I went through a big roller-coaster of emotions last night during the Connecting the dots: Balkan Cultural Encounters event because I shared with the warm audience my lovestory with the Balkans – how I first arrivedin Sarajevo in 2009 with a project of the European Fund for the Balkans and then how I never left ever since. I wrote poetry about the region, I did my PhD research on the region, I was swept in the political intricacies of the region, I cried for the victims of genocide in the region, I missunderstood the region, I got lost and found myself in the region, I healed my wounds in the region, I was proposed by my husband in the region. And now I share all this knowledge, feelings and missunderstandings with my PhD candidates that start researching the region, I continue to represent the region in global forums and in literary festivals and I owe almost 15 years of passion to the region. All because of a group of enthusiasts from the European Fund for the Balkans that opened up these perspectives for me. Most of my friends from the policy world in the Balkans did not know my poetry about Bosnia, and did not know my personal story with the region and I feel even more connected to them now that I shared it. I feel very grateful and humble. Hvala vam!