I am at a little over 40, 000 words on my increasingly cheesy NaNo novel, meaning I can probably finish since my significant other has to go to Croatia, medical stuff, he'll be back.

I accompanied him yesterday to his polling place, he has dual citizenship and votes in Croatian and Bosnian elections. Anyway, we go all the way down town. In a typically Kafka-esque gesture of the kind you need to laugh at in order to survive, we were directed to some other place. There I waited around taking pictures of a pretty cool model of Bobovac, which sort of qualifies as former family property. The model was really cool and there were a few people who had brought their kids along and they would see me looking at the model and brought their kids to look. The model is made of stone, bits of dirt, plant bit bits, and wood, it is meticulous, and has EVERYTHING, even the drawbridge. I really enjoyed it myself and so did the kids.

Yesterday was of course American Thanksgiving, Happy Turkey Day to my American readership and it was Bosnian Statehood Day, so anyway no turkey here. The closest I got to a turkey was some noodles manufactured in Turkey! (cheesy of me someone slap me quick!)
Instead we went out for a typical Bosnian meal that involved soup and some meat that came with what I consider very over cooked potatoes, and we had juice. This was in Bascarcija. Sorry I have an English keyboard here and am in too much hurry to mess wiht diacritical marks!

The local internet cafe is very friendly but costs more per hour than the other one. The good news is it is close to home, meaning that every time I want to use the net I do not have to go trucking into the downtown area to do it. This is good.

A little more snow today. It wasn't bad. I however felt a little threatened by it :).

Anyway life is better since I got some decent boots.

Off to post pictures. That takes time, and to check personal e-mails.

Oh the ENTIRE Starwars series is being shown from tonight every Monday until New Years! I should be decently entertained then!

Take care everyone!

http://balkanpowderkeg.blogspot.com/

Given the adjustment to everything here, I have not had time to give recent events the attention they deserve, Joe Bob says 'check it out!'

I was begining to think that Club Bit was a myth, and that O.S. Alija Nametak, from which it is accross the street also was a Sarajevo myth. It was up and down some street tangles and not on the map. Most schools are on the map. This is an old school so i have no freeking IDEA why it was left off. Anyway this is a nice internet club, it is close to home and if they have membership I certainly plan to join. It is a deeply nerdy place, and it has all the facilities I need besides being closer to home.

I am going to try to post some more pictures of the neighborhood. I live in Bjelava, which is quite the nicest part of Sarajevo. With the help of friends, I am better learning my way around.

The political crisis here deepens. Dodik has been really making a lot of noise and another one of the R.S. government too.

Again, why anything that is going on in Kosovo which is a long ways off ought to have any impact on Bosnia Hercegovina is beyond me and beyond most of the rest of BiH. So it goes.

I am really glad to have found this place, not that I won't ever go to Easynet again, but why go far when you can go to an internet cafe closer in?

Taxi fares have gone up. The taxi drivers here work very hard, and the cheap fares meant they were struggling to make ends meet. Thankfully I need them less and less as I learn my way around.

I got some new boots. The cowboy boots given to me by a friend were lovely but sprang a leak last year, so I did not take them with me because it is possible to get really good foot-wear here.

Sometimes it's a bit expensive, especially on Ferhadia. I lucked out yesterday, there was a terrific sale in Bascarsija, where I hang out a lot, and I had my eye on it for some time. I got some knee length boots that have great tread. So here I am someplace besides my living room!

It is buzy outside here in Sarajevo. I have not been out since Saturday. Mailed off family Christmas cards and went to lunch with M. we went to Hacienda, they got the Guacamole just RIGHT, it was his first Mexican food and he liked it a lot. The very sight of a Mexican flag flying in Baščaršija does funny things to me. The owner has a Muslim name, so that makes it even more unusual. There are dishes that are not available for this reason, but a good selection and a tri-lingual menu. (Bosnian-Spanish-English) I liked sitting away from the exact center, it was not too crowded when we went, and I think that made it nicer. I need to try the place closer to home next, when the snow melts. Some of the sidewalk situation near me is shall we say, questionable.
Those of you who pray, please pray for peace here, there is a lot of stupid hot air emanating from certain quarters over Kosovo which ought not have anything to do with Bosnia-Hercegovina.
I actually have an American friend here now, we sometimes get together for lunch, and when it is not snowy I get around pretty well. The bus service here is decent, crowded, but efficient. The trams too. I find that the taxis fill in the gaps pretty well too.
I did have to go shopping one day and there are two decent little stores close by and two little butcher shops. It is very peaceful and quiet right where I am, yet I am close in enough to go places and have some fun. Flikr is acting up so no new pictures for you this tome sorry! I have to go home, I only have like 20,000 words or so to write, I need to indulge in a little purple prose, add and epilogue, and generally fatten up my NaNo novel. It has been fun, now I am sick of it! haha!

Why not to expect to see a lot of me for a bit.

Still good rašta available and nearby too! this little bug is proof it was all organic. I put my green leafies in water to drown and remove bugs. Sorry they cannot go live in the garden and feast on the roses and the quince tree. I tore the rašta leaves off and this bug was at the heart.

I went no where yesterday. It was too miserable out, a friend came over and we spent the time talking, eatting watching T.V. and drinking good rakija and good wine. Worse ways of being at home I can tell you! No new stuff on the car bomb, but there was a soccer riot in Mostar and some of the hooligans dumped a cop into a trash dumpster. Not nice, people were hurt and I really see no point in that. It is one thing to love the game and support the home team, but it does not need to be all ugly and stuff.

This is what I had for breakfast this morning. three eggs boiled, four buttered rusks, these are like pre-made baby slices of toast, I love them! some ajvar, a few chopped onions and of course Bosnian coffee. Note the lovely yellow of those yolks!

The weather here is lovely, I have been going out a little. I found an easier route into town than the previous one. I am getting to know the best times of day to take the bus, as in will there be a seat. If you have a bad ankle standing on a crowded bus which is negotiating the roller coaster they call streets here, is not so good, it is better to walk if you can find even sidewalks. So I do.

Alright, have not had time to go to my usual internet sources, but on BHT this morning they reported that some dumb šupak made a car bomb in Banja Luka that killed one person. I hate that sort of thing. (note to relatives, Banja Luka is a LONG way off not to worry!)

There was light snow fall, and in a short time I am due to meet with a fellow NaNo person, we are going to hang out, do some writing, and go do lunch, in what ever order feels good. I walked a bit to get to a taxi stand,I have found one route that has fewer tricks and trap-doors about it, and actually I went shopping, topped off my phone card minutes, and got home in one piece yesterday and I went out and walked until I was tired and found a taxi the rest of the way here. There is a good internet club nearby. So that s all good.
My freezer is not working right, I had to throw away some meat that spoiled. Already called the landlord about it. They are good people, I am sure they will fix things. I am timewise almost cheaper off going to the čevapi place sometimes. Sometimes, for things like chicken, it works out to cheaper off price-wise.

There was light snow this morning, looked very pretty on the neighboring roofs.

I took one of the poor abused little mini-busses into town, it was so crowded, and I had to shift constantly to keep from hurting my ankle again, some people left and a very kind young lady offered me a seat, I thanked her profusely. I really needed to sit.

So far things are not too bad. I have been busy with NaNo, got three chapters down, and am in the slightly over 6,000 word range. I am ahead of the other Sarajevo participants, but most of them are either students or have full time work so KUDOS to all of them¨! Trzing to arrange a meet up with everyone too.

The weather has been a bit cold, but it is not bad.

One thing, this East Block key board is GREAT for, I will not have as many contractions, it will pad my word count! :)

I hurt my ankle, missed a step, not at my place, but going past a čevapi place near me, in search of a closer internet cafe. I am getting a little fed up with this search, it has been easier to just come down all the way to Easynet.

I think the person that told me the street remembered it wrongly. Anyway I went home, tied up my foot, rested, and took a bus into town,

Heard on the news that they found another mass grave. As well Oslobodenje had a man on the street, asking people in Sarajevo, Mostar, and Banja Luka if they were worried there would be another war.

For the record I am not. It rained so much that on yesterday s news they reported flooding.

As soon as I feel up to dealing with the Kafka-esque scene down at the Glavni Pošt, I plan to get internet service at home, my fingers do not like the Eastern European keyboard. Even if it does let me do stuff like this ščćžđ to my heart s content. There is other stuff I can t find.

Let me get all Flan OćBrien for a minute on zou to show zou just what it leads to! There, Thatćs what happens if Ićm not careful! Č)
Ćio Đžentlj ridrs!