It was a short hop\u00a0from Munich to Sarajevo. Once there, we were joined by our tour guide, Ivanka, who would accompany us\u00a0for the duration\u00a0of our time in Bosnia. We settled in for the three hour bus ride. We passed many open fields, \u00a0some farm animals, many houses that were in disrepair and some\u00a0that were being rebuilt.\u00a0Soon I began to feel overcome by nausea. I have been troubled by motion sickness many\u00a0times through the years, so I reached\u00a0for my Dramamine. Next time I’ll follow the directions and take it before the bus\u00a0departs!<\/p>\n
JoAnn told me that on her previous trip, the bus\u00a0arrived in Medujugorje\u00a0late at night, so they did not have the opportunity to see or do anything upon their arrival. Our experience was much different. We arrived at\u00a0about 5 PM. We were\u00a0staying in a building\u00a0\u00a0owned by Ivan, \u00a0one of the \u00a0four children who had been present for the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1981. There will be more about that later! \u00a0Ivan’s property consisted of \u00a0three buildings: his house, a \u00a0new dorm-like residence for pilgrims, and a chapel. Between the new\u00a0building and the chapel, there were gardens centered with\u00a0a Pieta statue that was a gift of\u00a0a former pilgrim. Ivan’s\u00a0brother lived next door with his family, and their\u00a0parents lived down the road. JoAnn and I shared a room in the new dorm that had a view of the garden.<\/p>\n
As soon as we arrived, the group met\u00a0in the chapel, where we prayed the Rosary together. That was followed by dinner, served in the\u00a0dining room on the ground floor of our building. We \u00a0were joined \u00a0at our table by \u00a0Meghan, \u00a0with whom \u00a0JoAnn had developed a strong bond since their 2015 trip. That trip had been so meaningful to Meghan that she brought her mother, Ann Marie, with her this time, so that they\u00a0could experience Medjugorje\u00a0together.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Chris and \u00a0Annie, young women of approximately Meghan’s age, \u00a0completed the table.<\/p>\n
We were introduced to the two\u00a0cooks who would prepare \u00a0and serve all of our meals family style. Our dinner consisted of \u00a0vegetable soup, roast chicken, potatoes, \u00a0mixed veggies, salad, and \u00a0fruit. Everything was fresh, local, simple and delicious.<\/p>\n
During dinner, the topic of conversation was\u00a0breast cancer. I had always thought I was \u00a0atypical for having had breast cancer at the age of forty-two, when my children were six\u00a0and nine. I found myself sitting with \u00a0three women who were half my age \u00a0and who, like me, were breast cancer survivors. \u00a0Chris was diagnosed when her baby was a year old,\u00a0and Meghan, when she was seven months pregnant. Annie’s dream of adoption of a special needs child was \u00a0held up because of her diagnosis.\u00a0I felt an immediate kinship with each of these \u00a0women\u00a0who were young enough to be my daughters, and \u00a0I was distressed\u00a0that breast cancer had had such a negative impact on them. Wanting\u00a0them\u00a0\u00a0to feel encouraged and optimistic\u00a0about their\u00a0future, I told them that I was a 26 1\/2 year breast\u00a0cancer survivor. They were thrilled and soothed to learn that such a \u00a0long survivorship\u00a0was possible. I mentioned that it was quite a coincidence that four of us \u00a0survivors were at the same table.\u00a0I learned that none of them believed in\u00a0 coincidences.<\/p>\n
Dinner was followed by a walk in the neighborhood, reminding me of Italy. JoAnn became more and more relaxed as she\u00a0explained the locale and reminisced about Gregg and their experiences from their previous\u00a0trip. We\u00a0returned to our room.<\/p>\n
The room was \u00a0simple and pleasant, with twin beds, matching bedside tables, a wardrobe, and our own bathroom. JoAnn and I hadn’t shared a bedroom since we were children, when I slept over\u00a0at her house \u00a0because we were going to a \u00a0Dean Matin and Jerry Lewis movie. How the world has changed since then!<\/p>\n
There was an\u00a0outlet above each of \u00a0our bedside tables for\u00a0recharging our devices.\u00a0I brought\u00a0chargers for my Fitbit, my borrowed Kindle, and my international phone. JoAnn and I had each decided to read \u00a0the Bible beginning with Genesis, but I was too tired to read anything!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was a short hop\u00a0from Munich to Sarajevo. Once there, we were joined by our tour guide, Ivanka, who would accompany us\u00a0for the duration\u00a0of our time in Bosnia. We settled in for the three hour bus ride. We passed many open fields, \u00a0some farm animals, many houses that were in disrepair and some\u00a0that were being … Continue reading Medjugorje Blog Day 2 \u2013 May 9, 2016<\/span>