Among the tasks of cleaning, packing, and donating unwanted clothes ( which means leaving them in a nice bag next to the communal dumpster) is changing back the money from various trips out of country.
Yesterday, we went to the post office, which in this country is a place to change money and pay bills, and sometimes send letters, to change back some Serbian Dinars. It caused an unexpected commotion. Every single person in that post office came to check out the money and help the clerk. If you change US money in the post office, they record the serial numbers of each bill. But here, they seemed more curious about the money. The bills themselves are large denominations, but the value is relatively small to the dollar or KM ( Konvertible Mark), but beautifully colored and rendered. I felt strange handing them money from a historically difficult neighbor ( to be diplomatic). Once they saw my US passport, they relaxed a bit. I still felt odd about the transaction.
No matter what one does here, politics are somewhere in the mix.
Amy in Mostar 