... it's the evening of September 5th and Princess Diana's funeral is on every TV channel all night long. At 5 am I head for the San Francisco airport. Eight hours later I wait in Dulles airport in Washington DC. I'm asked by a PAE (Pacific Architects and Engineers) representative if I'll be returning on the charter flight. Returning with on charter?! I thought you had too return on the charter. Hmmm?? I said yes but I didn't think I'd be returning with the charter...

We land in Shannon, Ireland -- I've been up for almost two days. Many people have a Guiness at the pub. I opt for a really nice Irish coffee instead. I mingle and meet some fellow supervisors. All very interesting people from all over the States, many have done volunteer and Non Governmental Organization (NGO) work all over the world.

We fly from Shannon to Split, Croatia. I guess our charter crew does not travel this route very often as they announced our destination and then laughed. I thought it was funny but I know realize there is a very active airport in Split. In fact I ended up at Split airport on three separate occasions during my first month in the Balkans.

At this point we have no idea where we are being posted. Some of us will go to Republik Srpska (the Serb controlled side of Bosnia), some to the Federation (the Croat and Muslim side of Bosnia), some will stay here in Croatia, and a few people are heading down to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Bus tickets are handed to you and that determines your destination in Bosnia... my bus is going to Sarajevo.

We are briefed and processed in Split. We receive our credentials and get paid our cash per diem (in small bills since getting change is very difficult).

After being processed we board a bus for the trip to Sarajevo. I finally get some shuteye. I have been traveling for 25 hours. We stop for a break and a couple adventurous supervisors go for a stroll into a neighboring field to take photos. This can be a lethal endeavor in Bosnia since between four and six million land mines were laid in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia during the recent conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Most the major roadsides were heavily mined to prevent the bypassing of roadblocks. Our rogue supers are advised to return to pavement and stay there.