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EUROTRIP 2016 - Part 6: Visocica, an adventure on Bosnian mountains

2017-08-09T15:42:00.000+03:00

"The fresh mountain breeze brings the sinfony of scents around us. This sinfony is made from fresh green grass, soothing notes of wild lavendel, mint, thyme and moist pine cones. The view on the other hand is - at the same time - a soothing lullaby for the restless soul and the most powerfull burst of enjoyment and excitement to the beating living heart."

Those words were my exact thoughts on the top of the Vito peak, while I was surrounded by the ancient mountains. Towards the summer, the surrounding springtime lakes tend to dry out loosing their wild souls and turning into the blossoming greenlands. However, some smaller streams source from these majestetic mountains as tributaries to its bordering jade-coloured rivers; Neretva, Ljuta and Rakitnica, which srteams along one of the deepest canyons in Europe - the 32 km long Rakitnica canyon. Surrounding mountains, the Visocica range with its ridges (Kaoca, Crveni Kuk and Toholj) and their notable peaks (Džamija (1974 m.), Vito (1960 m.), Veliko Ljeljen (1963 m.), Crveni Kuk (1733 m.) and Veliko Toholj (1837 m.) are attractive destinatios for hikers, tour seakers, ski fanatics, nature and history lovers. Visocica has two necropoli located at high altitude amidst the mountains, which have no trace of contemporary or historical habitation. One of the necropolis at Poljice features two stećaks - bosnian medieval thomb stones with inscriptions in Bosančica (which can be translated as Bosnian script.) and the other located in high deserted valley called Jezera, features several ornamented stećaks. Notably, stećaks are currently also under the UNESCOs list of world heritage sites!

If you want to experience something extra special like we did, you can rely on these great, charmy and happy chaps, true gentlemen, who will offer you great tours in great destinations you will not forget. That is how I would describe your guides-to-be Kenan, Adi and Hikmet from Highlander Adventures. They are well educated young men who know what they are doing, thus making every tour unique and tailored for your needs and according to your personal interests. Theme based tours (war, architecture,...), city tours, hiking tours (where ever your heart desires) - you name it, they got it. They are great to hang out with, relaxed and well organized (+ can speak many languages!). With Highlander Adventures, history will meet up with nature and culture, while laugh and relaxed athmosphere will accompany your journey. Don't miss out the beauty of the cities, villages, mountains and wild rivers. We loved it and we bet, you will too!

Me and my sister Sabina had been planning a hiking trip in the Balkans also previously (our mini-hike in Kozara National Park does not count since we are from there). However, it was always a bit too hard to organize something alone without good company and gears (if we fly, we cannot pack all the necessities for everything) so we have had to postpone our plans. Luckily this summer, we knew we will meet up with our cousin Zana (she also writes a blog, check out World of a Travelholic), who lives in Denmark and knew that with her we could share some special moments since she was as outgoing as we are - I mean we love her! It was too bad that our other cousin Elma (lives in Finland), an outgoing soul as well, was not able to join us on our hike because of the ongoing construction work on their house, since she really loves the pace of life outdoors. There was also our friend, who had never been in Sarajevo, to whom we showed the city round for a week gladly but who we knew could not get through the very demanding hike. Therefore, we had to say goodbye and then catch up with our other friends, who were more than eager to see us too (Psst. Sabina I will never forget that moment with our ice creams on the station.)

So finally, the morning of our hike started with us going to one of the stores of Maison Coco bakery, my favourite bakery in Sarajevo for some delicious breakfast. After that we packed our bags, filled our water bottles with normal water as well as with naturally mineralized spring water Sarajevski Kiseljak (something everyone should drink when it is hot or when they are excercising!). Zana, Kenan, Adi and one of Zanas friends from Pakistan picked us up from our home and oh boy, the adventure really started that moment! First 30 minutes of climbing up were the most intense, but after our bodies adjusted it was much easier to climb and descend for the next 9 hours that were ahead of us.

We were all happy and topics for talking bursted almost as if they were handed out from the endles mountain springs. We were sweatty as kittens who have fallen into their too big water bowls and most of all - serene. Hugged by all that sunshine and surrounded by the nature itself in its best and most beautiful costume this day was even better than an amusement park as a child (and that is something!). We had few lunch breaks, where Zana took out a bag full of pitas in front of us! Chocolate drink, still warm pitas, bananas nuts and raisins, peaches and dark chocolate - that is what our mountain lunch was all about, not to forget to mention the incredible views and a possibility to take your shoes off to feel the grass between your toes... In the end, we ended up blowing up some mushrooms, dancing some macarena, sitting on spiky plants and getting our butts sore, climbing up to four different peaks, seeing a herd of freely roaming horses, squeezing our bodies along the really steep paths, laughing a lot and running around, listening to the traditional music echoing from the mountain village Lukomir on the opposite side of the canyon, talking to a lonely frog and admiring colourful butterflies flying around us. This day ended with us gathering around the nargila back in the city, all together. I mean, what could you possibly not like about all this?

If you are interested, there is also a bit demanding hiking trail along the ridge from the beautiful Rakitnica canyon, which drops 800m below, all the way to famous village of Lukomir. You can also reach the village by an easy (but still amazingly beautiful) hike from Umoljani (car/taxi in also possible but not recommended, since you absolutely need to spend more time hugged by this nature!) Lukomir is the only remaining traditional semi-nomadic mountain village in the region. At almost 1,500m, the village with its unique lifestyle, fresh mountain air, homes made of stones with cherry-wood roof tiles, is the highest and most isolated mountain village in the country. You can enjoy the beautiful views and order bosnian specialities, such as bosnian coffee, herbal tea and many delicious pitas (all explained in my previous posts), locally produced drinks, dried meat and cheese. Here you can even buy yourself a nice pair of woollen socks with traditional bosnian pattern "the tortoise" to warm your feet and to remind you of this incredible moment you have experienced, while sitting in your own cozy chair at home during the next winter.

My last question to you is: Why wouldn't this be your next winter?

- Herminica

EUROTRIP 2016 - Part 5: Sarajevan summer dream, vol 2

2017-07-17T18:19:00.000+03:00

"Sarajevo is a real-life museum with a lot of character, cuteness, harsh past still seen all over the city and on peoples faces, curiosity that makes you chase all the little hidden corners and their gems, magical atmosphere, delicious and happy moments, humanity and kindness, beauty as it is, merak (wonder, enjoyment) and rahatluk (comfort)."

You may have noticed a glimpse of all this from my previous posts about Sarajevo (you can find them by clicking the label Sarajevo in the right), this city and its surroundings have a lot to offer. History suffuses the country and the people have found a delicate balance to their lives. The culture is open, people are kind and the pace of life is lovely. Throughout the city, you can see the influences from this; how history play outs across every building, architecture, conversation and coffee shop. All those tasty influences in the coffee, food and sweets, the beautiful architecture and the delicate touch on peoples lifestyles reflect the rich history of the country that has been hugged (sometimes more harshly) by different cultures. All of those ancient as well as modern cultures have been mixed with the rich bosnian traditions making it a home for a distinctive bosnian vibe reflecting a true multicultural spirit of the Europe and the region.

After waking up in our home, drinking the morning coffee on the balcony while putting our make up on it was time to step into the hot tram and head to the center. We roamed around the city and its green hills with our friends and relatives, popped in to those little cute art galleries and museums, such as Sevdah Kuca (serves also as a sevdah music themed restaurant) and in Vijecnica - City Hall. The warm weather gave us an opportunity to cool down near the river Miljacka at beautiful park At Mejdan (or Trg Franje Josipa), which is now dominated by a wooden music pavilion and surrounding mountains while enjoying the kiseljak mineral water and pulse of the city itself. We planned to rent city bikes from NextBike to go to Goat Brigde/Kozja Cuprija - roman bridge at Miljacka river to swim but then, because it started to rain we needed to postpone it.

Usually, we sat down to some of the many cafes for a drink. One of my favourites is a traditional drink salep made from tubers of the orchids at Cajdzinica Dzirlo (Tea House). It was easy to pop up into Maison Coco for the best patisseries in town, Baklava Shop or Badem, a specialty shops selling bulk bins of nuts, candies and spices, and take some snacks for the walks up to the hills or gatherings with friends in the cute and relaxed nargila bars. From time to time we ate some pitas (fillo pastries with different fillings; burek with meat, krompirusa with potatoes, zeljanica/spinatusa with spinach, tikvenica/misiracnica/bundevaca with squash, sirnica with cheese and so on) at Buregdzinica Sac (the best ones in the city, the better ones can be tasted in the Lukomir mountain village) sat down to some of the traditional food serving ascinica restaurants, restaurants with stories to tell, such as Inat Kuca, amazing and not too crowded Dunja and Nanina Kuhinja or just took some waffles at Metropolis restaurants. One of the great and a bit remote places was also 4 sobe gospodje Safije, where restaurant, wine and cocktail bar, lounge room and Safija’s Garden are all located under the same roof. It is based on exotic fusion of modern cooking and traditional gems of BiH cuisine. This restaurant is taking special care that ingredients used are coming mostly from local productions, which I also give a great value to.

One of my favourite coffee shops in Sarajevo are the traditional ones located in Bascarsija (e.g. Cajdzinica Dzirlo Tea House, Ministry of Cejf, Mahala, Istanbul, Dibek, Damask, Nafaka, U Prolazu, Mrvica, Slasticarna Ramiz, Morica Han, Hotel Europa etc...), on the rooftops in the modern part of the city (e.g. Turkish cafe Gonul Kahvesi in Shoppig center SCC or one of their cafes at the hill above Inat Kuca, Cafe Hotel Hecco Deluxe and its rooftop terrace, Manolo, Revolucija 1764, Cafe Michele, Cafe Tito, Zlatna Ribica with its mysterious charm, Cafes at Vrelo Bosne Park or Mejdan Park along Miljacka river, and Hotel Malak Ragency in Ilidza) and the ones that are a bit more challenging to reach, such as Cafe Panorama, Pino Natur Hotel, Vukov Konak mountain logde, Park Princeva and restaurants in Sunnyland! Kamarija is a great choise for people, who choose to visit both Yellow and White Fortresses (most tourists dont even know about the white one, that is situated even higher than the Yellow one!), because of its excellent location, amazing view and consept! It is a cute tree house, where you can order a ice coffee to refresh you in the middle of your journey made of climbing. Trust me, if it is hot, you will sit down happily for a moment or two. If you decide to visit the White Fortress as well, you will also pass by the Visegrad Gate (built between 1727 and 1739), which was the main entry point to town and is one of the three gate-towers in the Vratnik Old Town (The old Vratnik fort) with the other two being Sirokac Tower and Ploca Tower.

All these moments, we sat down every now and then and sipped some strong bosnian traditional coffee (do not mistake it with turkish one, they do indeed taste different and are prepared and served differently - no sugar should be added while making it, in addition, much thicker creamy foam should be on the top). The sidewalk café culture is alive and rampant here. Locals and tourist alike spend hours people-watching or being people-watched, cejfing and enjoying the moment. Coffee is so important part of the day, that you even use different words for coffee moments at specific times of day, where azgalica is the morning coffee and sikteruša is served after a meal, razgovorusa is drank during the conversations and docekusa always prepared after arriving home. It is served in a full dzezva on a round copper/iron tray with a little keramic cup sitting in the metallic one called fildzan (or even solja or saljica), usually there are rahat lokum marmelades on side. In Bosnia, people bake the coffee from finely grounded coffee; tucana kafa. They even baked it during the war and siege from finely grounded lentils when no real coffee beans were available - just to be able to cejf and feel "normal". Cejf is a word that is hard to translate, but it means living in a moment, without any rush, daily dilammas and extra heart beats, it means the ease of breath during that special moment that will always hug you, relax you and surround you with the lovely and warm serenity. I assume that danish people could understand the meaning of it, since it is something very much alike with danish hygge.

When you’re ready for your coffee, take a sip of water and spoon out a layer of creamy, caffeine rich foam from the top. Pour coffee from the dzezva before adding the foam to the cup (after all, real bosnian coffee with no foam is no bosnian coffee at all). If you want sugar, don’t plop it in your drink; instead, take a bite from one of the cubes on your tray and put it under your tongue to dissolve as you sip or, alternatively, plop it to the empty cup and pour coffee in to the fildzan/solja (cup) so that you barely cover the sugar cube and let it dissolve, then pour more coffee to the fildzan (cup) and enjoy.

Since I am a true pancake lover, so we had to make a trip to Trebevic mountain to the Pino Natur Hotel for a early breakfast (you can take a taxi or even walk). We decided to take some bosnian traditional version on pancakes; ustipci/priganice with some locally produced cheese, dried meat, orange juice and great foamy cappuchinos while enjoying the fresh mountain air and great company surrounded by the beautiful and sunny green forest. We spent a relaxing day at the mountain. On our hike back to the city center, we visited the famous remains of the bobsleigh from the Sarajevo Winter Olympics in -84. Nowadays, it serves more or less as a tourist attraction and biking/running location among the locals. It was quite amazing to see what really happens to the many newly built constructions after the Olympic games have passed; especially to the fascilities for the sports that are not so popular as hobbies among people... The route back is easy to walk for anyone who is accustomed to it and most of all... beautiful! It was definitely one of the most beautiful viewpoints down to the city! We were so happy to meet a flock of sheep and their really kind shepardess on our way down through the mountain and the neighbourhood Alifakovac. We had planned to go to the Kozija Cuprija (Goat's bridge) bridge too, which was built by the Ottomans in the 16th century. Dariva, the road between neighbourhood Bentbaša and Kozija Cuprija is a walkway that stretches for 8 km along what was once the Miljacka river canyon. Sarajevo has Nextbike, a public bike rental service that allows users to rent bikes from several locations in town and return them to the nearest Nextbike station. It means, that you can also bike along Dariva all the way to the Cuprija and back!

We happened to be in Sarajevo also during the Sarajevo Film Festival, tried to see the glimpse of Robert De Niro and enjoyed the afterparty scene at the pubs (Tesla, City Lounge, City Pub, Ort) in the street of Zelenih Beretki and Cinemas Sloga or relaxed in one of the many nargila bars. During the days however, we wanted to visit more museums, famous buildings and nature spots. Bijambare caves for instance, had been on my bucketlist for a quite some time! We walked through a beautiful forest of oak, beech and pine trees before we reach the cave complex, with stunning three caves. The nature here reminded us from the one we have also in Finland. The only difference mas made by the mountains that surrounded us. Bey's Ethno Village and a stunning restaurant called Pizzeria Nisici were also a must to see on our way up to the caves. The restaurant itself, made amazing pizzas and ustipci/priganice of much stomach friendly buckwheat! Oh what a beautiful moment it was for our stomachs and taste buds!

After the best days spent in the city, we also did an A M A Z I N G hiking tour to the Visocica mountain with the best guys from Highlander Adventures (these guys will arrange anything for you from the hiking trips to the city tours and rafting days) - story from that epic route will follow this one soon! I must warn you in advance that you must prepare yourselves for that amount of natural beauty...

- Herminica

EUROTRIP 2016 - Part 4: Sarajevo, a real life museum, vol 1

2017-07-09T15:48:00.001+03:00

A really beautiful video from the city.

As you already know from my previous posts about Sarajevo (you can find them by clicking the label Sarajevo in the right), this city and its surroundings have a lot to offer. It is a real life museum with a lot of character, cuteness, harsh past still seen all over the city and on peoples faces, curiosity that makes you chase all the little hidden corners and their gems, magical atmosphere, delicious and happy moments, humanity and kindness, beauty as it is, merak (wonder, enjoyment) and rahatluk (comfort). If you visit Sarajevo just to pass by it quickly, you will most probably end up with nothing in your hands nor your heart, feel no real connection to the place and pass by all the gems in your hastiness. All you need to know is that you can not go wrong by roaming and choosing a different place to eat, have cup of coffee or tea and most surely, by always choosing a different street to walk by. Have a map to make sure you see all the places you want and sometimes just leave it to the pocket to find the places you did not even know to exist (and remember to also stop, turn around sometimes and look up). As an open air museum, Sarajevo as a whole, does an excellent job.

For us it was time to head back to Sarajevo after a week and a half in northern part of BiH. We arrived there in the evening, which basically ment that it was time to leave our luggage at home afer a quick refreshing shower and continue to the city center for a late dinner. As usually, we made a little evening walk tour through the city after stepping off the tram before the last stop. It was a good option after sitting in the bus for many hours. I love to stop by the river Miljacka and just listen to it, watch people coming from one restaurant and head to another one and the by far the most I love to stop and look at my favourite spots alone for the first time that year and just be quiet. The views, smells and sounds make sure that the feeling of home sickness is slowly washed away from your shoulders finally (after yet another year of exhile (the famous black Bosnian humor you guys...).

For a place to have we chose the famous Inat Kuca after shooting dice between Nanina Kuhinja and Inat Kuca (the history, architecture and food of The House of Spite is really something worth experiencing). The food is traditional in both of the mentioned restaurants (still a bit unknown Bosnian cuisine), something quite unique and interesting to try. We for instance, took soups Begova corba and muckalica for starters, continued with Sogan and japrak dolma, baminja and cevapi, sided with some locally produced salad, somun bread and goat cheese and washed it all with the famous Sarajevan beer and natural mineral water Kiseljak (the breweries and their restaurants you can also try, they have also a rich history and some great beers for you to offer, try Sarajevo Brewery/Pivnica, The Brew House or Vucko Pub). In addition to these, there are so many different restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars and tea houses in Sarajevo that it is almost impossible to list them all in one post, which is why I encourage you to go through the other ones too. The where and what- posts are still in progress for each city, so please be patient!

The next day we chose to show the Park Vrelo Bosne and the Tunnel of Hope to our friend, who had never been in Sarajevo before (you can see more photos from both places from my previous posts). Vrelo Bosne is always a good idea when the temperature rises. The spring of the river Bosna is just beautiful location to enjoy the river, walk through the park, visit the thombstone Stecaks and the Roman bridge located in the park, maybe take a 4 km ride by the horse carriage through the beautiful Velika Aleja (Great Alley) back to Ilidza. The Tunnel museum is a good place to visit the same day you are visiting the park, because they are realtively close to eachother in Ilidza.

As always, we also love to visit museums the city itself has to offer. This first week we went to the History Museum of BiH and the reopened National Museum of BiH. They had a lot to offer and after roaming from the first one, we decided to stop to the Cafe Tito, which is located between the Museum and the pedestrean street Wilsonovo setaliste (Vilson's promenade). This is a great place for history lovers to experience the nostalgic past along the river Miljacka. After a refreshing break from the first museum it is a good idea to enter the second. Both of the museums tell a lot already by their own architecture and appearance in addition to the stories they have to share with the ones stepping inside. They are also pretty affordable, easy to reach and suitable for children.

To be continued with the second part of the Sarajevan journey soon... This time from a little different perspective.

- Herminica

EUROTRIP 2016 - Part 3: Kozarac, Prijedor and Banja Luka

2017-06-26T19:38:00.000+03:00

"The name of Kozarac comes from a strong wind blowing from the Kozara* canyon. This warm breeze tinkles your face and your lips turn into a serene smile."*

This little place called Kozarac is such a good place to be. It is this cute town that belongs to a bigger city of Prijedor (where I was born). Even though we were once evicted from our roots (during the time of Yugoslavia, Kozarac had near 20,000 citizens), it will always be our home. Kozarac was first mentioned 1334 and it is also famous for its remains of the Kozara fortress (Kula) and the National Park Kozara. Most of all, I love to be able to call this place my birth place.

It is a home, where you can let the mind calm down while listening to the grasshoppers chirping around you, watch how fireflies fly above you against the starry night sky and let your feet rest before a short hike to the Kozara mountain the next day. It is where you can lay down in your underwear on the warm terrace floor and sip hot chocolate after a nice evening out with your friends. Once when I was still a child, I noticed that from our terrace you could see more stars than ever in Finland - and the moon, it was bigger and brighter than anywhere else.

The thousand little lights keep on twinkling on the mountains from all the houses that more or less serve nowadays as summer houses and music - it echoes from somewhere in the distance. Nowadays, there are also 15 cows chilling next to our yard. This was also the place where one magical event took place at. We were able to assist in a cow birth. It was definitely one of the most beautiful moments during last summer.

After enjoying the sunsets surrounded by all that beauty, it is usually time to go to bed and prepare for the next day. Sometimes we just hang out around the yard, visit our friends and family, cejf in the center by sipping some hot bosnian coffee and reading a book or refresh by the pool or then, just drive to surrounding cities to enjoy them as well. Once in a while, we pack up our hiking gear and some food for a day and head to the NP Kozara and its mountains by foot. I love to wake up, eat a proper breakfast - local fresh eggs, bosnian pita tikvenica,bundevaca or misiracnica depending on where you are from made with fresh squash, pancakes or bosnian version ustipci or priganice (again depending on where you are from) cooked on a griddle in the yard and some freshly squeezed lemonade. With that, it is easy to put your shoes on, take your backpack and start climbing. Usually it all takes for about 5 to 6 hours from our house without big breaks but the journey is the one that matters along with the company and the lovely views that wait for you on the top.

One of our trips to surrounding cities was a weekend trip to Banja Luka. The second biggest city in BiH. It was a wonderful day spent at Kastel Fortress, on a restaurant boat next to the beautiful Vrbas river and visiting one the most famous mosques in BiH, once demolished in 1993 and now newly reconstructed Ferhadija,which is one of the greatest achievements of 16th century Ottoman architecture in Europe. We chose not to go to the city center this time at all, but instead chose to enjoy our food and drinks on the river and the fortress. The fortress is medieval but is situated on the site of previous fortifications going all the way back to Roman and even pre-Roman times. As a history and nature junkie, I absolutely love to dig deep into the all possible corners of every place...

- Herminica

EUROTRIP 2016 - Part 2: Amazing National Park UNA

2017-05-17T19:12:00.001+03:00

“Magical waterfalls, forest, medieval castles, crystal clear rivers... Mesmerizing!”

That is what I thought first when I saw Una. I mean, where to begin? Colours! Yes, when wild green forests meet the turquoise waters of rivers Una, Krka and Unac. These white foamy formations caused by the rapids and waterfalls, such as Strbacki Buk, Martin Brod and Troslap, just make your eyes shine of the excitement. Your scents are wide open to the beautiful smell of flowers, green moist grass and the sounds coming from the wind and birds standing on the top of the big green trees.

Terrestrial habitats in the area of Una National Park are the meadows, pastures and forests, which all form a pretty important and rich ecosystem and habitats for many species found at the area. You can enjoy the Unac Canyon and drink the water from the spring of the river Krka or Bastasi or just have a picnic while watching the fish playing under the surface. History lovers have to hear the stories about Iapydes -an ancient people who inhabited the wider area of Una river valley and many historical remains of the old cities and forts to visit. Kulen Vakuf, Orasac, Rmanj, Havala and Klisevic tower are there to amaze but the burg of Ostrovica, which consists of at least three recognizable historical layers is for my opinion one of the best ones preserved.

There are also many hiking, rafting, fishing and biking opportunities. In fact, for kayakers there is this very special event called The Una Regata, which is organized every year during the summer. Rich flora and fauna, canyons, mountains and rivers and history make this park special. You can also experience Yugoslavian spirit by taking a tour with Tito's Blue Train (a "luxury train", once used by Josip Broz Tito, while president of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) through the park! Worth of visiting for a day or for longer! I am absolutely going to visit the NP again, this time I hope to spend a night somewhere surrounded by the nature, with no other tourists around. The park can be easily reached if you are planning to visit Natural Parks Krka and Plitvice, since it is located between them! However, you have to cross the boarded between BiH and Croatia, since the NP UNA is located on the territory of BiH.

We stopped also in Cazin to see The Castle of Ostrozac and ate a lunch in Kostelski Buk, sipped some coffee in the old town of Bosanska Krupa while continuing our journey from Bihac and NP UNA towards our home in Prijedor and NP Kozara. However, by camera battery died at some point and I have photos only from Kostelski Buk. This was a lethal error, which must be corrected next time, because the places really were worth seeing! Since I do not have any material to support my claims, you can either just believe my words or google the places for additional proof!

I hope you dare to adventure!

EUROTRIP 2016 - Part 1: Trogir, a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast

2017-05-17T18:02:00.000+03:00

Trogir - a small little city with a harbour,

Lying there next to the airport,

tightly in the armpit of the city called Split...

Trogir was our choice for a weekend, since I flew directly to Split Airport (the airport is really close to Trogir, a smaller city next to Split). My parents and sister Sabina were waiting for me there when I arrived. It meant that I did not have to relay on the airport-city buses and their timetables at all this time. However, if you need them, they are ok to use. But be prepared that the bus station in Split is small and over-crowded and waiting in hot climate can be rather exhausting...!

We decided to stay at Trogir for few days just to see one additional little city with rich history. The old town of Trogir has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sitesfor its Venetian architecture. It is also the best-preserved Romanesque-Gothic complex not only in the Adriatic, but in all of Central Europe. The Fortress Kamerlengo, The Duke's Palace and city gates and walls are just few of the unique places worth seeing.

Trogir has a really cute little old town, but the good beaches are not close. You usually have to take a taxi-boat to them and avoid driving a car (it is really time consuming to drive between old town and this little island because there is so much traffick). The beaches were clean but the water was not as clear as it usually is in Adriatic sea. I think that the construction work of the huge harbour for yachts (there are two yacht marinas) is mixing the water so much at some points and that's why the beautiful beaches are the ones far away. It was good place to see, great if you need a place for short time and close to the airport.

I loved the views seen from the Fortress, especially during the sunset. However, the food and other activities in Trogir can be experienced also in other cities. I have travelled around the former Yugoslavia every year starting from the year 1997 (I was 6 years old, it was my first visit to this area after we fled the war. I was born in former Yugoslavia in 1991) and have seen so many places that have even more to offer. That is why I would not stay there longer than 1 to 2 days personally. Of course, Trogir is cheaper than Split and can serve as a great over-night spot very well for those who like to rent a car and drive around to be able to explore more. That is also what we did with our car (yes we aways drive our car from our home in Finland to southern home and back to the North again). However, my sister Sabina was a bit sick so she had to stay in bed while my parents and I buzzed around. As soon as Sabina was feeling well enough to continue our travels, we headed towards amazing National Park UNA and city of Bihac (both in Bosnia-Heregovina).

- Herminica

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 8/8: Sarajevo, a city for cejfing

2016-07-21T17:31:00.002+03:00

Sarajevo was our last destination after Mostar - another home of ours. A city that lies between the mountains by the river of Miljacka. Easily reached city with full of character and a mystical charm. A capital of a heart shaped country, Bosnia-Herzegovina in the center of the Southern Europe. A multicultural city with an unique atmosphere, where you will experience south, north, east and west as well as all different decades throughout the history. A city, where you can hear the church bells playing together with the ezan from the mosques and get to know how relaxation, socializing and coffee can be combined. Yes, we are talking about the same city that hosted 1984 Winter Olympics, where trams were first regularly used in Europe starting 1885, that served as site of the assassination of the Archduke of Austria that sparked World War I in 1914 and the city, that suffered the longest siege of a city in the history of modern warfare (1,425 days long) during the Bosnian War but also a city that is a home of the eternal flame symbolising WWII victory over fascism. Sarajevo - a city nicknamed as an European Jerusalem, where history freaks, baristas, culture fanatics, artists, nature lovers and party people can walk together and all find something special just for them. Even the places for stay offer a variety of experiences from modern Hotel Europe to Pino Nature Hotel and unique theme based hostels, such as Hostel Franz Ferdinand. The other posts from Sarajevo from other years can be found by the label "Sarajevo" on the right. Check them too!

Traditions. You can see them everywhere around you from food, buildings and dressing to the colourful language. Traditions from different eras are all served as one, a multicultural cocktail named after Sarajevo. You will not see as many cafes in any other city as in Sarajevo. People go out, meet friends and chitchat with strangers. People are so relaxed, laid back and friendly that you really feel comfy wherever you go. I feel completely safe in Sarajevo, not even walking alone at night alone as a girl is threatening. Sarajevo feels like home - a city that has so much to offer not just for your eyes but also something deeper for your "soul". It is not just a journey yet to another city but also a journey in yourself. It is the result of the breeze of history which swirls around you wherever you go.

Sarajevo deserves to be called as a city of culture, history, beauty and ćejfing. Wait... ćejfing? Yes. bosnians have a word just for "living in a moment and enjoying it". Those moments are usually accompanied by strong bosnian coffee served from fildžan and ibrik together with some sugary turkish marmelade rahat lokum. The best traditional coffee can be found from the little cafes and restaurants at Bašćaršija and old town, especially from the national restaurant Inat Kuća - House of Spite, which also serves other traditional delicacies from meza to soups and sweets. This restaurant has its special history and most amazing views but also authentic Bosnian music called sevdalinka (listen to Divanhana from youtube for an introduction)!

There are also many other restaurants in addition to Inat Kuca, that you should visit. Morića Han, 4 sobe gospođe Safije, Revolucija 1768 and Metropola. For traditional bosnian ćevapi or pljeskavica visit Čevabdžinica Hodžić. Slastićarna Ramis is a great place to order some boza to drink and tufahija, krempita or hurmašica for desert and authentic pita (fillo pies) can be eaten at Buregdžinica Sač (however the ones that my mom makes are better)! Remember that only the ones with meat filling are called Burek, other pitas have other names. Vegetarians are not forgotten, you can always ask vegetarian varities. Same can be applied to gluten free options! I do that often myself too! For tea lovers there is a hidden gem, a tea house called Ćajdžinica Džirlo, where you have everything from salep to turkish tea all of organic origin and then there are Cafes Zlatna Ribica and Tito- very special to experience too!

As it is said previously, Sarajevo is an constant reminder of history, humanity and tragedy. When you walk along the streets you can see Sarajevo Roses. They are mortar scars filled with red resin as war memories. It seems unnatural to compare the mark of a mortar explosion to the beauty of a rose, but the unique fragmentation pattern of a mortar round hitting concrete does indeed have a floral look. Still, while roses are a symbol of love and beauty, Sarajevo Roses represent a collective memory of the physical scars of war. Another visible memory are the bullet holes seen on the buildings, museums and cemeteries, which can be seen from hills (Yellow and White Fortresses) and towers, such as Avaz Twist tower. However, also good things have arisen during the war - Sarajevo Film Festival has become the largest and most famous film festival in the Balkans and South-East Europe.

There are many great cultural events in Sarajevo. You have many great museums, such as Gallery 11/07/92, History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Svrzo House, National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Despic House, Brusa Bezistan Museum, Museum of crimes against humanity and genocide 1992-1995, Sarajevo Tunnel Museum, Museum of Sarajevo 1878–1918 and War Childhood Museum. There are also many art galleries, concerts and other events. One of the most impressive I went to see was the free outdoor concert of Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra at Skenderija. It was an amazing experience to listen to the music played by talented people in the valley where the acoustics was far beyond anything expected.

Hikers and nature lovers won't be disappointed - Bijelasnica, Igman and Maglic mountains are easily reached. Locals tend to spend the most hottest summer days on mountains, rivers or Park of Vrelo Bosne to escape the heat in the city. There are multiple hiking and biking routes around. One of the most famous are routes to village of Lukomir. Newly established routes of Via Dinarica surround also the city of Sarajevo. Waterfall Skakavac is also near and one of the greatest National Parks - Sutjeska - easily reached as well. In Sutjeska, we also have the last remaining primeval forest in Europe- the Perućica. It is an experience on its own, but with a talented guide the visit can be even more pleasurable. I addition, many other sites are easy to reach - Jajce, Konjic, Mostar and Nature Park Blidinje are only waiting for people to come. Under you can see the photos of the views on my way between Mostar and Sarajevo via Jablanica and Konjic. I say it is beautiful.

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 7/8: Mostar, an European gem

2016-07-16T09:00:00.000+03:00

Mostar, a city of the famous Old Bridge in Bosnia-Herzegovina is hugged by mountains Hum and Velez and kissed by the emerald-green and ice cold Neretva River. Mostar keeps impressing me all over and over again. As you know this was not the first nor last visit to this European gem. As my grandma is from the Herzegovina region, Mostar and its surroundings are still a home for many of my family members. If not the first at least their second home is here. The previous posts about Mostar can be found by clicking on the label "Mostar" (or by clicking THIS, THIS and THIS).

"Birds met on the bridge.
Perched on the balustrade.
Sang.
Pecked crumbs left by the friends.
Swooped through the cool darkness below.
Then out again – joyously – into the light.
To the birds the bridge was a place for crumbs.
Each side was the same except
on one they had built a nest.

It was a fine bridge.
An old bridge."

- Bruce Balan

Stari Most (Old Bridge) was erected in 1566 on the orders of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent: 28 meters long and 20 meters high (90' by 64') and it quickly became a wonder in its own time. Later it became not only the city's symbol but also a place where east and west walk hand in hand. However, the bridge was bombed by the HVO (Croat army) during the Bosnian War in 92-95. It was reconstructed again and the grand opening was held on July 2004. Stari Most and the old town around it are declared as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Some are still trying to divide the city to half, to catholic and muslim sides, but in reality normal locals do not want that nor do they live like that.

As said, that water, as almost any other river or a lake at former Yugoslavian countries looks like this- the colour is amazing. You will see mostarians jump off the bridge according to the old tradition which served as an act of bravery. In all cities in BiH the churches, mosques and synagogues exist side-by-side, and it is this juxtaposition of civilizations that gives this country its colorful charm. Something that entire world should learn is to live in a multicultural way. People in Mostar could not agree on a whose statue would stand as a symbol of peace in their city so they finally agreed on… Bruce Lee!

Cultural events are rich especially during the summer months. You have everything from the Red Bull Cliff Diving to music festivals. There are also many good galleries, ateliers and museums, such as Museum of the Old Brigde, Aluminij Gallery, Aleksa Santic House, Muslibegovic House and War Photo Exhibitions. You can swim, go rafting, climbing or hiking, shop, party in the cave bar called Ali Baba and eat at many restaurants while walking along the bazaars and the urban city. It is also a really easy to pop by to the beautiful locations near by: Blagaj, Stolac, Radimlja necropolis, Konjic, Pocitelj, Kravice water falls, Jablanica lake or Nature Parks Blidinje (with its amazing wild horses and mountains of which Prenj is the most famous) and Hutovo Blato. Make sure you have a local guide, they know what to show and when, they have personal stories to share (not selling you the basics from Wikipedia) and it is a good way of supporting the local economy. People usually speak English or German, so you just have to find the right guide for you!

Mostar has its airport but the easiest way to reach is by train, bus or a car from airports in Sarajevo (BiH) Split (CRO), Dubrovnik (CRO) or Banja Luka (BiH). The train station is really small and due to the bad financial situation of the railway companies also a bit neglected. However, new trains from ZFBiH should start their service any day soon now. While in Mostar, remember to eat local specialities, shop, drink Bosnian traditional coffee (which is NOT the same as Turkish, remember that) and explore the historical sites also around the Mostar. Mostar and its surrounding cities have a lot to offer for thrill, history, culture or piece seekers and remember to keep in mind that Sarajevo is also near by! The route from Mostar to Sarajevo is definitely one of the most amazing I know! That was also our plan after Mostar, the European Jerusalem- Sarajevo!

- Herminica

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 6/8: Stolac, sladak k'o kolac

2016-07-14T22:59:00.001+03:00

An another amazing little city called Stolac, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, was our next destination after Hvar. We decided to contact our cousins who we had never met before to go and visit them. Actually, our parents had totally forgot to mention them because our family is quite big. Their only daughter Adnana actually found my mom on facebook and added her as a friend and soon the contact was made once again after the war. How tragicomic is it that we still "find" our lost relatives and friends either dead or alive almost 24 years after the war? Well, it was the case also with the family Šatara. It was also one of the spontaneous and good ideas I got during our trip. I'm really glad we managed to organize this and meet them. Such a wonderful family I could say. We clicked at instance with them.

We decided to stay at Stolac for four nights and guess what? They gave us an entire floor of their house! Their home was pretty amazing. Located in the valley between mountains next to the river Bregava, orange walls, terraces and the most beautiful garden and outdoor kitchen. Entire front yard was under the grape vines, kiwi, fig, pomegranate and orange trees. That is where our breakfasts came from- from their yard. Fresh fruits and veggies, eggs and chicken all day every day. I mean, it was like visiting your grandparents... Something was served around the clock.

If Hvar was relaxing, so was Stolac. We hanged out at little city cafes, walked along the river that was already pretty dried out because of the hot weather. The air was so fresh and serenity and piece was everywhere. We has so much fun with Adnana, her friends and other family members. It was so nice to play with their big doggo Linda and her two little puppers! I mean, we could have had just stayed there at the yard and play with them for the rest of the holiday, that's how cute they were with their little legs and itsy bitsy teeth.

The area of Stolac has been settled for at least 15,000 years, as evidenced by the markings in Badanj Cave. There is also an impressive stećak necropolis dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries called Radimlja, which has been recently added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Vrsnik hill fort is surrounded by four walls, forming an oval with an area of 371 x 269 meters. Above the old town you can also see the Fortress of Stolac, which is worth visiting. Tourists masses have not found this hidden gem yet which makes it a nice place to chill out for a while. The easiest route to reach Stolac is a road, which runs from Sarajevo via Mostar, Stolac, Ljubinje and Trebinje and enables one to reach Dubrovnik (Croatia) in less than four hours. Another route leads from Imotski and Ljubuški, Međugorje, Čapljina, via Stolac to Berković and Bileća and furtermore to Montenegro.

So much has been destroyed during the history and the most recent Bosnian genocide but still, the life goes on. In tragedy there is always hope. Without humanity we we will only see more destruction, more ruins and more cemetaries. BiH reminds us all with its every inch about importance of solidarity, piece and humanity.

Mornings and the views from both our balcony and the Fortress itself were really one of the nicest I know. This place is full of romantic and slow, old school character. Charm I would say. It has so much to offer again for hikers, mountain bikers, photographers, artists and history lovers.The best solution to pop by is by rent a car, bus (from Mostar the ticket costs around 4 euros) or taxi. Taxi is a cheap solution in BiH and usually much cheaper solution than renting a car especially if you make a deal in advance. I am sure that also other people will be glad to be your personal drivers if you ask and offer a deal. All in all, it is also a nice little amount of money for locals, especially young people who are usually unemployed due to the really bad post-war economy crisis.

Those four days passed by so quickly that we were almost caught by a surprise when it was time to hop to the bus and head to Mostar. Also Linda jumped in the bus after running for 2 kilometers after us with her tiny legs. Linda was probably the smartest dog we have ever met and this really was a nice little surprise from her :D

- Herminica

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 5/8: Amazing Old Town Hvar, chapter 3

2016-07-13T20:43:00.001+03:00

Trips via cost line and to Old Town were such a great experiences and oh boy weren't they a good idea! The most ancient part of Stari Grad falls within the UNESCO Protected World Heritage Site. Old town was a heaven for all peace seekers, relaxation lovers and artsy spirits. If you ever find yourself struggling with writer's block this is the place you should come to restart your inner machine. It is also a place for photographers, painters, elderly couples, yogis, writers, new weds and for most importantly - travellers. Everything about this place says relax, take a break, breathe and enjoy. Even the dogs and kids have found the serenity. For me this day was something I needed badly. I had been so sick for a long time and this really helped me to forget about it and really feel like myself again.

In my opinion Stari Grad (Old Town) can be seen in 3 to 4 hours BUT you wont experience it in that time. It is easy to reach by local bus, drive does not take too long and you have nice restaurants, shops and cafes waiting for you. One of the best things is the difference between the time of siesta and when locals are awake. Also one of the famous places is Tvrdalj Petra Hekterovića - a castle of a famous poet. That place was really a place for you just to sit down and be. This was a good place for me since I was writing a first part of my Master's thesis. It gave my brain a nice break from everything!

After experiencing Hvar it was time to take a ferry back to Split and continue to a city called Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina by bus. We were so eager to prolong our stay in Hvar but extending our booking was not possible anymore due to the full house- effect here. Hvar has become so popular among foreigners that the bookings must be made in advance or otherwise you will find yourself lining up to the next ferry back.

- Herminica

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 4/8: Amazing Hvar, chapter 2

2016-07-06T22:35:00.000+03:00

Hvar island is much more than just a few little amazingly beautiful cities. What really makes this place beautiful is its harsh but yet beautiful nature with calming landscapes. Hiking, driving or biking around the island can be the best decision for people who are not there just to get tanned and drunk.

Beaches were all beautiful and we decided to walk along the cost line for few days. Be prepared to have enough water and some food with yourself because only few beaches have a restaurant right next to them. There are many great spots for swimming that are not crowded. However not all beaches are suitable for kids who are not used to swimming. That can be a turn off for families but also a big plus for people, who don't want to hear people after closing their eyes under the sun.

One of best things was to chill out with beach cats and hens while sun bathing! It felt a bit wrong though to hear and smell the beach and hear rooster singing at the same time... It was a bit unusual at least if I could say. Luckily they were friendly and mostly concentrated on sleeping under the tables or picking some food from the ground.

I love Adriatic sea. It's just so dear to me. I feel like we are one when I'm there. That must sound finny but actually I have grown up next to water- lakes, rivers and sea. I could never imagine myself living somewhere where you have to walk more than one kilometer to reach the one of them. However, sea has one thing others do not Waves! One of the best things about the sea! That sound is just perfect... It was relaxing as much as it was refreshing- those two elements combined are things that make special moments and turn those moments into a good mood and finally, into a successful vacation.

- Herminica

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 3/8: Amazing Hvar, chapter 1

2016-07-02T01:49:00.002+03:00

Hvar, an island I have been dreaming about since I was just a little girl. Last summer we decided to spend 6 days at Hvar at an apartment that is run by local elderly couple. As usual we booked our tickets to Jadrolinija (a local ferry company, online booking is also possible) a day before to ensure we have seats during the trip. Our arrival was quite amusing. We had really heavy luggage and approximately 300 stairs to climb up to the apartment. It served as our workout for the day. That's how sweaty we were. It was time to head to the grocery store and later to the beach after throwing our luggage to our room.

Hvar is among the first areas that have been inhabited in Europe. That is a reason why it has much to offer for history junkies. It is definitely not a place that is there only to serve tourists- it is there to be home for all hvarians. Hvar Town has two big 13th-century fortresses, many cafes, shops, restaurants, beaches and art galleries. It someone is more keen on shopping holidays, then guys, Hvar is not for you. Hvar island also features beaches, lavender fields, boat excursions to for example Pakleni islands, hiking and biking trails and towns, such as Jelsa, Sucuraj and Old Town of Hvar. As an island, Hvar as all other, has usually more stable climate than the cost line but it can be a bit windy. The best way of moving along the cities themselves is walking but if you are interested in discovering the island itself you can also take a bus, rent a car or a bike or just hike. An another perfect place for stress relieve.

Hvar Town was more than beautiful with its mesmerizing views, talkative people and music we gathered to listen and sing with locals. It was nice to share stories, talk about tourists, our current lives and life before war, to play imaginary games about what if the war did not happen? One thing I enjoy the most is the way you just click with people, they are like you have always known each other.

We did not only stay in Hvar Town and the southern part of the Hvar island. Trips via cost line and to Old Town were a must and oh boy they were a good idea! More about walking trip along the cost line and a trip to Old Town Hvar will be seen in chaptert 2 and 3!

- Herminica

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 2/8: In Split, chapter 2

2016-06-14T20:56:00.001+03:00

I bet that many of you who have been in Split have not even heard about a town Kliš. Kliš is a little town that is mostly famous for its medieval fortress, the Fortress of Klis. It was built by the ancient tribe Dalmatae, becoming a royal castle that was the seat of many kings and it finally formed to its final development as a large fortress during the Ottoman wars in Europe. If you visit Split or any other town nearby I really recommend this location as a good option for a day trip. It can be accessed easily by a city bus from Split. You have only a bus ticket and an entrance fee to pay! If you want you can also pop by a cafe or a restaurant nearby and enjoy these magnificent views! This is a really nice site for history junkies, photographers or just Game of Thrones fans, since it served as one of the filming sites.

These views... they amaze me still. I really enjoyed our little day trip we had. After this we still had enough time to swim and spend some quality time in the city of Split and pack. I think that these moments are one of those unique ones you will still remember after many years. After Klis and Split we headed to one of the most famous islands in Adriatic sea and one of the islands that has been on my bucket list for way too many years. I tend to day dream about Hvar already as a kid. If you know me then you must know also the fact that I want to make all those little dreams come true at some point. This time it was time for this one!

- Herminica

Checklist for travelling to the countries of Former Yugoslavia

2016-06-06T17:46:00.003+03:00

The Checklist

I decided to make a checklist for tourists and travelers who are going to visit the countries of former Yugoslavia; Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo and F.Y.R. Macedonia. Checklist consists of 10 sections. Have fun with planning your next trip!

1. Language

One of the main things for you is to understand and to be understood. If you master any of the languages spoken at these countries you'll manage in all of them because people still know how to speak and understand all of the languages. I suggest that you learn at least some of the most important phrases to use in case you are lost and bump into a group of local grandpas playing a chess. Most of them will probably know how to "Deutch" - speak German but English is a rare gem down there among elderly people. Younger generations usually do speak also English and if you are visiting the place during summer I'm sure that in every street cafe is someone who speaks Japanese, Finnish, Turkish, Spanish, French, Swedish or even Russian as their second native language. This means you will not be in trouble. If you still end up in one, just go to the nearest Tourist info, museum or a God's house. Someone will understand and will be pleased to help you! You might even be invited for a cup of coffee to chitchat and to share your life philosophy or your story. The guide line is that the bigger the city the bigger the chance you have to find someone who speaks the same language as you do! If you are just too afraid or don't know how to speak English or German yourself, don't panic. Make sure that someone of your group masters the basics or just keep a piece of paper and a pen together with the dictionary with you and use your body language!

If you travel east from Bosnia-Herzegovina, be prepared to learn how to read Cyrillic alphabet. It is not exactly the same as ones used in Greece and Russian countries so learn also that because Yugoslavia was a country where both alphabets Latin and Cyrillic were used side by side.

2. Where to stay?

This really depends on you, your customs, idea behind your trip and your curiosity. You have many options to choose from. Go to hotel (Pino Hotel Natur), motel, bed and breakfast spot (Vukov Konak), hostel, camping, spend your night at the cruise ship, rent an apartment, room or a house. Go couch surfing or sleep in your car and if you are lucky enough stay at your friends or family. I recommend staying in places that locals run not just to support locals instead of big international companies but also to experience something unique in every country. I love it when local granny serves you with home made tosca pie and waters the plants every morning while you are having the breakfast outside at the family terrace. It makes you feel like home and makes you feel like you really do taste the place as it is and not as it is made to taste like.

3. Who to support and what not to do or say?

I always recommend people to buy local products, visit local market place, eat at places where locals eat and that they run. I believe that you can't experience the place you are visiting without also tasting it as it is. Don't go to international fast food restaurants or cafes, try local ones instead. If you buy an excursion make sure that it is run by locals and that your guide is really a local. No other guide can truly tell you the story that only locals can deliver nor can they show you the places and tell you about them from their heart and guide you to places where other guides can't go because of their lack of knowledge.

Because the war is still seen in daily bases never raise three fingers to order for example three beers. It is as bad as greeting people in Nazi- style and only fascists living there use that to insult people. It is also really important to have good manners and a sense for humor, especially for black one that you can encounter in Sarajevo.

4. How to dress?

What ever suits you is fine! Just make sure that you feel comfortable and that what ever you are wearing is suitable for the place you are visiting. Dress properly if you are visiting a good and popular restaurant, have a bikini when being at the beach or a pool and wash and cover yourself properly if you are going to visit cemeteries or God's houses: churches, mosques and synagogues. It is not a good custom to go there if you are not clean. You might also see nuns or women covered up. Usually local muslim women that use scarves are a minority and they do not use dark colours. If you see black burkhas you know that they are not locals but tourists. This dressing code is tightly associated to the history when dark colours were not allowed because they were representing the dark side. Before people were converted to Orthodoxs, Catholics or Balkan Muslims (except for Albanians) people belonged to a Bosnian Church, Bogomils. It was a dualist religion and you still have many Stecaks, tombstones to see all over the Balkans. Most of them, with the number around 60 000, are in current BiH for excample in Radimlja necropolis.

If you are traveling there during the winter, remember that the temperature can be easily something from +20 to -30 degrees of Celsius. Snow is nothing people have not seen nor are the extreme dry and hot seasons during the summer moths when it can even rise up to + 52 degrees of Celsius.

5. Know the history

When going to former Yugoslavian countries make sure that you are accustomed with the local history, especially from the last war that ripped the area apart. It will really help you to open your eyes in a totally different way. If you are interested in history and historical places then, my friend, you have chosen one of the best destinations to feed that hunger. You have so many good museums, fortresses, historical gardens or archeological sites from all eras and they are mostly well preserved. Roman bridges and amphitheatre, pyramids in Visoko, old Ottoman architecture, medieval necropolis and villages, multicultural sites, memorials and important places remembering WW1 and WW2 and the last genocide at Balkans. You also have religious pilgrimage sites such as Medjugorje and famous books, such as the Sarajevo Haggadah. Let's not forget cities such as Sarajevo, Belgrade, Jajce, Pula, Mostar, Visegrad, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Budva, Split, Stolac and Ljubljana and their beauty and hidden historical gems, such as palaces (such as Diocletians), fortresses (such as ones in Srebrenik, Kotor Vakuf, Klis, Pocitelj, Stolac, Bled, Omis, Jajce, Bobovac, Blagaj, Tesanj, Travnik, ...), old city walls (in Dubrovnik, Split, ...), old towns (Bascarsija in Sarajevo, one in Mostar, Travnik, Hvar, Budva, Kotor, Jajce or Ljubljana, ...), the famous old bridges (Mostar, Visegrad, ...) and a one hidden gem- little village called Lukomir on the top of the Bijelasnica hills. I think I could go on with the list for ages...

6. Be curious

All I can say is this. Be open minded and ready to absorb the atmosphere. Try something new you haven't done ever before and make good memories. Attitude and mood are your biggest traveling companions- make sure that they are boosting and not dragging you down! Don't be afraid to experience. Have that inner child with you where ever you go.

7. You have a map but you don't know where to go?

The places I mentioned in the History section are all worth visiting. However this area has even more to offer both on land and on the sees, rivers and its lakes. It is depending on you and your own activity level. You can go sailing, island hopping, climbing, rafting, fishing, hiking, trekking, skiing, horse riding, biking, diving or even just chill out at the many of the local national parks or other nature parks. Great places are for example Sutjeska, Krka, Plitvice lakes, Biokovo, Kornati, Hutovo blato, Tara, Lastovo, Brijuni, Una, Kozara, Blidinje, Triglav, Sar planina, Kopaonik, Durmitor, Skadarsko, Biogradske gore and so on but also rivers like Cetinje, Tara, Neretva and Una are great to see and good spots for rafting and lakes such as Ohrid, Jablanica, Boracko and Bohinj great to just have a picnic or renting a cottage. Enter the caves, such as Vjetrenica, Bijambare, Postojna or Skocjan. In addition to all fun in nature, you can enjoy amazing sites in different cities and enjoy everything from shopping, to spotting wild horses (Prenj), driving around the beautiful cost line and enjoying good bars, restaurants, museums, galleries, parks and cafes.

ps. Always have a map with you just in case your battery dies and you get lost or just book a tour with great local tour guides, such as Highlander Adventures!

8. Check for the timetables, routes and special days in advance

It is really important to keep in mind that time tables can change! Make sure to buy any tickets you wish to have _in advance_ a day or two before and double check the dates and deporting times once a week before planning to go and next time when buying the tickets. Make sure you have the taxi number if you are hurrying to the airport or to the train or bus. Sometimes it is cheaper to pay a taxi to give you a lift than to rent a car or taking an old train that is almost always a bit late. During the summer months all of these transportation options are crowded so make sure you are not left behind just because of poor planning.

9. Live like a local

Learn how to ćejf and experience all the beauty, possible pain and a mystical breeze of Balkans. One of the best things is that people here are not feeling that pressure of rush. Yes they have at least the same amount of duties as you do, but they chill and live in a moment. Absorb the current, talk, enjoy the silence, know how to see good things in everything. It is that magic that ćejfing is all about. Living in a moment, happily, analyzing it from inside and out, not being too stressed about anything because that moment deserves to be enjoyed about. You must taste traditional food in the right places. There is no sense to order cevapcici, lamb, pljeskavica, trahana, lepina or somun, tufahije, boza, hurmasice or pita, such as burek or tikvenica nowhere else than in area in BiH and black risotto or sea food at the cost line, dried ham at Istra and local cheese products such as Trapista. One thing I do recommend and it really is that you eat local food. It is really special and unique as are the local drinks such as rakija, boza and locally produced beer and wine.

10. Anything else to be concerned about?

I would say that no special vaccines are needed that you do not need in the rest of the Europe. I have not got any special ones (such as hepatitis A & B vaccinations) and I have never been infected by anything but the basic flue. I do drink tap water where it can be drank and eat locally produced berries, fruits and meat or sea food. Hygiene is really important thing to be practiced if you are concerned about getting sick. Of course basic flues are slightly different in different parts of Europe and even within the countries so even if you have had the seasonal flue this year it doesn't mean that you are immune to it's variation elsewhere. Luckily, for example Bosnia-Herzegovina was found to be the most hygienic nation in a study conducted this year (reference here).

The condition of roads is good but during the summer months they can be a bit crowded. You might have problems with your stomach when driving in the mountains or via the cost line but you should really be awake! Never sleep while driving because the views are amazing! Make sure also that you are not driving during the night because it is not the safest time for that.

You don't have to be concerned about the land mines. All the areas where they are not yet cleaned are marked with signs. Make sure you don't walk there and you have nothing to be worried about. If you go hiking don't invent your own trails. Use the marked ones or travel with a local guide. If you need a doctor or to make an emergency call, use international or national numbers. Make always sure that you know where the nearest hospital is and have your passport and contact your insurance company. If you are traveling via a traveling agency contact them first. Traveling agencies and hotel receptionists will always help you to find the information you need also if you are not their customer.
Preserve he nature. Don't trash, do not molest any animals you encounter and never ever eat or touch something you are not familiar with. There are many preserved or toxic plants, berries and fish in the nature. Leave them alone. Do not buy anything suspicious. Tipping is based on volunteering and not a custom usually, at least not from locals.

- Herminica

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 1/8: In Split, chapter 1

2016-06-04T23:09:00.000+03:00

Split once again ! You may want to see also the last post from Split (click HERE). Last time I was there with my other sister Elvira. This time my sister Sabina was traveling with me. Sabina was at former Yugo-area before me. I had a flight directly to Split and she took a bus from Banja Luka (BiH) to Split. We stayed there for nice 10 days of our 5 weeks long trip and lived in an private apartment located in the Diocletian's Palace, just inside the palace walls. The location couldn't be any better and we made sure that the room was not above the busy street or near the fish market. I couldn't imagine anything worse than waking up to strong smell or scent no matter where it comes from. We spent our days by wandering around the city streets and Park Marjan, swimming and eating some good food or listening to the different concerts and visiting the different museums. In Split you have many things to do to, many cafes and restaurants to choose from and many good moments to catch.

As I've said we are not traveling like tourists. I would describe this more as traveling and living as a local. We do not go to the hotels- we rather subrent a room/house from locals or stay at our relatives/friends depending on the city. It is by far the most fruitful way to travel, experience and to see. We never swim in the swimming pools if there is a river, lake or sea close enough. Never eat in those international fast food places nor even at the restaurants located next to the most expensive hotels. No. We tend to go to places where locals are, speak and hang out and share a cup of coffee or two with them. That I call a proper vacation and proper spirit to travel.

Split as many other big cities by the see have that unique vibe. It is packed with history, music, different scents of sea, fish, risotto, parfume and people. Tourists have found this place and the rest of former Yugoslavia again after war just recently. During the previous years I have spent at home with mostly locals. Nowadays however the amount of tourists together with the prices have risen. Unlike in other cities in Istra (Pula, Rovinj etc), around Zadar and Makarska or Dubrovnik people in Split differ not only by their dialect but also by their mentality. Dialect is something that I find really intriguing especially when hanging out with local young adults.

There are so many little details everywhere that it is too easy to not see the trees from the forest. One that you should forget is rush. Enjoy those little moments and let yourself get lost. Don't pay attention to the tourists around you and try to find that inner traveler to be your guide. Enjoy that clear water, change the beach every second day, visit also other places outside of the city of Split, go sailing and have your workout done by climbing to the hill of Park Marjan, collect little stones and sea urchins and sip some limunada instead of products from the CocaCola Company. If you want "Fanta" order local Pipi and if Coke is more of your thing try Cocta instead.

Split won't leave you untouched if you only know what to do, where to go and how to enjoy. It wont either leave you dry because you will probably find yourself sweating even during the nights. If you have spare money, buy some cat food and feed a cat and buy some Ledene Kocke chocolates to fridge for yourself. They are really good and usually served chilled. Ledene Kocke are a good idea always and they really belong to the summer as strongly as the grilling does.

One of the best starts to any vacation is when you introduce your nose to the hot salty air and your feet with that pure, crystal clear sea water. Fill your belly with sea food and cool yourself down after a refreshing swimming and sun bathing with Ledo ice cream. I always sleep so good down there- almost like a baby I would say. At the same time that all relaxes you, makes you tired and boosts your energy levels and reloads your batteries for the next year. After our last day in Split we decided to go to Klis and it's historically famous fortress - The Fortress of Klis. That trip and those amazing views will be on the next chapter!

- Herminica

Tangled possibilities / Takkuisia mahdollisuuksia

2016-03-05T16:41:00.000+02:00

Everyday life has its pros and cons. It can be both wonderful, harsh and even plain and lead to occasional sleeping problems or even long-term sleeping disorder and fatigue. I have been "lucky" enough to experience them both. Four-year long sleeping disorder really taught me how important it is to listen to your body and mind as early as in my early teenage. However, the lack of sleep during those four years gave me the tools for calming myself down, making the environment as optimal as possible and helped me to find the golden idea about being confident that in the end everything will be okay. I have embraced that idea for my whole life. During this year I have been in the biggest hole in my adult life and felt like there is not enough oxygen for me. However, as my name predicts, I am a warrior and I believe in my golden idea in all situations.

Elämä osaa kaikessa ihanuudessaan ja kamaluudessaan, jopa tasapaksuudessaan, johtaa joko ajoittaiseen unettomuuteen tai pitkään kestävään väsymykseen. Täällä on kärsitty niistä kummastakin. Teini-iässä neljän vuoden lähes uneton jakso opetti miten tärkeää on osata kuunnella itseään niin fyysisesti kuin psyykkisesti. Löysin siinä ajassa itselleni parhaiten soveltuvat rauhoituskeinot, optimaaliset ympäröivät tekijät nukkumisen ajaksi ja kultaisen ajatuksen siitä, että kaikki päättyy lopulta hyvin. Sen ajatuksen olen pitänyt aina mukana, kaikessa elämässäni. Tämän vuoden aikana olen ajautunut aika-ajoin liian suureen kuoppaan ja on tuntunut, että happi loppuu kesken. Olen kuitenkin nimeni mukaan soturinainen- selviän aina kaikista vastoinkäymisistä, kuten kultainen ajatuskin ennustaa.

Big stress levels have affected both my health and my overall wellbeing. I have never before known what "seasonal depression" means until this autumn and dark winter. I have never been as tired as I was this time. I have been able to just sleep the whole day everyday and still feel tired. On my holiday I finally got my time to rest and I slept for around 12 hours a day. Those other 12 hours I spent fixedly attached to my strong bosnian cup of coffee while my mind was just cuddling with the inviting idea of soft and warm sheets. I think that I really needed that time period because I'm feeling much better now. My still mysterious constantly accumulating acute infections and different hypersensitivity conditions are currently all over my back in a form of epicutan test on my back. If I can say, this is not the nicest tests I have had, because my whole back is itchy as hell and sweating nor washing is allowed. Well, at least this is much better than my condition before and I can seep in my own bed instead of the one in hospital.

Kova stressi on näkynyt niin terveydessä kuin yleisessä jaksamisessakin. Syysmasennusta minulla ei ole koskaan ollut, mutta viime keväänä, tänä kesänä ja alkusyksynä olen ollut väsyneempi kuin koskaan. On valehtelematta tuntunut sille, että olisin voinut vain nukkua koko ajan. Kesälomalla sain vihdoin ja viimein aikaa itselleni ja nukuin päivittäin n. 12 tuntia. Hereillä ollessani, join paljon vahvaa bosnialaista kahvia ja ajatukseni poukkoilivat tuon tuostakin pehmeissä lakanoissa. Keho taisi tarvita tuota vaihetta kipeästi ja oloni onkin nyt taas hyvä. Reilun puolen vuoden epämääräinen infektiokierre ja yliherkkyystilat ovat tällä hetkellä sananmukaisesti kartoitettavina ympäri selkääni epikutaanitestien merkeissä. Kyse ei ole omalla kohdallani mistään mukavimmasta testistä, sillä kutina hipoo pilvilinnoja- ei onneksi yhtä paljon kuin kesällä ja sairaalajakson aikana.

I have noticed that the most important thing is to listen to yourself, no matter what the case is. I have been painting, cuddling the dog I tend to take care after occasionally, reading the books I have listed before to be red, written and done things I personally need and like to do. The only thing I was not allowed to do was exercising but now I am able to do that too. It has also been really brutal year from the academic point of view. The courses have been really sucking the life out of me as were also my financial and personal issues. The most important thing I have been carrying with me is my tool for going forward: all accomplishments, rest and things I like to do are loading up my personal batteries. Inspiration is the one that really helps. At this point I'm feeling like I'm in one of the big crossroads in life. I have to make plans for future but not too exact ones, because I love to leave space for spontaneous ideas. It wouldn't be life without them. At the same time it feels like I'll be a free as the bird in the sky and at the same time the uncertainty scares me. This feeling is scaring, empowering, freeing and inspiring. It is a big ball made of possibility that has tangles in it and the only person who can solve it as I want and need it to be solved is me and only me.

Olen huomannut, että tärkein asia on kuunnella itseä. Olen maalaillut, rapsutellut hoitokoiraa, lukenut, kirjoittanut ja tehnyt asioita joista pidän ja joita tarvitsen. Ruokapuolesta olen pitänyt kiinni, liikuntakin on taas pitkän ajan jälkeen sallittujen listoilla. Yliopistomaailman osalta on ollut luultavasti tiukempaa kuin ikinä, samoin on oman talouteni ja henkisten voimavarojeni laita. Pitää kuitenkin muistaa, että kaikki onnistumiset ja tekeminen ja lepo laataavat hyvin akkujani. Saan virtaa inspiraatiosta. Tällä hetkellä on monta rautaa tulessa, elämää on suunniteltava monella eri tapaa eteenpäin eikä minulla ole harmainta aavistustakaan siitä missä olen vuoden päästä tästä. Tämä tunne on samalla ahdistava, voimaannuttava, vapauttava ja inspiroiva. Suuri takkuinen mahdollisuus, jonka vain minä voin itselleni raivata sellaiseksi, mitä itselleni haluan ja tarvitsen.

- Herminica

Be a rainbow in somebody's cloud / Ole sateenkaari jonkun toisen pilvessä

2015-10-03T02:01:00.000+03:00

Happiness, smile, love, joy, comfort, friendship, caring, empathy, satisfaction and great acts - all of them are things that we admire and things we want to be a part of our lives badly. None of these can be forced up. If you find yourself in a situation where you have to force happiness, that's when you are actually very far from it. The same happens if you find yourself in a position where you do things against your own will. That's when you end up loosing yourself. That's why it is so essential to do everything from your own will - aim to be positive, open minded and be willing to do good or act well. The law of karma applies to this too. We all aim to experience all these good things during our lives as much as possible, to see our dreams come true, do the things that make us smile and see that same smile on the face of others around us.

Onnellisuus, hymy, rakkaus, ilo, lohtu, ystävyys, välittäminen, empatia, tyytyväisyys ja ihanat teot - ne ovat kaikki asioita, joita me ihannoimme ja haalimme osaksi elämäämme kovalla tahdonvoimalla. Näistä yhtäkään ei voi väkisin pakottaa. Jos joutuu pakottamaan itsensä esimerkiksi tuntemaan onnea, on se onnen tunne silloin todellisuudessa hyvinkin kaukana. Sama jos taipuu toisen tahtoon silloinkin, kun se toisen tahto sotii omaasi vastaan. Siinä hukkaa lopulta itsensä. Siksi on tärkeää pyrkiä positiivisuuteen, avoimuuteen ja haluta tehdä hyviä asioita tai tekoja- kaikkea omasta tahdosta. Karman laki pätee tässäkin. Näitä ihania asioita jokainen tahtoo kokea elämänsä aikana mahdollisimman paljon, nähdä unelmiensa toteutuvan, tehdä sitä mistä tulee hymy kasvoille ja nähdä ympärillä olevien kasvoilla se sama tuttu, iloinen virne.

We all must have dreams to dream on. In addition to that we do not only must see them in the future but also make them room there. You have to implement yourself to be truly happy. When you are able to be happy by yourself, alone, that's when you are capable of making someone else happy too. This applies to all relationships in our lives. All from the sudden meeting with the unknown person to the longest marriages of dozens of years. Especially to the long ones. It feels so good to know that you are making others feel good in a relationship between two persons. It can be a moment of smiling to the local cashier to the daily kiss for good night. Good glows around. That is what I said also in my last interview for the Finnish magazine, Me Naiset last week. Remember your friend, help your neighbor, make sure your companion feels the appreciation in everyday life, be romantic, see the beauty in the nature around you, visit your grandparents and write a letter to the person you want to tell that he/she means a lot to you.

Unelmia tulee olla. Niille on myös nähtävä ja tehtävä paikka tulevaisuudessa. Itseään on toteutettava, jotta voisi olla aidosti onnellinen. Kun osaa olla onnellinen itsensä kanssa, yksin, voi aidosti tehdä myös toisen onnelliseksi. Se pätee kaikkiin ihmissuhteisiin hetken kanssakäymisestä tuntemattoman kanssa monien kymmenien vuosien avioliittoihin. Erityisesti niihin jälkimmäisiin. Oli vuorovaikutustilanne kaupan kassalle väläytetystä hymystä tai jokailtaisesta hyvänyönsuukosta on ihana ajatella tekevänsä toisille hyvää. Kuten taannoisessa Me Naisten haastattelussakin sanoin, niin hyvä säteilee ympärilleen. Muista ystävää, auta naapuria, huomio kumppanisi arjessa, ole romanttinen ja näe kauneus ympäröivässä luonnossa, vieraile isovanhemmillasi ja kirjoita kirje hänelle, jolle haluat kertoa että hän on sinulle tärkeä.

Pictures/Kuvat: Photographer/Valokuvaaja Rami Marjamäki / Me Naiset

Even when the sun is shining, remember to glow along with the sun. Twinkle as a star when it's dark. See the rainbows even when it rains and count the sheep even if it's cloudy around you. These few sentences should be remembered always but especially in the moments when the life gives you lemons, you feel alone, winter is coming or your days feel sticky. Be the rainbow in somebody's cloud and a lodestar for yourself, especially then.

Säteile kilpaa auringon kanssa poutasäällä. Tuiki tähden lailla kun on pimeää. Näe sateenkaareet ympäröivältä sateelta ja laske lampaita kun ympärillä näkyy vain harmaa pilviverho. Tämä kannattaa muistaa aina, mutta etenkin silloin kun elämä riepottaa, tunnet olosi yksinäiseksi, talvi tekee tuloaan tai arki tuntuu tahmealle. Ole satenkaari toisen pilvessä ja pohjantähti itsellesi, etenkin silloin.

Me Naiset magazine and I / Me Naiset lehti ja minä

2015-09-28T18:26:00.003+03:00

Halusin näin pikaisesti infota teitä yhtestä viimeaikoina melko puun takaa tupsahtaneesta kuviosta, nimittäin Me Naisten lehtihaastattelusta. Lehti on viikon kaupoissa, ilmestyi tosiaan jo viime viikon tortaina. Käykää lukaisemassa jos kiinnostaa ja kertokaa toki tuntemuksistanne, jos niitä on herännyt!

I wanted to inform you about the quite random thing that happened recently. I'm talking about the interview to Me Naiset magazine. This one has been in stores from last Thursday so if you want to read it (in Finnish) you have to hurry. Tell me what you think of it!

EDIT: Direct link to the story: http://www.menaiset.fi/artikkeli/ajankohtaista/ihmiset/bosniasta_pakolaisena_suomeen_tullut_hermina_24_suomessa_kuviteltiin

Minulla on Unelma

2015-07-30T01:43:00.000+03:00

On uskomatonta, että kansanedustaja Olli Immosen vihanlietsonta on saanut niin paljon tukea osakseen. Samaan aikaan kaikki tämä vihapuheen vastustus ja monikulttuurisuuden puolustus on ollut niin mieltä huojentavaa, olen voinut huokaista helpotuksesta, että maailmassa on vielä ihmisiä, joiden moraalikäsitys liippaa omaani. Minulla on unelma maailmasta, jossa kaikilla on hyvä asua ja olla. Sellaisesta maailmasta, missä raha ei määrää ihmis- tai uutisarvoa, missä poliittiset tai taloudelliset agendat eivät oikeuta ihmisoikeuksien tai luonnon riistoon ja jossa kaikki voivat tuntea olevansa kotona, turvassa.

Medialla on kaikki valta käsissään sen suhteen mikä meitä kulloinkin puhuttaa. Siivilä on kova, emmekä saa kuin vain pienen pisaran siitä uutisvirran merestä tietoisuuteemme valtamedian kautta. Mikä asia on uutisoinnin arvoinen ja mistä päin maailmankolkkaa se tulee, on täysin valtamedian päätettävissä. Myös se kuinka kauan asia on ns. hot topic, on täysin median käsissä. Uutisoinnin loputtua loppuu myös mielenkiintomme kyseistä asiaa kohtaan ja se unohtuu. Samaa ei voi sanoa niiden ihmisten hädästä esimerkiksi Ukrainassa, Jemenissä tai koirien kohtalosta Kiinassa. Minua tämä asia häiritsee todella paljon, media päättää sen kuinka kauan ihmisiä kiinnostaa antaa hätäapua Nepaliin ja kuuleko se toisten ihmisten hädästä jossakin muualla. Media valikoi, arvottaa ja lokeroi. Kova työ päättää siitä, missä valossa jokin ihmisryhmä nähdään vai kuullaanko siitä mitään. Myös median tekopyhyys näkyy silloin, kun uutisoidaan menestyneestä maahanmuuttajataustaisesta henkilöstä. Tällöin otsikoissa vilahtaa aina Suomessa suomalainen ja Ruotsissa ruotsalainen. Jos uutisen aihe on moraalisesti paheksuttava, otsikkoon nousee lähes poikkeuksetta sana maahanmuuttaja/maahanmuuttajataustainen, vaikka kyseisen henkilön tehdessä hyvän teon, olisi samasta tekijästä uutisoitu vain meikäläisenä, ei niinä muina. Tämä asetelma on edelleen omiaan kärjistämään ja leimaamaan, vaikeuttamaan avointa ja totuudenmuikaista keskustelua.

Tämä median valta on huikea ja on hyvä että olemme saaneet vastapainoiseksi sosiaalisen median- sitä kautta pinnalle nousee asioita, joita valtamedia luultavasti suodattaisi. Näin kävi aluksi myös Immos-kohun kanssa. Ihmismassat tekivät asiasta uutisoitavan, ihmismassat yhdessä asiasta merkittävän ja merkitys antoi monikulttuurisuudelle ja siihen liittyville plussille ja miinuksille äänen. Mutta mitä teki Immonen? Immonen pakeni monikulttuurisuutta ulkomaille. Vaikka Immonen edustaakin pelottavaa ja samalla hyvin sairasta äärioikeistoa ajatuksineen ja maailmankuvineen, hän samalla kritisoi itsensä kaltaisia äärioikeistolaisia- jihadisteja, terroristeja, Breivikejä, Ku-Klux klania ja muita "neropatteja". Heidän välillään ei kuitenkaan ole mitään eroa- heitä yhdistää juurikin tämä asia äärioikeistolaisuus, rasismi ja pakonomainen tarve toteuttaa sairasta ideologiaansa muiden ihmisten kustannuksella perustaen näkemyksensä eri ihmisten yksilöllisiin määritelmiin ja piirteisiin. Tälläiset äärioikeistolaiset ajatukset eivät ole uusia ihmisen historiassa. Se on näkynyt Amerikan orjavuosina, Ruandan kansanmurhassa, Breivikin teoissa Norjassa, Natsisaksassa, Balkanilla ja uskontoa hyväksikäyttävien ääriliikkeiden teoissa ja näkemyksissä. Minä en henkilökohtaisesti halua elää maailmassa, jossa on lisää Miloseviceja. Se että saman sairaan ajatusmaailman omaavia on myös hyvinvointivaltio Suomessa on hyvin huolestuttavaa. Minä en kaipaa tänne enkä minnekkään muualle päin maailmaa ihmisiä lietsomaan toisiaan toisia ihmisiä vastaan, sillä en halua nähdä enkä kuulla uusista sodista, perheiden rikkoutumisista enkä uusista pakolaisaalloista.

Immonen kuitenkin pakeni (Immonen valitsi pakolaisuuden, syy ei tällä kertaa ollut vaino, joka kohdistuisi henkeen tai elinolojen mahdottomuus, jota sota-ja luonnonkatastrofipakolaiset kohtaavat vaan pienoinen omien ajatusten saama vastarinta- jotenkin ironista, etenkin kun Immonen on saanut itse valita ottaako riskin vastarinnasta, toisin kun ne modet miljoonat siviilit, joiden kohtalo on täysin maailmanpolitiikan sanelemaa), mikä vahvistaa sen, ettei Suomessa tapahtuvasta etnisestä puhdistuksesta tule mitään, toisin kuin kävi Milosevicin ja muiden Balkanin äärioikeistolaisten etnistä puhdistusta ajavien toimesta. Siihen pisteeseen ei yksikään maa saa enää luisua, sillä se on menoa sitten se. Minunkin tapauksessani, Milosevicin älynväläys tarkoitti menoa, monoja ja Suomea. Ikuista mamu-leiman kantamista Suomessa ja diaspora leiman kantamista entisen Jugoslavian maissa. Oman tarinani olen jakanut jo aijemmin, sitä en siis tällä kertaa uudestaan tee. Se mitä haluan tässä nostaa esille on jonkin leiman saaminen- halusipa sitä tai ei.

Entä jos minä teen yksilönä jotakin oikeaa tai väärää, mikä nostetaan tekojeni selitykseksi? Puidaanko asia yksilön näkökulmasta, ottaen huomioon kaikki yksilön ja tämän ympäristön tekijät huomioon vai jäävätkö ne jonkin muun minuun sopivan "määritelmän" varjoon? Mitä tästä seuraa niille muille viattomille, jotka sattumat jakamaan jonkin määritelmän kanssani? Oli se sitten mikä tahansa minuun pätevistä lokeroista, joihin minut voi mahduttaa: brunette, eurooppalainen muslimi, viherpiipertäjä, mamu, opiskelija, bloggari, nuori nainen, diaspora, taitelijasielu tiedenaisen kropassa... Se millä tavalla tehty teko esitetään ja millä sitä selitetään riippuu paljon teosta ja lokeroijan piiloagendasta. Minun ainoa toiveeni on, että yksikään noista määritelmistä, ei peitä sitä oikeaa syytä tekojen taustalla kenenkään kohdilla. Mitä paremmin oikeisiin syihin keskitytään, sen nopeammin voidaan asioihin puuttua, niitä korjata ja auttaa apua tarvitsevia.

Meillä kaikilla on leimoja kiitos niiden määritelmien, joita meihin liitetään. Se millaisena leiman kokee riippuu paljolti siitä, millainen imago niillä yhteikunnallisesti on. Määritelmät mamu, läski, työtön ja snobi koetaan yleensä kielteisinä, vaikkei niissä kaikissa alkuperäinen tarkoitus ole ollut kielteinen tai millään tapaa syrjivä tai hävettävä. Tämä on esimerkiksi terveydenhuollossa johtanut siihen että sana lihava on korvattu sanoilla obeesi ja ylipainoinen, minkä jälkeen on vain siirrytty puhumaan BMI-arvoista. Neutraali sanakin saa siis ajan saatossa jonkin leiman- se onko leima/määritelmä negatiivissävytteinen tai miellyttävä riippuu paljon kontekstista ja valosta jossa se on esitetty aijemmin. Harva meistä haluaa keräillä negatiivissävytteisiä leimoja omaan määritelmäokero-repertuaariinsa. Aina tällä ei kuitenkaan voi mitään. Joskus joudut itsestäsi riippumattomista syistä kantamaan tätä leimaa osana itseäsi. Joistain leimoista pääsee eroon jollakin konstilla ja toiset saa piiloon, mutta kaikkien kohdalla näin ei ole. Ideaalitilanteissa jokainen voi vaikuttaa omiin "limoihinsa" ja leimaa "läski" kantava voi laihduttaa ja "työtön" menee töihin tilaisuuden tullessa eteen. On kuitenkin leimoja joista ei pääse eroon. Ulkomaille muuttanut suomalainen kantaa uudessa asuinmaassaan leimaa "mamu" niin pitkään, kunnes muuttaa takaisin Suomeen. Suomeen humanitaarisena pakolaisena tullut kantaa tätä samaa leimaa asui hän Suomessa tai muutti hän olojen taas rauhoituttua takaisin kotimaahansa- tällöinkin hän on paluumuuttaja, joku joka ei ole kokenut sitä minkä muut lähtömaansa asukkaat ovat kokeneet alusta loppuun, ei vaikka olisi kokenut kaksi kolmasosaa, se ei silti ole sama asia, hän kuuluu jo eri "ryhmään". Tämä pakolaismamu, saa ulkomaille muutettuaan myös toisen leiman "diaspora". Tuplavarmistus siitä, ettei kuulu kumpaankaan paikkaan täysin. Sopeutumiselle ja kodin tuntemiselle tärkeintä on tunne siitä, että kuuluu aidosti johonkin. Pakolaisten kohdalla tilanne kärjistyy vain entisestään. Niin on käynyt myös minulle. Kadotan kodin tunteen tuon tuosta, löydän sen taas ennen uutta kadotusta. Kierteessä ollaan. Pistetään myös nuoruuden piikkiin osittain. Kansallisidentiteetti on mielenkiintoinen käsite, etenkin henkiöillä, jotka ovat kasvanet useamman kulttuurin vuorovaikutuksessa. Koen olevani ennen kaikkea eurooppalainen, mutta myös entinen jugosloveeni- kummitteleehan passissani ja ajokortissakin edelleen syntymäpaikan kohdalla maatunnus YU. Tunnen olevani myös bosnialainen, kroaatti, suomalainen, skandinaavi, sloveeni, montenegrolainen... lupsakka savolainen ja maailmankansalainen. Multikoktaili, laskentatavasta riippuen 8:n tai 2:n maan kansalainen. Pienemmästäkin sitä menisi pää pyörälle, ihmekään kun välillä tunnen olevani kotona myös Itävallassa ja Ruotsissa, joskus taas en tunne olevani kotonani ollenkaan, vaikka nukkuisin omassa sängyssäni Kuopiossa. Vahvin tunne kodista minulle tulee kuitenkin lapsuudenkaupungissani Mikkelissä ja matkustaessani entisen Jugoslavian maihin. Miksi, sitä minä en osaa selittää.

Sopeutuminen, mitä se edes tarkoittaa? Mihin tässä pitää oikein sopeutua? Minulla on selkeästi pieleen mennyt integroitumisprosessi, kun en ole sitäkään tajunnut. Onko sopeutuminen kodin löytämistä sydämestä ja fyysisesti jostakin paikasta, vähimmillään kenties vain jompaakumpaa? Miksi pitäisi edes sopeutua ympäröivään massaan, kerta persoonallisuus ja yksilöllisyys ovat länsimaisella mittapuulla arvossa? Johtaako sopeutuminen oman identiteetin menetykseen vai onko sallittua ottaa parhaat eri kulttuurien väliltä osaksi itseä ja omaa elämäntapaansa? Mikä määrittää sen, että yksi tapa elää on oikein ja toinen väärä? Sekö missä elämme? EIkö kaikkien maiden tulisi sopeutua muuttuvaan maailmaan, ottaa vaikutteita muiden hyvästä itselleen ja kehittyä? Entä jos ei haluta sopeutua yksilökeskeiseen yksinäiseen kulttuuriin, vaan halutaan asua lähekkäin henkilöide lähellä, joiden kanssa tuntee yhteenkuuluvuutta? Onko se väärin hakeutua itselleen tutun läheisyyteen? Haittaako vai edistääkö se sopeutumista ja kantaväestön ymmärryksen ja hyväksynnän saantia? Onko ongelma yhteiskunnassa, johon pitäisi sopeutua, sopeutumistoimissa vai yksilössä? Mikä on riittävää sopeutumista? Tuleeko olla samanvärinen hipiältään valtaväestön kanssa vai riittääkö vain kielen opettelu? Onko sallittua opetella engalntia tai ruotsia suomen sijaan, kyllähän niilläkin pärjää? Onko muutamien yksilöiden sopeutumisaste automaattinen peili myös muiden sopeutumisasteen määritykselle? Onko yksiöiden tekemä teko todiste koko tietyn määritelmän jakavan ryhmän sopeutumiskyvyn arvostelulle? Onko sallittua olla yksilö, vai tuleeko aina olla osa yhteisöä? Miten voi sopeutua yhteiskuntaan, jos edes sen yhteiskunnan kaikki jäsenet eivät ole täysin samanlaisia keskenään ja jaa samoja mielipiteitä? Mitä sopeutumiselta voi vaatia, onko oikein vaatia sodassa pahoinpideltyä ja moneen kertaan uskontonsa tai ulkonäönsä vuoksi raiskattua naista pistämään päälleen länsimaiset vaatteet tai unohtamaan kaiken henkisen taakan, jota hän kantaa? Tuleeko tämän naisen olla heti kykeneväinen kielen opiskeluun, työelämään, uusien ruoka-aineiden ja ruokakaupan elintarvikevalinnan keskellä tehokkaaseen suorittamiseen ja nopeaan ja onnistuneeseen integroitumiseen? Onko tällä naisella oikeus olla yksilönä heikko, sanoa että hän on usean suomalaisen tavoin masentunut ja kokemuksistaan trumatisoitunut ja että se on perimmäinen syy sille, miksei pääse eteenpäin elämässään? Onko hänen yksilöllinen heikko kohtansa tulkittavissa huonoon integroitumiseen? Kuuluuko hänen kuunnella hänen ongelmiensa sivuuttamista ja aliarvioimista, tehokkuuden ja integroitumisen vaatimista ja ennakkoluuloihin tai toisten yksilöiden tekojen häntäkin vaivaavia yleistyksiä? Onko hänellä oikeutta vaatia psykologin apua ja kehtaako hän ottaa sitä vastaan, etenkin kun saman kokeneet kantaväestönkään naiset eivät aina uskalla hakea tai ottaa vastaan jo tarjottua apua? Jos hän ottaa avun vastaan, joutuuko hän kuuntelemaan loppuelämänsä sitä, kuinka iso taakka hän on suomalaisille veronmaksajille, vaikka hänen miehensä kävisi töissä ja työllistäisi samalla myös muita yrityksellään? Jos hän ottaa avun vastaan, saako hän oikeanlaista apua, ymmärtääkö tämä suomessa hyvissä oloissa varttunut ihminen sitä, mikä häntä painaa sodan kokeneena? Saako hän edes tarpeellista apua, onko kukaan edes kertonut että psykologipalveluita on olemassa?

Tässä oli liuta kysymyksiä, joita maahanmuuttokeskustelu, monikulttuurisuteen liittyvä keskustelu ja sopeutumiskeskustelu voisivat antaa vastauksia. Vastauksia ei ole ilman kysymyksiä, eikä näitä kahta ilman dialogia. Dialogi taas vaatii kummankin puolen edustajat keskusteluun. Vuorovaikutus on se avain niin sopeutumiseen, integroitumiseen, kehitykseen kuin ymmärrykseenkin. Ilman järkevää vuorovaikutusta ei ole muutosta. Muutos olisi kuitenkin tervetullut, sillä vuorovaikutus tarkoittaa parempaa ymmärrystä ja yhteenkuuluvuuden tunteen voimistumista, joka edelleen estää syrjäytymistä ja alttiutta hairahtua kaidalta tieltä. Tämä edelleen vähentää syntyvien konfliktien määrää ja niistä kumpuavaa vihapuhetta, ääriajattelua ja epäoikeudenmukaisuutta puolin ja toisin. Me tarvitsemme suvaitsevaisuutta, mutta emme suvaitsemattomuuden suvaitsemista. Suvaitsevainen nimittäin sallii muille heidän omat tapansa olla ja elää, mikäli se ei aiheuta kohtuutonta ja konkreettista haittaa ulkopuolisille. Suvaitsemattomuus puolestaan tarkoittaa sitä, että yrittää pakottaa tai painostaa ulkopuoliset elämään siten kuin itse haluaa heidän elävän. Suvaitsemattomuus siis pyrkii aiheuttamaan kohtuutonta ja konkreettista haittaa ulkopuolisille jonkun muun henkiön näkemysten vuoksi, mikä on nostettu esille esimerkiksi homoparien tasa-arvoisen avioliittolain aiheuttamassa keskustelussa. Tämä onkin se se kortti joka kaataa perusteet vaatimukselle, että suvaitsevaisen tulisi suvaita suvaitsemattomuus. Jokaisella on oikeus mielipiteisiinsä ja mielipiteet ovat arvokkaita. On kuitenkin eri asia ovatko kaikki möläytykset mielipiteitä. Nämä möläytykset voivat olla mielipiteiden sijaan myös väitteitä, jolloin itse tiede todistaa ne joko tosiksi tai epätosiksi. Kaikki väitteet eivät ole mielipiteiden tapaan arvokkaita, mikä pätee mm. väitteissä, joita esitetään vuolaimmin mamuihin, homoihin, uskontoihihin liittyvien keskustelujen yhteydessä. Se että osa näistä väitteistä voi epätotena potaskana olla vahingollisia myös muille rikkoo kaikin tavoin sananvapauden tarkoitusta. Sananvapautta ei voi käyttää perusteena vihapuheille, rasismille tai epätosille väittämille. Tieteentekijöitäkin rangaistaan siitä, jos esiin lauotaan asioita, joiden tieteellistä taustaa ei ole ensin asianmukaisesti tarkastettu. Sananvapaus antaa vapauden ilmaista omat ajatukset ja mielipiteet, mutta ei kaikkia väitteitä. Siulla on oikeus mielipiteeseen siitä, onko minttujäätelö hyvää vai ei, mutta se kuuluuko ihminen eläimiin vai kasveihin ei ole mielipideasia, vaan tiukkaa tiedettä. Sinulla on lupa olla jotakin mieltä tietynlaisista ihmisistä, on kuitenkin tekopyhää vetää rasismikorttia esiin tilanteissa, joissa yksilöiden varaan perustettu mielipide koskee laajempaa ihmismassaa. Jos ihmistä, joka arvostelee negatiivissävytteisiä mielipiteitä omaavia henkilöitä sanomalla heitä rasisteiksi, vaaditaan suvaitsemaan rasistiset ajatukset, ei tätä voi samaan aikaan vaatia tuomitsemaan mm. ulkonäön kuten ylipainoisten haukkumista. Otin tämän tähän vertauskuvaksi juurikin siitä syystä, että olen tähän törmännyt viimepäivinä paljon ja siksi, koska jokainen tietää että toisen ulkonäön kuten painon tai pärstäkertoimen haukkuminen on väärin. On kuitenkin ihmisryhmä, joiden mielestä on oikein haukkua ihonvärin, syntyperän tai työllisyystilanteen takia, mutta ei elopainon tai muiden vastaavien piirteiden vuoksi. Mikä tässä ajatusmallissa oikein mättää? Mitä vieraampina koemme tietyt piirteet, sitä hyväksyttävämmäksi koemme niiden arvostelun. Mitä tutumpia piirteet ovat, sen enemmän moralisoimme niiden arvostelua. Tämä pätee myös muihin elämän osa-alueisiin. Tämän vuoksi täytyy matkustella, avartaa maailmankatsomusta ja laajentaa omaa tuttavapiiriä, suosia out of the box-ajatustapaa, sillä silloin kun astut omien mukavuusrajojesi ulkopuolelle tapahtuu ihmeitä.

Mitä monikulttuurisuus tarkoittaa itselleni? Vihreiden kansanedustaja Ozan Yanarin tapaan itsepoimittuja suomalaisia mustikoita, Saksassa valmistettuun turkkilaista jugurttia sisältäneeseen purkkiin, jonka kantta koristaa kreikkalainen mies. Se tarkoittaa osittain Ruotsista ja Suomesta lypsettyä, serbialaiseen Tetra Pak-maitopurkkiin purkitettua maitoa, italialaista pizzaa, ranskalaista viiniä, kroatialaista kravattia, japanissa valmistettua puhelinta, portugalilaista kirjaa, venäläistä balettiesitystä, iloista nigerialaista kaupan tätiä, pomona arabialaista huippututkijaa ja brittiläistä professoria luentosalissa. Iloista puheensorinaa edes silloin tällöin, muuten niin haudan hiljaisessa bussissa vaihtareiden tai muiden maahanmuuttajataustaisten astuessa sisään. Multikulttuurisuus tarkoittaa tätä hiuksenhienoa sopua näiden eri aistimuksia tuovien vivahteiden välillä ja täydellistä toisiaan täydentäviä yhdistelmiä, harmoniaa ja monipuolista melodiaa. Se tarkoittaa oikeutta omaan identiteettiin ilman, että joku toinen alentaa tai väheksyy sitä, saatikka yrittää muuttaa sitä toisenlaiseksi, koska "se ei sovi tähän joukkoon". Multlikulttuurisuus tarkoittaa sitä, että jokainen kedon kukka saa kukkia sellaisena kuin se on, aiheuttamatta kuitenkaan toisille ympärillään oleville kukkasille varjoa tai pulaa elintilasta ja elämän ravinteista. Monikulttuurisuus tarkoittaa yksilöllisyyttä, persoonallisuutta, erilaisuutta ja samanlaisuutta kaikkia kerrallaan samassa paketissa. Monikulttuurisuus takoittaa myös sitä, että otetaan vaikutteita sieltä missä nähdään hyvää ja opitaan toisiltamme. Toiset voivat opetella naisten oikeuksien tärkeyttä ja toiset vastavuoroisesti perheen, suvun ja yhteisöllisyyden merkityksellisyyttä. Monikulttuurisuus on myös useiden kielten kuulemista päivittäin, mahdollisuuksia opetella ja harjoittaa omaa kielitaitoaan, Suomessa asuvien vanhusten aseman paranemista samalle tasolle kuin yhteisöllistä kulttuuria vaalivissa maissa- Suomen vanhusten asemasta on turha olla huolissaan niin kauan kun omiakaan isovanhempia ei käydä katsomassa edes viikottain, lähimmäisenrakkautta ja vapautta toteuttaa itseään kuten itse kokee parhaaksi. Vapautta kävellä ulkona rauhassa ilman pelkoa, uskoa mihin uskoo ja kouluttautua haluamalleen alalle. Monikulttuurisuus on avoimuutta mahdollisuuksia, ei rajoituksia ja rajoja.

Monikulttuurisuus kohtaa myös kritiikkiä. Eritoten muslimitaustaisista maahanmuuttajista ollaan huolissaan. Tappavathan he kaikki vääräuskoiset, ovat liian tuttavallisia, pakottavat naisensa muumien Möröiksi, raiskaavat ja silpovat kaikki naiset, eivät integroidu, työntelevät kalliita merkkivaunuja ja vievät kaikki meidän naiset ja työt. Mistä nämä kaikki kuvat kumpuavat? Miksi vierasta on niin helppoa vierastaa? Mikä on oikea tapa uskoa tai olla uskomatta? Ei ole olemassa oikeaa ja väärää tapaa olla jonkin uskonnon edustaja. Voit vain olla joko teisti tai ateisti. Kenelläkään ei ole oikeutta määritellä, onko jonkun tapa harjoittaa uskontoaan (taiharjoittamatta jättäminen) oikea tapa olla ja tehdä. Kaikkien uskontokuntien piiriin kuuluvien kesken on suuri ero eri ääripäiden välillä- osa vain kuuluu tiettyyn uskontoon ja uskoo esimerkiksi Jumalaan, toiset ovat todella hartaita uskovaisia ja rukoilevat päivittäin. Tämä sama leimaa kaikkien uskontokuntien edustajia, eikä kenelläkään ole oikeutta tuomita toisen tapaa uskoa. Minä esimerkiksi uskon Jumalaan, mutta en luomisteorioihin tai kuoleman jälkeiseen elämään. Siinä sisäinen tiedenaiseni puuttuu peliin. Nyt monilla menee omena väärään kurkkuun, mutta tämä on minun näkemykseni, eikä se ole sen oikeampi tai väärempi kun jonkun muun näkemys- niin kauan kun raaka tiede ei asiaa voi todistaa, en leimaa mitään ideologiaa tämän asian suhteen oikeammaksi tai vääremmäksi. Uskon ideaan Jumalasta, mutta en voi olla varma siitä, että Hän olisi todistettavissa. Myös maailman raakuus ja epäreiluus viattomia luontokappeleita, luontoa itseään ja viattomia ihmisiä kohtaan saa minut epäilemään uskoani. Tässä kohtaa tulen aina umpikujaan. Puhdasta filosofiaa. Siihen minä uskon ennen kaikkea, enemmän kuin mihinkään pyyhiin kirjoihin. Kaikissa uskonnoissa on kaunis ajatus, mutta niitäkin tärkeämpää on oman elämänfilosofian löytäminen ja ajatusmallien perustelu ja pohtiminen. Jännä muslmiksi, sanoisi joku. Minä sanon ainoastaan, että nämä filosofiset pohdinnat saavat edelleen jatkua, niitä tarvitaan selkeästi edelleen niin omalla kuin monien muidenkin kohdalla.

Sanana Islam tarkoittaa rauhaa. Islam, kuten kaikki muutkin uskonnot ovat rauhaa vaalivia. Miksi juuri muslimit koetaan pelottavina on vierauden pelkoa, median kuvaa ja tiettyjä kulttuuria edustavien ihmisten tapa uskoa. minä olen muslimi entisestä Jugoslaviasta (90-luvulla hajonnut silloinen eurooppalainen hyvinvointivaltio). Tämä nykyisten tuosta valtiosta syntyneiden valtioiden, kute Slovenian, Kroatian, Bosnia-Herzegoinan, Monenegron, Makedonian ja Serbian etninen puhdistus on niitä joissa _muslimit ja katolilaiset_, eli ne mitä minä edustan, puhdistettiin ortodoksiserbien toimesta. Huom, muslimit ja katolilaiset puolustautuivat yhdessä rtodoksiserbejä vastaan. Tämä silloinen hajoamissota on syy sille, miksi minä olen Suomessa. En pidä itseäni kovinkaan vaarallisena, tuskin sinäkään arvon lukija. En sellainen halua olla, eikä uskontoni sellaista minusta tee. Olen aivan normaali, en siksi että olen kasvanut kotimaassani suomessa, vaan tälläisenä samanlaisena aivan normaali myös tuolla etelän kotimaissani. Huomaathan sen, että uskonnoilla ei ole mitään tekemistä sen kanssa millainen yksilö on, kulttuurit muovautuvat monen seikan toimesta, uskonnot oat yksi niistä asioista. Jugoslavian alueen muslimit eroavat esimerkiksi Somalian muslimeista, jotka taas eroavat paljon Turkin muslmeista. Enemmän yhden valtion kuten, sudanin kristityt ja muslimit toisiaan muistuttavat kuin kaksi eri puolilta maailmaa tulevaa saman uskonnon jakavaa henkilöä. Haluaisin kovasti, että ymmärrät tämän ja huutelet hassuja vähemmän. Meillä ei tyttöjä silvota, sitä paheksutaan. Meillä ei naista pakoteta hunnuttautumaan, ei naimisiin nasten tahtoaan. Meillä on normaalia kouluttautua, ei lusia. Jokaisella maalla ja kansalla on ne omat akanansa siellä normijyvien joukossa. En kaikkia yksilöitä klooneiksi täällä sanoisi, en yhden muslimin tai kristiytn elämänkertaa pitäisi ainoana elämäntarinana, kuten en yhden juopon suomalaisen tai redneck jeninkään- yleistäminen on väärin ja yksittäiset mielipiteet yleistykseen pohjatessa vaakakupissa höyhensarjalaisen luokkaa. Minun sukuni ei ole omilla huudeillaan koskaan lusinut, ei ole syypää siihen sotaan joka meidät on pitkin maailmaa lennättänyt, eikä ole tekosyy kellekkään lusimiseen edelleenkään. Se ei oo multa mitään pois jos joku on ateisti, teisti, homo tai hetero, tykkää kahvistaan mustana tai pitää enemmän kissoista kun koirista.

Yksilöissä ja etenkin ääriajattelijoissa se ongelma on- he myös käyttävät uskontoja armotta omien agendojensa ajamiseen, mikä tuottaa ongelman. Ongelmaksi nousee se, että ne aidot uskovaiset joutuvat sivullisina kärsimään siitä kaikesta mitä tuo hullu äärijoukko tekee. Sama asia on kaikkien uskontojen kohdilla- lähi-idän ongelmat johtuvat kaikesta muusta kuin uskonnoista, niistä on tullut iso peliväline. Jos haluat tietää enemmän uskonnosta Islam, suosittelen kovasti Jaakko Hämeen-Anttilan tuotoksiin tutustumista sekä YLE:n koraanisarjaan: http://www.hs.fi/radiotelevisio/a1425619541726 , tämän lisäksi ehdottaisin, että lupuisit yksilöiden perusteella tekemistäsi yleistyksistä. Minä en ole kuuna päivänä terrorismiin kykeneväinen kuten ovat nuo keskuudessamme maapalloa tallaavat hullut Breivik, itsemurhapommittajat jne jne. Loukkaukset loukkaavat samalla suomen tatareita, kantasuomalaisia muslimeja. Koraani ei kehoita väkivaltaan tai muiden tappamiseen. Koraani, kuten muutkin pyhät kirjat, eivät ole maallikoille riepoteltaviksi niin, että sieltä täältä napsitaan yksittäisiä lauseita. Sitä varten on nämä teologit ja uskonoppineet, jotta heidän avullaan osaisi maallikkokin uskonkirjoja tulkita oikein. Harmi, että jihadistit ovat joutuneet kasvamaan olosuhteissa, joissa sota on ollut arkipäivää ja koulutusta ei ole ollut, siinä on helppo kompastua omaan typeryyteensä ja tuottaa muille vahinkoa sitä kautta. Siksi olisikin ensiarvoisen tärkeää saada sodat seis, ihmiset kouluun ja rauha kaikkien kansojen väliin. Vähemmän öljyä liekkeihin ja vihaa, siitä seuraa vain pahaa jälkeä. Rasismiin perustuvat kaikki pahat asiat täällä maailmassa... siksi sitä itsekin vastustan. Se on paras väline saada lammaslaumat toisiaan vastaan minkä tahansa propaganda-agendan perusteella.

Huomaatko hyvä lukija, olen muslimi, hyväksyn homot, joita on lähipiirissäni, en hyväksy naisten ympärileikkauksia tai minkään tapaista ihmiseen kohdistuvaa henksitä tai fyysistä väkivaltaa, olen yliopistossa ja töissä samalla, maksan omat laskuni enkä ole koskaan elänyt sossun turvin, kaveeraan niin suomalaisten kuin ulkomaalaisten, vaihtarien ja koirien (ei, koira ei ole mielstäni likainen eläin) kanssa. En ehkä syö sianlihaa, pidän todella tarkoin huolta hygieniastani, en hunnuttaudu vaikka nainen olenkin, juon alkoholia niinkun muutkin lähtömaani muslimit- pääosin ruokajuomana viiniä, en rukoile 5 kertaa päivässä mutta lahjoitan köyhille rahaa ja ruokin lomareissuillani vastaantulevat kulkueläimet. Haluan, että huomaat että olen aivan normaali, vaikka olenkin muslimi ja mamu. En ole poikkeus, olen ihan normaali ihminen, jota sinun tai kenenkään muun ei tule pelätä tai alentaa omilla mielipiteilläsi. En minäkään sano yhden hullun kristityn pahojen tekojen jälkeen kaikkien kristittyjen olevan hulluja massamurhaajia tai vaimonhakkaajia. Jos kaikki muslimit olisivat pahoja ja väkivaltaisia, mitä luulet olisiko maailman toiseksi suurimman uskonnon (1,62 biljoonaa) harjoittajat jo tappaneet koko muun maailman vääräuskoiset asukit kerta koraani niin "muka-käskee"? Luulen että olisi, mutta kun ei käske. Islamin Jumala on sama Jumala mikä kristityillä ja juutalaisilla on, sana Allah on arabiaa ja tarkoittaa suomeksi Jumalaa, on siis turha puhua suomeksi Allahista kerta meillä on oma sanansa samalle asialle. Toivottavasti ymmärrät, että minäkin kuten muut normaalit ihmiset, eli valtaväestö, pelkäämme ISIS:iä ja muita ääriliikkeitä, siellähän ISIS tappaa nimenomaan muslimeja ja hajottaa pakkaa hajoita ja hallitse-metodiikalla. Mitä enemmän sekasortoa he saavat aikaan, sen enemmän ja useampi lapsi tulee kasvanaan sekasorron keskellä ja luo aivan väärän maailmankuvan jota pitää normaalina, yhä harvempi kouluttautuu ja yhä useampi joutuu kontrollin alle ja joutuu luopumaan ihmisarvoisesta elämästä. Tätä vastaan meidän tulee taisella, se on äärioikeistolaisuutta, ei Islamia. Tämän vuoksi minäkin vastustan suvaitsemattomuutta, Halla-Ahon, Immosen ja muiden vastaavien äärioikeistolaisten huutelun oikeuttamista. Se polkee meidän muiden oikeutta olla kuuntelematta pahaa itsestämme.

- Herminica

EUROTRIP 2014 Part 5/5: Venice and Milan

2015-07-28T20:25:00.000+03:00

VENICE

Venice, ah what a beautiful and unique Italian city! Trip to Venice has always been very high on our bucket list and this time we decided to experience northern Italy. We arrived there at 5 am after spending a night sitting on our suitcases at the narrow corridor in the train and sleeping at the cold floor of the railway station in Villach (Austria). This night before arriving to Venice was maybe the worst we've ever experienced and trust me we have experienced many very odd and/or uncomfortable nights. However, arriving at 5 am was worth it- we got a chance to experience almost empty Venice! No tourists for many hours, which gave us an opportunity to wake up slowly and enjoy of the Venetian sounds, seagulls, not so clean sea water, lonely condoles, hot espresso coffees and take photos where no random people photobomb!

Venice was breathtakingly beautiful. I love unique looking cities, I love when a place has its own personality you can get to know to. The biggest challenge was to observe those tiniest details from all that amount of details. Venetian vibe was so good that it really felt like a place we all want to visit again some day- maybe take a condole ride and visit the islands too, museums and other cultural and historical spots. There was only one thing that annoyed us all and it was with the lack of hospitality from the local people. I know that they must be annoyed with tourists but still... Nothing can ruin your day easier than bad service when you are trying to smile, joke and be polite to them! I hope all of them only had a bad day... At least there was this one older gentlemen who was really kind to us and even knew some words in Bosnian!

Venice was really easy going place, a bit too crowded after all tourist masses arrived... actually so crowded that when those tourist masses were combined with tired girls we all became a bit pissed off towards the end of the day. :D Even though we had a map and the signs were pretty easy, we managed to get lost at one point. Our idea was to circle the city but because of getting lost at one point and many long lunch or coffee breaks we didn't have enough time for that and had to go back. Well at least we got good food and "cheap" tickets to Milan before night fell!

MILAN

... a big urban fashion city in northern Italy. We stayed five days in Milan, too many days if you asked us. The reason why we reserved so many days for Milan was actually a plan gone bad. We were supposed to go and visit Garda lake for few days but because it rained so much we decided to pass on it and enjoy the big city life. Milan was really big city, like all other European big cities. There was nothing that special about it except Duomo, the cathedral. It was really impressive! We went in after getting properly dressed first and payed also for the visit to the roof top! And oh it was amazing! Definitely worth the visit and the money!

We stayed in this really nice hostel called Scream Hostel, which was relatively cheap, located between metro stops Rovereto and Turro -so around 15 minutes to Duomo, cleanest ever and the owners were originally from Hungary. They lived there too which was mainly the reason why the place was so spotless all the time. It was really amazing and they were really friendly and helpful! I really do recommend this hostel for you guys if you ever stay in Milan! We were able to have a good night sleep because this hostel is not for party people and cook our own meals every day. I consider it a plus, because home made is always home made but ok, we did also go to eat out for several times. Especially after eating at this one local restaurant... We decided to try Risotto a la Milanese and oh... what a disappointment it was! It tasted just "ok", nothing special. The overall experience of the restaurant itself though was so funny that we came to conclusion that it must have been restaurants fault... No doubt.

Some laughing, cheesy guys, bad Risotto a la Milanese (which was compensated with the best mushroom risotto ever), too good drinks, great shopping opportunities and parks, view from Duomo and urban city life of Milan was the end of our summer trip 2014. We were so sad to hop on the plane and arrive to that cold, rainy and gray Helsinki-Vantaa airport that we even joked about doing anything just to be able to go an eat another portion of Risotto a la Milanese!

- Herminica

Empathy / Empatiaa

2015-07-21T20:58:00.001+03:00

Empathy is one form of intelligence. It's too bad that I constantly meet people who either have limited ability to feel it or then it is more or less selective... and in the worst case just doesn't even exist. Those poor souls, who I have to share this planet with, will never understand the true meaning of the words moral, justice, humanity nor love. Luckily we still have those who are able to be empathic and are willing to do more than is needed for any good case. This case can be an unfair relationship, barbaric Yulin- dog meat festival or simply "help", you normally give or don't give to humanitarian refugees or to the granny next door, who is struggling with her groceries in front of you. What feeling do you feel after reading all those things I've listed? Do you even feel anything or is that feeling so big that you'd just rather forget it? Forgetting... Its that miracle cure for everything that is against your own desires or easy way of life. Is it fair to that other side if you forget or supposedly-forget the meeting with your friend? What if that forgetting considers a hard and challenging job that should be done, your own workout or sudden humanitarian catastrophe? Do your answers vary between these things? Why is it ok to forget when things are not closely attached to your everyday life, even if it did arise something in you- even at that amount that you would just rather forger and flee the scene?

Empatiakyky on osa älykkyyttä. Valitettavasti vastaan tulee jatkuvasti ihmisiä, joiden empatiakyky on joko rajallinen, valikoiva tai puuttuu täysin. Ne valitettavat yksilöt, jotka kahdella jalallaan tätä palloa kanssani tallaavat eivät tule koskaan ymmärtämään sanoja oikeus, moraali, inhimillisyys ja rakkaus. Onneksi on niitä, joilla empetiakykyä ja halua tehdä asioille jotakin on enemmän kuin kylliksi. Kyse voi olla epäreiluista ihmissuhteista, barbaarisista Yulinin koiranliha-festivaaleista tai avusta, jota annetaan tai jätetään antamatta humanitaarisille pakolaisille tai sille naapurin mummulle, joka painii päivittäin ostoskassiensa kanssa edessäsi. Mitä sinä tunnet, kun luet nuo listaamani asiat? Tunnetko mitään vai tunnetko jo niin paljon, että mieluiten unohtaisit? Unohtaminen... Tuo ihmelääke kaikkeen, mikä sotii omia haluja tai näennäistä elämän helpoutta vastaan. Onko se oikein toisille, kun unohtaa tai muka-unohtaa treffit ystävän kanssa? Entäs jonkin raskaan tai vähän vaativamman työtehtävän, omat treenit tai akuutin humanitaarisen katastrofin? Vaihtuuko vastauksesi asioiden välillä? Miksi unohtaminen on sallittua silloin, kun asia ei suoraan kosketa omaa arkea, vaikka omaa tunneskaala se hivelisikin- jopa niin paljon, että tahtoisi mieluiten paeta?

I still consider empathy as a form of intelligence. In addition to that I consider it as a inner strength. Psychologist have noticed that a total lack of empathy is a unifying feature of people who are capable of doing horrific things. Every person and animal tends to find its own place between the two opposite sides of the empathy-scale. I've unfortunately noticed that more and more people from the western world are choosing to stay on that more horrifying side of the scale recently. The more people choose the better and right side of the scale the better and more helpful world and people we have around us. Personally I'd surround myself with these good-doers and fill the world with people who have not lost their connection to the empathy. These people are the ones who will save the world with it, help you always, stand by you, love unconditionally and stand for the weakest. These people are the ones doing good in here and the reason we feel good. They are also ones, who can do good to others without asking anything in return.

Minä koen empatiakyvyn alykkyyden muotona. Sen lisäksi koen sen sisäisenä voimana. Psykologian saralla on huomattu, että empatiakyvyn täydellinen puute yhdistää ne ihmiset, jotka kykenevät kamaluuksiin. Jokainen ihminen ja eläin aseittuu "empatia-asteikon" kahden ääripään välille. Olen valitettavasti vain huomannut sen, että yhä useampi länsimaalainen asettautuu sinne asteikon pelottavalle puolelle. Mitä ns. oikeammalla puolella ihminen empatia-asteikolla on, sen avuliaampi ja toimeliaampi tyyppi on kyseessä. Itse haluaisin ympäröidä itseni ja täyttää tämä maapallo juuri empatiakyvyllä rikastettuja maailmanparantajia. Niissä henkilöissä piilee voima, turva ja apu- silloin kun sitä itsekin tarvitset. Nämä maailmanparantajat ovat niitä, joiden olalta saat aina tukesi, pyytämällä avun, rakkauden ehdoitta ja jonka näet auttavan aina niitä heikompiaan. Ne henkilöt tekevät hyvää, heidän vuokseen me koemme hyvää ja heidän vuokseen myös muilla on mahdollisuus saada hyvää osakseen, pyytteettömästi.

- Herminica

Elämänkirjani luku: Opiskelijana ~ only in finnish

2015-07-19T00:00:00.000+03:00

ELÄMÄNKIRJANI LUKU: OPISKELIJANA

Ajattelin avata teille lukijoille hieman oman elämäni kirjaa luvusta Opiskelija. Aihe on monille varsin tuttu. Tätä lukua revitään monien tulevien opiskelijaksi haaveilevien eämänkirjasta väkivalloin hallituksemme ja tietämättömien kansalaisten toimesta. Jokaisen ihmisen elämäntarina on erilainen, luvut voivat niissä toistua sellaisinaan tai aivan omanlaisinaan. Ne kaikki ovat kuitenkin omia tarinoitaan, jotka täyttyvät henkilökohtaisista haasteista, murheista ja ilonhetkistä, erilaisesta tekemisestä ja ainutlaatuisista mahdollisuuksista, kompastuskivistä ja uusista ahaa- elämyksistä. Osalla meistä on niin vahvat tukipilarit, että kaikesta selviää silloinkin, kun ei yksin siihen pystyisi- rahallisesti tai henkisesti. Toisilla tilanne on tukalampi. Siksi haluankin heti alkuun sanoa, ettei kenekään elämänkirjan luku Opiskelija tarvitse enempää säröjä itseensä, se luku kun on jo muutenkin monen kohdalla repaleinen ja haasteellinen monivuotinen ajanjakso Suomen yhteiskunnan köyhimpinä (eläkeläiset ja sosiaalitukien varassa asuvat, teilläkin menee rahallisesti paremmin).

Oma koulutieni on aina ollut helppo pienestä pitäen. Opin puhumaan kahta äidinkieltäni samoihin aikoihin n. 1-2 vuotiaana. Mielipuuhaani oli aina piirtely, lukeminen ja kirjojen selailu ja lukemaan opin jo siinä 3-4 vuotiaana (kirjoina oli ihan tavallisia nuortenkirjoja, lastenkirjat ei tälle tarmokkaalle apinalapselle olleet tarpeeksi haasteellisia). Esikouluun menin jo 5 vuotiaana, tylsistyin ensimmäiset kouluvuoteni pulpetissani, lukien erikoisluvalla omia kirjojani. Osasin tässä vaiheessa jo kertotaulutkin, kiitos isän ohjelmoimien matikkapelien. Voin sanoa aina olleeni halukas opiskelemaan, olen aina saanut kotoa tukea ja apua ja meidän suvussa yksi tärkeimmistä asioista on ollut hyvä ja korkealle etenevä kouluttautuminen. Joka kouluvuoden lopussa suvivirren aikaan käsissäni oli stipendejä ja peruskoulun päättötodistuksessa komeili keskiarvo 9,5 (mukana kielistä oli tässä vaiheessa pitkinä Englanti, Bosnia, Ranska, Ruotsi, Saksa ja Suomi).

Lukion kävin Mikkelin Yhteiskoulun lukiossa, missä suoritin 89 kurssia tarvittavan 75 sijaan. Lukion päättötodistus komeili taas samoissa lukemissa kuin peruskoulunkin jälkeen, tällä kertaa lisänä oli pitkinä aineina Biologia, Kemia, Matikka, Psykologia sekä Fysiikka, kielet ja monet muut hajanaiset lisäkurssit. Minua kiinnosti kaikki historiasta äidinkielen runoproosaan. Malttamaton ja nälkäinen sielu, tiedättehän. Kokeisiin jaksoin lukea aina vain päivää ennen eikä poikkeuksia tapahtunut Abikirjoituksienkaan suhteen. Kirjoitin lopulta 7 ainetta; Pitkän matikan, pitkän englannin, keskipitkän ruotsin, biologian, kemian, psykologian ja suomen äidinkielenä. E:n paperit sieltä napsahti kotiin, mihin petyin hieman- olinhan tehnyt selkeät mokat muutaman kokeen suhteen. Tämä ei kuitenkaan missään vaiheessa ollut este sille, että lähtisin hakemaan yliopistoon haluamalleni alalle- Lääketieteellisille aloille. Ensimmäisenä vuonna hain Galenoksen kertaalleen ulkoa opettelun jälkeen Kuopion lääkikseen. Paikka jäi varasijalle ja minä nappasin toisen tien, joka eteeni aukeni: Jyväskylän yliopiston Solu- ja molekyylibiologian. Suoritin Jyväskylässä opintoja 72 op:n verran ja hain seuraavissa hauissa enemmän itseäni kiehtovalle, vasta ensimmäistä kertaa järjestettävään Kuopion yliopiston Lääketieteen laitoksen Biolääketieteen koulutusohjelmaan. Siellä sitä ollaan vieläkin, viimeistä maisterivuotta seuraavana lukuvuonna gradu jo ihan hyvällä mallilla ja opintopisteitä... noh helve*isti. On maistunut - lääketiedettä siistimmällä ja niin paljon syvällisemmällä levelillä poikkeuksetta!

YLIOPISTOELÄMÄ ALKAKOON!

Hyvin on mennyt, mutta ei omallakaan kohdallani ilman ongelmia kiitos yliopistomme byrokratian ja älyttömät mielipidekiistat. Voin sanoa, että minulla ei olisi ollut varaa opiskella täysipainoisesti (olisin joutunut tekemään reippaasti enemmän töitä) ilman vanhempieni henkistä ja rahallista apua. Viiden vuoden koulutus venyi kuuteen vuoteen, kiitos puhtaasti yliopistolle. Opintotuet, joita olen saanut ovat olleet hyvin pieniä (opintotuki ei elätä), karkeasti n. 470 € kuussa. Tästä on pitänyt maksaa vuokra (Jyväskylässä ollessani se oli veden ja sähkön kanssa kuukaudessa 530 €, Kuopiossa kahden ekan vuoden aikana 520 € ja nyt viimeiset kaksi vuotta 410 € kuukaudessa (nuorin siskoni muutti Kuopioon opiskelemaan kliinistä ravitsemustiedettä, joten löydettiin meille kaksio, opiskelijaasuntolat eivät kotia minulle ole kertaakaan tarjonneet Kuopiossa eikä Jyväskylässä). Tämän Kelan tuen päälle vanhemmat maksavat minulle kuukaudessa n. 300 € välttämättömiin ruokiin, puhelin-nettilaskuihin (jotka on hyvin tarkasti kilpailutettu, kuten muutenkin teen kaikkien palveluntarjoajien suhteen), hygieniavälineisiin, äkillisiin sairastumiskäynteihin, rikkinäiseen pyörän renkaaseen, kuntosaliin, koulukirjoihin ja lääkkeisiin. You can do the math. Minä en osta rahoillani karkkipusseja, tupakkaa tai alkoholia. Kaikilla opiskelijoilla ei ole samanlaisia menoeriä. Lahjarahat ja pienentkin lisätienestit säästän lomareissuihin- niistä en luovu, sillä kotiin on päästävä ihan oman henkisen hyvinvoinnin vuoksi.

Minulla on yksi pieni opetus jaettavana niille, jotka opintotukea kritisoivat laiskuuden mahdollistajana. Opintotukikuukausi tulee ansaita, sinun on suoritettava 5 op kutakin tukikuukautta, eli 470 € kohti. Unohdetaan siis suoraan ne ikiopiskelijat, jotka viruvat koulun penkeillä satoja vuosia saamatta mitään aikaan. Nykyisten opiskelijoiden opiskeluoikeutta on myös rajattu, omalla kohdallani minulla on aikaa suorittaa tutkintoni 7 vuoden aikana, jonka jälkeen opinto-oikeus menetetään. Tämä on ollut hyvä uudistus opiskelijan ja yliopiston näkökulmasta! Opinnot eivät ole myöskään samalla tavalla rajattuja 8-16 väliseksi duuniksi. Opiskelu jatkuu lähes poikkeuksetta myös tämän virallisen opinahjossa istumisen lisäksi. Se mehustaa henkisesti paljon enemmän, kuin perusperan työviikot, mutta sitä sen kuuluukin olla. Laiskaksi on tässä vaiheessa turha opinnoissaan eteneviä kutsua- ei sitä kukaan etene oppimatta mitään. Ne todellisesti kykenemättömät tai motivoitumattomat kyllä karsiutuvat, ei siis yleistetä heihinkään liittyviä kaunoja kaikkiin meihin muihin. Heilläkin on luultavasti jokin toinen opintaival edessään ja se on hyvä se.

En pärjäisi opiskelijavuosia ilman vanhempiani. Meidän kulttuurissamme tai perheessämme lapsia ei jätetä yksin, ei etenkään kun kyse on koulutuksesta ja siitä minä olen ylpeä. Sellaisista vanhemmista tulisi kaikkien olla ylpeitä, jos vain mahdollisuus tähän apuun on. Se ei tee minusta vähemmän itsenäistä. Lainan olen nostanut vain yhdeltä vuodelta. Siellä se kummittelee päivittäin takaraivossa - 3500 €... Jos olisin nostanut kaikkien vuosien ajalta lainat, voisin sanoa olevani suistunut pahasti siitä oikealta polulta, jossa ostokyky ja kulutus kohtaavat. Sille polulle minä en syvemmin tahdo astua- etenkään kun ajat ovat tälläiset, ettei kukaan tiedä (etenkään vastavalmistunut, etenkin jos ala on uusi/harvinaisempi) saako heti töitä ja pääseekö sellaisiin tienesteihin, että pystyy elättämään itsensä ja lyhentämään samalla velkojaan. Eikä tässä ole ehtinyt edes asuntovelkaantua... Joidenkin alojen opiskelijoiden kannattaa ottaa lainat. Näitä ovat helposti työllistävät ja korkeapalkkaiset alat, muiden alojen opiskelijoiden lainanotto-kannattavuus ei ole samalla tasolla. Lainaa ei saisi pitää minkään ihmisryhmän tulomuotona, se ei sitä ole. Velka on aina velkaa ja tulot tuloja. Tästä ei päästä yli eikä ympäri. Jos opiskelijoiden kohdalla velkaa pidetään tulomuotona, tulisi se sama tarjota kaikille muillekkin- oli kyse eläkeläisestä tai sosiaalivarojen varassa elävä- siitäkös se vasta eriarvoistunut soppa sitten syntyisi. Pahasti velkaantuneita kansalaisia, joita ei enää pelastusveneellä pinnalle kovin helposti nostettaisi. Puhdas ja huoleton pöytä, kun on paras ponnistuslauta valmistumisen jälkeen. Minä kannatan sitä.

En silti ole omaksunut ns. köyhän identiteettiä. Se minä en ole, vaikka olenkin. Minulla on kaikki mitä tarvitsen. Voisin toki tarvita enemmänkin, mutta kohtuus kaikessa. Maslowin tarvehierarkian kaikki tasot ovat omalla kohdallani ihan tasapainossa keskenään. Toki mieltä piristäisi kummasti valtion sponsoroima hesarin vuositilaus tai sosiaalitukimahdollisuus kesäkuukausien ajalta. Ne ovat kuitenkin vain plussia, joita ilman pärjää (en ole tästä sosiaalituettomuudesta niinkään varma kaikkien osalta). Onhan tähänkin asti pärjätty. Ei saa antaa itsensä vajota siihen epätivon suohon, mikä monet on vallannut. Kaikki on kuitenkin pitkälti kiinni omasta pääkopasta. Jos on varaa ostaa leffaliput pari kertaa vuodessa ja herkkuja silloin tällöin puolen vuoden aikana, on aivan tarpeeksi sellaiseen, että välttämöttömät tarpeet täyttyvät.

Tämä kärjistyy opiskelijoiden osalta etenkin kesäkuukausien aikana- kaikki alat eivät tarjoa opiskelumahdollisuuksia kesäkuukausien aikana etenkään niin, että opinnot jouduttaisivat opintoja. Siis, jos et opiskele et saa myöskään nostaa tukikuukausia kesältä. Niitä on kuitenkin tietty määrä jokaisen käytössä (itselläni yhteensä 55 kpl sekä alempaan että ylempään tutkintoon yhteensä). Jos haluaisin opiskella jotakin kesällä, menettäisin tukikuukausista aina osan, mutta tutkintoni suorittamisnopeuteen se ei vaikuta. Opiskelu kesällä vain auttaa selviämään "hengissä" kesän yli, sillä opiskelija ei ole oikeutettu kesälläkään sosiaalitukiin, asumistukiin tai mihinkään muuhunkaan tukimuotoon (ainut keino on opiskella, omata rikkaat vanhemmat, nostaa opintolainat tai käydä töissä - jokainen valitsee itselleen parhaan näistä, jos on varaa mistä valita). Onneksi minä olen saanut töitä. Siitä saa olla kiitollinen! Toivoisin, että opiskelevia nuoria otettaisiin töihin reippaammalla kädellä, muilla kun sattuu olemaan edes jonkinlainen sosiaalitukiverkosto ympärillään, joka takaa sen että ihminen pärjää.

Työssäkäynnistä opiskelujen ohella minulla on paljon hyvää sanottavaa, mutta myös paljon hampaankolossa. Olen ollut kesätöissä jo 15-kesäisestä vuosittain. Minulle on opetettu rahan arvo, budjetoinnin tärkeys ja priorisoinnin tarpeus. En ole vielä yhtenäkään vuonna jäänyt ilman kesäduunia ja niitähän on ollut; Mikkelin kuapungin kirjastolla kahtena kesänä, Etelä-Savon Tietohallinnolla kahdesti myös, Pitkäjärven ABC:llä ja R- kioskilla. Näistä R-kioskille tein töitä nelisen vuotta myös opintojen ohella- nappasin niin monta vuoroa kun oli tarjolla ja kun pystyin niitä ottamaan. Niiden kuukausien ajan pystyin elämään ilman raha-apua vanhemmiltani. Piti laskea tarkasti ettei mene tulorajat yli kuukausittain tai vuosittain, samalla kuitenkin ottaa niin monta työvuoroa että työnantaja ei potki listoilta ~ se kun vaakakupissa painaa kumpikin puoli, eikä kumpaankaan päin saa kellahtaa. Tämä on nollasopimusten vähemmän hehkutettu puoli, opiskelijan ainut mahdollisuus lisätienesteihin. Kahtenä viime kesänä olen tehnyt vihdoin oman alani töitä yliopistollamme, niistä olen nauttinut suunnattomasti!

Kaikilla ei kuitenkaan ole sitä mahdollisuutta, että työnantaja olisi niinkin joustava, että sallisi työnteon vain n. 8 päivänä kuukaudessa maksimissaan (jos tuntipalkka n. 10€ ja tienestien yläraja per kk 600 €), se on ota tai jätä peliä, jonka opinnoissaan etenevät opiskelijat joutuvat hylkäämään, jottei opinnoissa eteneminen hidastuisi. Omalla alalla se meinaisi kokonaisen vuoden skippaamista, koska kurssit ja lukuvuodet on suunniteltu puolestamme niin tarkasti, ettei nopeammin tai hitaammin eteneminen ole mahdollista. Samoin on käynyt opiskelijatovereilleni, jotka ovat sairastuneet- vuosi taukoa opintoihin välilevynpullistuman tai syöpähoitojen vuoksi. Reilu peli? En yhtään ihmettele sitä, että osa opiskeljoista pitää välivuoden ja tienaa sen aikana niin palon säästöön, että pystyy opiskelemaan jatkossa ilman lainoja ja rahahuolia- se luultavasti näkyy myös arvosanoissa, kun voi keskittyä siihen itse asiaan. Oman alan hommien tekemisestä on sekin hyöty, että valmistumisen jälkeinen työllistyminen helpottuu suunnattomasti kun alasta on oppinut jotakin käytännössä ja pääsee nivomaan yhteen opitun työelämään!

Mutta miten minullakin on venähtänyt kuuteen vuoteen, vaikka piti olla viiden vuoden opiskelujen jälkeen maisterin paperit handussa? Tähän vastaan niinkin rajusti: yliopiston byrokratia. Ensimmäisen syksyn jälkeen Kuopiossa nääs, sovimme HOPS:ia laatiessamme, että valmistun ajallani- siitä vielä 4 vuotta. Olin helpottunut, olihan kuitenkin tutkintonimi sama, ja sain kaikki kurssit hyväksiluetuiksi. Kuopiossa tutkinto eli ja elää kuitenkin vuosittain, muuttuen jatkuvasti. Yksi opinto-ohjaaja sanoo, että tuo kurssi on käytävä vielä ja toiset meistä saavat aivan eri ohjeet. Nämäkin muuttuvat jatkuvasti, koskaan et tiedä täytyykö käydä jokin ekstrakurssi vai ei, parempi siis käydä ettei tutkintopapereita hakiessa jää niistä kiinni (Onhan ne nyt kuitenkin lisätty pakolliseksi viimestään siinä vaiheessa kaikille, jos meinaa Biolääketieteen koulutusohjelmasta valmistua...). Tein siis toisen opiskeluvuoden aikana Kuopiossa toisen ja kolmannen vuoden kurssit siltä osin mitkä järjestettin- näistä jäi uupumaan siis 4 kurssia, sellaiset mitkä järjestettäisiin vasta seuraavana eli kolmantena opintovuonna kaikille. Mitä tein sitten kolmantena vuonna? Tein noista kursseista kolme, neljännelle en päässyt (koska farmasian laitos ottaa biolääketieteen puolen opiskelijoita sille luentokurssille vasta seuraavasta vuodesta, siihen on varauduttu). Kursseja piti kuitenkin tehdä, jos meinasi opintotukia saada, siispä minä tein muutamat tutkintoani ja osaamistani hyödyntävät sivuainekokonaisuudet sen vuoden aikana. Maisterikursseja en saanut ottaa, koska kandidaatin tuktinto piti olla tehtynä - se siitä valmistumisesta ajallaan viiteen vuoteen. Tein siis graduni kokeellista osaa myös sen kevään ja kesän, koska sain sen aiheen ja sen paikan, minkä halusin. Näistäkin käydään kovaa vääntöä opiskelijoiden kesken. Kandidaatin tutkintoni laajuus oli lopulta 253 op, vaadittu määrä 180 op.

Vihdoin alkoi maisterivaihe ja pääsin tekemään kursseja, jotka olivat tutkinnossani pakollisina. Viime vuosi sujui kuten aijemmatkin, suoritin sekä omat pakolliset opinnot että lisäkursseja, niin että vuoden aikana palmahti plakkaariin n 97 op. Ei paha. Töitä en vuoden ajalle saanut, mutta harjoittelupaikan yliopistosta kyllä kevääksi. Taas sai huokaista helpotuksesta, edes jotakin mikä auttaa eteenpäin sitten kun opinnot loppuvat. Taisi olla muutenkin hyvä veto, sillä sain kun sainkin sitkeänä sissinä myös täksi kesäksi töitä! Ja vielä niin hyvästä tutkimustyhmästä, että sinne ei aamuisin yhtään häiritse herätä! Tätä minä sanon motivaatioksi, joka kumpuaa jostakin syvemmältä- kiinnostuksesta, halusta, päämäärätietoisuudesta ja uteliaisuudesta. Ne ovat jokaisen opiskelijan tärkeimmät työkalut.

Edessäni on enää viimeiset maisterivaiheen kurssit ensi vuonna, gradun taputtelu ja valmistuminen. Pelottavaa, innostavaa ja jännittävää kaikki samalla kertaa. Opintotukeni loppuvat joulukuussa kesken, koska yliopisto on venyttänyt valmistumistani vuodella. Jatkotukia tuskin saan vaikka hakisin... Valmistumispäivämäärä on kuitenkin vasta keväällä, saas nähdä miten elätän itseni ensi kevään. Kesätöiden palkat budjetoin, kuten edellisvuosinakin hyvin tarkasti jokaista kuukautta kohden, eipä tule yllätyksiä kun ajoissa jo tarttuu härkää sarvista. Jään pintaa on testattava, töitä keväälle luultavasti haettava mieluiten juuri omalta alalta. Se ei tunnu työltä se. Opintopolkuni myös tuskin tyssää tähän... Väitöskirjapaikka on hyvinkin todennäköinen seuraava etappi omalla opintopolullani. Se, mistä ja milloin sellaisen saan, on tulevaisuuden haaste, johon aion tarttua vielä! Silloin ei ainakaan enää samanlainen raha-ahdingosta muodostuva synkkä pilvi leijaile samalla tapaa pään yläpuolella, silloin voi olla vapaa ja opiskella ilman muita lisämurheita.

- Herminica, yhä positiivinen, vajaan vuoden päästä valmistuva Biolääketieteen Maisteri !

EUROTRIP 2014 Part 4/5: Zadar and Kornati

2015-07-17T00:00:00.000+03:00

ZADAR

We traveled the whole night to Zadar from Sarajevo by bus. Elma, our cousin, joined in our company in Sarajevo a day before. We were really exhausted when we finally arrived and took a taxi from a really nice local dude, who not only found us a place to stay but also introduced us to the city and gave us some local tips. All we had in mind was to go by the sea and swim, eat something and just sleep. I think we all fell asleep at the natural beach for a good time. It was well deserved nap! Zadar was a beautiful little town. Beaches were not that good, but sailing trips and natural beaches were much better than the ones made for tourists. We had a pleasure to swim and play cards together. Wonder around the city center and visit different cafes and restaurants. Damn how we enjoyed sipping coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice... Nothing wins that combo! Every morning we woke up to hang out with the cat that was sleeping on our terrace while we ate our breakfast. Eggs, hot chocolate, orange juice, fruits and veggies were at the top of our menu!

One of the best things was this huge storm and the light show in this old building... Sounds of the storm and rain, all the lights and music... Amazing. Another artsy moment was experienced at the Morski Urlovi, a natural music instrument where sea and its waves play the stairs making different relaxing sounds. Walks at the city parks and sitting at the lounge bars was also something we enjoyed, it was so nice to escape the heat and refresh ourselves.

KORNATI & NATIONAL PARK TELASCICA

The best part of our stay in Zadar was a trip to Kornati islands and National Park Telascica. We booked a sailing and swimming trip for the whole day. Islands are just the biggest pearls of Adriatic, especially the ones people haven't laid their fingers on. Water was so pure, sun shone and we girls sun bathe at the deck and watched all the beauty passing by us. This was a day we all could completely relax and forget everything else. We did also swim at Telascica and oh boy... That water was so pure... deep and crystal clear. So clear that even sea cucumbers lived there... and that if anything is a good marker for the quality of the water.

Our trip continued to Italy via Ljubljana, Slovenia and a cold night at the railway station at Villach, Austria. We rented a car from a shitty international company called Sixt. What they actually did was they gave us a car that was totally broken, from a different category we had booked because they have given the car we had reserved to some other travelers. When we gave the car back, they wanted to charge us the extra from upgrading the car to better one (even though they first told us it wont cost us anything because it was their mistake) and for all different scars and lumps on the car (we did not made any of them). The final cost rose from 100 to 400 euros for renting a car for only 6 hours... and that was not even all... What can we say? Do not rent a car from a company Sixt!

EUROTRIP 2014 Part 3/5: Mostar, Kozarac and Sarajevo

2015-07-15T16:38:00.001+03:00

MOSTAR

Our days in Dubrovnik were over and it was time to head to Mostar. The other side of our mothers family is from Western Herzegovina (Mostar, Stolac etc) and the other from Eastern Herzegovina (Bileca). It was so nice to sit in a car and watch how the summer rain vanished in front of us leaving that mystical foggy weather behind it for us to enjoy. All driving routes through Bosnia (and the rest of Balkan) are really beautiful and I just couldn't take a nap. I loved watching dynamical gallery passing by my window every second. Mostar was beautiful as always. Nice little restaurants and cafes, little shops and beautiful places. It is a perfect mix of traditions and fairy tales, stories and life somewhere you'd love to stay for the eternity.

Mostar is a bit cheaper than Sarajevo, food is great and you can find many beautiful sites near Mostar that are worth visiting; Blagaj, Natinal park Blidinje and mountain Prenj, Kravice waterfalls in Ljubuski, Konjic and its wild horses and rivers, town Jablanica and Jablanica lake, Hutovo Blato and Stolac and its old cemetaries and Bosniak Stecci, from the time Bosnians were mostly Bogumils and had their own unique religion, Tito's bunker etc... These are only some of the examples that really are unique experiences you can only see there. We have visited many of these places when we were younger and still traveled together with our family. I´m waiting to visit all of them again now when I´m older. :)

KOZARAC

We stayed in our Sarajevo home for few days before heading to the north with our parents (we were going to travel back to Sarajevo from Kozarac again without our parents, because they had to pack up the car and drive all the way back to Finland already). Kozarac is this little town of 27 000 inhabitants during the summer, most of us live abroad because of the Bosnian war. 1,233 of these people were killed during the war- including my four uncles. Mass graves are still being excavated and one of them is also still missing.

Kozarac is such a beautiful place, where you can hear almost any language spoken on this planet, little traditional Bosnian houses mixed with villas, traditions and modern architecture. It is like this big and beautiful little town, 10 kilometers from the actual city it belongs to, Prijedor. It is so mice to hang out there with local people, relatives and other friends, eat good food and swim, visit the beautiful National park of Kozara (which by the way you can see directly from our terrace at one picture, the highest peak Kozara is behing me in that one). One of my favourite spots my far is the old Kula-Husein-Kapetana, which are the old remains of Fortress in Kozarac. Most of its remains are being destroyed during the both world wars and Bosnian war, but also after the war by locals, who want to built new houses and don't like anything old to be in their back yard (those ignorant morons...). I'm really waiting to see the fortress to be restored some day. But hey, this is the place where we truly feel as being home <3 br="">

SARAJEVO

It was time to head back to Sarajevo after a week and a half in Kozarac. We were a little bit reluctant to leave Kozarac behing but hey Sarajevo is also home to us and when we arrived it was all good again. I think it is just that feeling of knowing you wont see this place for a year, which makes you reluctant to continue your journey. It is that sudden feeling of missing, leaving your heart somewhere. I still think that we are really lucky to be able to say we have that big blessing of having many homes. Places where you know that you belong to and where nothing is boring... I love to watch our sunsets from terraces in Kozarac but also from our balcony in Sarajevo... It just has something in it! Sarajevo is a really vibrant city, where you can experience multicultural atmosphere, history, natural beauty and all different things to do are right at the corner; Tunnel of Hope, National park Sutjeska, great food and this cafe culture that is probably the most vibrant in Sarajevo when compared to the rest Europe. The only remaining primeval forest Perucica, villages like Lukomir etc...

Sarajevo is a safe place for traveling, you don¨t need to worry about rubbers or shy locals, who are reluctant to help. It is quite easy to move in the city and transportation is cheap (not always convenient if it is too hot). I think the best thing is to travel with locals and let them shop you the hidden places in the old town. Those hidden little pearls, such as the best terraces, restaurants where smoking is not allowed, Park Vrelo Bosne and Vilsonovo setaliste, Inat Kuca, yellow and white fortresses... The old Vijecnica was also opened for the first time after the war and oh boy how stunning it was from the inside! One of the best things is that Sarajevo is much easier to visit because of the cheap flights now offered from WizzAir, Lfthansa, Turkish Airlines and Norwegian. It is also a really nice to hop on the plane and visit for example Istanbul on your way back home!

- Herminica

P.s. If you are interested to read our former posts from Mostar, Sarajevo and Kozarac, just click the right label on the right and the totally new world will be opened that is not captured in these photos. :)

Tragicomic summer 2015 / Se tragikoominen kesä 2015

2015-06-28T07:00:00.000+03:00

I'm just smiling at the moment. One word that really describes this summer is word Tragicomic. Tragicomic = summer, they are both equally complicated and complex as the word itself already is. I'm just sneaking around my home with my woolen socks on, hanging out at the balcony with a blanket as a burrito and wearing the same jeans while biking to the work/uni as I wore in the middle of the winter and those jeans I accessorize with a rain coat that is few sizes bigger than it needs to be and I let it flap around in the wind, as if I were a witch on her broomstick... I do see tanning lines in the future though! I just booked myself a one way ticket to the south, a flight to Split on 13. of August. I am planning to come back before schools start, which means 28. of September. This means that there will be a warmer summer waiting for me and the flight back to Finland remains unbooked because I haven't yet decided when to come back or where from to flight. My only wish for the moment is that this wind calms down a little bit so that I could wear something else than jeans safely and biking would be a bit faster than walking...

Minua ainakin hymyilyttää nyt vain täällä. Tragikoomisuus on tätä kesää parhaiten kuvaava sana. Tragikoomisuus= kesä, yhtä monimutkainen ja kompleksinen kuin tuo sana jo itsessään. Täälläkin vedellään pääosin himpessä villasukat jalassa, partsilla peitoissa burriton lailla ja töihin poljetaan samoissa farkuissa, mitä käytin talvella liian iso sadetakki tuulessa liepotellen, kuin olisin noita luudallansa... Rusketusraidat näkyy kyllä tulevaisuudessa vielä! Varasin itselleni menolipun etelään, lennon Splitiin 13.08. Takaisin tulen siinä ennen koulujen alkua, eli 28.9. Minulla on siis edessäni pitkä kesä, lippua takaisin Suomeen en ole vielä varannut, sitä kun en ole vielä päättänyt, mistä lennän tänne. Kun vain loppuisi tuo jäätävä tuuli, niin kehtaisi hameessa kulkea ilman että hippulat vinkuu ja pyörällä pääsisi nopeammin kuin kävellen.

June has really been a lonely month. This city is quite empty, weather doesn't really give you many opportunities to enjoy outdoors in many forms and all people dear to me are all over this land and entire planet. Lets not forget though that the word tragicomic contains also an equal amount of good as it does bad. I do enjoy when it is stormy, I do giggle to the poor birds trying to fly like masterpieces but fail in a such way that they end up resembling that jiggling jelly pudding they serve in hospitals. This weather actually gives you an opportunity to take painting brushes in your hands, bake blueberry pies and read. Sitting indoors at work doesn't feel like work at all on days when weather has chosen something else to wear than Siren costume. It is all good even if my toes have to be in shoes daily even if they protest against it. I have told them that they'll get a chance to say Peek a Boo! We just have to be patient. In some way I have got only time for myself to relax, do the stuff I really need and want to do and be lazy in good gap. Every time I don't actually have to do anything I tend do do more than usually. Free time does energize and make you stronger and calms you down. At this point though, I do need company, which only means that it is time to get out there. :)

Tämä kesäkuu on ollut kunnon erakoitumiskausi. Tämä Kuopio on tyhjä, kelit eivät hirveästi anna mahdollisuuksia tekemisiin ja itselleni rakkaat ihmiset ovat kaikki hajallaan ympäri maita ja mantuja. Muistetaan kuitenkin, että sanassa tragikoominen on yhtä paljon hyvää, kuin huonoa. Nautin myrskykeleistä, hihittelen salaa lintureppanoille, jotka kovasti yrittävät lentää sujuvasti tuulen niitä heilutellessa samaan tapaan kuin sairaalan hyytelövanukas heiluu tarjottimellaan. Tälläisillä keleillä malttaa tarttua pensseleihin, leipoa mustikkapiirakkaa ja lukea. Töissä istuminen ei tunnu millään tapaa työläälle niinä päivinä, kun ulkoilma ei ole pukeutunut Seireenin asuun. Kaikki on siis hyvin, vaikka varpaat ovatkin hieman vastentahtoisesti umpinaisissa kengissä päivittäin, kyllä nekin pääsevät vielä sanomaan kukkuluuruu! Odotetaan vain. Jollain tapaa minulla on ollut aikaa rauhoittua, toteuttaa itseäni ja lupa laiskotella on tullut juuri oikeaan saumaan. Silloin kun ei täydy tehdä varsinaisesti mitään, tuppaan yleensä tekemään enemmän kuin tarpeeksi. Loma energisöi, oman ajan saaminen voimaannuttaa ja rauhoittaa. Nyt tarvitsen kuitenkin myös sitä seuraa, ei siis auta muu, kuin hakeutua taas sellaiseen voimapiiriin. :)

- Herminica

LOLIM TE

EUROTRIP 2016 - Part 6: Visocica, an adventure on Bosnian mountains

EUROTRIP 2016 - Part 5: Sarajevan summer dream, vol 2

EUROTRIP 2016 - Part 4: Sarajevo, a real life museum, vol 1

EUROTRIP 2016 - Part 3: Kozarac, Prijedor and Banja Luka

"The name of Kozarac comes from a strong wind blowing from the Kozara canyon. This warm breeze tinkles your face and your lips turn into a serene smile."

EUROTRIP 2016 - Part 2: Amazing National Park UNA

EUROTRIP 2016 - Part 1: Trogir, a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 8/8: Sarajevo, a city for cejfing

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 7/8: Mostar, an European gem

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 6/8: Stolac, sladak k'o kolac

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 5/8: Amazing Old Town Hvar, chapter 3

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 4/8: Amazing Hvar, chapter 2

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 3/8: Amazing Hvar, chapter 1

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 2/8: In Split, chapter 2

Checklist for travelling to the countries of Former Yugoslavia

EUROTRIP 2015 Part 1/8: In Split, chapter 1

Tangled possibilities / Takkuisia mahdollisuuksia

Be a rainbow in somebody's cloud / Ole sateenkaari jonkun toisen pilvessä

Me Naiset magazine and I / Me Naiset lehti ja minä

Minulla on Unelma

EUROTRIP 2014 Part 5/5: Venice and Milan

Empathy / Empatiaa

Elämänkirjani luku: Opiskelijana ~ only in finnish

EUROTRIP 2014 Part 4/5: Zadar and Kornati

EUROTRIP 2014 Part 3/5: Mostar, Kozarac and Sarajevo

Tragicomic summer 2015 / Se tragikoominen kesä 2015

"The name of Kozarac comes from a strong wind blowing from the Kozara* canyon. This warm breeze tinkles your face and your lips turn into a serene smile."*