I had a 24 layover in Amsterdam... it was a bit of a gamble because I wasn't sure I knew anyone in the area when I booked it but I figured I'd find someone through HIA (The Netherlands is one of the HIA program countries). Turns out my very own Ida who traveled with us - the one that is a touch visually impaired, forgot her glasses, didn't have enough contacts - she has been living in Leiden for the past seven months! Apart from the glasses/contacts situation she is actually quite competent and gave me an amazing 24 hour tour of Holland :)
Leiden is about half an hour from Amsterdam - and Schipol, the airport, is smack in the middle of the two. Really couldn't have been better for me - we had cute little "typically Dutch" Leiden to explore first and then went into to Amsterdam for the afternoon and evening. The trains are expensive but that's expected - welcome to northern Europe!!
Since 1575 Leiden has been a University town - actuallly, THE University town of the Netherlands. Leiden University is placed on par with Oxford. Leiden tradition has it that William I of Orange founded the University in Leiden as a reward to the people of Leiden for heroically defending the town against Spanish rule during the Eighty Year's War. Leiden was besieged from May to October 1574 - the end of the siege on October 3 is still celebrated in Leiden. Notably, the siege was the first time in Europe that paper money was issued as legal tender. Cut off from the world, when silver ran out the people took paper from prayer books and stamped it with coin dies. Wiliam I of Orange gave the citizens of Leiden the choice between a university and certain tax exemptions for all time - and the people chose the University. This decision has doubtless shaped the course of the city indefinitley and remains a point of pride for natives of Leiden. Had they chosen tax exemptions it is likely that the next king would have found a way to get out of the deal... but the University has been the beacon of the city ever since. Nerds FTW!
After meeting some of Ida's wonderful law school friends and toodling around Leiden (canals everywhere!) we headed to Amsterdam. Obviously I knew that Amsterdam is famous for canals but I hadn't ever really connected to the fact that ALL of the Netherlands is riddled with waterways and canals. Flying in you can see huge canals running alongside major highways, and throughout fields and towns. The whole Dutch organization thing is pretty hilarious to me. I studied abroad in Switzerland so I am no stranger to highly anal retentive organization... but there's something a bit more laid back about Dutch organization, at least from my perspective. It's incredibly important that their organized if they want their country to exist, so it's not like they're exaggerating the stakes. The Swiss, on the other hand, just seem to thrive on details in a way that I will never get on board with. There's a healthy amount of random within Dutch discipline. Buildings at more-than-jaunty angles, excellent grafitti, random sidestreets to nowhere. I loved it. Ida claimed that the best thing to do in Amsterdam is just be there and I totally agree. It's not full of too many "sites" - although there are plenty of excellent museums that I didn't have time to see. We went to a couple cafes and walked, walked, walked. We were exhausted from waking up hella early for our flight from Belgrade but stuck around long enough to see the Red Light district at night. It was everything people say it is - though I never really understood what was being said. Seeing women standing so obviously ready to sell sex was jolting. I didn't expect it to be so very different from seeing sex workers / prostitutes in other contexts - but the openness and the obviousness was strange. In large part because of the tourists. And the open gawking.
If you haven't seen it - here is a must see anti-trafficking video shot in the Red Light district: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-a8dAHDQoo
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Montenegro...? and MELTING in Belgrade
Montenegro! I hardly knew thee.... We had a massive, highly democratic discussion about where in Montenegro we would go - how long we'd stay, how we'd get to Belgrade etc etc... and then we got to the train station and the schedule was different than we had expected so we got on the only bus headed to Montenegro - which happened to be Kotor. After spending some hours along the beach there with all of our luggage at a very kind lady's restaurant we were off for an overnight bus to Belgrade through Podgorica (the capital). It was a full size bus.... and the five of us were the only ones on it the whole way there. Parttyyyy busss!! Sort of.
So this is me, Aisha, and Ida in Kotor, Montenegro. PROOF.
Belgrade is fantastic. And fantastically HOT. We pretty much melted into the city with our Burek and ice cream and Turkish coffees. The hostel we stayed at "Green Studio Hostel" http://www.greenstudiohostel.com/ - which I will highly recommend to anyone. SUPER friendly staff and a great atmosphere for meeting people. I have never been at a hostel that makes such a sincere and effective effort to facilitate the guests hanging out. Every night one of the staff would take a group out to some place in Belgrade. That got us to the famous boats along the Danube river that a moored party huts essentially. Pretty funny. We met some great people - particularly an outgoing Australian guy who was traveling alone and had never been to a non English speaking country. He was so extremely open minded and up for anything - great guy!
Here we are next to the Danube in Belgrade! We met up with an HIA friend that we had met in Sarajevo - she did the CPH program in 2009. She's living in Berlin now doing her masters program and her roommate is Serbian so she had a little Balkan tour of her own after the conference. It was super cool to hang out with her friend, ask her a little about Belgrade. It is a hip city! Hahah... I just revealed how NOThip I am. Anyway - it seems to me like a place that reveals itself pretty slowly. Definitley has a rough edge. It's not as majestically beautiful as a lot of European cities - more industrial type buildings riddled throughout - but there definitely is a healthy amount of Austo-Hungarian architecture and old sweeping buildings.
Belgrade has some fantastic graffiti... We spent quite a lot of time slowly walking along the shady bits of street and looking at the walls.
We made it to the fortress and then cowered in the shady area for quite some time... I'm telling you, SO HOT. The veneration for air-con displayed by some members of our party got a little creepy. Our veneration for ice cream, however, was only appropriate. On this day Sofia and I switched clothes.... it was almost like wearing clean clothes!
One of the absolute coolest experiences we had while in Belgrade was going to an abandoned warehouse that has been converted into a Jazz club. There are many artists in musicians living in the facility and the police don't come by - it's self governed. Lots of graffiti all around - and definitely politically bent stuff. On the very top there's a balcony overlooking the city where the jazz takes place. VIEWS!!! I love getting an overview of new places. Awesome atmosphere there.
Belgrade by night! Loads and loads of bridges.
I love my friends. They're fascinating people - highly intelligent, passionate about human rights, engaging conversationalists and all around fun people to be around. But as a group... we really miss some of the finer points of organization from time to time. Throughout this entire trip three of us struggled with some sort of vision impairment due to a high propensity for having our heads in the clouds. Also... NEERRDDD alert - I have sorta bad eyes but Usman, Aisha, and Ida are essentially blind. It all makes too much sense.
First there was Ida... She brought her glasses case... but unfortunately it had no glasses in it. And she only brought enough contacts for the conference.... so she was about to be blind as a bat if we didn't figure something out. Usman's glasses were vaguely good enough to help her see. But then he jumped off a cliff and lost them in the ocean. So we checked out a couple opticians in Bosnia and Croatia and settled on a rough approximation of her prescription that made her pretty dizzy but at least made it safe for her to walk around alone. I can't claim to be any more with it - I FORGOT to order new contacts before I left so I was wearing the same 2-3 week pair for 7 weeks until Ida sternly told me to "get that shit out of your eyes!" Ida was really in the saddest situation because her vision is negative 7. That is WILD. Crossing into Serbia the border control man gave her all of our passports back to hand out and she tried to play it cool for a second but was clearly not going to make it work hahaha. Finally Usman - he just ended up wearing Aisha's glasses until he bought some contacts in Dubrovnik.
Okay... I just didn't want to forget our train wreck.
So this is me, Aisha, and Ida in Kotor, Montenegro. PROOF.
Belgrade is fantastic. And fantastically HOT. We pretty much melted into the city with our Burek and ice cream and Turkish coffees. The hostel we stayed at "Green Studio Hostel" http://www.greenstudiohostel.com/ - which I will highly recommend to anyone. SUPER friendly staff and a great atmosphere for meeting people. I have never been at a hostel that makes such a sincere and effective effort to facilitate the guests hanging out. Every night one of the staff would take a group out to some place in Belgrade. That got us to the famous boats along the Danube river that a moored party huts essentially. Pretty funny. We met some great people - particularly an outgoing Australian guy who was traveling alone and had never been to a non English speaking country. He was so extremely open minded and up for anything - great guy!
Here we are next to the Danube in Belgrade! We met up with an HIA friend that we had met in Sarajevo - she did the CPH program in 2009. She's living in Berlin now doing her masters program and her roommate is Serbian so she had a little Balkan tour of her own after the conference. It was super cool to hang out with her friend, ask her a little about Belgrade. It is a hip city! Hahah... I just revealed how NOThip I am. Anyway - it seems to me like a place that reveals itself pretty slowly. Definitley has a rough edge. It's not as majestically beautiful as a lot of European cities - more industrial type buildings riddled throughout - but there definitely is a healthy amount of Austo-Hungarian architecture and old sweeping buildings.
Belgrade has some fantastic graffiti... We spent quite a lot of time slowly walking along the shady bits of street and looking at the walls.
We made it to the fortress and then cowered in the shady area for quite some time... I'm telling you, SO HOT. The veneration for air-con displayed by some members of our party got a little creepy. Our veneration for ice cream, however, was only appropriate. On this day Sofia and I switched clothes.... it was almost like wearing clean clothes!
One of the absolute coolest experiences we had while in Belgrade was going to an abandoned warehouse that has been converted into a Jazz club. There are many artists in musicians living in the facility and the police don't come by - it's self governed. Lots of graffiti all around - and definitely politically bent stuff. On the very top there's a balcony overlooking the city where the jazz takes place. VIEWS!!! I love getting an overview of new places. Awesome atmosphere there.
Belgrade by night! Loads and loads of bridges.
I love my friends. They're fascinating people - highly intelligent, passionate about human rights, engaging conversationalists and all around fun people to be around. But as a group... we really miss some of the finer points of organization from time to time. Throughout this entire trip three of us struggled with some sort of vision impairment due to a high propensity for having our heads in the clouds. Also... NEERRDDD alert - I have sorta bad eyes but Usman, Aisha, and Ida are essentially blind. It all makes too much sense.
First there was Ida... She brought her glasses case... but unfortunately it had no glasses in it. And she only brought enough contacts for the conference.... so she was about to be blind as a bat if we didn't figure something out. Usman's glasses were vaguely good enough to help her see. But then he jumped off a cliff and lost them in the ocean. So we checked out a couple opticians in Bosnia and Croatia and settled on a rough approximation of her prescription that made her pretty dizzy but at least made it safe for her to walk around alone. I can't claim to be any more with it - I FORGOT to order new contacts before I left so I was wearing the same 2-3 week pair for 7 weeks until Ida sternly told me to "get that shit out of your eyes!" Ida was really in the saddest situation because her vision is negative 7. That is WILD. Crossing into Serbia the border control man gave her all of our passports back to hand out and she tried to play it cool for a second but was clearly not going to make it work hahaha. Finally Usman - he just ended up wearing Aisha's glasses until he bought some contacts in Dubrovnik.
Okay... I just didn't want to forget our train wreck.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Trans-Balkan Bussing: the paradise edition
Hi again!
I am actually home now but I am going to go back in time and talk about our time in Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia.... We headed south from Ljubuski after - as I have said - the most amazing time meeting Marija's family and getting to know her home.
BorderFAIL:The bus ride was obscenely beautiful... sun sets and Adriatic islands and mountains and ragged coast lines. I mean, come on. We crossed into Croatia very quickly - I knew Ljubuski was on the border but it really is RIGHT there. You can see the wealth increase pretty immediately. Nicer roads, houses, more development. When the bus stopped we wandered off for our mandatory ice cream (at least two a day in that heat, let's be real). We weren't sure what currency to pay in... but Sofia has been in Croatia before the Sarajevo conference so she was going to treat me to ice cream but then... the prices are in Bosnian KM? Well maybe it's because we're near the border....right? even though you'd expect the Croatian side not to be so open to Bosnian currency. So we had to ask the cashier what country we were in. Turns out we had crossed back into Bosnia - the 20 kilometers of Bosnian coastline that breaks up the Croatian coast. Definitely the first time I had neglected to be aware of what country I was in.
Dubrovnik
Ridiculously beautiful, quite touristy. The Old Town is quite a large and well preserved fortress complete with churches and opticians and homes and plenty of souvenir shops. My Grandpa Hugh and Grandma Jackie visited Dubrovnik several years ago on a trip down the Croatian coast and showed is some insanely beautiful photos so I was really excited to see it in person. The beaches were divine and the company of my four amazing friends made the time relaxing and super fun. On the other hand it was pretty expensive and a bit of a jolt after being in Bosnia, Europe's poorest economy. Especially since Dubrovnik is probably the most affluent place in Croatia and you can really see that dripping off hte tourists.
We found an incredible beach the first day where we could jump off a little cliff and swim into a cave. A pretty sizable cave... with a place to go "ashore" at the very back. It was nicely spooky. Oceans, I realize agian and again, have a vital place in my heart. Hearing waves, letting the water toss me around, laying on the beach - there's nothing like it for me.
The next day Sofia, Ida and I woke up earlier than the rest and went on a hike up one of the hills - yes, Dubrovnik is QUITE hilly. Which, in that heat is something you take notice of. So the early morning was certainly the only time I was going to want to hike around... Afterwards we went to a War Photography museum that was showing exhibits about the wars in Yugoslavia including an entire exhibit on the Srebrenica massacre. It is 17 years ago today that the Srebrenica massacre was taking place.
Lokrum Island!!
*Side note: I noticed that the New York Times ran a photo on July 10, 2012 of victims being buried to commemorate the 17th anniversary. The caption refered to the people as "Muslims" who were killed. While it is true that the victims of Srebrenica were targeted because of the affiliation with Islam, they were not all Muslims. They were all Bosniaks, the ethnicity associated with the Muslim religion in Bosnia... but they were by no means not all of the same religious persuasion. It is provocative to some that all of the burials at the Srebrenica memorial site are Muslim. In a certain light, this move presents the narrative of the history of the tragedy in the terms dictated by the perpetrators: "Serbs deserve this land, Muslims should be killed". That narrative flattens the diverse identities and experiences of Bosnians - for one neglecting the fact that ethnicity has hardly been a purely segregated essense in Bosnia over the past several hundred years. It's virtually impossible to find a Bosnian whose enture family belongs to one ethnicity.
Back to Dubrovnik... I know Srebrenica talk is a far cry from the picturesque Croatian beaches... but really this contrast best shows the head space I was in when we were there. It was eery to watch people wander around this beautiful, and yes, historical area that is so very close to Bosnia but doesn't carry the legacy of war and trauma with it in nearly the same way. It almost felt unfair. And of course Croatian people were impacted by the conflict in BiH - both as neighbors and through close ties with loved ones... but I could palapably feel that in Croatia the war isn't something that needs to be perpetually addressed and balanced as in Bosnia just some kilometers away.
The next day we found ourselves a boat to a practically deserted island and swam swam swam. It was so good to relaaax. Lokrum Island, it was.
Okay more later...
I am actually home now but I am going to go back in time and talk about our time in Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia.... We headed south from Ljubuski after - as I have said - the most amazing time meeting Marija's family and getting to know her home.
BorderFAIL:The bus ride was obscenely beautiful... sun sets and Adriatic islands and mountains and ragged coast lines. I mean, come on. We crossed into Croatia very quickly - I knew Ljubuski was on the border but it really is RIGHT there. You can see the wealth increase pretty immediately. Nicer roads, houses, more development. When the bus stopped we wandered off for our mandatory ice cream (at least two a day in that heat, let's be real). We weren't sure what currency to pay in... but Sofia has been in Croatia before the Sarajevo conference so she was going to treat me to ice cream but then... the prices are in Bosnian KM? Well maybe it's because we're near the border....right? even though you'd expect the Croatian side not to be so open to Bosnian currency. So we had to ask the cashier what country we were in. Turns out we had crossed back into Bosnia - the 20 kilometers of Bosnian coastline that breaks up the Croatian coast. Definitely the first time I had neglected to be aware of what country I was in.
Dubrovnik
Ridiculously beautiful, quite touristy. The Old Town is quite a large and well preserved fortress complete with churches and opticians and homes and plenty of souvenir shops. My Grandpa Hugh and Grandma Jackie visited Dubrovnik several years ago on a trip down the Croatian coast and showed is some insanely beautiful photos so I was really excited to see it in person. The beaches were divine and the company of my four amazing friends made the time relaxing and super fun. On the other hand it was pretty expensive and a bit of a jolt after being in Bosnia, Europe's poorest economy. Especially since Dubrovnik is probably the most affluent place in Croatia and you can really see that dripping off hte tourists.
The view from our hostel in Dubrovnik!!! Almost all of the buildings in Dubrovnik (and alot of Croatia) have that kind of roof... looks really pretty with the crystal blue waters, green and gold/white coast...)
We found an incredible beach the first day where we could jump off a little cliff and swim into a cave. A pretty sizable cave... with a place to go "ashore" at the very back. It was nicely spooky. Oceans, I realize agian and again, have a vital place in my heart. Hearing waves, letting the water toss me around, laying on the beach - there's nothing like it for me.
That is me and my friend Aisha at the beach we found that I was just talking about. So pretty!
The next day Sofia, Ida and I woke up earlier than the rest and went on a hike up one of the hills - yes, Dubrovnik is QUITE hilly. Which, in that heat is something you take notice of. So the early morning was certainly the only time I was going to want to hike around... Afterwards we went to a War Photography museum that was showing exhibits about the wars in Yugoslavia including an entire exhibit on the Srebrenica massacre. It is 17 years ago today that the Srebrenica massacre was taking place.
Lokrum Island!!
*Side note: I noticed that the New York Times ran a photo on July 10, 2012 of victims being buried to commemorate the 17th anniversary. The caption refered to the people as "Muslims" who were killed. While it is true that the victims of Srebrenica were targeted because of the affiliation with Islam, they were not all Muslims. They were all Bosniaks, the ethnicity associated with the Muslim religion in Bosnia... but they were by no means not all of the same religious persuasion. It is provocative to some that all of the burials at the Srebrenica memorial site are Muslim. In a certain light, this move presents the narrative of the history of the tragedy in the terms dictated by the perpetrators: "Serbs deserve this land, Muslims should be killed". That narrative flattens the diverse identities and experiences of Bosnians - for one neglecting the fact that ethnicity has hardly been a purely segregated essense in Bosnia over the past several hundred years. It's virtually impossible to find a Bosnian whose enture family belongs to one ethnicity.
Back to Dubrovnik... I know Srebrenica talk is a far cry from the picturesque Croatian beaches... but really this contrast best shows the head space I was in when we were there. It was eery to watch people wander around this beautiful, and yes, historical area that is so very close to Bosnia but doesn't carry the legacy of war and trauma with it in nearly the same way. It almost felt unfair. And of course Croatian people were impacted by the conflict in BiH - both as neighbors and through close ties with loved ones... but I could palapably feel that in Croatia the war isn't something that needs to be perpetually addressed and balanced as in Bosnia just some kilometers away.
The next day we found ourselves a boat to a practically deserted island and swam swam swam. It was so good to relaaax. Lokrum Island, it was.
Okay more later...
Monday, July 9, 2012
Herzegovinian Heaven: Ljubuski
After touring Mostar we had the incredible honor of visiting our friend Marija's hometown, Ljubuski. It is about 45 minutes to an hour outside of Mostar fairly close to the Bosnia / Croatia border. I can't exaggerate the beauty of this country. Turquoise - actually vivid turquoise - rivers, dry hills and mountains covered in beautiful shrubbery and then luscious forests as well. Marija has an older brother, little sister, and little brother from ages 30ish to 15. They all live at home (along with Grandma) - it's the cultural norm in Bosnia to live with your parents until you're married. In part because it is far too expensive for young people to have their own places. For that reason people usually don't go too far away for University. For example, my friend from Banja Luka (the capital of the Serbian district of Bosnia) would have liked to go to Sarajevo for university but it was simply not an option. This economic reality serves to reinforce ethnic segregation.
Here is a panorama of Ljubuski that I found online...
Marija's family could not have been warmer, more generous, more welcoming. They sat us down for drinks and conversation. Then Marija took us to the river down the road from her home. They live in a pretty rural area - growing their own vegetables, raising chickens, pigs... so many amazing walks to take and tranquility to find. During the war this place wasn't as impacted directly. Though there really was no part of Bosnia that was unscathed at least emotionally, psychologically. For instance, there is a sizable community of refugees from the Srebrenica massacre living in Ljubuski now. And a much smaller percentage of Serb Bosnians in the area than before the war - so more segregation. It is remarkable to me to hear Marija speak about the war. She has said repeatedly that she wasn't that impact by the war like others because "my father and uncles went to battle - but they came home". I cannot imagine a life where there is a full out civil war in Seattle and my father leaves randomly for days to fight, kill, risk his life.
This is Marija at a waterfall in the area near Ljubuski. She was such a gracious host, wanting us to see the best of her corner of the world.
Marija's brother runs a beach bar/cafe alongside the river that is near her house. I'll post a photo soon! It's beautiful... I know I'm sounding like a broken record now... But there are little rapids that you can float down, the water is perfectly fresh, mountains along the horizon. Marija's brother absolutely refused to let us pay for ice creams. While we were there we ran into about half a dozen of Marija's cousins, her dad, and some aunts and uncles.
Photo of the Trebizat river that runs through the area...
We were running a bit behind after lunch but rushed back to the house to say goodbye to her mom and grandma.... change of plans! They madeus a bunch of dessert pancakes and homemade honey and of course we really couldn't say no. Hahaha... Marija is OBSESSED with bumble bees. We met one of her best friends, Marina, and one of the first things she asked us was, "Do YOU have to save the bumble bees on facebook too???" Yes, yes I do.
All in all... I can't express how much it meant to me to meet Marija's family. I gained immeasurable respect for the levity, grace, and rebellious courage with which Marija leads her life. Ljubuski is gorgeous and loving but also certainly conservative. And Marija lives her life walking this balance of political awareness and care for her roots that I find absolutely extraordinary. Without a doubt I want to return to Ljubuski and see these amazing people again.
Here is a panorama of Ljubuski that I found online...
Marija's family could not have been warmer, more generous, more welcoming. They sat us down for drinks and conversation. Then Marija took us to the river down the road from her home. They live in a pretty rural area - growing their own vegetables, raising chickens, pigs... so many amazing walks to take and tranquility to find. During the war this place wasn't as impacted directly. Though there really was no part of Bosnia that was unscathed at least emotionally, psychologically. For instance, there is a sizable community of refugees from the Srebrenica massacre living in Ljubuski now. And a much smaller percentage of Serb Bosnians in the area than before the war - so more segregation. It is remarkable to me to hear Marija speak about the war. She has said repeatedly that she wasn't that impact by the war like others because "my father and uncles went to battle - but they came home". I cannot imagine a life where there is a full out civil war in Seattle and my father leaves randomly for days to fight, kill, risk his life.
This is Marija at a waterfall in the area near Ljubuski. She was such a gracious host, wanting us to see the best of her corner of the world.
Marija's brother runs a beach bar/cafe alongside the river that is near her house. I'll post a photo soon! It's beautiful... I know I'm sounding like a broken record now... But there are little rapids that you can float down, the water is perfectly fresh, mountains along the horizon. Marija's brother absolutely refused to let us pay for ice creams. While we were there we ran into about half a dozen of Marija's cousins, her dad, and some aunts and uncles.
Photo of the Trebizat river that runs through the area...
We were running a bit behind after lunch but rushed back to the house to say goodbye to her mom and grandma.... change of plans! They madeus a bunch of dessert pancakes and homemade honey and of course we really couldn't say no. Hahaha... Marija is OBSESSED with bumble bees. We met one of her best friends, Marina, and one of the first things she asked us was, "Do YOU have to save the bumble bees on facebook too???" Yes, yes I do.
All in all... I can't express how much it meant to me to meet Marija's family. I gained immeasurable respect for the levity, grace, and rebellious courage with which Marija leads her life. Ljubuski is gorgeous and loving but also certainly conservative. And Marija lives her life walking this balance of political awareness and care for her roots that I find absolutely extraordinary. Without a doubt I want to return to Ljubuski and see these amazing people again.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
BiH continued...
After the conference we had the chance to visit Mostar and Ljubuski in the South of BiH. Our close friend Marija is from Ljubuski - it's a town of about 10,000... meeting her family was just WOW. Like I said before, the absolute highlight of the trip. I tried my best to communicate with her mom and Grandma in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian but of course I have my limitations. I was able to greet them formally and tell them the weather is beautiful. I love language... my goodness. I am entranced by this place! I want to learn the language, settle into the flow of it.
"Old Town" of Mostar - an area that has been repaired since the war.
Mostar is quite a vortex. For five hundred years Moslem Bosnians and Catholic Croat Bosnians lived side by side in the city - about an even balance of the two groups all the while. During the war the two groups initially banded together to protect the city from Serb Bosnian invasion. Sadly after they were successful they two groups began to war with each other. From the Croat perspective both groups turned on each other, from many other perspectives the Croats turned on the Bosniaks. Then, of course, Croat, Bosniak, and Serb children have completely different curricula in school. Including language (though it is more the 95 percent the same language), geography, history, culture, religion, literature.... One giant hurdle to reconciliation between groups in the country.
But back to Mostar. The gorgeous, infamous Stari Most - the famous bridge of Mostar, was destroyed in the war but has been symbolically repaired. The city is insanely beautiful.... turquoise clear river running through, cobbled winding streets all about, hilly little neighborhoods, mosques and mosques and cathedrals and cathedrals. Europe's tallest cathedral tower is in Mostar. It looks quite like a minaret. Many believe (and with reason) that it was built to counter the cityscape that includes so many minarets.... quite provocative.
There is a long, long tradition of young people jumping off the bridge. For the decade after the war when the bridge was blown out people apparently carried on with the jumping from the makeshift scaffolding bridge that stood in before funds were gathered.
Usman, myself, Aisha, and Sofia - taken from Stari Most.
Still today there is a de facto division of ethnic groups in Mostar - the dividing line, a boulevard that runs parallel to the river, is still a dead zone. No one wants to build there because neither community wants to invest in the area. So all along the road you see empty shells of buildings, bullet holes all over walls.... Mostar was the most destroyed city in the war.
Marija was a great sport touring us around in circles to look at old pretty things.... this was the first old beautiful bridge we came to (not Stari Most) and we photographed the shit out of it.
Ljubuski, where Marija is from, is almost all Croat Catholic.... Although there hasn't been a census in Bosnia since the war for political reasons it is estimated that Ljubuski is about 90 - 95 percent Croat. For the first time this year BiH is planning to hold a census of the country. The reason it is so contentious is that after - and during - the war people fled/migrated/moved to parts of the country where "their" ethnicity - or at least the ethnic group they are identified with - predominates. The country is, for the reason, much less mixed than it used to be in many places. But no one knows the extent of it and therefore no one can use that information politically. For school funding, to draw election districts... it could open a WHOLE can of worms. It's unclear to me who will benefit and who will lose out in different contexts but I'm sure someone more well versed than me could break it down.
For example, Srebrenica, site of the deadliest massacre of the war, is no longer home to nearly as many Bosniak people as it used to be. The Republika Srbska does NOT recognize that the massacre took place and, given that Srebrenica is right in the middle of the Serb dominated district... in school Bosniak children in that area learn that Srebrenica was "liberated" in 1995. In years since the '95 tragedy, members of the Serb community in Srebrenica have held concerts in honor of Mladic, convicted Serb war criminal who ordered the killings in Srebrenica, on the anniversary of the event. There have been moves to allow people who are from Srebrenica but fled in the wake of the massacre/genocide (that term is political) to vote in the Srebrenica local elections. Normally you can only vote where you reside. This would inflate the "Bosniak vote". It seems to me that the census could help minority groups in Bosnia (meaning, groups that occupy the minority in their community) with representation... I have no idea how it'll pan out. But it does seem that this information could be extremely powerful.
"Old Town" of Mostar - an area that has been repaired since the war.
Mostar is quite a vortex. For five hundred years Moslem Bosnians and Catholic Croat Bosnians lived side by side in the city - about an even balance of the two groups all the while. During the war the two groups initially banded together to protect the city from Serb Bosnian invasion. Sadly after they were successful they two groups began to war with each other. From the Croat perspective both groups turned on each other, from many other perspectives the Croats turned on the Bosniaks. Then, of course, Croat, Bosniak, and Serb children have completely different curricula in school. Including language (though it is more the 95 percent the same language), geography, history, culture, religion, literature.... One giant hurdle to reconciliation between groups in the country.
But back to Mostar. The gorgeous, infamous Stari Most - the famous bridge of Mostar, was destroyed in the war but has been symbolically repaired. The city is insanely beautiful.... turquoise clear river running through, cobbled winding streets all about, hilly little neighborhoods, mosques and mosques and cathedrals and cathedrals. Europe's tallest cathedral tower is in Mostar. It looks quite like a minaret. Many believe (and with reason) that it was built to counter the cityscape that includes so many minarets.... quite provocative.
There is a long, long tradition of young people jumping off the bridge. For the decade after the war when the bridge was blown out people apparently carried on with the jumping from the makeshift scaffolding bridge that stood in before funds were gathered.
Usman, myself, Aisha, and Sofia - taken from Stari Most.
Still today there is a de facto division of ethnic groups in Mostar - the dividing line, a boulevard that runs parallel to the river, is still a dead zone. No one wants to build there because neither community wants to invest in the area. So all along the road you see empty shells of buildings, bullet holes all over walls.... Mostar was the most destroyed city in the war.
Marija was a great sport touring us around in circles to look at old pretty things.... this was the first old beautiful bridge we came to (not Stari Most) and we photographed the shit out of it.
Ljubuski, where Marija is from, is almost all Croat Catholic.... Although there hasn't been a census in Bosnia since the war for political reasons it is estimated that Ljubuski is about 90 - 95 percent Croat. For the first time this year BiH is planning to hold a census of the country. The reason it is so contentious is that after - and during - the war people fled/migrated/moved to parts of the country where "their" ethnicity - or at least the ethnic group they are identified with - predominates. The country is, for the reason, much less mixed than it used to be in many places. But no one knows the extent of it and therefore no one can use that information politically. For school funding, to draw election districts... it could open a WHOLE can of worms. It's unclear to me who will benefit and who will lose out in different contexts but I'm sure someone more well versed than me could break it down.
For example, Srebrenica, site of the deadliest massacre of the war, is no longer home to nearly as many Bosniak people as it used to be. The Republika Srbska does NOT recognize that the massacre took place and, given that Srebrenica is right in the middle of the Serb dominated district... in school Bosniak children in that area learn that Srebrenica was "liberated" in 1995. In years since the '95 tragedy, members of the Serb community in Srebrenica have held concerts in honor of Mladic, convicted Serb war criminal who ordered the killings in Srebrenica, on the anniversary of the event. There have been moves to allow people who are from Srebrenica but fled in the wake of the massacre/genocide (that term is political) to vote in the Srebrenica local elections. Normally you can only vote where you reside. This would inflate the "Bosniak vote". It seems to me that the census could help minority groups in Bosnia (meaning, groups that occupy the minority in their community) with representation... I have no idea how it'll pan out. But it does seem that this information could be extremely powerful.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Balkan wanderings - Sarajevo
Hello! I haven't been writing in a long while because I haven't had a computer or consistent internet... but a lot has happened. Most importantly - I AM AN AUNTIE!!! My brother welcomed his first child into the world on July 3. Her name is Alice Juliet Kinyon Minor. Though I am having a wonderful time traveling I really can't wait to get home and meet my newest loved one.
The program is over! strange whirlwind of a finish! As always with these things.
This is a group shot of Copenhagen 2012 in the Christianshavn meeting room :) Wonderful group of people.
Bosnia.... it was one of the most powerful weeks of my life. After the HIA conference in Sarajevo I stuck around and saw the city for a day. We (five friends from my program last year plus an HIA fellow from France) took a trip around the outskirts of Sarajevo. Amazing views from the hills, local watering holes, and of course the tunnel of hope. The 800 meter long, 1.5 meter high tunnel through which military personnel, civilians, food, supplies, medicines... everything... came in and out of Sarajevo during the four year siege. The entrance is strangely anonymous. A family allowed the tunnel to emerge in the basement - taking enormous risks in doing so of course. Like many areas of Sarajevo there are still bullet holes all over that home.
This is me and my friend Una (she works for HIA doing office and book keeping stuff) along the river that runs through Sarajevo. That is a cultural center behind us. Una is so amazing! Blessed to have her as a new friend. Una, and Sara and I spent an afternoon wandering at the end of the conference. It was a welcome change of pace to be in a smaller group and without a particular agenda of things to see and do. I'm so glad I'll get to live in the same place as the two of them soon.
(side note: my friend, who is Bosnian, opined that the bullet holes left behind in Sarajevo are a complicated mixture of not having the funds to repair and not wanting to cover up the conflict. Sarajevo is majority Bosniak. The war can be somewhat considered a civil war - but it was also largely a war of aggression from the Bosnian Serbs against the Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats.... but I hesitate to categorize too much. If I've learned anything in Bosnia it is that you cannot say anything about the war or ethnic groups without several caveats. Ethnicity doesn't equal religion and vice versa... but often they stand in for each other politically. which leads to more tension.)
While in Sarajevo we also visited Srebrenica, the site of Europe's worst genocidal crime since World War Two. Obviously a difficult visit. An over three hour bus ride from Sarajevo, extremely hot - the Balkans are HOT. We met with a man who survived Srebrenica, Hasan Nuhanovic. He was a translator for the Dutch peacekeepers who turned 6,000 Bosniaks over to the Serb army. He was forced to turn over his parents and brother to the Serbs but held back himself to translate. Over the past 9 years he has been engaged in a law suit against the government of the Netherlands... but the trouble is, UN troops can't be prosecuted on the national level.
Here is a video of him: http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/take_action/gallery/portrait/nuhanovic
It was a powerful presentation. Hard to say much more about it. We all sat in a large hall and he began to talk. A few minutes in he told us that we were sitting in the large containment area where the Bosniaks were gathered before they were slaughtered. Where he had said goodbye to his family 17 years ago.
Another thing Bosnia has taught me - 17 years is an EXTREMELY SHORT TIME.
Sarajevo is filled with this tumultuous cascade of lightness and weight. Young people carry the stories and prejudices of their parents, the elderly remember a time when everyone coexisted, and ethnicity is never far from the surface although everyone looks the same. Seriously. They are all Yugoslavians. There are different religious roots but no one is "purely" Croat or Bosniak or Serb. And Muslims are not "new". In Mostar, Muslims and Catholics coexisted peacefully for five hundred years before the war.
The HIA conference was really fantastic. I saw presentations on Internally Displaced People in Bosnia from the war - there are still thousands. The shifting political landscape and national economy makes it hard for them to return home - either members of a different ethnic group have moved into the area or there is no longer a home where they lived... etc. I also learned about segregated schools in Bosnia. A MAJOR issue.
As always meeting new amazing people was a highlight of the conference. So we did some fun / upbeat stuff too. Here we are at the Eurocup semifinal, Italy vs. Germany. That's Kasper, Margrethe, me, Pierre-Anthony, and Una.
And here I am at the conference closing reception in a building overlooking part of the city. Bosnia is GORGEOUS. absolutely beautiful. the beautiful photos are coming soon.... That's Ogi and Tara behind me.
Outside our hotel which was in the hills of Sarajevo overlooking the city center, etc. Gorgeous, gorgeous place.
Marija and me in Sarajevo Old Town. FANS are such a good thing. Marija had one in Copenhagen last year and I thought it was a fashion statement type situation... No. So much more than that.
When we went on our tour of Sarajevo was stopped at an ancient Roman bridge on the outskirts of town (after looking at the tunnel of hope). I made 'friends' with two little girls... they taught me some Bosnian. "Volim vas!" We love each other! and of course: "Vi volim Bosnia!" We love Bosnia. Dang I love children... I have been wanting to snatch them all up - especially since I'm about to meet my newborn little niece when I come home! Every kid is a major reminder of her for me.
More later.... I am in Belgrade now and want to see a little something... we took an overnight bus here from Montenegro and are all a bit drowsy but I think I'm fresher than most. I'm a solid bus sleeper.
The next post will be a bit more upbeat - abotu our visit to Marija's place - my friend from Southern Bosnia, and Mostar and Dubrovnik. And buses in between... transit is always amusing....
All my love,
Alice
The program is over! strange whirlwind of a finish! As always with these things.
This is a group shot of Copenhagen 2012 in the Christianshavn meeting room :) Wonderful group of people.
Bosnia.... it was one of the most powerful weeks of my life. After the HIA conference in Sarajevo I stuck around and saw the city for a day. We (five friends from my program last year plus an HIA fellow from France) took a trip around the outskirts of Sarajevo. Amazing views from the hills, local watering holes, and of course the tunnel of hope. The 800 meter long, 1.5 meter high tunnel through which military personnel, civilians, food, supplies, medicines... everything... came in and out of Sarajevo during the four year siege. The entrance is strangely anonymous. A family allowed the tunnel to emerge in the basement - taking enormous risks in doing so of course. Like many areas of Sarajevo there are still bullet holes all over that home.
This is me and my friend Una (she works for HIA doing office and book keeping stuff) along the river that runs through Sarajevo. That is a cultural center behind us. Una is so amazing! Blessed to have her as a new friend. Una, and Sara and I spent an afternoon wandering at the end of the conference. It was a welcome change of pace to be in a smaller group and without a particular agenda of things to see and do. I'm so glad I'll get to live in the same place as the two of them soon.
While in Sarajevo we also visited Srebrenica, the site of Europe's worst genocidal crime since World War Two. Obviously a difficult visit. An over three hour bus ride from Sarajevo, extremely hot - the Balkans are HOT. We met with a man who survived Srebrenica, Hasan Nuhanovic. He was a translator for the Dutch peacekeepers who turned 6,000 Bosniaks over to the Serb army. He was forced to turn over his parents and brother to the Serbs but held back himself to translate. Over the past 9 years he has been engaged in a law suit against the government of the Netherlands... but the trouble is, UN troops can't be prosecuted on the national level.
Here is a video of him: http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/take_action/gallery/portrait/nuhanovic
It was a powerful presentation. Hard to say much more about it. We all sat in a large hall and he began to talk. A few minutes in he told us that we were sitting in the large containment area where the Bosniaks were gathered before they were slaughtered. Where he had said goodbye to his family 17 years ago.
Another thing Bosnia has taught me - 17 years is an EXTREMELY SHORT TIME.
Sarajevo is filled with this tumultuous cascade of lightness and weight. Young people carry the stories and prejudices of their parents, the elderly remember a time when everyone coexisted, and ethnicity is never far from the surface although everyone looks the same. Seriously. They are all Yugoslavians. There are different religious roots but no one is "purely" Croat or Bosniak or Serb. And Muslims are not "new". In Mostar, Muslims and Catholics coexisted peacefully for five hundred years before the war.
The HIA conference was really fantastic. I saw presentations on Internally Displaced People in Bosnia from the war - there are still thousands. The shifting political landscape and national economy makes it hard for them to return home - either members of a different ethnic group have moved into the area or there is no longer a home where they lived... etc. I also learned about segregated schools in Bosnia. A MAJOR issue.
And here I am at the conference closing reception in a building overlooking part of the city. Bosnia is GORGEOUS. absolutely beautiful. the beautiful photos are coming soon.... That's Ogi and Tara behind me.
Outside our hotel which was in the hills of Sarajevo overlooking the city center, etc. Gorgeous, gorgeous place.
Marija and me in Sarajevo Old Town. FANS are such a good thing. Marija had one in Copenhagen last year and I thought it was a fashion statement type situation... No. So much more than that.
When we went on our tour of Sarajevo was stopped at an ancient Roman bridge on the outskirts of town (after looking at the tunnel of hope). I made 'friends' with two little girls... they taught me some Bosnian. "Volim vas!" We love each other! and of course: "Vi volim Bosnia!" We love Bosnia. Dang I love children... I have been wanting to snatch them all up - especially since I'm about to meet my newborn little niece when I come home! Every kid is a major reminder of her for me.
More later.... I am in Belgrade now and want to see a little something... we took an overnight bus here from Montenegro and are all a bit drowsy but I think I'm fresher than most. I'm a solid bus sleeper.
The next post will be a bit more upbeat - abotu our visit to Marija's place - my friend from Southern Bosnia, and Mostar and Dubrovnik. And buses in between... transit is always amusing....
All my love,
Alice
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