Three weeks passed since the beginning of the second term. Three more quarters to go!
In term 2, we've switched to a higher gear and the time in here is flying at a speed that I can't keep up with anymore. This is the point where things actually start to get serious, and when I say serious, I MEAN it.
However, this doesn't mean that everyone is having difficulty in keeping up with their lives. Unfortunately, I DO thanks to my beloved 4 HLs.
When it comes to second years, the time passes even quicker. They're fed up with their E.E. deadlines, Math IAs, approaching trials and engulfed in the stress as they wait their acceptances from the universities. Thus, it's stress, stress and STRESS for both years.
Whenever I take a little break from the academic workload and stress, the life in Mostar is overall worth living. I made a radical change in my lifestyle this term by switching my residence from Musala to Susac. For those, who don't have any clue about what those mean, they are the two residences in UWCiM. Musala is a 5 -10 min. long walk from school, whilst Susac is a 20 - 25 min. walk. This is one of the most predominant ways of comparing the two because it means extra 30 minutes of sleep everyday. And for us, IB students every minute of sleep is more valuable than you think.
You are more than welcome to judge me for sacrificing 30 min. of sleep everyday with this decision, but it's worth it. Trust My new room has a balcony, a huge table (this is really important for me; I can't do without a large study space), its own bathroom, a kitchen right next to it, more shelves and a whole bunk bed to myself. I didn't have any of those in my old room. Now, you see it?
Plus, walking around 40 - 50 min. everyday out of necessity kind of helps keeping myself in check. Last term I gained more weight than I could imagine in three months, thus it's about the time to loose them (a.k.a summer is approaching xD).
Moving on, I feel the intense need to make a disclaimer for people, who come from tropical countries. (Although I'm Turkish, I lived in Malaysia for six years.) And, in Malaysia, the temperature doesn't go below 25 degrees and in here, I saw snow for the first time in six years. Mostar is a lovely city, but there were times when it's high current winds made me go crazy... it literally feels like someone is pushing you as you walk down the streets.
Furthermore, our parties are still keeping us accompany. Every Friday and Saturday, our fixed location at Old Man's, bunch of us alongside with the locals trying to forget the struggles of the week with the glimpse of rakija (by the way, high NOT recommended). However, the mood kinda of feels dead; it could be cause of the extreme cold or the homesickness that still resides in our hearts after the winter break or even maybe we are just done with seeing each other 24/7.
On the bright side, it's great that now we spend more time on other activities other than being party animals. There was a JAM session yesterday in Vinyl ,literally the first destination I got to know before even seeing the school. Personally, I started giving more value to the time I spent in bonding with people, where we share experiences and learn about those little details that we wouldn't have known otherwise.
Coming to an end, this term is honestly going amazing with the presence of friends. We've been exchanging dishes from Turkey and Italy with my beloved Arianna, and having our small dinners as we laugh till our non-existent abs hurt or till some "idiot" breaks the bed. One thing that really counts in here is all the moments you cherish with your friends, because we literally share everything with one other. In UWC, friendships are on a whole new level.
With the promise to update on a weekly basis,
ADIOS!