I just got back from Sarajevo for the 62nd International Youth (Esperanto) Convention (IJK), and it was great, but there were a few things that keep me from saying that it was an overwhelmingly amazing time. Sarajevo is a city that has suffered war, and that's present everywhere in the city. Almost every building has bullet holes in it, and there are sidewalk repairs all over the place where bombs fell (often with red paint to indicate that someone died there). According to me the focus of the city now is on repair and reconstruction, and that means that some of the details of cleanliness and good quality get left out. But, the water (and the city is proud of its water) is amazingly good. You can't walk two blocks in the old city without water falling from an unstopped spigot for drinking or washing.

This was my second group of European Esperanto conferences, so I kind of lost the wide eyes I'd had just because I could talk with people who couldn't speak English. However, this was the first time that I got to hook back up with old friends at these conferences, and that was truly a blessing. Every night there were great concerts: JoMo, Dolĉamar, the new lead singer of Esperanto Desperado, and pianist Kaja. The discussions, games, drinking, and dancing went late into every night. The excursion that I took was historic, and we visited war memorials, cities both current and ancient, and an incredible clean water source from under a cliff in the mountains. The Esperantists themselves were the best part of the whole conference, though.

I think that a big reason that my experience this time wasn't life-changing like last time is that I didn't have an amazing romantic adventure this year. I wasn't in the right brainspace for that, and that affected my experience. I'm incredibly happy to have gotten to spend time with my old and new friends (I acquired a new during-congress brother, 2 daughters, a niece, and a cousin), but understandably, a romance makes for a special experience, no? Maybe the food was a big deal, too. Every morning the same breakfast, and every lunch and supper, the same food. All in all I'd give the IJK experiece a 7.5/10, and I'm really glad that I went.


moments and memories

• played dominoes with the guy from Egypt in the Chicago airport.


• "Would you have public sex?"


• told the story of my hand accident two times.


• saw my daughters and granddaughter again.


• the foodservers went crazy about my painted nails.


• walked around the old city.


• the diver at the old bridge in Mostar.


• "Strawberries."


• spent a lot of time with the from-birth-speakers, and learned the the truth about a lot of myths about them.


• the Galaxy Cruiseship 'Ludoviko'


• got invited into the room of a French woman.


• taught 42 (the national game of Texas) to 8 people.


• beatboxed on a microphone in front of 400 people to a standing ovation!


• got mocked for my American accent when I was tired and complimented for my lack of accent when I wasn't.


• the African scaring the local kid.