“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true!" -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am finally living my dream! My name is Sarah Edgar, and ever since I was 6 years old all I ever wanted to do was be an exchange student, but as I grew older I thought I would never be able to be a high school exchange student. Here I am today, a junior in high school, who is currently studying abroad in Bosnia i Herzegovina, in the lovely city of Sarajevo!!

If you had asked me at the beginning of sophomore year would I go and study abroad, my junior year in high school, I would have replied,'
“1. No, there is NO way my parents are letting me out of this state, all by myself, at age 15, never mind the country.
2. I will not let myself miss the most important year in my high school career.
3. my parents aren't going to pull, $15,000 out of their pockets, and hand it to me saying, “Go study abroad in country that you know nothing about.""

Well, through YES Abroad, which is funded by the State Department, my parents are saying goodbye to their "little girl" and I am allowing myself to give up my junior year "Dream" of taking AP and Dual Credit classes to study abroad and have a cultural exchange. At least my parents didn't have to dish out $15,000!! :)

God has given me such an amazing opportunity, He has opened so many doors for me, and it is INCREDIBLE!!! I can't wait to see where this journey takes me!! I would love for you to follow my journey through this blog, which I will be keeping updated every few weeks! Hope you enjoy!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” - Henry Miller

Zdravo (hello), today marks my two weeks since I arrived in Sarajevo, It is the two week mark where I said goodbye to my culture and hello to a new one! These last two weeks have been amazing!!! Though, some days have been a bit overwhelming, I am learning to get over it and enjoy life, you see, I miss Russellville ALOT, but I have to realize that I am experiencing a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I can't spend it wishing I was with my friends, or thinking about what I am missing out on in Logan County! I should rather embrace this time of change, make new friends, and enjoy my new surroundings! So that is my new pep talk to myself whenever I get home sick!! 

I finished my last language lessons today, and let's just say I am not even close to being able to communicate in Bosnian!! haha It is one of the hardest languages I have ever tried to learn, but practice makes perfect, right? Well, it's going to take ALOT of practice to even get close to be able to  hold basic conversation, never mind speak it perfectly, but it is part of the experience that I love!!!

Monday I start school... I feel like I am repeating freshmen year all over again!! I am soooooo nervous about school!! My school is like 3 or 4 stories... BIG change from Logan County High School, which is 1 story, two main hallways, and a few smaller halways... I guess it just means I can get lost... AGAIN!! I have kind of just accepted the fact that I will get lost ANYWHERE I go!! Unfortunately, there are no taxis in the school building that can take me to the right class room if I get lost... I guess I will rely on the good'ole sense of wandering the halls to find the right place!!!

Last weekend I visited Foča which is in the  Republika Srpska!! It is the town that my host mom, Sanida, grew up in! But she had to leave her home during the Bosnian war.  Sanida took me to where she use to play as a child, and where she spent many of her younger years! After Foča we went and spent some time at Sanida's Uncle's house!! He has a house on the river, Drina. It is probably one of the prettiest places, if not, the prettiest place I have EVER been!!! The pictures I have do not do it justice!! The river has the clearest, bluest,  water I have ever seen!! It has these beautiful colored stones that just set this an amazing scene!! It took my breath away!!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                                     Livno sunset
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


This weekend we are in Livno, where Omer's (my host father) mother is currently staying!! It is AMAZING!!! I saw a beautiful sunset tonight, and the mountains here just add to the beauty of the sunset!! Hopefully, later this weekend, we will make it to the coast in Croatia, if the weather permits, otherwise, we will go and visit somewhere close!!!

Well, I need to go to bed, but I hope all is well wherever you are reading this from!!! I can't wait to see what I experience next in these weeks ahead of me!!

Until the next adventure,
Sarah Edgar

P.S.  
Earlier last week I got to visit the embassy and meet the ambassador.... and the embassy doctor who worked at Logan Memorial for a few years during the late 1990's!!!! It really is a small world!! I had to laugh when he told me that he had worked in my town... I mean, what are the chances of meeting someone who worked in LC all the way across the world!!!
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