On Saturday and Sunday, May 10 and 11, 2025, a gathering of students of Slovenian language and culture from Bosnia and Herzegovina was held in Tuzla.
Students from the Triglav Association, accompanied by Oksana, Zdenka and teacher Metoda from Banja Luka, set off in the morning, although the gathering in Tuzla was scheduled for 12 o'clock. On the way, we visited the Ozren Monastery, which is located in the Petrovo municipality and is one of the national monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the tour, we continued our journey towards Tuzla, where we stayed with other students at the Miris dunja hotel and before lunch went to the city center, where we visited the Sports Center. There we saw the 100-year history of Handball club Sloboda and all the Tuzla great athletes and their achievements. Then we visited the Biological Collection, where the curator of the museum introduced us to the collection of ores and minerals, and we also learned a lot about the flora and fauna of the area. Before lunch, we stretched a bit in the Dance and Recreation Center, where the students, under the guidance of a dance teacher, learned some basic steps for disco, cha-cha-cha and salsa. At the end we played a game of dance phone. The dance workshop was followed by lunch. Each group spent the late afternoon and evening in their own way. We, the people of Banja Luka, went to the shopping center Bingo. Dinner followed, and after the evening walk, we went to sleep exhausted.
The next day, after breakfast, we continued our activities in the Pannonian Lakes complex, where we first had an interesting educational workshop about bees and honey, led by beekeepers from the Nektar Beekeeping Association. We learned a lot of interesting things about bees, beekeeping and honey plants, and we were able to taste different types of honey. Everyone received a jar of geographically protected Majevica med as a gift, which is very tasty. After that, we made a big circle and each participant of the meeting briefly introduced themselves. Before the end of the gathering, we walked along the lakes and said goodbye. On the way home, the Banja Luka group briefly stopped at the artificial lake Modrac, located in the municipality of Lukavac, which is home to many different species of fish. We took a boat ride on the lake and enjoyed the beautiful spring vegetation.
Although the gathering of students of additional Slovenian language classes from Bosnia and Herzegovina is now a tradition at locations that change cyclically, these meetings are always beautiful and interesting, full of unforgettable memories and the creation of new contacts and friendships.
We would like to thank this year's hosts, the Slovenian Community in Tuzla, for the rich and diverse program and excellent hospitality. See you next year in Prijedor.
Metoda Perger