Hi Friends!

Thanks for the comment mom... It feels great to hear some sweet news from home... especially tonight when we are really feeling in a different world. This evening we drove from Imotski (in Croatia) over into Mostar, a beautiful town in Bosnia i Herzegovina. We were instantly suprised that just crossing the border gave us new foliage to see, and different looking houses... a whole new look. In the Croatian countryside the houses looked very old and were all made of stone and mortar with red tile rooves. Here, the houses are brick with stucco. The most noticable thing here is that in the countryside ALL the houses are brand new. Everywhere you look you see new houses being built. We are able to guess that these are people rebuilding after the war, and-or people who relocated to Bosnia because of the war.

Mostar is a beatiful little city --- half plateau and half rocky, extra-dramatic landscape. The heart of the old city is an AMAZING river, so beautiful... with many bridges going across it. All the bridges were destroyed during the war, including the most beautiful and beloved 500-year old Stari Most bridge. It was rebuilt 3 years ago, and it is so special and beautiful. We got a great little apartment about 50 feet away from it! We are really looking forward to waking up early and exploring this beautiful place in the morning light.

The city is composed of a Christian Croat section and a Muslim section. It's an enchanting combination of eastern and western cultures all rolled into one magical place. Very, very different from anywhere either of us has ever been before.

Unforunately, this great city is still quite full of buildings that were destroyed in the war. It's very sad and very unavoidable. Even in the heart of the city center, we can see all around us signs of the conflict. The people seem eager to live their lives with joy though, and we have encountered nothing but exceptional friendliness. For example, when we accidentally drove our car the wrong way down a one-way street the guy coming toward us stopped us and gave us directions in Italian (which I speak) on how to get into the Center. Amazing. Such warm smiles everywhere.

I am subsisting off fresh bread, fruit, sparkling water, and a few snacks I brought from home. Musty meanwhile is able to be adventurous and is enjoying eating all sorts of anonymous meaty specialties. Last night, at our delightfully Eastern European hotel in Imotski, he ordered a local special which was meat stuffed with more meat, stuffed with cheese, rolled in breadcrumbs, and fried! DANG! And the 2 Croatian couples next to us ordered dinner and received a huge platter with 8 sausages, 6 steaks, and 6 kabobs. I cannot emphasize what an absurd amount of meat this was! With it they got about 1.5 gallons of greasy french fries and about 16 pieces of fresh bread. The countryside is absolutely full of veggie gardens and farms, but the restaraunts are not serving any veggies, that's for sure!

more soon, xo Amey