Home Sweet Home

Before the evacuation happened, I had decided to go home for Ben's high school graduation.  I figured I would spend a week at home and a week-ish in DC.  Then, we found out that I would have to return on the Navy's flight due to evacuation procedures and that I would return once we got orders.  Orders took a little bit longer to figure out and I ended up boarding a flight to the United States with no return ticket.  Eventually, I'll get a return ticket, but for now, I'm just hanging out at home.  

After a flight to JFK (where I had a whole row to myself!!!!) and then one to Norfolk (with a flight full of Turks heading for a work exchange program at the ocean front! Who would have thought I'd run into Turks heading to Norfolk??? Merhaba and hosh geldiniz guys!) I arrived home in Norfolk.

My first glimpse of American soil in a year.  I may have cried....

When I arrived at the Norfolk airport, this guy was waiting for me....

So thankful for the refugee assistance program (also known as Dad)

It worked out well that I returned on Friday June 10th because that ended up being Ben's prom! As Ben says "Sarah always manages to be around for everything!"  I do try!  There were 12 people in the group and they all came to our house for pictures.  It was so fun seeing/meeting Ben's friends and his date.  They clean up well!

These three have been friends since middle school!

After all of the teenagers left, Mom, Dad and I headed out to YNot for dinner.  It's good to be home...

Mike's Evacuation Experience

When I started the blog, it was just me.  Then, when we moved to Turkey, I figured I'd blog about our experiences since we'd be together and seeing all of the same things.  I never imagined that we would be separated or have different experiences, but things got a little shaken up (gotta keep us on our toes!) and we ended up spending a few months apart.  While I was doing a lot of sight seeing in Germany, Mike was still in Turkey.  I think I was the lucky one because I got to go to a new place and do a lot of sight seeing in Germany.  Mike was stuck at home going to school and dealing with trying to move us. It definitely wasn't fun and was definitely lonely, but he did manage to keep himself busy at times.  He took wind surfing lessons in Izmir and went to Cyprus while I was on the Ladies Trip.  

While he was in Cyprus and in Izmir, he went scuba diving a bunch.  These were his first dives with the GoPro he got for Christmas and the pictures turned out really cool!

scuba diver Mike

He saw some cool ship wrecks too! The one in Cyprus is supposed to be famous world wide and he said it was as cool as he had heard.

Also, happy 4th wedding anniversary to Mike and Anna Fick! I can't believe it's been four years since that coffee stained ensign was trying to win me over at Armadillo's...I guess it worked ;)  Oh, and ya know, four years since you said 'I do' and all that jazz.  We're so thankful for you guys as friends (and matchmakers)!  Have a great day celebrating! Make sure Emma gets you something nice!!

Sarajevo, Bosnia

We spent our last days with Jordan and Mat doing lots of wine tasting and eating. Mike and I snuck off to go to the Maritime Museum (Mike's submarine heaven!) and give the honeymooners some time alone.  All four of us had a blast hanging out and catching up and we were sad to say goodbye.  It's so much fun living abroad and traveling together, but we miss having good friends.  Mat and Mike have been friends since eighth grade and they picked up right where they left off a year ago.  After a day of wine tasting and wandering, we parted ways and they headed back to the good old US of A while we caught a bus to Sarajevo, Bosnia!

I had no idea what to expect from Sarajevo, but it was beautiful.  Unlike Croatia, which is primarily Catholic, Bosnia is a Muslim country.  Sarajevo had a lot of western touches, but there was still a large Muslim and Arab culture, which made us feel right at home. There were also a ton of Turks! Everywhere we turned, there were people speaking Turkish!  How crazy!

I didn't know anything about the war and conflict that took place there in the early 90s, but the remnants were extremely present.  They had these red rose memorials throughout the city where mortar shell explosions had taken place.

The saddest memorial, in my opinion, was the children's memorial, which remembered all of the children who died as a result of the war.  Some of them were less than a year old. 

Despite all of the sadness in Sarajevo's history, it's a beautiful little city. The bridge is a UNESCO site, which we love.

Pope John Paul II did an Eastern European tour, so there are statues and memorials all over for him.

City Hall has a unique look :)

The Bosnian flag

We saw where Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated (if there wasn't a plaque, it would have just looked like a street corner)

We heard that there were still remnants of the old Olympic Bobsled course outside of the city.  We took a taxi up to the top and walked around the track, which was super cool.

Olympics!

Since the track was still in tact during the war, there were lots of spots where there were lookout holes in the track that had been used for sniper shooting.  It reminded us of a video game.

We finished the race!

There is a hiking trail that goes from the end of the bobsled track to the entrance to town, so we ended up hiking down.  I wasn't too pleased about it at first, but views like this made it all worth it.

We were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed Sarajevo.  There were lots of Turkish and Islamic influences throughout the city, but it was also so European.  The people were friendly and so happy to meet Americans.  Bosnia was already on our tentative summer itinerary, but now we'll definitely make sure it is in the final plans!