Today I finally had a chance to go to Chapters. Unfortunately, they don't carry any books on BiH. Thus, I had to buy Croat phrase books; I bought 2 that are pocket-size. The Croatian and Serbian alphabet look to be the same (they don't mention Bosnian). Here are some useful phrases:
Excuse me (to get attention): Oprostite (aw praw stee te)
Excuse me (to get past): Ispričavam se (ee spree cha vam se)
Sorry: Žao mi je (zha aw mee ye)
I (don't) understand: Ja (ne) razumijem (ra zoo mee yem)
I don't speak Croatian: Ne govorim hrvatski (ne gau-vau-reem hr-vaht-skee)
Leave me allow (lol): Ostavite me na miru! (aust-ah-vee-te me nah mee-roo)
Go away! (lol): Odlazite! (aud-lah-zee-te!)
I'm lost!: Ja sam zalutala (fem) (Ja sahm zah-loo-tah-lah)
Does anyone here speak English? Dali ovdje itko govori engleski? (dah lee auv-dye-eet-koh gau-vau-ree eng-les-kee?)
Can you help me? Možete li mi pomoći? (mau-zhe-tee lee mee pau-moh-chee?)
I speak very little Croatian: Govorim samo malo hrvatskog (gau-vau-ree sah-moh mah-loh hr-vaht-tskog)
I'm going back to Chapters tomorrow to get some Europe travel books. I also need to pre-order Bosian books/CDs. Moreover, I bought some recommended books for my pre-departure, and my stay in Bosnia.
Moreover, I have reached out to past Beyond Borders/ Intercordia students who have gone to BiH. One is meeting me to show pictures of her stay in BiH. The other has sent me his blog site. I've already read 1/4 of his entries and they're making me so excited. The following are some of the points that stood out to me:
• Everyone knows each other and or they recognize foreigners VERY quickly
• “Everything is a memory”: They don’t like visitors taking pictures of things that have been shot at because it is not a fond memory for them to relive
• He got a tick, which I’m worried about (he calls it "an adventure" and recommends that I stay clear of the tall grass)
• Most structures have bullet marks from the war in the 1990s
• Cafés and construction are the main source of employment for citizens; however, according to Mike many people just lounge all day
• 1 side is abandoned and the other side is full of people staying in apartments
• With that said, there seems to be more buildings and cafés than people
Excuse me (to get attention): Oprostite (aw praw stee te)
Excuse me (to get past): Ispričavam se (ee spree cha vam se)
Sorry: Žao mi je (zha aw mee ye)
I (don't) understand: Ja (ne) razumijem (ra zoo mee yem)
I don't speak Croatian: Ne govorim hrvatski (ne gau-vau-reem hr-vaht-skee)
Leave me allow (lol): Ostavite me na miru! (aust-ah-vee-te me nah mee-roo)
Go away! (lol): Odlazite! (aud-lah-zee-te!)
I'm lost!: Ja sam zalutala (fem) (Ja sahm zah-loo-tah-lah)
Does anyone here speak English? Dali ovdje itko govori engleski? (dah lee auv-dye-eet-koh gau-vau-ree eng-les-kee?)
Can you help me? Možete li mi pomoći? (mau-zhe-tee lee mee pau-moh-chee?)
I speak very little Croatian: Govorim samo malo hrvatskog (gau-vau-ree sah-moh mah-loh hr-vaht-tskog)
I'm going back to Chapters tomorrow to get some Europe travel books. I also need to pre-order Bosian books/CDs. Moreover, I bought some recommended books for my pre-departure, and my stay in Bosnia.
Moreover, I have reached out to past Beyond Borders/ Intercordia students who have gone to BiH. One is meeting me to show pictures of her stay in BiH. The other has sent me his blog site. I've already read 1/4 of his entries and they're making me so excited. The following are some of the points that stood out to me:
• Everyone knows each other and or they recognize foreigners VERY quickly
• “Everything is a memory”: They don’t like visitors taking pictures of things that have been shot at because it is not a fond memory for them to relive
• He got a tick, which I’m worried about (he calls it "an adventure" and recommends that I stay clear of the tall grass)
• Most structures have bullet marks from the war in the 1990s
• Cafés and construction are the main source of employment for citizens; however, according to Mike many people just lounge all day
• 1 side is abandoned and the other side is full of people staying in apartments
• With that said, there seems to be more buildings and cafés than people
- He hid his passport under the rug and feared it getting lost. (I'm glad that I'm not the only one)
Here are pics from Mike (BiH volunteer 2006):
Art Academy at the University of Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Memory of the War
Typical Homes in BiH (note the bullet holes on the side of the house)
One of the Homes
Apartments in Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje
Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje Walking Home from Youth Centre
On the Hill Looking Down on Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje
Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje Youth Center
Contruction
(Thanks Mike Little - SJU)
books on ukraine are JUST as hard to find - it has been frustrating to find more info/sources, but at the same time, i've been lucky with the two lonely planet books i've found this far. (have you searched lonely planet for BiH...? definitely worth a shot!)
ReplyDeletegood luck... perhaps we will journey to chapters together one of these days! enjoy your break :)
hey! what books are you looking at for BiH? For travel Lonely Planet only has Bosnia in their Eastern Europe and Western Balkan books. I have read the Eastern Europe one, and it wasnt bad, but I dont think its worth it unless you are travelling around Eastern Europe afterward. These are the books that I got for the language
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.ca/Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian-Grammar-Sociolinguistic/dp/0299211940/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234908619&sr=8-1
For history I have read "A Short History of BiH" by Noel Malcolm, and am reading "The Balkans" by Misha Glenny. I asked the guy who went in 2007 what he would suggest for reading, and he said hands down "Love Thy Neighbor" by Peter Maass. I bought it last week but have not got around to starting it yet. Anyway let me know what you come up with