This past weekend, a group of students, a couple teachers, and myself went to Jahorina, the mountain/ski center where the 1984 Olympics women’s alpine ski events were held. I was sick, as I have been off and on since term started, so I didn’t ski, but I went along in hopes that the fresh mountain air would help clear up the cough that medicine couldn’t get rid of and to enjoy the snow :) What can I say, I’m a Minnesnowtan at heart, and I’m a bit jealous of all the snow the states have been getting!
It was so fun to see some students experience snow for the first time in their lives, or at least this winter season if they come from a warm climate. We had a couple small flakes in Mostar before break, but it wasn’t real snow. So of course, there were multiple snowfights throughout the weekend :)
We left Mostar at 6:30am on Saturday morning by coach bus, and made it to our hotel around 10ish, which was about 20 minutes from Jahorina. I spent most of the day with Ali, who couldn’t ski thanks to a torn ACL on the previous year’s ski trip, and Iva, who didn’t want to ski. It was incredibly foggy, but we still enjoyed ourselves. We went for a small walk, watched people ski, and they rented a sled for the day. Saturday night, after Anita and I had dinner in the hotel, we went to one of the girls’ rooms and a group of us played card games and hung out.
On Sunday, Ali, Ana, and I decided to walk along the road that wound through the complex, as far up the mountain as possible. It was a much nicer (read: clearer) day, which meant we could take in the full beauty of Jahorina. In the afternoon, I had a lovely conversation with Liza (my second year from the US) over tea and cake. Then it was time to board the bus to head back to Mostar.
I’m so glad I went on the trip even though I wasn’t feeling 100%, it was definitely worth it! Check out pictures in the gallery below.
Erika Batiz 