Playing Santa

Internet's Working Again!

Apologies for my poor stewardship in regards to blogging. Now let's play catch up!

Ok, so I made it home safely from Hvar and the olive picking. (wow, it has been a while) The ferry from Hvar to Split, and then bus ride from Split to Zenica were pleasant enough. It was my first time traveling through Europe alone, so I will admit there were some nerves a flowing at first, but they soon settled and I was able to enjoy my travels. The bus ride through the Bosnian mountains was simply magnificent. There had apparently been a snowfall the night before, and so all along the river and roads, and perched upon the pine trees and mountain peaks there layed that perfect, untouched layer of snow that was still sparkling white and oddly enough, heart-warming. I couldn't help but smile the whole way home (even if I was crammed in the back seat corner with a rather large Bosnian man to my left and an elderly woman who enjoyed rocking her chair back into my knees at a steadily painful rate).

But dudes, my time on that island was all and more than I had expected it to be. The opportunity to go and serve the elderly couple who owned the olive fields, to eat and drink at their table, to stumble through broken conversation in their language, to simply fellowship with them, were all moments that I cherish. One day I hope to take them up on their offer and return to help out with a future harvest. (Also, thanks so much Liz and Max for inviting me to tag along)

And when I got back to Zenica, I got back right in time for two things: Thanksgiving with Jeff and Beth and the B-Team...and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1! Ya! The Thanksgiving part was exceptionally filling in the physical sense. Seeing that I ate two very large plates of "main course food", and then basically gorged myself on generous servings of 4 different kinds of dessert, before passing out on the floor watching live streaming of some American football. But even though I was with people that I deeply love and consider to be like family, I still got that nagging feeling that something was missing. So, I just channeled all of that emotional energy into an intense game of cities and knights...and lost =P oh well, I had a truly wonderful Thanksgiving and was so very thankful to share it with the people I did.

....and as most of you already are aware, HP7 part 1 was rad and deserved multiple viewings ;]

Let's see, what else has happened between then and now? Oh I started taking accordion lessons! Jeff and I hunted all around town for a teacher, and finally found Najl. He's an older guy, seemingly something of a local icon, and is super patient and helpful. The lessons are at his house and all in bosnian...which can make for some interesting moments, but through and through it's an incredible experience for me. Who would have thought I'd get a music, language, and culture lesson all in one haha?!?

Last weekend I went up to Vienna to see Jeff and Beth off to America. Beth seems like she's doing really well recovering, and we can all thank God for that! Cancer free! 

But on the way home (I was again traveling alone by bus) I had quite a scary humorous border moment. We were driving at night, so we didn't reach the Bosnian border till super late at night/early in the morning I suppose, and I got summoned for a full body search. I suppose it was because I was the only one on the bus with an American passport, plus it doesn't help anything that I really don't look a thing like my passport picture anymore. Either way, they shuffled me and another younger gentleman into this tiny little room and then instructed us to dump out all of our belongings onto the table so they could look through them. I was about to piss myself. Not that I had anything illegal, or hazardous, or anything like that...just that I had to speak all in bosnian and try think through everything I was going to say as to not say the wrong thing. Which made it increasingly humorous when I got assigned to a guard who thought the whole situation was equally as funny. So here we go. I unzip my backpack and start to dump. At first it's just the norm, you know, clothes, tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant- nothing too complicated when explaining. But then, we start getting to the random essentials that I always travel with and things start to just get awkward. Out comes the barrel of monkeys, with it's unfailingly suspicious rubber banded seal, DVD of the Animated Version of The Lord of the Rings (which the border guard looked intently at for about 2 whole minutes before looking up at me and muttering "Super!" haha, DVD of Gamera, the $2 knock-off of Godzilla, but exceedingly more entertaining, a single domino, 3 or 4 fantasy books, my Bible, and my pipe and tobacco. My heart was racing. There was no way I was going to be able explain all of this in any reasonable amount of time without my headed popping off of my body. But the guard dude looks up and is waiting for a response. So I begin. I make it all the way to my Bible before I really start to feel a sense of nervousness. As I was explaining what it was, and as he was flipping through it, he asks me what I'm doing in Bosnia. So I reply I'm working. And he basically says duh, what are you doing here? So i try my best to explain to him that I'm living with some friends who have been in the country for 9 or so years and we work in the villages and simply help out people who are in need. He smiled and shut my bible. I smiled and looked down at the next two items left: my pipe and tobacco. He lifts up my pipe and immediately shoves it back into my bag, relief. Then he grabs hold of my dark chocolate flavored tobacco and begins examining it closer than he had anything else prior. He asks what it is and where I got it from. I tell him it's tobacco from Kentucky. He responds with a blank face. I realize what was going through his head, and blurt out that Kentucky is in America. With that, he calls over no joke all of his border friends and they, one by one start taking in huge whiffs of the tobacco's soothing scent. And one by one they each tell me how good it smells and how good it is to smoke. I just nod my head and get more and more nervous by the second. Then it happens. The question I had feared. "Mogu li dobiti?" At first I was stunned at the fact that guard man had even asked in this way, instead of just telling me to give him some. But I realized he was smiling when he asked, so I thought it alright to point out that, as he could see, I was running on short supply and that little bit was all that i had left. After a bit of playfully jeering back and forth, he finally let me keep it and told me to have a good evening. So I hurriedly gathered up all of my things and hopped back on the bus. Not five minutes later I was totally asleep, exhausted. But crossing borders is what I do =P 

This past week has been nothing but repeated reassurance that God is an awesome God. Sunday began my month-long stint of living on my own in Bosnia. Which sounds like it could possibly be terribly lonesome and depressing. But surprisingly, I've been in great spirits all week and have felt a constant encouragement that I can't very well explain. On Monday we loaded up the van and set out for our operation Christmas child box passing out extravaganza in the local villages. I can't describe to ya'll how touching it is when we go into a classroom and pass out the boxes, getting to see the excitement and joy written all over the faces of the little Bosnian kids. Then afterwards, sitting down and chatting over some coffee and sweets with the school directors, and just hearing time after time again how thankful they are, and how much of a blessing Jeff and Beth and their kids have been to their communities. At one school the director passed out what seemed like a school newsletter type thing, but in it was an article written about their dear friend Jeff Summay and all the work that he had put in to improving their school. It was great. The Summays are without a doubt making a lasting impact on the hearts and lives of the people that they reach out to. And witnessing this first hand is truly inspiring.

I think that's basically all for now. Can't wait to see yeinz in January. 

...oh ya I'm coming home for a brief, two or so week visit in mid January...that's new.

Grace and Peace,

Kaleb

Movies: The Machinist | HP7-1 | Mystery Men | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | Memento
Music: Action! | Breathe Owl Breathe | Anais Mitchell (or at least the songs on the album featuring Justin Vernon) | Diarrhea Planet | Bon Iver (tis the season)
Books: The Wheel of Time's The Eye of the World