FISH AND WAR
Tuesday, September 26th, 2006Hvar, Croatia…Waiting for the ferry to Split
One forgets what a beautiful world exists below sea level (excluding Venice New Orleans, and most of the Netherlands of course). The snorkeling the past week has been fantastic here in Croatia, as the water is so clear, warm, and buoyant that you can spend a long time just following fish around and exploring the rocks and small reefs. It’s no Hawaii in terms of quantity or diversity of fish, but it is still special to delve down below the surface into the peace, tranquility, and refracted light of the ocean. You can’t help but think, wow, there is all this bad crap going on in the world, but these fish are still here, and they seem to be doing ok. Everyday just swimming around. And if you look at one spot for a while, you see even more and more. Rocks turn into well-camouflaged fish and kelp into an Octopus. Move slowly.
Of course, artists and philosophers have been spouting about the minute beauty contained in nearly every place, if you just spend the time to look at it. Beauty is right in front of you they say. Well finally having a year to sit back a bit and explore the world certainly has put me closer to this viewpoint. Even the bombed-out and pock-marked streets of Bosnia had beauty, but not in the surroundings as much as in the people. I am trying to remember this as we travel. Don’t judge things right away. Give it some time, step back, think about it…..then let the impressions ooze into your consciousness. Ugliness and despair can soon turn into beauty and hope.
The other thing that happens as you travel is that your impressions and memories of places change, blend, and develop, especially as you gain more insight in to the history, religion, politics, and motivations of people, their neighbors, friends, and enemies. Landing at the airport in Sarajevo is one of these memories. The first impression is of a bit of a wasteland along the bombed out road towards the old city. The road passes right on the line of Bosnia and the RS (republika Serbia) which is a uncontrolled dividing line between states within the Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina.. Its the old war line and is filled with empty lots, a smattering of dicey housing, small businesses, and lots of people walking on the side of the road. But wait, the taxi driver is chipper. He’s got an old Fiat of marginal integrity, sunglasses, and is grooving to Turkish-Euro pop (which I kind of dug too) while barely dodging old men on bikes and oncoming traffic (please don’t hit the old man). It doesn’t really fit that he should be this content.
As we crest the hill and get our first view down into the Central City, we start to see beauty. Mosques, churches, synagogues, and a million cafes dot both sides of the river. This is the first clue as to the soul and beauty of the battered city, but the second clue is the people and learning more about the very recent atrocities that they all endured. They are clearly just happy to be getting on with things and you don’t really feel any tension in the masses. I think everybody of every religion is praying for Peace. I know I am.. I am becoming more and more convinced that it is a very small percentage of the people in the work (o.k. men!) who screw up the world though misguided beliefs, patriotism, and prejudice. Of course, those few people sometimes get the right combination of circumstances to convince others that there problems will all be solved if they just wipe out this other group (Muslims, ‘terrorists’ , Jews, etc…..)
There is a powerful little museum in Dubrovnik called the War Photos gallery that has two floors of back-lit large format photographs of people involved in the recent conflicts of Africa, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Congo. (They change exhibits which you can seen in the books they have as they just ended one on the war in America, Afghanistan, and Iraq) These photos of the African nightmare will be with me for a long time. Wars that have created a generational and institutional breakdown in the moral compass of the people, and especially the boys and men, who truly see there causes as legitimate and important, not as the self-destructive civil wars that have caused misery for millions and the deaths of hundreds of thousands just in the past 10 years. ‘President’ Charles Taylor of Liberia led child armies of boy-men to rule the country with force and exploit the resources for his own gain and away from the desperate people. He even had the armies cut off the hands of potential voters to ‘discourage’ them from voting, which made me realize that what the Republicans might have done in Florida and Ohio in our last elections was pretty tame. (Of course not ALL Republicans, just a few misguided people).
It took us (the US via the UN) 4 years to help the people of Bosnia andthe UN has been only marginally involved in Africa? (Thank you Democrats) It has made me realize that it is really important to\nknow what is going on in the world and to do something about it. At least write a congressmen, send an email, and if that doens’t work, protest in the streets.
We must pay attention to the minnows in the sea and the leaders on the land.
Rich
rich.coffin