Vukovar

So last Thursday and Friday we went to Vukovar. Vukovar is a town in Slovonia (eastern Croatia). During the 80's and early 90's it was a booming factory town. Its eastern edge is created by the Danube River. Across the river is Serbia. The city was almost exactly split between ethnic Serbs and ethnic Croats. This wasn't really an issue until the war started. Really long story short- Slovenia and Croatia bailed out of the federation of Yugoslavia because it was no longer benefiting them, economically or socially. Slovenia was allowed to leave because it was tiny, far away (by Yugoslav standards) and had an almost entirely ethnically Sloven population. After they declared independence the Yugoslav Army (controlled by Belgrade and Slobodon Milosevic) made a half- hearted effort to keep "Yugoslav Integrity" but after ten days the troops came home. Croatia was a different matter. The Belgrade government pretty much told Croatia they were free to leave if they really wanted to but the areas that were predominantly Serb were staying in Yugoslavia. And thus we have war. The contested areas- eastern Croatia and along the border with Serbia felt rising ethnic tensions, and government supported fear. The Media started showing old footage from the WWI when Croat nationalists (Ustasha) and Serb nationalists (Chetniks) equally pillaged and murdered and committed heinous crimes. So in August of 1991, the general scene was this: Croats were being told to be afraid of their Serb neighbors who were actually suppressed Chetniks. Serbs were being told of the atrocity of Ustasha Croats. Now in a large city that had the highest (or second highest) number of mixed marriages and ethnicity had not been an issue people were choosing ethnic sides.

Then the Yugoslav Peoples Army (JNA)- which consisted of mostly Serbs since the other republics were bailing out left and right- circled the city of Vukovar to liberate their people from Croat occupation. For three months the city was under siege and people lived in basements and shelters to survive the daily bombings and avoid the tanks roaming the streets. The local Vukovar militia grew out of those trapped in the city. For three months they fought off the Serb army and Paramilitaries.

On November 18th the Defenders of Vukovar surrendered because they were out of ammunition. Some things to point out: both Serbs and Croats were being bombed by the army, Croatia had no military force, and President Tudjman did not too much to help out the defenders. The defenders also killed between 6000-8000 JNA and paramilitaries. The Serbs never reported numbers. Roughly 500 defenders were killed.

On November 18th though- the city population was sorted into ethnic groups: the Serbs were 'liberated' the Croatian women and children were sent back to Croatia but after some time in Serbia. The Croatian men and fighters were sent to concentration camps. The worst part though- is that Para-militaries went to the hospital, and took the hospital staff, the wounded, and the elderly and drove them out to a hanger in a farm. They were all 261 killed in a mass grave, although some of the bodies are missing. The youngest was 16 and there was one 6 month pregnant woman. Her husband was a politician.

Vukovar is considered an international success, because it was arranged and agreed that the city would be repopulated along ethnic lines. It is once again perfectly split along ethnic lines, same percentages as before. But the town is missing thousands and thousands of people. In '91 there were roughly 84,000 residents. In 2001 when the reconstruction and repopulation efforts were started the population was 31,000. With 57% Croat and 43% Serbs living in the same city everyone was clapping each other on the backs for a job well done. But the city is still really divided. Children do not go to school with the other ethnicity, there are seperate graveyards, stores, health care, everything. They physically live in the same place but no one interacts.

Driving into the town was shocking. Every other building is riddled with bullets, and every third or fourth is a bombed out ruin. It took my breath away. This is what war does to a town, physically at least. It was so hard to see why anyone would want to go back to this- beautiful though the river is, this is the most Ghost like town I have ever seen. It was so weird. Obviously this was something before hand, but now it is filled with old pensioners, young uneducated youth, and no economic prospects. Not to mention the daily surroundings of war ruins. There are so many memorials in this town- everything is a memorial. It is this huge sign of Croatian pride and independence, and yet the people who live there are never allowed to forget the sacrifices they made- be they Serb or Croat. The sense of guilt and responsibility is also heavy. Its a very intense place, and this post hardly does it justice. Its hard to even articulate what i felt about it.

So I am still absolutely LOVING it here. I have this terrible sense that the Balkans are going to keep pulling me back for the rest of my life. At least if the rest is anything like Zagreb. Classes are going alright. Hopefully this clears up when we get into more tangible topics like the events that led to the fall of Yugoslavia and peace and reconstruction efforts since. We watched a 4 hour BBC documentary that was pretty good on the Fall of YU, and then this WONDERFUL movie called Tito i Ja- or tito and I. I heavily suggest everyone rents it. It is so funny.

I am going to watch a nagomet (soccer) game tonight. Dinamo- the Zagreb team (also called the Bad Blue Boys) are playing in the national league. It should be fun, all over the city is Dinamo graffiti. Graffiti is a national art here, yet somehow it manages to not look awful. My favorite is that on the corner of a building near me is Dinamo written in blue spray paint, but they made the D a lower case a. ainamo. Croatians get pretty intense about their soccer- Radno (host father) and I were watching Manchester United and Manchester City play. I asked him who he was cheering for. Anybody but Manchester United he said.

Yesterday afternoon Ankice and Radno took me to Samobor, this neighboring town that is a weekend retreat for Zagreb-ites. It was AMAZING. its this nicely preserved old town with a big church, and lots of walking paths and parks and happy families and running dogs. Idyllic is an understatement. People apparently go there all the time to get married and to eat this traditional cake. Its like a custard cake with a flaky crust. Everyone loves it. I think it looks terrifying. Food should not jiggle like that. Then again things with dairy are not my favorite, so my opinions may be tainted.

On a sad note- this weekend was a pride parade in Belgrade. Gay rights is a huge isssue here- apparently 50% of openly gay people in Zagreb have been attacked either verbally (the lucky few) or more tragically physically. And Zagreb is progressive! This parade in Belgrade was last attempted 3 years ago and only 15 people went. This time they were expecting more, but the police (who as a collective whole are generally homophobic) couldn't guarantee the safety of those marching. There were tons of rumors of violent plots, and even people pretending to be in the parade to get access to those who really are marching. A couple of people from the group were going to go (Goga and Orli highly highly highly suggested not going but obviously cannot tell us NOT to do something, just suggested that we don't and we would have to sign out of the program to leave the country) but decided it wasn't safe enough- especially since they don't speak the language and Serbia uses Cyrillic unlike Croatia, which uses latin letters. Its still a shock sometimes that something i take so for granted at home is still such a danger to people here. There are youtube videos of people at the last attempted pride parade being beaten by mobs. I haven't heard anything, so I hope this one was more successful and peaceful.

But that was a very negative note to end on- sorry folks! And don't worry- Zagreb is an incredibly safe city. It feels a billion times safer (and is as well) than Washington DC, it rivals MDI I think in safety. It is also beyond beautiful, and Ankice is feeding me so much I may have to be rolled home. She says i don't eat enough, but its really not true. She works at night- taking care of this little girl, Katje (who made me a drawing in her first grade class i might add- i am working on a thank you note) so when I get home from class- usually around 6 or 7 with the tram ride, i am often the only one here. Radno plays ping pong and i think as a part time job/hobby (depending on who you ask) is a rented car. Ankice has always made dinner, and leaves me the best notes ever. One said" Boiled, vegetables cabbage and beans and meat (next line) warm ap then the croatian translations, and at the very bottom: Greeting, Ankice" with a flower drawing. They are adorable and so sweet. i have a whole notebook full of them- Plum Noodles (knedle od sljiva) bon aperit Ankica (with a heart). Everynight I eat past full. These plum dumpling were just AMAZING. I lay on the floor for half an hour to digest, but they were well worth it. And stuffed peppers with mushrooms and rice and suasage filling, and pastas and weinerschnitzle and apple struddel. She makes this sauce called Ajvar (j's sound like ye in croatian- ayvar) that is a pepper and tomatoe paste. Its incredible. And since the lactose problem is hard to describe she thinks i can't eat ANY dairy- so is making me dairy free cakes, and uses only margarine and oil. Its very accomodating of her.

I think that is enough for now- More later and love to all!!!

Fun Fact

Turns out Zrdavo- which i had been informed means hello by my Serbo-Croatian language book (silly me for being proactive) is only used as an ironic greeting in jokes as it is actually reminiscent of the Partisans from WWII and after. And now that i have learned that- which is incredibly similar to the russian hello, i can't seam to remember anything else. Hello Comrade.

And a few days later...

So my host family doesn't have internet, and occasionally I can get some wireless from someone else near by, but it looks like the next few weeks will be spent online at the Hotel Antunovic across the street. I am still loving it here- the people are so nice, the food is fantastic- well i was given hot dogs (or the croatia equivalent) for breakfast but otherwise it is great, and the city is just beautiful. Friday night after a long day of class i was taking the tram home and this drunken homeless man would not leave me alone. He kept (gently) grabbing my shoulder and asking me questions, winking at me, and asking "ok?" with the thumbs up sign. One minor attempt to grab at my chest, and a woman told him to back off. Finally he got off and I was feeling thoroughly disheartened- alone, tired, unhappy and a bit shaken, when this young girl who had been watching what was happening (as the whole tram had been doing) asked me if i was going to be alright, if i knew where i was going and just generally checking on me. Then another young guy who had been there was walking my direction so we chatted and walked the two blocks to my apartment. It totally made my night to have strangers reach out to me. But i think that is a very Croatian thing here. I don't really have the contact information for the other girls in the trip, so I went to the Opera alone last night- a bit awkward and lame but well worth it. The theater was amazing. Again I was feeling lonely and a bit disheartened when i couldnt find the theater, but the ushers (who were outside smoking) let me sneak in for free since i was late and a bit pathetic i think. I spent the first act sitting on a riser/aisle, and found a seat for the second. This couple had done the same thing, and we ended up next to each other. The woman next to me was this really really sweet older woman- Ana. She is Croatian but has lived in the United States- mainly southern california- for 35 years. She was really nice, and it was great to have some company that spoke english. Again, when I was feeling a bit out of place strangers were there and helpful and sweet and it made me infinitely happier. The theater is AMAZING. Full of gold leif and gorgeous designs and chandeliers and box seats. I was blown away. The opera was pretty good too- something by Verdi very religious. The mezzo soprano was a bit much for me but otherwise great.

My family is very sweet. Radno took me to the police station to register as a tourist, and while he speaks no english he pointed things out alone the way and we made do. He is really so nice- like the deaf grandfather figure. Ankice, my host mother is also wonderful. She speaks a bit more english and some russian, and is so caring. We make do with our language gap, but I think they like me so far, and they are really terrific. I feel so comfortable in their home- they aren't overbearing but also not cold. Her older son lives with his girlfriend and comes for lunch every sunday. They are also very nice- and speak english! Also- interesting cultural note: people here say Bok or Bog as a greeting. But real Zagrebites will laugh at you for saying Bog because it means god. It turns out that Bog Di ti was the original greeting- or something similar that meant god give you health (what i wrote is wrong. its not ti but something else). It was shortened to Bog ti for conversational purposes, and then during the communist unreligious times became Bok. interesting huh?

Classes start tomorrow and I have lots of reading to do! Best wishes to all!

Sljeme and my host Family

It has been a pretty eventful two days. Yesterday was amazing. We had language class in the morning: je sam Lila, dolazim iz Maine, Je volim pse, Ne volim mliejko. Pretty basic stuff- my name is lila, i am from maine, i like dogs and i don't like milk. Our language teacher is Marija. She is really funny, always color coordinated, coffee in hand, and all around great. This was the first two hours of the day, then we were sent on a 'drop-off.' Goga and Orli paired us up and sent us about the city to different places. Another girl and i were sent to Sljeme- which is the ski slope at the top of the mountain overlooking the town. It was BEAUTIFUL. We took a tram to the end of the line, in a part of town called Mihalovic and then waited for a bus that would take us to Sljeme. We figured the little ski icon on the bus display was a good sign and climbed on board. The view the whole way up was just unbelievable. For the first 15 minutes we drove through the valley and a bit of an incline through houses and residential areas that were really nice- a bit like embassy row in dc i think in some palaces, but croatian style. Then came the ascent and the switchbacks. Our driver was on his phone the entire time- always nerve racking. and the Australian runner next to us was telling this other australian couple his whole running life history, but nothing could take away from this view. It was so beautiful. We went through woods with hiking trails that were really tall forests with plenty of open space on the ground to see everything, and we climbed and climbed and climbed. When we arrived at what appeared to be the top the driver just pulled over and put his feet up so we figured this was it and disembarked. We went and checked out the hiking trails, the slightly snobby four star hotel, the shortest ski runs i have ever seen, and had the most awkward lunch ever. We were sent to find the TV tower- easy to spot, the ski runs- easy to find, and have lunch at this restaurant. It is quite the alpine ski lodge, and it was just the woman who runs it there, with her daughter and grandkids. not knowing how to ask for lunch, we just sort of awkwardly stood there, asked in english and then pantomimed. We had our drinks (coke is still in glass bottles here- i love it! and schweps makes lemonade in glass bottles too) on the porch but got too cold so went back inside even more awkwardly. We were told to have grah- which turns out to be a bean soup. It was so fantastic. Then the trip down took an interesting turn when we screached to a halt halfway down the mountain. Turns out a tree had fallen across the road and traffic was blocked. and this was the only way down. half an hour later and the police arrive, without any tools, and awkwardly stand on the far side of the tree and look at those of us who are blocked in. We borrowed some guys cell phone to alert the school to our delay, and when the ranger service did eventually show up it was to great applause. I can't help but wonder with every man i encounter between the ages of 30 and 60 what they were doing 15 years ago. There is no real sign of a war having been fought here- at least not yet- and i think i am more stuck on the past than the croatians.

I am now with my host family- a very sweet couple in their fifties or sixties whose son has moved out (pretty rare) and speak no english. BUT she speaks some russian- so that is nice. My languages are all coming out in a torrent of mess- russian english french and spanish. its one big mess but hopefully i improve. I will write more about it later. It is raining today and the low pressure has brought another headache for me. More tomorrow! Hope things are all well on the homefront!

Day 2

So this is take two- I ran out of time on the internet and lost my post.
I have made it- luggage and all! We landed yesterday afternoon. Let me just say- swiss air is fantastic. I have never been so well fed and cared for on an airline by such friendly staff. They were fantastic, and the (dairy free meal option) food was great. I was seated next to this large Russian woman for the long flight- who was on her way to vacation in Bratislava. Which made my choosing the balkans look sane. She was very sweet and interesting. I was almost asleep when the meal tray came by, and when it didnt look like i would be waking up she asked worriedly of the stewerdess if i could get the meal later. "She is much to thin to be skipping a meal!" she said. I woke up to eat rather than have her harass the staff later on my behalf. Unfortunately my uncomfortable sleep was often disrupted by the several screaming children that were near by. Flying into Zurich was so beautiful i can not even describe. I was expecting The Von Trapp family, Heidi, and Indiana Jones to appear in the hills at any moment. It was amazing. until...i went to the exit for the second leg to Zagreb. I had to take a train (which was three floors down) over to this awkward back terminal that opened up onto a sidewalk. No plane or even airfeild in space. The waiting area was filled with hostil looking people, and when boarding was called we all filed through the doors onto a bus. Which thankfully took us out onto the runway and our plane. After even more amazing food i expected the gorgeous view to fade and the drab Balkans to appear. But they never did and by the time we started our descent i was pretty thrilled with the look of Croatia. lots of mountains and rivers and cute little towns in the hills. The airport was like a slightly larger and more militaristic (some apache or black hawk like helicopter was sitting on the runway as well, and a burnt out jeep) Customs was a breaze, and mz luggage was quickly sent around the belt. It was easy. By now the three of us on the plane for SIT had met up, and our teacher, Goga found us and we were off to the bus. With surprsingly sane driving we drove Northeast towards the city. It looked gorgeous from afar and i was not dissapointed. The bit by the airport loooked a bit like Costa Rica, then we drove through the residential Novizagreb full of run down communist era buildings, and thankfully continued on. The city is gorgeous. All brick and stone and yellow buildings (thanks to the hapsburg empire) and it is the cleanest city i have ever seen. We are staying in a hostel that is great and clean and friendly and located directly behind a chocolate factory. It smells great all the time.
We met up with all the students and had a large lunch at an italian place, and then were left to ourselves around five. I went to the grocery store with three other girls, and we bought a few things (towels mostly) and came back to the hotel. Around nine out of a bit of desperation we went to the bar down the street looking for food and instead found giant cheep beers and really nice croats who spoke no english. It was a great night and one girl (who is gay) was given this guys- who is 43- sons number for when the son moves to Miami. She is from California but goes to Colby. All in all a good night, and I was glad for the excuse to get out for the evening. After a night of bad sleep (jet lag) we went to class this morning for orientation stuff. Mostly though we went to this HUGE amazing market that takes place everydac across the square from the SIT office. The theme of the trip seems to be eating and drinking coffee.
Our office is right above the city center. We take the tram from the hostel and are there in 15 minutes. its so easy. If you google image the city centar our office is in the yellow building with the wrought iron grate on the second floor.
Goga and Orli are our teachers. Both seem wonderful- smart, enthusiastic, and so sensible. It looks like it will be a very interesting semester. We meet our host families on thursday, and i am a bit nervous though i am sure for no reason. Well i am off in search of dinner- i think Marissa and i are making gnocci. More later....

Off to Croatia

So it is the night before I leave, and so far the packing has been a disaster. who knew the swiss airlines only allowed 17 lbs. in their carry on? What is a girl to do without her books, and computer, and mukaluk slippers? After being perfectly arranged in a few short hours i have since repacked endless times- including once when i tipped everything over and dropped all contents on the floor. My backpack sticks a good five inches above my head, which i suppose is a good pillow/head guard but other than that majorly inconvenient. I suppose more once i make it to the far side of the pond...