I certainly don’t expect anyone in Croatia or Bosnia to speak English but the considerable amount of English tourists create the need for multi linguals.
Before our concert in Bosnia we sat down for a group dinner in the small town of Trebinje. The wait staff bustled plates to our large group as our server placed a dish of greens in front of Mrs. Kerby and said, “Lady please.” Or maybe it’s “Lady, please.” But it sounded like “Lady Please!” Either way it was a strange interpretation of what we found out to mean something like “for the lady”. But as you can imagine their english is better than my attempt at bosnian.
The language barrier did not stop the orthodox Serbian priest as he generously welcomed us to his stunning church. In broken English he pointed out the special frescos of the chapel and its importance to the community. (It just so happens he is writing a book about the connections between an important Bosnian contributor to Stanford and hopes to visit.)
The concert was another success. A warm acoustic and a kind attentive audience. Before our concert, a few Bosnian children wanted to take pictures with our Madrigal Singers. One little five year-old girl walked up to one of our sopranos and grabbed her and gave her a big hug. I’m not crying you’re crying.
On the way in and out of Bosnia we were stopped at boarder control. For those of you who are old enough and travels pre EU, you may remember the many boarder crossings and check points. These check points can be a bit nerve wracking as there is always the chance you get a grumpy guard who wants to hold you up just because. Sure enough we had to line up outside the bus one by one to get processed. The guard, out of central casting for Eastern European mad at world middle aged man, worked slowly through our group as he smoked and ashed near our passports. But, we soldiered through and made it back to hotel crashing after a long but lovely day.
