The Revival

Apologies for the long pause between posts. I could spend this entry filling you in on the lovely jaunt throughout Europe that I took with my parents. I would share the highlights of their visit including the beautiful cities we visited (Prague, Krakow, Vienna, Ljubljana, Dubrovnik, Split, Mostar, Sarajevo, and Belgrade), being blessed by the presence of another person under 40 for a portion of the trip (Thank you, Erin!), the wonderful suitcase transported throughout Europe full of American delicacies (courtesy of the parents and M&M), how Mom got caught in our building elevator 3 times in one day, or the adventures of Eastern European transportation. Of course, there was also my trip to Berlin for the BVS Europe retreat. There were the few extra days I spent in Berlin after the retreat with Katie and Tory (the other two BVS volunteers in the Balkans). We found that we had a tendency to focus our time on three things: coffee, gossip, and atrocities. Apparently we have been 'balkanized' to some extent. However, we did find some time to fit in some museums and general sightseeing while in Berlin.

I could share with you the many glimpses I have received of the worst of humanity. I participated in the commemoration of 13th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide in Republic Square in Belgrade on July 10. In a city which continues to deny what happened, a video was played in the town square with the stories of women who had lost their families in the genocide. They spoke of the permanent entwining of the past with their future as they continue to search for the bodies of their loved ones. On July 11, I travelled with Women in Black to the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial and Cemetery to watch and participate in the annual burial as 308 newly identified bodies were buried. After the ceremony we went to the Srebrenica Memorial Room. The Srebrenica Memorial Room is located in the battery factory was the headquarters of the UN Dutch soldiers and where many Bosniaks came for refuge. Now the battery factory contains a continuously running documentary film and a display containing personal items and stories of some of the victims of the genocide. The travels with my parents included a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau and to cities and populations that had been forever changed by the Holocaust. My trip to Berlin with BVS included two visits to the Holocaust Memorial and Underground Museum and a day excursion to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. However, I won't blog about those experiences. Mainly because I don't have the words to describe them or the courage and gumption to find the words.

The last few months have brought changes in the political landscape in Serbia, the capture of Radovan Karadžic, and new friends. The past months have brought new challenges and new adventures. The summer brought intense, overwhelming heat which seems to have finally made exited the scene (as of last week).

However, instead of going back in time and trying to explain what I was doing all of those long months of blog silence, I am going to just start from the here and now. I have decided it will be easier to start where I am now than to go back in time and try to catch up. Of course, sometimes I may throw in a blog post or two with an 'older' memory or anecdote from my months of blog silence.

Beginning today I am just going to try to be more diligent in blogging about the everyday events. The fun ones and the dull ones. Call it an early New Year's Resolution. My blog has officially been resuscitated and revived. Expect to see more soon.