Last weekend I was in Zagreb, Croatia. I had been there 6 years ago but didn't remember how wonderful it was. Walking along the busy street past the piazzas and cafes, past the McDonald's and Subway restaurants, amidst the bustling tourists, and locals going to and from work, through the botanical garden that was reminiscent of NY's Central Park, I began to feel like I could move there and be happy for the rest of my life. I wondered why I was feeling such a strong emotion for the place, and then it began to dawn on me...what I had mistaken as affection for the city was, in actuality, affection for the prosperity of the city, and for the western influence that had touched it.

Sarajevo, and most of Bosnia, is so poor and depressed it is much less influenced by western culture than other countries. Being in a prosperous place caused me to realize the affect that the depression of Bosnia has had on me; I literally feel the weight of it. It also makes me think harder about where my priorities are.

I carelessly made a comment to my Bosnian tutor this week about how I would like to find some more furniture for my apartment: a couple of end tables for the living room and some shelves for the bathroom. She said, "Why do you want to do that, isn't what you have enough?" She was right--it is enough.