{"id":2954,"date":"2018-08-07T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-09-12T14:38:28","modified_gmt":"2020-09-12T18:38:28","slug":"so-your-character-is-from-bosnia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victoriagracehowell.com\/staging\/6258\/so-your-character-is-from-bosnia\/","title":{"rendered":"So Your Character is From Bosnia & Herzegovina … Featuring Azra @ SimpleSerenity"},"content":{"rendered":"


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<\/span> It’s time for this week’s So Your Character is … Post! This is a weekly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country or having a disability. I’m hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven’t checked out last time’s So Your Character is from Bahrain … be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!<\/span>
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<\/span> Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts is as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.<\/span>
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<\/span> (None of the Images are Mine)<\/span>
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\nMy name is Azra and I’m from Bosnia and Herzegovina. I live in Sarajevo while studying, but I\u2019m originally from small city close to Sarajevo called Kakanj. I have a blog SimpleSerenity, where I usually share my passion for beauty related topics. I\u2019m a chemical engineering student though, but I work as a beauty journalist. I was born on 25. December 1993. I\u2019m 24 years old, not politically active but I\u2019ll try to explain the situation in my country the best way I can.<\/span>
\nBlog<\/a>\/\/Facebook<\/a>\/\/Twitter<\/a>\/\/Instagram<\/a>\/\/Pinterest<\/a>\/\/BlogLovin’<\/a><\/span>
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<\/span> What do you feel is unique to your country? Landmarks? Celebrations?<\/b><\/span>
\nI think that people in Bosnia are a lot different from the rest of the world. Most of the people are so friendly and they would help you no matter if they know or don’t know you. Also, we are great hosts, when we have friends around we do everything to make them feel special and well received. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, you\u2019ll find some unique animal species that only live in Bosnian territory. If I would talk about landmarks in Bosnia, it would probably take a whole day, because there is so much. <\/span>
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<\/span> If you are visiting you need to see Mostar, capital city \u2013 Sarajevo which is full of history and life. We also have a touristic place called Neum where you can swim in the sea that is really clean and have a nice summer holiday. Celebration vise we have some national holidays of course, but I feel like religious holidays are more important. Bosnia is a multi-religious country with many religions. Every religion has specifics holidays with specific traditions and practice.<\/span>
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<\/span> Tell me about your country’s environment. What are some of your favorite places?<\/b>
\nIf you are visiting Bosnia you have to come to Sarajevo. Sarajevo has a special atmosphere and it is a really popular place for tourists all over the world. One of my favorite places in Sarajevo is old bazaar called \u201cBa\u0161\u010dar\u0161ija\u201d, it\u2019s absolutely beautiful. If you want to see a better view of the city you have to visit \u201cVidikovac\u201d. Obviously, Mostar is also a really popular city. I\u2019m sure you saw photos of \u201cOld bridge\u201d, it\u2019s definitely worth to see in person. Mostar as a city is really beautiful, with so much history and culture. If you love nature than \u201cKravice\u201d waterfalls are something you have to see. If you are a fan of history and historical details \u201cKraljeva Sutjeska\u201d and \u201cBobovac\u201d near Kakanj are a must see. <\/span>
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<\/span> Also in Kakanj there are some tombstones from Middle Age. A very popular place for zoologists is \u201cHutovo Blato\u201d nature park that has many rare animal species. Neum is a small town in Herzegovina that is really popular as a holiday destination. We might have a pyramid in \u201cVisoko\u201d. There have been studies that say that there is definitely a pyramid in Bosnia, it\u2019s still researching though. Bosnia has the last remaining jungle in Europe called \u201cPeru\u0107ica\u201d. There is so much more, but I decided to keep it simple!<\/span>
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\nTell me about your country’s food. What are some of your favorite dishes?<\/b>
\nMy country is popular for having a good food. Our food is definitely not healthy, but if you try it you won\u2019t care because it is so good. We have many pie recipes, probably the most popular is \u201cburek\u201d which is a pie with meat. If you were ever in Sarajevo you tried \u201c\u0107evapi\u201d which is our most popular dish. There are some traditionally cooked meals like: \u201csogan dolma\u201d, \u201c\u0161i\u0161 \u0107evap\u201d, \u201csarma\u201d etc. We also have really popular deserts like \u201cbaklava\u201d, \u201churma\u0161ice\u201d, \u201ctulumbe\u201d, \u201ctufahije\u201d etc. If you come to Bosnia for a longer period you\u2019ll get fat there is no doubt about it.<\/span>
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\nTell me about any different speech patterns in your country. Slang? Idioms? Words for things such as \u201cbiscuits\u201d instead of \u201ccookies\u201d?<\/b>
\nThis won\u2019t be helpful to people who don\u2019t understand Bosnian, but there are many idioms in our language. Most people say that Bosnian is almost impossible to learn because there are so many words and Bosnian grammar is whole another level. I\u2019ll mention few slangs, one of the most used one is \u201c\u0110\u2019es ba?\u201d which means \u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d or you can also say \u201c\u2019\u0160ta ima?\u201d. \u201c\u017divjeli\u201d is \u201cCheers\u201d. If you are referring to a friend you are using \u201cBrate\u201d or \u201cJarane\u201d. If you are talking to a woman you are constantly using the word \u201cbona\u201d to refer to her, or for a guy it\u2019s \u201cbolan\u201d. When you want to ask someone to visit you, you simply say \u201cHo\u0161 do\u0107i?\u201d. When someone is leaving your house you say \u201cDo\u0111ite nam\u201d, the person would reply \u201cDo\u0107i \u0107emo\u201d!<\/span>
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