Sarajevo Ljubavi Moja

I have made it to Sarajevo! Its amazing. But I should start at the beginning.

We left Belgrade- a very sad affair as I really loved that city, and the people in it. We had made friends with some Serbian students who had studied in the US under this program called Forecast. It was wonderful to know people our own age, and to get to hang out with a larger group. Hopefully when I go back for my Independent Project we can see them again. I also made friends with the waiters at my cafe. Around the corner from my apartment was a cafe with free wireless, so I went a couple of times a week. The cafe itself is open all night long, and its actually pretty trendy, in an area of bars and cafes called Silicone Valley-aptly named for the plastic girls and the men who buy them/their drinks. This is one of the quieter ones though, and the number of Barbie/rich men sightings was pretty small. Regardless, the waiters were all really nice. They remembered me each time, and what I usually ordered (tea) and that I sat at the table near an outlet. They spoke to me in english/serbian, and were very helpful with my attempts at returning in Serbian, and one even helped me with my homework one night. By the end of my time there, they would wave from the door when I walked by on my way to town. It was so nice, I had the hardest time saying goodbye to them. I told them I was moving on, and the most outgoing of the waiters looked a little sad and concerned- "Have a good time, Sarajevo is a beautiful city. But be careful and stay safe!" It was so cute, but a perfect example of the Machismo culture around here. Women are always protected. This has a very nice upside. For example- it is very safe for a woman to walk home alone in all hours of the night through the dark park. Of course the crazy's exist just like anywhere else, but the culture says that women are to be protected and cared for. I am very grateful for the side benefits, even if it drives me nuts, is unfair, and affects a lot more of women's rights. Women are still expected to stay home, have children, raise and care for their families/husbands, look gorgeous while doing so, and have a career first. Its starting to change, but its been a tough road so far.

That was a bit of a tangent, so why don't I return to my travels. We left Belgrade for Bosnia. This meant driving back through Croatia and then south because of the roads. We spent two nights in a town called Banja Luka. Bosnia and Herzegovina is split into three entities. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the south-western part of the state. It is populated by Bosniak (muslim bosnians) and Croat Bosnians. The North eastern section is called the Republika Srpska. It is populated by Bosnian Serbs. Croat Bosnians are Bosnians who are ethically croat. Serb Bosnians are Bosnians who are ethically serb. The distinction between Serb and Serbian is huge here. So- the war here, from 1992-1995/6 was fought mostly over Ethnic Cleansing. Each side rid their territory of the other ethnicity. They did this by killing, burning homes, mass deportations, mass killing, rape, rape camps, and generally scaring the other population into leaving. The war ended in 95 with the Dayton accords. It created a government that was intentionally weak and relied heavily on the international community. Now the international community wants to bail, and people here can't decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing. The government is structured so that there is a Presidency. It is made up of three members, one from each of the constituent peoples (Bosniak, Croat, Serb) this however leaves all minorities without representation. Its a long and complicated story, but in part due to this system, nothing has developed or changed for 15 years here.

So back to my story- we spent two days in Banja Luka, which is the capital of the Republika Srpska. We met with representatives of the Presidency, who told us that the other side did terrible things to his side, and the international community is punishing his half (might be fair, they are seen as the aggressors) and lots of long winded answers that didn't answer anything. The town however, was very nice. Its beautiful, if a bit sterile (it was ethnically cleansed after all) and was really nice to visit. We also met with a couple of independent journalists who spend their very unpopular lives calling the government out on their lies, and wanting people to really acknowledge what happened. We also met with students from the English Language and Literature department. That was really fascinating. We went to an 80's dance party fundraiser for this center that helps women refugees, which was so much fun. While eating our first night at the only mexican restaurant in town, we ran into a group of 20 students from American University. I knew of a couple, and they actually were at the meeting with the president as well. They are here (the same places we are) for three weeks, on this Washington Semester program AU runs. It is mostly students from across the US and a couple of international students as well. It was very cool to see them.

So we left Banja Luka, and spent the next day at this Center for Peace in Sanski Most. It is a gorgeous small town, and this amazing guy runs a center that promotes dialogue and non-violent communication and really tries to get people to accept the past and move on. It was an incredible place. He is fascinating. The website is old, but here is a link: http://unvocim.awardspace.com/HTML/ENG/about_us.html

After a late lunch, we continued on the beautiful drive to Sarajevo. Its a gorgeous trip. The Bosnian countryside is really incredibly gorgeous. We spent yesterday exploring the city, with a language class, and listening to a guest lecture about Islam in here in BiH. We also watched an incredibly powerful movie about life after the war here. Sarajevo was surrounded and under seige for three years during the war. We walked over bullet holes in the sidewalk yesterday.

On that note, I have to leave, but more to come I am sure. Hope all are well!

Leaving the white city...

This is likely my last post from Beograd aka београд aka the white city. (so named because the first people to 'discover' the city came from the west on the Danube, and the sun was shining off the limestone walls, making the city look white). On tuesday we continue on to Bosnia. I can not wait! It looks so interesting. We had a great chat about the politics ( a mess. Due in part to the US created Dayton accords.) But more about that later i suppose...

I am sad to be leaving Belgrade. This was a wonderful month of my life. I have learned so much, and even though we were insanely busy, it was all really fun. This city feels alive, and friendly, and functional. And it is only mildly overwhelming. I feel like i know most of the city now, even though i really just know the downtown area where i live and have class. Its very beautiful, but particularly unphotogenic. I will be walking on this gorgeous street, stop to take a picture and in the end it looks bleak, socialist, and grey. I don't know how it happens.

The other day i was walking home from class, and everyday i have been walking by this ruins- brick, covered in thick flora and fauna, and beautiful. For some reason they draw me in, and i have been wondering about them this whole time. Well- it turns out that it is the old library. They put up a giant sign the other day, and it starts with: Hey you! You wandering by wondering about this place...It is the library that was intentionally bombed and burned by the Nazi's when the Serbs didn't join up. So- for a month now the ruins of the Serbian national library- home of all historical archival Serbian documents have been calling to me. Anyone surprised?( Those are the pics up above.)

I have lots more to write, and tell you all about but I also have a paper and a research project proposal to write, so I have to get going. More to come I promise. xoxo!

Sandzak

So I should probably post about Sandzak!
Novi Pazar is a city in the south of Serbia that is pretty ethnically split between Serbian (orthodox) and Serbian Muslims. It is about a five hour drive, through beautiful mountains and along a river and some crazy winding towns. Just gorgeous. Absolutely.
We stayed in a great hotel (for rather dark reasons it turns out. This area is home to a lot of organized crime and trafficking, and this hotel was (at least temporarily) the most honest. The Balkans in general are a crossroads between Turkey and the east and Europe and the west. This brings good and bad (money from trade- but also a black market and a history of violence) to the region without a doubt. The area is interesting because it had a major industry that has died out (major producers of textiles- jeans- and shoes previously) and has some interesting political things going on. The heavily Muslim area has two religious leaders who are dividing the community, and two political leaders who are doing so as well. One of the religious leaders has opened an (unaccredited) school for Islamic Studies. The division is huge though, and its interesting because the tension here is not between Serb and Bosniak (Bosnian Muslims, as the people here are. The whole region during Yugoslavia was ignored and the people relate their identity with the Bosniak group mostly). The division is entirely among the Muslim population. And its really about which leader you follow- the one linked to Belgrade, or the one linked to Sarajevo. But both leaders have HUGE control of everyday life. They own the media, the influence the politics with a degree of control I think Chenney would be jealous of, they influence education on all levels, and they are both very successful businessmen.
Rasa came with us. He is a friend of Orli's, and was working until about last month with OCSE (organization for cooperation and security in Europe) in Sandzak. Guide isn't really the right word but neither is host. He definitely arranged introductions and meetings for us and showed us around though. His (former) organization ran programs for the public- like counseling and support for trail witnesses and abuse victims. It also runs programs for the government- like training cops to be fair and honest, and pretty much better organized.
We also met with students from the new (several years old) Islamic Studied Faculty. We had this very interesting group discussion where they asked us what Americans thought of Islam. We said that people know it is misunderstood, but we don't really know what it is all about as a general population. A great unkown. They insisted it is a peaceful religion (which we all told them we already knew) and that media was misrepresenting them. One girl in particular was very outspoken and passionate about it. "Osama Bin Laden is not a Muslim," she said. "What he believes goes against everything our religion tells us. " It was interesting because these students so obviously wanted us to understand that they were not fanatics (although they did not sell that point to me very well) but were just human beings. The passion they had for their religion and their lifestyle was intense and overwhelming. I don't think I have ever felt that passionately about anything in my life- and i am a fairly passionate person about some things. This was an (intimidatingly) new level of dedication.
We asked if they felt like an ostracized minority in Serbia, and they said yes. Until recently by law they had to remove their head scarves for ID photos- which was humiliating and insulting and against their religion. They feel like second class citizens here for sure.
We also asked what they thought of Americans. They said that they had negative views, until they met some. This is such a universal truth it blows my mind. Everywhere I see prejudice it is gone once people actually meet and interact with someone of said category. They said their friends in America feel confident and free to practice and express their religion in public, and they are so happy to have heard this. They also said that they thought Americans were really good people, but corrupted and manipulated by the government and Hollywood. They don't hold the ordinary citizens responsible for the perceived war against Islam. Which when you look at it from their point of view is an understandable notion. After the attack by extremists who have been kicked out of every country in the middle east except Afghanistan, the US invades first Afghanistan and then Iraq. The media at home shows Islam to be the source of danger and conflict, and within the United States conditions for Muslim people decline. I would probably feel threatened by the United States too.
Some of the statements made though really made me wonder. One guy- who converted from orthodoxy after giving up his pro-soccer career and apparent bad boy ways here in Belgrade- said that people who read the books and religious texts converted. and it was a FACT. It was also a fact that all civilization sprung from Muhammad.
We went to lunch with these students, and they were so nice. So sweet, so interesting and interested. It was hard for me to reconcile this political conservativeness and religious fervor (I think all things in extreme are bad) with people being so generous, and taking the time on a saturday to wait around for us. They so wanted us to see them as peaceful (so true) and loving (so true) regular people. It was a very interesting experience.
We also spoke to two of the only journalists who try to present fair and factual news in the region. It is hard when 4 of the 5 media outlets are owned by the religious leader who also runs the faculty (college) and pretty much the rest of life as well. One is the founder of Radio 100+ and the other is a journalist. This whole country suffers from a lack of journalistic integrity. The propoganda and misinformation that spreads is unbelievable. A left over from the socialist and Milosevic days of totalitarian control.

In less serious manner- i had the best cevapi so far in Novi Pazar. It is this ground beef dish served with onions and this fantastic bread. Its amazing. We also had terrible pear rakja (local brandy that is very popular and can be very good) and saw one of the oldest Orthodox monasteries. It was beautiful on this huge hill and just gorgeous.
Unfortunately, everything on this trip was tainted by some form of political scandal. The orthodox monastery was partially funded by the government (it was just rebuilt) in an effort to keep people quiet and satisfy political demands. Because Belgrade didn't want the region to claim for independence like the rest of the regions here (kosovo, montenegro etc.) they have just ignored it for twenty years. This allows huge crime to take place, and tax free sales. and no infrastructure or public works.

It was all very interesting and a very pretty place...pictures to come don't worry. But i am really returning to bed now.

Winter is coming...Nope arrived

Temperatures dropped on Tuesday from the balmy, warm, beautiful 28 C from last week to roughly 4 degrees before windchil. I feel like that doesnt do justice to the wind- which was blowing umbrella's inside out and water off the street and into my legs. In the POURING rain I went in search of rainboots (thinking so enviously of the ones I turned down in Hannahs apartment mere hours before flying over here) and was unsuccessful- managing to only spend an extra half hour in the miserable weather conditions. Arriving at class fully drenched and freezing I did my best to dry off with the electric hand blowers, but our classroom was in this giant unheated window filled top floor and everyone was in their winter coats and other accessories and still freezing cold. Needless to say I now feel like utter junk and look and sound like a hormonal daffy duck. Big red nose, all stuffed up (stuvd ub), runny eyes, and a tissue always in hand. Excellent.
In other news- we went to this city about an hour and a half (cultural note-Americans give distance in time. The rest of the world does so in kilometers. 150 Kilometers vs. An hour and a half) north of Belgrade- Novi Sad. It was a very beautiful city, despite more inclement weather. We met with this NGO/Activist group that puts on Film Festivals about Human Rights (always a capitol word around here) Our second lecture was with Vladan Beara- who runs the War Trauma Center. WTC provides counseling and resources to vets of the Yugoslav 'wars' with stress and problems stemming from their traumatic experiences. Wars was in quotation marks because the government doesn't recognize that there was a war in Bosnia, but a Military exercise. It adds to the trauma because society and the government don't really recognize these guys. It was a fascinating presentation, and I may end up doing my independent project (the last 6 weeks of the program- starting REALLY REALLY soon!) working with them. Next week is the halfway point of the semester! I can't believe it.
The independent project is an interesting component of my program. The program is 15 weeks, and we spend 9 or 10 together, taking classes and traveling around. Then for the last 5 weeks, we go off wherever we want and study whatever we want. (within reason) Our final project is a 30-50 page research paper. During that time though we are really on our own-we have to find our own housing and our own food, and figure out our research as well. I am very excited.
I am going back to bed now- but thought I would update. Hope things are well for all of you- xoxo

Bright lights. Big City .Loud Noises. and a Castle!!

I am now one week into my stay here in Belgrade. This endless summer is fanastic, although that whole global warming thing is a bit of a bummer. I left all my summer clothes in Zagreb and now have worn my only two warm weather articles of clothing in this 30 degree Celsius heat. Its toasty. And magnificent. Yesterday morning i spent sitting in the park inside of the castle wall and doing my readings on the region of Sandzak (Sandjak) where we are heading in a few short hours. Sandzak is a region full of textile industry, and importantly, Muslim Bosniak serbs. So- the muslims who are closely related to the Muslims of Bosnia but are actually Serbian nationality. When everyone else was bailing out of Yugoslavia, Belgrade was sincerely interested in not giving reason for this region to decide it wanted to be bosnian/kosovar/montenegrin. As a result twenty years later the government has invested nothing in the region (the poorest in the country) but allows them this sort of autonomy in that a very blind eye is turned to financial activity. It is definitely the middle child of this country.
But the castle is still my favorite part of this city. It is huge, and a lot of it is still intact despite this city being destroyed 40 times and changing power some 65 times. If i take a bit of a detour on my way to school i walk past the Zoo- a great collection of animals in the smallest and most unnatural cages ever. its very depressing- and through the castle gates. and then the inner castle gates, and then through a park with an amazing overview of the river confluence, and then out the other sides of the gates. It is wonderful.
Classes are interesting too- we are learning a lot about the region, and recently about the ubernationalist youth groups. They are incredibly disturbing. The members are so young- the leader of Obpraz could not have been more than 19. Yet they have an agenda of Serbia for Serbs. which they violently support. There was supposed to be a Pride parade here, and it was canceled because the government said they could not protect those marching from the groups like this. The whole city is covered in grafiti and posters saying things like : There will be no parade. There will be blood. Mostly, they think that the Muslim population should be expelled, the Jews are planning on taking over the world- starting with the west, the Roma should be sent back to wherever it is they originally came from, and that no Serb is a homosexual. These groups, are very neonazi.This is obviously a sub culture here- and by no means representative of the whole. But it exists and makes itself heard.
People here are very open and willing to share there opinions. I really appreciate this because you can ask anything and you often recieve more than you thought you possibly could on the subject. Everything is opinion (presented as fact) of course, but its refreshing to be so honest.
My host family is again wonderful. Buba and Rade are my host parents. Buba is again a magnificent cook. She made these peppers the other day that were just incredible. Also living here is Buba's cousin (in some form) Yavonna who is also 20 and studying Micro-biology at the university here. She comes from an outer city, so lives here during the year. She is great fun. And has class all the time! Yesterday she had class from 8 am until 9 pm with one one-hour break. Yikes.
But- off to read/pack travel to Sandzak! more later to be sure...

A few pictures from Croatia...

Belgrade / Beograd

So I have made it to Belgrade. So far it is cold, and dirty, and gray, and there are no environmental emission standards so I may be coming home with a black lung or two, but i can't say i dislike it yet. We left Zagreb at 8 yesterday morning and arrived here (by bus) at 2. After lunch- chinese food of all things- we got our new cell phones, well sim cards. We met our families, and I am again with an older couple, Buba and her husband whose name i have not heard. She is very funny, a pretty tough chimney smoking woman in her early sixties. I have a great room with a piano and computer (internet access from home!) and it is right on one of the main streets. Around the corner is the bar where i am supposed to meet my millionaire Serbian husband, or so i am told. We met at the cafe near our classroom, we are borrowing from some fakultet here, that situation is still a bit fuzzy for me, but it will probably work out. Buba and her husband (he seems very nice, but doesn't speak any english) have a son, Andrje. He lives with his own family (a wife and 13 year old son) not too far away and he is very interested in politics. Its still a bit vague as well, but he is very political and one thing that seems to be true about Serbia and it's Serbs is that they are very open and love talking politics. You can ask them anything. Very refreshing and while taken with a grain of salt very interesting. More to come later, i am off to breakfast. Also, everyone should feel free to post/respond/comment however that works. It feels incredibly egotistical to be writing about myself seemingly to myself, so if you have any questions/comments etc. etc. please do share. much love to all!