Participants Blog

My “second” sister, M.

My (host) sister M. is easily the most beautiful and smart girl I have had the absolute pleasure of knowing

My (host) sister M. is easily the most beautiful and smart girl I have had the absolute pleasure of knowing. She and I have created our own way of understanding each other, mixing words and phrases from all three languages to ensure we can talk about anything that is on our minds, to have a conversation about absolutely anything we want to. Within a month of me being here, there was nothing left that we could not communicate about. She is only fifteen but I believe with all my heart that she has a stronger grip on life than I. When I am around her, everything makes perfect sense. She opens my eyes, brightens my world and makes me laugh, every day. We take walks, go shopping, cook, sing, go to festivals together, everything… as if I have known her my whole life. She tells me stories from the war, told by her parents, and handles all of it so maturely. Everything she knows, she shares with me. Everything she has, she wants me to use too. She helped me break the language barrier, to let go of my insecurities and introverted nature. Mahira has become the reason I adapted to this place so easily. Sometimes we laugh so hard my stomach hurts until the next day. One day, when I went on a day trip to Split and Mostar with new American volunteers and members of the teen group, I had missed her so much that when I came back at night, we stayed up until 3, talking about what we did that day, everything down to what we ate, at what time, with who. Only one day that I was not home and it seemed like we needed forever to catch up. I learn something new about her every day, and I truly came to love her with my whole heart. It is painful to picture leaving her and this house, I do not know how I can do it. When I do, I will never forget that I have one more sister in this beautiful little town, and I will always be grateful to everything she gave me.