Lost in Translation

After a challenging day of facing up to our new culture, of studying Bosnian, and preparing for our weekend in Serbia (Student Conference 7-9th), Deron and I enjoyed an amazing Bosnian lesson with our beloved tutor, Sandra. As we left her place, she encouraged us and told Deron that we are currently learning things that she would be teaching to others 3 MONTHS into their studies. We have only really been studying Bosnian since October 9th, and so we left her apartment feeling very humbled.

To celebrate, Deron and I decided to try a new little restaurant near our home in Grbavica. While we were there a young Bosnian woman overheard us speaking to the waitress, and came to me asking for help. She and her friend were trying to translate a letter from Bosnian to English, and she wanted to know if I would translate it for her. I agreed, and so began this great interaction in Bosnian between Dana (Jahn-ah) and me. Deron helped by looking up words in our little dictionary. Our conversation was broken but comprehensible, and lasted for 15-20 minutes.

When we were finished with the letter, I asked her, “Hocemo li na kafu sljedece sedmice?” (Can we have coffee next week?) And she said, “Da.” And that was that! That is how easy it is to form a new friendship here! And I love that she felt comfortable enough to ask me for help. As we said goodbye, I remebered thinking to myself, “I hope that the letter to the Dean of some University in Norway communicates exactly what Dana was looking for… that i correctly understood that she needs a scholarship and not that she would like to work for the college or something!” God bless that letter!!!