It was a short hop from Munich to Sarajevo. Once there, we were joined by our tour guide, Ivanka, who would accompany us for the duration of our time in Bosnia. We settled in for the three hour bus ride. We passed many open fields,  some farm animals, many houses that were in disrepair and some that were being rebuilt. Soon I began to feel overcome by nausea. I have been troubled by motion sickness many times through the years, so I reached for my Dramamine. Next time I’ll follow the directions and take it before the bus departs!

JoAnn told me that on her previous trip, the bus arrived in Medujugorje late 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 about 5 PM. We were staying in a building  owned by Ivan,  one of the  four children who had been present for the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1981. There will be more about that later!  Ivan’s property consisted of  three buildings: his house, a  new dorm-like residence for pilgrims, and a chapel. Between the new building and the chapel, there were gardens centered with a Pieta statue that was a gift of a former pilgrim. Ivan’s brother lived next door with his family, and their parents lived down the road. JoAnn and I shared a room in the new dorm that had a view of the garden.

As soon as we arrived, the group met in the chapel, where we prayed the Rosary together. That was followed by dinner, served in the dining room on the ground floor of our building. We  were joined  at our table by  Meghan,  with whom  JoAnn 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 could experience Medjugorje together.   Chris and  Annie, young women of approximately Meghan’s age,  completed the table.

We were introduced to the two cooks who would prepare  and serve all of our meals family style. Our dinner consisted of  vegetable soup, roast chicken, potatoes,  mixed veggies, salad, and  fruit. Everything was fresh, local, simple and delicious.

During dinner, the topic of conversation was breast cancer. I had always thought I was  atypical for having had breast cancer at the age of forty-two, when my children were six and nine. I found myself sitting with  three women who were half my age  and who, like me, were breast cancer survivors.  Chris was diagnosed when her baby was a year old, and Meghan, when she was seven months pregnant. Annie’s dream of adoption of a special needs child was  held up because of her diagnosis. I felt an immediate kinship with each of these  women who were young enough to be my daughters, and  I was distressed that breast cancer had had such a negative impact on them. Wanting them  to feel encouraged and optimistic about their future, I told them that I was a 26 1/2 year breast cancer survivor. They were thrilled and soothed to learn that such a  long survivorship was possible. I mentioned that it was quite a coincidence that four of us  survivors were at the same table. I learned that none of them believed in  coincidences.

Dinner was followed by a walk in the neighborhood, reminding me of Italy. JoAnn became more and more relaxed as she explained the locale and reminisced about Gregg and their experiences from their previous trip. We returned to our room.

The room was  simple 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 at her house  because we were going to a  Dean Matin and Jerry Lewis movie. How the world has changed since then!

There was an outlet above each of  our bedside tables for recharging our devices. I brought chargers for my Fitbit, my borrowed Kindle, and my international phone. JoAnn and I had each decided to read  the Bible beginning with Genesis, but I was too tired to read anything!