My 1,556.94 RON Blog Post

Breaking out into random dance.

Lest I commit a heinous crime while cooped up in our apartment in Sarajevo, I made it a personal mission to get the kids out for fresh air. Ignoring the rain, I wheeled my kids around the hidden streets of Old Town in search of an indoor play area that promised energy burning fun. What should have taken 20 minutes I found in a mere 75 only to find they didn't open for several more hours. Try explaining that to a toddler who was continuously coaxed with half hearted promises of  "just a little bit longer." 

Defeated for the late morning, I chucked the kids back to the apartment in the rain for a hopeful nap time before trying again in the afternoon. While they slept I scoured parenting blogs for other potential areas and found one a few miles away so when they woke up, I gave them no time to think as I shoved the three of us into a cab. Seemingly, the cabbie understood my request: "Interex Coco Loco, dopasti se (please)," and off we went. 

Dropping us off in a maze of warehouses and modular strip malls, I took a a guess at where this Coco Loco place might be. I can tell you it wasn't in the first two buildings we looked in and I could see Deets getting increasingly frustrated, feeling duped about empty promises of playground fun. Finally, someone understood what I was asking for and directed me two warehouses down, four doors to the right. Drenched but relieved, I opened the door, paid my 3.50 KM (about 2.50 US) and didn't see Deets for about three hours.  

With Margo happily watching the madness of children running around, I took the opportunity to upload some pictures to the blog. Feeling successful at my multitasking during "Operation-Time-Waste" and waiting for Mark to get off work, I began to write on my teeny iPhone screen when I got a phone call from Vodafone. 

When you turn on 3G-roaming when out of country, extra charges occur to use email/SMS/Internet services. Duh, you say. Well I would agree. It doesn't take a genius to realize this and I knew I'd be spending extra money but I didn't really think it would be too much.

But THIS genius here didn't read the fine print about data-roaming in Bosnia Herzegovina: if you upload data in this country you get charged 9.92 EURO/MB and so in a matter of minutes I managed to spend 1,556.94 RON for uploading pictures. That's 350.00 EURO or 478.00 USD. Vodafone was giving me a courtesy call to give me a heads up.

**Face Blanch**

 I looked back at my automatic  "Welcome to Bosnia" SMS from Vodafone. Indeed, the fees were right on the screen. Smooth move, Ex Lax: an expensive lesson to learn, and I learned it good.  As a curiosity, I went through my old texts to compare prices: Austria and Great Britain charge 0.558 EUR/MB. Spain, Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria charge 0.868 EUR/MB. I'd say better luck next time, but I doubt there will be one. And now, the prized (and random) pictures for my most expensive post ever...

Deets stuff his face with cevapi, a minced sausage.
Note Mark's approval.

Margo diving in too. You'd have thought
I never fed the kids all day.

Mark at his favorite bar in Sarajevo
ordering a Nektar of the gods.