Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

After checking into our hotel in Sarajevo, we had a bit of relaxation time before going to a Sarajevan family’s home for dinner. We were split into groups of seven and went to a Tito era high rise to meet our host families. We were matched with a woman named Selena and her seven-year-old daughter Zara.

The building looked like you’d expect a communist era building to look like: concrete Brutalist. Selena lead us into the building which had no lobby to speak of. When you walked in, it was into a hallway with rudimentary elevators. We then entered their unit which appeared to have three bedrooms and a combined living/dining room adjoined to the kitchen.

The table was beautifully set for us and we learned that Selena and her mother-in-law had prepared our dinner. On the menu: chicken soup followed by meat and rice stuffed grape leaves (dolmades) meat and rice stuffed zucchini, onions stuffed with meatballs, mashed potatoes, a cabbage salad, and filo pastry filled with meat, called burek. Everything was delicious.

Selena spoke fluent English and told us she had learned from watching English television and films. We learned that she had two other children - Sara, 18, (who we met briefly) who is studying travel and tourism and a son who is 17 and away at a private school because of his athletic ability in football. The apartment they live in is owned by the mother-in-law who bought it before the war. Selena said she was eight years old when the siege/war started and remembers every day of that period. She recounted her as well as her mother in law’s experiences. Their resilience, determination and optimism was inspiring.Read more