M.I.A.

I realize that it has been a couple of weeks since my last post, the internet is not always easily accessible over here. I could tell you that I've been slaving away at my internships, but lets get real! No one else seems to be working too terribly hard over here, so I decided to take a little time for myself. After a quick trip to Dubrovnik to work on my tan, I headed back up to Sarajevo to attend a genocide conference. I think the highlight for me was trying to slink further down in my chair as some political science prof. from Rutgers attempted to explain to a room full of Bosnians just how the war actually started over here. Apparently, he is always right and those people who lived through it don't have a clue. Its moments like that which make me proud to be an American.

After the conference was over, I hopped in a car and headed to Montenegro. Savi and I will be forever indebted to Julie and Hannah for letting us crash their vacation. Our quest was to learn more about the culture of the area and I think we came up with a few surprises.

• Apparently it is ok for the Montenegrin police to swig down a few beers while setting a speed trap. Then when the only currency that four silly American women have is the lowly KM, they're nice enough to offer to hold on to your documents while you hit up a Bankomat. That didn't go over too well with our driver so they finally let us go with a blast from their siren. I know its hot out and I'm all about cooling down with a pivo, but come on!
• There really is a difference between the languages in each country. For instance instead of hvala (Bosnian), in Montenegro its hvala. Still haven't figured that one out!
• Finally, diesel is a great fuel and can take you on a super long road trip while only having to fill up once. That is of course unless you insist on having the gas station attendant put in unleaded gas. At least we now know why Julie is referred to as JDiesel!

The important thing is that we made it back alive and didn't have to suffer on an unconditioned bus. It was a great weekend and if any of you ever travel to this side of the world, you can't leave without seeing both the coast and the mountainous areas of Montenegro! If I ever make it to a computer with a semi-fast connection I'll put up some pics.