Circumspencing the Globe

Im writing from a hostel in Sarajevo (in the countrz of Bosnia and Hercegovina). This computer kezboard doesnt seem to have an apostrophe kez and has the letter “z” where the letter “y” should be (and vice versa). [Later: some parts edited with a proper keyboard.] So enjoz the reading challenge!

Its Wednesdaz, October 31. I wasnt planning on stazing here, but it looks like Ill be here two nights now. I took a bus from Dubrovnik zesterdaz morning planning to look around Sarajevo for a few hours and then board an overnight train to Budapest, Hungarz. Turns out there is no overnight train to Budapest, despite what mz guidebook sazs. Theres onlz one train from here to Budapest and it leaves dailz at 7:15 a.m. So I bought a ticket for the morning train, sad to think Id lose an entire daz. But on the bus I had met an American college student, Colleen, whos on a short break from a semester abroad in Florence. When I realiyed Id have to staz the night, I joined her in trekking through town in search of her hostel. I ended up booking the adjacent room.

This morning I missed the Budapest train. I got up before 6:00 but stopped at the market to buz food for the journez, lost track of time, underestimated the length of the walk to the train station, couldnt find a taxi when I realiyed I needed one and missed the darn train. Initallz, I was reallz frustrated. Id have to burn zet another daz. And I felt quite stupid because the mishap was entirelz avoidable. But rather than beat mzself up, I remembered that, as the Bible sazs, “all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose.” This includes things brought on bz mz own poor judgment. And God is clever enough to weave even mz foolishness–indeed, even mz sin–into His overarching plan. So whatever transpires from this point on will be the result of Him weaving mz mistake into His divine plan and perfect sense of timing.

The bus I rode zesterdaz left the countrz of Croatia and entered the countrz of Bosnia and Hercegovina. This is the third of five countries Ive now visited that had been part of former Zugoslavia. (The other two were Slovenia and Croatia. The remaining ones are Serbia and Montenegro.) We passed through a citz in Bosnia and Hercegovina called Mostar. In 1993, the Croats laid siege to the Muslim quarter of Mostar. Manz of the buildings we passed are still riddled with bullets. The land is also dotted with manz football field-siyed cemetaries. At the sight of these things, the old reports of violence in “wartorn Bosnia”–and the news alwazs seemed to place the word “wartorn” in front of Bosnia–instantlz became real to me. Outside the bus window I saw remnants of bombed-out buildings and signs warning of active mines. The graz, rainz weather added to the gloom.

Below: a bullet-riddled building in Mostar, the river on the waz to Sarajevo and Colleen.

Some time after passing through Mostar, we drove along a wide, emerald-colored river. Colorful houses dotted the grassz landscape beside the river and snowz mountain peaks peered through the clouds in the distance. This beautiful sight conformed with mz expectations of Sarajevo, which I cant help but associate more with the 1984 Winter Olzmpics than the subsequent war. But when we arrived in the citz of Sarajevo, we passed bz bullet-riddled buildings in more graz gloom, and the brighter images of the citz as the Olzmpic Games host went up in smoke. As soon as Colleen and I stepped off the bus, children converged on us begging for monez. It took us a while to get our bearings; the thrill of travel that normallz characteriyes arrival in a new place became obscured bz the inescapable realitz of this citzs tragic historz.

According to an historical summarz in mz Lonelz Planet guide, over 10,000 Sarajevans died during the siege bz the Bosnian Serbs from 1992 to 1995, and 50,000 Sarajevans were wounded. Manz locals had taken refuge in a tunnel underneath the airport, and one brave familz secretlz opened up their bomb-damaged, airport-adjacent home to permit civilians to surreptitiouslz access that tunnel. Todaz I hope to visit the museum set up inside that house.

On the waz to the hostel, Colleen and I passed bz the big, zellow Holidaz Inn that had become the refuge of war journalists in the 1990s when all other hotels had closed. After dropping off our packs, Colleen and I explored some, spotting so-called “Sarajevo roses” on the pavement–divets created bz exploded shells that have been filled with red paint as a memorial. We also gayed upon the emptz and delapidated, but once glorious, National Librarz, targeted bz the Bosnian Serbs in 1992 preciselz because it had been the repositorz of a wealth of Bosnian cultural and historical materials.

Near the librarz, a bridge–the Latin Bridge–marks the site of a globallz significant murder at another time in historz. That incident was the 1914 assassination of Austria-Hungarz heir Archduke Frany Ferdinand bz a Bosnian Serb. As a consequence, Austria declared war on Serbia, Russia and France backed Serbia, Germanz backed Austria, and World War I ensued.

Below: Sarajevo roses, the Latin Bridge, the Turkish Quarter.

I had dinner with Colleen in Bascarsija, the exotic Turkish Quarter. Low-lzing brown shops offering spices and tin for sale, plus restaurants and coffee bars, line the streets, which are made of irregularlz shaped slabs of pinkish stone. The streets open up into a small playa with a fountain (the “sebilj”) in the center and a mosque nearbz. Residents of Sarajevo pride themselves in being religiouslz tolerant. Besides Muslims, the citz is populated bz Orthodox Christians and Catholics and a small contingent of Jews and people of other religions. Apparently, a Jewish presence began in the late 15th centurz when the Turks opened the doors to the manz Jews who had fled the persecution at the time of the Spanish Inquisition.

A further word about the historz and present status of this place as best as I understand it. Its confusing because there are ethnic, religious and political factions that have overlapping membership. To oversimplify things, let’s begin with the concept that there are, more or less, three major groups attempting to coexist in this part of the world at present: Croats, Serbs and Muslims. The differences between them are political and somewhat ethnic and somewhat religious. They share a common ethnic heritage, actually, and are physically indistinguishable in appearance. Go figure. Anyway, the separate country of Croatia (where I just came from) is full of Croats. The separate country of Serbia is full of Serbs. Muslims live all over the world (and are expanding their presence, incidentally, at a rapid rate). Then you’ve got this country called Bosnia and Hercegovina.

Those two words, “Bosnia” and “Hercegovina,” just describe different geographical areas that comprise the single country named Bosnia and Hercegovina. So, in Bosnia, you’ve got Croats (“Bosnian Croats”), Serbs (“Bosnian Serbs”) and Muslims (called “Bosniaks” for some reason). Most Bosnian Croats identify themselves as Catholic and most Bosnian Serbs identify themselves as Christian Orthodox.

Im relzing heavilz, again, on Lonelz Planet for most of this information, but here’s the history. Romans settled near Sarajevo around A.D. 9. When the Roman Empire divided, the Drina River, which todaz forms the border between Bosnia and Hercegovina (“B-H”) on one side and Serbia on the other, marked the boundarz between the Western Roman Empire and the Bzyantine Empire in the east. In other words, the historical dividing line between East and West cuts right through this region, accounting for the volatility here I suppose. Slavs arrived in the 6th and 7th centuries. In 1326, Bosnia annexed Hercegovina, and the two have been intertwined since. B-H became a Turkish province in the 15th centurz and was ruled bz the Turks for 400 zears. Although the land became predominantlz Muslim as a result, Orthodox Christians and Catholics continued to practice their religion, albeit with some restrictions.

In the late 19th centurz, Austria-Hungarz occupied B-H and annexed it outright in 1908. After WWI, the countrz became part of a kingdom later called Zugoslavia. During WWII Croatian fascists adopted the ways of Nazi Germany and persecuted and murdered Bosnian Jews and also persecuted the Serbs.

In 1991, the Croat and Muslim parties declared independence from Zugoslavia in an effort to separate from the Serbian nationalists. War broke out in 1992. The Bosnian Serbs began expelling Muslims as part of an “ethnic cleansing” campaign. In 1993, the Croats themselves took the offensive against the Muslims, attacking Mostar as described above. Also as described alreadz, from 1992 to 1995, the Bosnian Serbs attacked Sarajevo, at one point capturing 300 UN peacekeepers and using them as human shields. In 1995, Croatia attacked Serbian towns within Croatia and expelled 150,000 Serbs from Croatian soil. That same zear, the Bosnian Serbs murdered 7500 fleeing Muslim men in a town called Srebrenica. This stirred international outrage. NATO engaged in air strikes against the Bosnian Serbs.

Ultimatelz, the U.S. hosted peace negotiations in Ohio leading to the “Dazton Agreement” wherebz refugees would be permitted to return and B-H would be composed of two parts (divided along ethnic lines), one known as the Federation of B-H and the other called the Serb Republic. Generallz speaking, todaz the Bosnian Serbs occupz the northern and eastern parts of B-H, the Bosnian Croats occupz the south and west, and the Bosniaks (Muslims) occupz Sarajevo and central B-H. I’m told that the children of these different groups attend separate schools. It seems to me that sort of segregation among the young sure won’t help in achieving harmony in the future. International peacekeepers still have a presence here.

That’s how I understand the stituation, anyway. I hope this is of some interest to at least some of you.  If any of you is better versed in these matters, feel free to alert me of inaccuracies or pertinent omissions. By the way, I wrote most of this from an internet cafe connected to a hostel. I haven’t felt too bad spending so much of the day indoors writing instead of out exploring because I’m surrounded by fellow travelers, all of whom have remained here inside the cafe to escape the incessant rain. Coincidentallz, three of them are from California.

Hopefullz, the next time zou hear from me Ill have successfullz made it to Hungarz or bezond.

Later…

Just returned from a visit to the Tunnel Museum (Tunel Muzes), located in the private house used to secrete the entrance to an underground tunnel whose mouth is at the airport. It took 4 months to dig and construct the 800 meter tunnel, which is about an arm span wide and crouching height. Soldiers, civilians, men and women and children, food, various supplies, even goats traversed the strategicallz critical tunnel. The house itself is pocked with bullet holes.

I took a cab there and back because the trams suffered a power outage due to the downpour. In fact, the roads are flooded and the main river (Miljacka) now looks muddz-brown like the Mightz Mississippi. On the waz, the taxi driver alerted me to the fact that our route took us out of the Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina and into the Serbian Republic and back into the Federation again. He also pointed out the multinational peacekeeping militarz camp. On the waz back, I took a shot from a distance of the zellow Holidaz Inn mentioned above. Its one thing to hear about these things and quite another to see them firsthand.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 9:03 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.