Hungary trip

So this past weekend I went to Hungary. I had been invited back in August to go and give some talks on mediation. It was a return trip after giving 5 talks in 8 days two years ago. I flew WizzAir from Sarajevo, it was cheap and the flight was short, just 45 minutes.
 Based in Budapest I traveled each day to a different place and returned each night. The first talk was in Szolnok, to about 60 people and went well. The next morning I ran a 2 mile race. Then breakfast with friends before visiting the Sri Chinmoy statue in a very special place just outside the city. Lunch made friends and desert at a nice vegan cake shop. The second talk was in Kecskemet in a 100 seat venue around 115 people came and it was a very nice talk.  It was a morning start for the drive to Miskolc where I met some old friends for lunch and an afternoon talk to about 20 people. We finished with a celebratory cake for the end of my mini tour. Returning through rain to Budapest which persisted through night and into the morning.
The next day was a holiday remembering the 1956 uprising.
My return flight was at 10 am and I was back home by 11. A great trip but short trip.

It's been a long time

Well it has been a long time since I posted on this blog. I had a problem recently trying to get back in here. I have finally figured it out I think. A couple of years have gone by and I am still in Sarajevo. I have a job teaching English in the Callan school here and also have my own business giving sport therapy treatments. I continue to write poetry and will post some here. Glad to be back stay tuned. :)

December 1st 2015

Yes it has been a while since I posted, it is not only a new day but a new month. I am now entering into my 4th winter in Sarajevo. In a few days I will travel to northern Serbia, near to the Hungarian border, where I will spend a few days with friends.
I am happy with how things have gone during this 3 1/2 years in Bosnia. I have become a strong part of the meditation group here and have recently  also an important part of a running club and the running community in general. I anticipate the 2016 will give me another opportunity to move forward. Stay tuned :)

Spring

Well I just noticed that I last posted in February, so it's about time I guess. Spring is here and this past winter was uneventful, we didn't get that much snow in fact it was quite a dry one.
I have started giving meditation classes at a local yoga studio on Saturday mornings since the opening class when I had 20 attendee's, it has been a bit hit and miss, but I now seem to have 4 regular students and 2 more on the fringes. Hopefully the class will grow after all it's only been a few sessions over 2 months and people are now asking about it.
In March a friend and I from Sarajevo joined 2 other friends in running the Half Marathon in Nish, Serbia, with a time of 2:39 it was my slowest Half Marathon , outside of ultra's to date. However it was my first as a 60 year old so a personal record for that age group :) .
At the end of March, actually on March 30, 2 of us joined the Oneness Home Peace run in Trebinje. The small international team made it to Sarajevo on April 1, where we had meetings with one of the Presidents Zeljko Komsic at his party's headquarters and also the High Representative at his offices.
So far things are moving forward from winter to Spring.

Another catch up

So as usual I spent Christmas and New Year in the UK with my sister and other family. The weather was quite mild, but there was quite a lot of rain. My brother in-law had an accident a few weeks before I went over there. He tore the quadricep muscle on his right leg so he was home the whole time which is quite often not the case at that time of the year. It's always nice to be with family at Christmas.
I had a flight  on January 7 back to Sarajevo via Vienna. However that flight was late arriving and I missed my connection along with 3 other people on the flight from London. We were booked on the evening flight which left on time. But when we arrived in Sarajevo we could not land because of fog and returned to Vienna. I spent the night in the same hotel I stayed in on September 10 2001 before catching a flight to New York on September 11. The next day I caught a now full plane and arrived in Sarajevo.

Birthday poem

On December 1st I got and wrote down a poem that was obviously meant for my birthday here it is ;

I can't believe
I'm sixty
I once was
a wee boy

I played
in streets
in Gornal
a football
was my toy

Though age we count
in numbers
it's just a state
of mind

By keeping myself active
the years have been so kind.

I am 60

The date today is 11-12-13 and it is also my 60th Birthday. Friends from around the world started sending me Birthday wishes late last night as it was already December 11 in their part of the world. When I went out for my run this morning it was -2C and yes it kinda felt cold, but I wasn't feeling old. I have been very lucky that there was blue sky and sunshine for all of the day. I even chatted with one of my cousins in Australia and as my niece said this morning 60 on 11-12-13 will be most memorable :)