Hello Steemians,

I'm a student from the Caribbean island of Trinidad. I now live in Belgrade, a wonderful city in south-eastern Europe and I'm a student of Peace studies. I've always been looking for new and great adventures, and finding out about steemit and that I can write and share my stories here is hopefully the beginning of a brand new adventure.

A Caribbean boy on a Journey

The well renowned Sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset once wrote that: "Those who know only one country know no country". With that in mind, when I received the offer from a friend to visit the town of Prnjavor in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I wasted little time to seize the opportunity. For about 2 weeks in one summer, I lived with a Bosnian family. Among the things I was fortunate enough to learn and experience included: the traditions, the people, the food, and with all this going on we even squeezed in some time to create a short film (it's in Bosnian though)!

The Trip

The trip was one in which I was able to gain a knowledge of something far beyond those borders which are usually accessible to a young Caribbean boy.

My trip to Bosnia started off from the capital city of Serbia, Belgrade. From Belgrade I took a bus to Prnjavor, a small city to the north of the Bosnian Capital of Sarajevo. The first thing that stood out to me as we drove toward the Bosnian boarder were the vast stretches of land, which in some cases were occupied with various different crops like corn and fruits of all different kinds.

As we drove down miles and miles of smooth asphalt, I thought of the almost unlikely situation I was in. Only recently I would have considered this reality completely impossible. A Caribbean boy like myself traveling over 5000 miles from the Caribbean island of Trinidad to Bosnia in the Balkans. An unlikely reality, but a reality all the same.

Arrival

At around 10:00 a.m. that same day, after about a 5 hour long trip, I arrived at the bus station where I met my host and friend Bozidar, along with his younger brother David. We made some stops to handle some paper work and then made our way to their home. Nearing the home I could see a basketball ring down the corner, a small vegetable garden in front of a nicely shaped cream house that seemed an exact replica of one you may find in Malabar, Trinidad (my hometown).

Outside the house, Ms. Prgonjic, Bozidar's mom, was waiting with a wonderful smile. I remember being greeted in typical Balkan fashion with three kisses to the cheeks and one of the first questions to me being: Da li si gladan? (Are you hungry?). Food became a rather consistent theme of my stay in Bosnia (in a mostly positive way I should add). I remember that we ate so much. At one point in time I was even too tired to eat anymore!

We also paid a visit to a 'Carnival', which by Caribbean standards wasn't much of a Carnival but rather a 'Fair'. It was great nonetheless!

Fun

At this 'Fair' I had a great time meeting new people, learning new things, and introducing so many folks to where I was from. Most of them never having met anyone from the Caribbean, much less the island of Trinidad.

About twice during my stay I played football at a nearby school located only walking distance from where we were staying. Football, being a sport not only well known for its cross-culture appeal but also its development of camaraderie and understanding between cultures, proved in this case to be a strong source of mutual understanding. Not only was I able to play alongside some of the guys, but while chatting, many of them shared their knowledge about Trinidadian football stars like Dwight York and numerous other Caribbean sportsmen. I even got the nickname Didier (as in the former Chelsea football star Didier Drogba) for my prowess in front of goal.

Regularly we would go for walks throughout the town of Prnjavor, with each day bringing its own unique surprises. On one particular day while walking, we encountered an elderly lady who was somewhat taken aback by my presence. This particular old woman was unable to hide her surprise, and asked almost immediately, in her 'village' dialect (which Bozidar translated) whether I was in search of a wife...lol :)

My time in Bosnia was filled with so many great experiences. Most of all, what I've learn't is that, eating, laughing, competing (football) and even flirting (as old as they may have been) with folks of different backgrounds, shows the capability of the human spirit to stretch across the gulf of differences and find common mutual ground. As different as we may be.

Steemit actually does that too!