I am excited.

After a long hiatus, I have just returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) where I worked for about 13 years on and off with the Queens Family. Medicine Development Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This CIDA-funded programme aimed at establishing Family Medicine training in BiH by setting up educational centers in several regions of the country.

My first trip to BIH was 25 years ago, shortly after the cruel four-year war ended and over the next several years I spend time in many cities throughout Bosnia. I developed both professional and personal friendships with many of the people I met over those years of traveling and teaching around the country.

I was so fortunate to have those years teaching in BiH, meeting wonderful people and experiencing Bosnian culture and hospitality firsthand. When I was working in BIH, I kept a journal and saved emails that I sent home to family and friends, and in preparation for this trip I reread all of them to whet my appetite.

On this trip, I plan to visit old friends and stroll on the streets of the Banja Luka, Tuzla, Sarajevo, and Mostar once again taste many of the traditional foods I ate while working here and that I have not had for a few years now. I will likely have the past traumas that these cities and people experienced from 1992 to 1996 in my mind but I will strive to stay in the present to enjoy new experiences in the country as it is today.

As I travel throughout Bosnia in the next days, I hope to be able to have time to blog about it and post some photos here. So, if you want to follow along, I would be happy to share my 2023 observations and experiences, scattered with a few 20 year old memories.

Stay tuned.