Howdy from Bosnia

Hello there,
Here is the next installment from my travels- it is our first rainy day during our whole trip- and our mood sort of matches the day.
Right now we are at Camp Eagle- in the northwestern part of Bosnia. We arrived in Bosnia last night via Frankfurt and were taken to Camp Butmir right outside of Sarajevo. We went out into Sarajevo after negotiating with our hosts and were taken to a brewery in the city that has been there since 1864. We had a great dinner with many of the higher ups in the military and it was nice to be there. In the city, there are still building that show signs of bullets lodged in the sides of them. It is strange to me that a city that had the Olympics only 22 years ago could have since gone through such strife. The air feels sad and heavy and the locals don't like to talk about what has happened very much.
The base we are staying on is a NATO base and has PXs (shops with supplies) for many countries, and Josh and I have had a fun time perusing them and seeing how cheaply we can find good wine...:)
It is quite bleak here. They are closing the bases we are at after almost 10 years of them being open- and they are just down to their bare bones. no computers, phones, etc. They are transitioning from US bases to Euro bases and so our supplies are being shipped out. We have another show in a few hours and we are looking forward to that.
This morning on our 3 hour drive to Camp Eagle, we watched "Welcome to Sarajevo". If anyone is interested in seeing what has happened here, watch this movie. It was very very disturbing, and then to get out of the bus and see the places that these attrocities took place was creepy and left all of us in a pensive state. I will never understand how such a simple thing as religion can garner the right to destroy others in the name of God. In the states we hear about it, but we don't really see the remnants of war- and here they are everywhere. bullets in buildings, trees growing up in the insides of houses where the roofs were blown off by bombs. Someone in our group said it looked like Katrina- but this was done by one human to another. Sarajevo was a celebrated city of equality and understanding- within 4 blocks, all the major religions stood next to one another and coe xisted together in peace until the breakout of war. and the story here is a complicated one. it spans years, and history and personal lives and stories and I just can't understand (and hope I never do) how some people can hate other people for believing something different than they do.
A few days ago, we were in Manheim, Germany and performed for the troops there at the SHAPE base, and we performed inside of an old NAZI officer's club. The show was amazing, and they gave us the tour of the basement of the building that was left intact as it was when the US troops took it over. It was beautiful and eerie- there was even a tale of a ghost that lives there! So, it has been strange feeling the remnants of not only one war, but two- and really wondering what does matter in life and where we should put our energy and love and energy.
The trip has been wonderful and enlightening and the chocolate and cheese are great! We are laughing a lot and bonding and creating our days with intention and joy. If you want to watch a movie that will inspire you and change your life, watch "The Secret". It is a film that was sent to me before I left and we have watched it on the bus and it has put all of this in perspective and helped me understand where I fit in the world and to do things to follow my bliss. So, this has been a trip of growth and change and wonder. I am grateful for all that I am seeing and hope that I will always help in any attrocity that I see in the world.
Oh- one more thing. we went to Amsterdam too! It was a short 22 hour trip- but it was amazing! the history- the art! Josh and I walked so much in the city and it was great. We walked through the red light district and saw the women standing in the windows, for sale. They rent the windows themselves and have to get health screenings and all of that- but it was so objective and almost made me sick. I can't imagine anything more fearful than being for sale in a window to all strangers with hardly any clothing on, etc. We also went to the Van Gogh Museum and had a great time looking at the 60 + painting they had, and seeing his progress as an artist. I think that in lifek like Van Gogh, we are often too hard on ourselves when we think we aren't getting far enough fast enough. I am trying to slow down on this trip and let things be an intended and envisioned.
Love to all of you!
With love,
Carly