It’s not easy to write a summary about these two weeks. It was such a perfect holiday that I really do not know where to start.

It started in Kragujevac with Milos, Tomo, Dragan, Vanja, Ivana, Danica, Nikolija, Milos, Andela, Snezana and a lot of other organizers and friends. After the four days in Kragujevac, we went to Belgrade. A participant arrived at the hostel, Elisa Chieregato. She was late because of her exams. So everybody was in the common room of the hostel, except Elisa. I found her in a room where she was sitting on a bed, and I asked „Why don’t you come out and drink with us?”, and she said „Of course I will, but it is so strange. You look like a family, I mean, only four days passed and it seems you have known each other for years”.

I can remeber the lighter, and when we refilled it, instead of buying a new one for the half price, and the Christmas lights all over Bosnia. Then we sang a„Geburtstags” song to Sophie Consuela in Sarajevo and the police came and said „It’s not allowed to sing in the street”.  We had the best parties ever in Belgrade, on the boat and in Klub Studenata Tehnike. At the same time a taxidriver got lost with the spanish participants and they tried to give him  directions in Italian. I can remember our first treasure hunting in Kragujevac, the long walks until we finally found the memory park. After three hot days we went to Jezero lakes where we could enjoy the first thunderstorm, but everybody swam to the other side of the lake anyways.  I remember Daniel and his selfies and „bothies”as well as many group pictures everywhere. Everyone loved the serbian-bosnian „5 minutes” , which is minimum half an hour. I can remember the five-hour-long bus ride from the mountains to Sarajevo, and it was one of the best parties on the bus because we did not want to exclude any nationalites, so we had to drink rakia, wine, jägermeister, beer…while listening to  90’s music. We arrived to Sarajevo with the loud music, and met the organizers from Sarajevo. We went to a kafana every night, we broke glasses, sung about the bridge in Sarajevo and tried every single kind of rakia…I could write pages and pages full with memories.

I do not think we could have had it much better, the whole SU was so perfect thanks to the organizers. They did not just organize but they did everything from their whole heart. They were with us, ate a lot of ajvar with us, they drank a lot of rakia with us, they showed us what a kafana is, how to dance „kolo” in the middle of the night in the rain, how to love every single lonely jackey (dog), how to really relax while smoking sisha, how to make a houseparty in Sarajevo, how to visit Mostar under umbrellas, how to sing a traditional bosnian song about love and how to say volim te, hvala, ziveji.

For me, before this summer, Serbia and Bosnia were just two countries, but I met a lot of people, whom I really love. I know it is almost impossible to get the whole group together again, but some of us will meet again somewhere in this lovely Europe. Thank you guys. Thanks to Milos for making  the whole, solving all of our problems we had and for walking under the umbrella in Mostar hand in hand, thanks to Tomo for organizing everything and for the dance we had in Belgrade, thanks to Ivana for cooking hungarian meals on the European Night together. Thanks to Vanja for crazy nights in Sarajevo,thanks to Thomas for being the soul of the group, thanks to Elisa and Roxi for the long converstions we had. Thanks to Jakub for spending a lot  of time together in the bathroom and on the dancefloor. And thanks to everybody for everything. This was the best Summer University ever.

Written by Zsófia Anna Tóth, AEGEE-Budapest

When we heard that Tuzla is our new addition to the network there was a short debate in the AEGEEan team about where it is located – one of the suburbs of Istanbul is also called Tuzla. Even though the place we talk about is not located at the Bosphorus, it’s still hiding lots of interesting secrets and beauties. Welcome one of the founders of the new contact in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina – Aldin Joldic

 How did you hear about AEGEE?

I was invited to a Network Meeting (NWM) organized by AEGEE-Sarajevo. I was invited through some personal contacts – people who believed I was able to establish an AEGEE antenna at the University of Tuzla. I really had no idea what to expect, but when the event took place, I visited the workshops and met different and interesting people. I realised AEGEE is a great organisation and it has so much to offer to young Europeans.

Was it hard to form a team?

When the general idea of forming an AEGEE antenna in Tuzla became reality, a motivated team was already formed – freshmen willing to do wonders to promote AEGEE and themselves. Unfortunately, it took a very long time to found AEGEE after we contacted the university. Many team members were demotivated and some graduated, got jobs, so the size of the team was reduced significantly.
What was the biggest challenge on the way joining the network?

The support letter from my university. The procedure was very long and complicated. Some responsible university officials changed their workplace so I had to go through the same procedure over and over again. There were also strange circumstances when they lost the papers or simply forgot about me and AEGEE. Luckily, I was persistant and had an iron will. I must admit I got a bit demotivated, but somehow managed to overcome the difficulties, and got the (in)famous support letter.

Did you visit an AEGEE event already? How was it? What motivated you?

The NWM Sarajevo was the first event I participated in and I was simply amazed. It really helped me broadening my “European horizon” , mostly because I got to meet interesting people and learnt so many things about the association and Europe. That was definitely very motivating for me. I wanted my fellow students from Tuzla to have the same chance of living the spirit of a new and young Europe, which has a brilliant and sparkling future ahead.

What will be your first event organised as a local?

We will try to start from scratch, but to ensure a high quality. I assume it will be some local events for the AEGEE-Tuzla team and the students of the University of Tuzla. We will hold motivational and educational trainings as well as team building. I believe we need to have a strong team and good internal communication to be able to achieve something and tp participate in bigger projects. The goal is of course to organise a SU eventually and who knows, maybe one day an Agora.

Which of the projects/fields of action of AEGEE do you like the most?

I like projects that concern the young people from Tuzla and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Unemployment is a big problem in Bosnia. Many young people are affected by the lack of jobs and the lack of quality jobs in their field of expertise. The Youth UnEmployment project therefore is very interesting to me and we will definitely see how we can contribute to it. The Summer University (SU) project is also tempting. The former AEGEE-Tuzla (’95-’02) organised a SU at the University of Tuzla. The tradition is continued by the University itself and now the new AEGEE-Tuzla will try to establish itself as the rightful organiser of the Tuzla SU.

Did you try to contact people from the former AEGEE-Tuzla? Why did your antenna die out?  

Do you percieve AEGEE as an opportunity to open Bosnia and Herzegovina for more Europeans, to make them aware what’s happening in your country? And also for students of Tuzla to travel all around Europe?

Do you have experience in non-governmetal organisations (NGOs)?

Actually I have a lot of NGO experience. I started off young at the age of 10 with the Red Cross and got interested in the NGO sector because it had much to offer. I got to be a peer educator for Youth Informational Agency in Bosnia where I held workshops on youth activism. There were other NGOs over the course of time. I got the chance to develop my leadership skills and almost in every organisation I volunteered, I was elected and appointed to some managing structures. At the moment, I am the President of the Association of Economy Students at the University of Tuzla.

Who is the driving force behind this process? 

It was mainly me. Ever since I vas very young I was active and tried to learn new things, meet people, and just wanted the opportunity to be included. I strongly believe one has to be able to motivate and activate himself/herself to be able to do the same with others and to complete his/her goals. My motivation is the continuous effort to make myself a better man and while doing this to contribute to the development of the society I live in.

We wish you good luck and a great future in the AEGEE network!

Written by Liliya Buyukliyska, AEGEE-Sofia

Feature photo by Flickr user The Advocacy Project

Photo in the article by Flickr user Little Green Dragon