Day 9 (June 19, 2012) - Service Day at the School for the Blind

Today was an awesome day! We went to the school for the blind where we did a service day. It was ridiculously sweltering but we all braved it and spent the day weeding their beautiful back yard, which is spacious and so well kept. Davis, the only man in our group, was given a beer by the lands keeper (who was also a man). He apparently thought that Davis was the leader of our group. It was hilarious and we gave him shit for it the rest of the day.

The school itself is amazing and they have a machine there that will make books in Braille. It’s a beautiful place but definitely needs some volunteer help to clean it up, so it was great to be able to provide that for them. They provided us with lunch, which was delicious and completely unexpected. Everyone is so generous here. It keeps on amazing me!

So all dirty and sweaty we finished up at the school and made our way to the Twist Tower, which has almost a 360 degree view of Sarajevo. We all had a beer or two and then took a cab back where we showered and I took some time to catch up on emails and blogging. Later, Julie came back after having a type of dumpling called klepe. She was ranting and raving about it so I had to have some. She walked with me and we sat and talked while I wolfed down on of the most amazing things I’ve ever had. It was like a beer dumpling in a chicken and garlic broth with sour cream on the top of it. Upon walking back to Hotel Kovaci, I was greeted by some of the other group members where we spent some time laughing and drinking and just hanging out.

It’s such a great group of people that I’m here with and watching how each of us has experienced this trip differently has been so much fun!

Ayaz Twist Tower

View from the top

Day 8 (June 18, 2012) - University of Sarajevo and Family Counseling Center

Today we walked to the University where we sat in on two lectures specifically for our group. The school of social is in the department of Political Science. The school of social work has something like 5000 students and a handful of professors. The building is big and only recently did it have air conditioning, which on a day like today, I can’t imagine it without. The classrooms are huge, and I’m thinking much, much larger than our max 20 persons classrooms at DU.

The first lecturer was Professor Asim Mujkic, who discussed political culture within an ethno-nationalist country. He spoke about how there are 3 ethnicities within Bosnia and that is how each person identifies that other, however the culture is no different, just the religion. Political relevance of candidates and voters is reduced to ethnic relevance. The political laws stay that the people of Bosnia are subjects (meaning subjecting to the nation) as opposed to citizens. In the constitution, Americans were initially identified as subjects and later identified as citizens.

Due to the 3 separate ethnical parties in the government, those who identify with that specific ethnic group must vote within their group. If you do not vote, you receive a letter in the mail telling you that you have to, whether you agree with the candidates or not. Interesitng fact, Jews cannot run for President because they are considered a minority population and therefore do not qualify as an important part of the elections.

Professor Mujkic explains his frustrations with current politics and society and the inability to change. He states that what Bosnia needs is a constitution with “ethnically blind” laws, that encourage multi-ethnicity. He believes that Bosnia cannot be taken seriously as a country because unlike other European countries, Bosnia does not allow the right for every citizen to elect and be elected.

Professor Mujkic is very passionate about this need for change but also very discouraged about the possibility of change.

Our next lecture was with Professor Sanela Basic who spoke about social work in Bosnia. She said that during the war more than 1 million people fled the country and many still have not returned. 11,000 people were killed and of that 1,601 were children. 50,000 people were injured and of that 14,946 were children. Material war damages totaled 14 billion Euros.

The challenge with social work in Bosnia (besides that large graduating class) is they do not follow international social work guidelines. For one thing, they are not mandated reporters, which raises some significant concerns about the welfare of children, women, and other individuals at risk of violence.

In 2001, 19.5% of the population was under the general poverty line and 30% was slightly above the poverty line. By 2007, there was a 14% increase in poverty rates. Today the official unemployment rates are 27%, the unofficial rates are 45%. Having just graduated with my Masters Degree in Social Work, I find it really hard to imagine entering the workforce with such a huge poverty rate and unemployment rate. In addition to suffering through a tragic war, a large number of Bosnians are struggling to survive and provide for their families. Then you factor in the significant amount of corruption within the country and who has power, money, and authority and who doesn’t. Is Bosnia a better country than it was before the war?

We asked Sanela how she was able to do the work tht she does with such restrictions and limitations. She was able to say that her motivation comes from her children and wanting them to grow up in a different and more normal country.

The most amazing part of this lecture with Sanela is that today was the exact day that her father died in the Bosnian War 20 years ago. She apologized to our entire group because she felt that she was not mentally present during this lecture. Talk about one of the most humbling experiences. This woman apologized to us for her distraction of the anniversary or her fathers’ death!

Then we took a short walk to an agency that does family counseling. We were able to sit down with some of the treatment team and ask them questions. The interesting thing about the agency is that they have the counseling center and then they have a research facility too. Of course, after our lectures I thought it would be interesting to know if they had done any research on the ethnicity of their clients, such as what percentage of their clients were of the 3 ethnic groups. When I asked this question and the translator explained it to the treatment team, it seemed to cause an uproar. I clearly offended them and with good reason. They didn’t understand why I would ask a question like that because it doesn’t apply to the work that they do with their clients. I just thought it’d be interesting to know…

The counseling team has noticed an increase in teen violence, and mostly peer violence related to online bullying and harassment. They have most successful in school with regards to de-stigmatizing therapy and becoming more away of problems that children and teens are facing. It seems to be a great program and they are marketing themselves rather successfully.

Later that day Heidi, Michelle, Ann, and I went to the Sarajevsko Brewery and had an amazing dinner, where we ordered WAY too much and laughed a ton! It was a great dinner and different from our typical (and amazing) Bosnian burek, cavapci, and cabbage salad. 

The University

Names and grades are posted for everyone to see

A wonderful gift from the treatment team at the family counseling center

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in Bosnian

The Little Prince in Bosnian

Jebi Se means fuck you!

An awesome spice shop!

Day 7 (June 17, 2012) - Lukomir

Today we hopped back on the bus for another beautiful, yet nauseating road trip to Lukomir, a mountain town that was not affected by the war, and had an amazing view. The people that live in the town are primarily elderly and only spend their summers in Lukomir and their winters further down the mountains, where it’s a little warmer.

Today we hiked with our guide, Damir (who was another VERY attractive Bosnian man). Unfortunately, Ann and our other guide, Nettim couldn’t do the 3hour hike because they had leg injuries. Damir had told us that the hike was flat but as we began up a steep hill, I immediately questioned his definition of “flat”. Falling behind, I was so out of breath and hot and I watched as the rest of the group kept going up and up. I immediately starting doubting myself, but more than that I became angry that I wasn’t doing the hike at my own pace. I know, I know…..first world problems! I bet there’s wasn’t that type of complaining when refugees walked up hills and mountains to flee the country. Instead of pushing myself or moving beyond my doubts and challenging myself, I stopped.

Michelle commented on how red my face was and how much I was sweating and I thought “if you had met my father one any given warm day or through any physical exertion, you would know how normal that is”. Anyway, when we spoke to the guide behind us- who the group named appropriately, “Rambo”, he told us that it kept going up and up and then it was up and down. And then I decided that I wasn’t going further. I think I said things like “altitude really bothers me” and “maybe it’s all of the hookah that I smoked”. Either way, I talked myself back down the mountain.

With Julie in tow, we went back down the to the café and sat with Ann and Nettim for the afternoon. Julie and I took a walk through hthe town where we came across a woman selling hand-made, wool socks. We knew that when we met the rest of the group at the top of Lukomir that we would be buying socks so I didn’t want to buy any but the woman was so beautiful and her face had some much character like it has some interesting stories to tell. I had to take a photo of her. I used Julie’s camera to take her picture and gave her 5km. Afterwards, Julie said that she felt like it wasn’t appropriate for me to take her photo and that it was mostly because she didn’t tink the woman understood what I was asking. I completely understood Julie’s concerns and hesitations but I felt more comfortable offering her money and taking a photo of her rather than sneaking a photo or not offering her something in return and it was fairly obvious that she could use the money.

Then Julie and I went for a walk through a field of wildflowers. The filed sat at the bottom of the mountains amongst farms and mountain homes. It felt like we were in the field in the sound of music. We could hear women singing and music playing in the distance. Julie wanted to go back because she felt the sun on her skin and thought she might be getting sunburned so we returned to the café, where we had kaffa and lots of laughs with Nettim and Ann.

The rest of the day was a long drive back and was spent have an early dinner and to bed early. Tomorrow we go to the Sarajevo University’s school of Political Science where we meet with some of the Social Worker professors who will give us more insight into social work practice in Bosnia. 

Day 6 (June 16, 2012) - Srebenica

The road to Srebenica was beautiful and familiarly long and windy. Spirits were high on the car ride there as we had woken up and were talking about how much fun the evening before was with meeting the social work students from the University of Sarajevo, however I think we all knew that our spirits would be somewhat diminished when we arrived at our destination.

In 1993, the United Nations declared Srebrenica a safe zone and many Bosnians sought refuge in the town from hostile acts of war. Under the safety of Dutch forces, Bosnian Muslims could seek refuge in an old battery factory. Conditions were cramped but many didn’t complain because they knew they were safe, despite Serb forces surrounding the town.

In July 1995, the Serbian Army attacked the town and more than 8,000 people were killed (mostly men and boys). It is said that NOT ONE Dutch soldier fought to protect the refugees, and no call for assistance was made. Men and women were separated and men and boys were taken away, killed, slaughtered and their remains were scattered over large areas to avoid later identification. Women were raped in front of UN forces and one woman reported seeing babies being shot. Bodies were placed in mass graves while other avoided being tortured and killed by killing themselves.

When were arrived in Srebenica, one side of the road was a large cemetery for all of the bodies found of the people who died during the massacre. I walked along the cemetery and noticed the tombstones of men and women who had died at 17-yeard old and 20-years old. Their adolescence had been taken by the war and their lives had really and truly ended before they began. A large circular plaque displayed the names of all of those who had died during the massacre. It reminded me of the Holocaust memorial in Boston with all of the numbers of those that had died in the concentration camps.

The Battery factory was on the other side of the street. Some of the rooms had been preserved and some of the building had been turned into a memorial museum. Right in the beginning of walking into the grounds of the factory, there was a sign written in Dutch that said “Warning. Wasps nest”. I stood there looking at it and then realized the irony in this warning sign. The Dutch had spray-painted a wall, protecting the Bosnians from a wasps nest, but when the town was invaded by the Serbs, they did nothing!!! These people had come to the town for protection and safety and the most that the Dutch did was warn them against wasps. I began to break down almost immediately. This sign was so infuriating in it’s irony that I became infuriated and upset myself. This was, however, only the beginning of the tears that I would shed.

We walked further to where the barracks were for the soldiers and there were still drawings and graffiti on the walls. It made me think about how some of these soldiers (men and women), were probably my age at the time. I wonder what thoughts were going through their minds when the Serbian Army surrounded them and what my own reaction would have been. The Dutch have never acknowledged their mistakes during this time, but they have donated sculptures to the location of the massacres. The UN has acknowledged their mistakes during this time but somehow it seems that it’s only a fracture of a consolation for the lives lost and still missing.

When we entered the memorial museum in the largest and emptiest space of the battery factory, there was an eeriness to it all. The walls held photographs and more detailed information about what happened in Srebenica. I stood back from everyone else, wanting to process everything on my own. Another section of the museum displayed items that were found in the mass graves and on other bodies that would later help family members and investigators to identify the bodies. We then watched a film that depicted interviews and a very emotional portrayal of the events that happened in this small mountain town that would finally get the attention of the media and the rest of the world.

The drive back to Sarajevo was long and almost immediately upon re-entering the bus some of the group began to talk about getting drunk and hooking up with guys and then bridesmaids dresses and how annoying it was to have a dress that you really would NEVER wear again. I became so annoyed that some of our group members had so easily been able to get back on the bus as if nothing had happened. I, on the other hand, was still processing what I had seen. Granted, I’ve had these same conversations with friends, perhaps not after visiting the site of mass genocide and a large cemetery, but I’ve had this conversation nonetheless. Somehow these first world conversations and gripes seemed really inappropriate and insensitive to the rest of the group (or really, maybe it was just me) who was still pretty emotional. Then I wondered if I had been that naïve or unaware of the other people around me when I was their age. Was it an age thing? Was it just how some of us process certain emotional situations and how we choose to handle it? Either way, it fueled my foul mood for the evening and I chose to kind of take the rest of the afternoon and evening to myself. 

Looks like almost an entire family was wiped out

This is only a fraction of the memorial with names on it

A photograph from the aftermath

The ironic warning sign

New gravestone coming in, meaning that even now they are identifying more people

Day 5 (June 15, 2012) - Visit to the US Embassy

Today we walked to the US Embassy, which was like no other embassy I’ve ever seen! It was this huge eye sore in the middle of Sarajevo! I’m not really sure why the US Embassy is as large as it is but I’m sure there’s a reason for it.

We met with Ambassador Moon who took lots of time to welcome us to the Embassy and answer our many questions about the work that the Embassy is doing in Sarajevo. He acknowledged that there is a human-trafficking problem in Bosnia and that although the police and political parties have become more involved in it, there are no formal laws against human-trafficking. He also said that this past year was the worst in regards to arrests and added that they had no prosecutions for human-trafficking.

Like Judge Wiener, he acknowledged the challenges faced within the politics of the country and challenges with collaborating between multiple ethnic groups. His assistant, whose name I can online remember as Sunshine (which IS her real name), was able to speak more freely (and less politically) than the Ambassador and was able to say that not much can be done about change until the people are more invested in it and that many people are afraid of another war, which may be one of the reasons why they are reluctant to do or say anything.

Kristy and I walked back towards the hotel but found ourselves stopping and walking into random buildings. We found ourselves walking towards the most beautiful building and then realized is the University building for Fine Art. It sits right along the river and we were able to walk around the building and look at some of the student art and peer into an art class. Then we walked a little closer towards our hotel and saw this HUGE church. When walked in we noticed that it was an Orthodox church that was in the middle of reconstruction in the inside. You could tell where parts of the old church had been destroyed by the war. It was so beautiful with the tall stone pillars and the stained glass windows.

Then back to our hotel where we had some time to relax before we went out to meet some of the Social Work students from the University of Sarajevo. What a great time we had! It was so interesting to talk to people who are in the same profession and around the same age as us about what graduate school is like for them. They said that they have 2 social work professors in a school of 5,000 students! They spoke about how many students will pay for good grades and that they have heard that trading sex for grades has happened too but that they don’t know anyone who has done it. They also spoke about how they hate the politics in Bosnia and are frustrated with the system but feel that they have no power to enforce change.

We then went to a hookah bar where I smoke entirely WAY too much hookah but it was so fun to sit around and talk with everyone and participate in something that is typical for that age and culture. Grape hookah might be my favorite!

To give you an idea of what else we are doing here, at the end of each day we all gather as a group to process the things that we have seen and talked about our reactions to the things we have seen. Tomorrow we are going to Srebenica, which is the site of mass genocide that brought the Bosnian War to the attention of the media and thus began the efforts to end it. I’m thinking that it will be a very emotional day for everyone and maybe even myself. Although I saw concentration camps during school trips, when I lived in Belgium, I don’t think that will prepare me or desensitize me from what tomorrow brings.

One our walk to the Embassy (which I could not get a photo of) we walked by a park that had a memorial to for those who were lost in the war.

Look at how weird these crows are!

Meeting with Ambassador Moon

After meeting with the Ambassador we went to lunch across the street. This artists work was displayed all over the restaurant. He is an art professor at the University and also has a lot of artwork displayed at the art museum (which is closed).

This was in the park on our way to have kaffa at Tito's cafe, which is one of the most interesting and bizarre places we've been so far. This sculpture represents what was air-dropped to help residents. Mystery meat?

These "Sarajevo Roses" are everywhere. They are concrete scares from mortar explosions that were filled with red resin after the war. They are all over the city.

One of the posters at Tito's cafe

 We passed by this building so many times. Little did we know it was the fine arts building.

One of the students paintings in the school

A great way to end the night.... Hookah with some of the friends we made from the school of social work

Day 4 (June 14th, 2012) - Mostar and Kravice

Today was a long and winding road-trip to Mostar. Anne, Michelle, and I sat in the front of the bus and kept mostly quiet and still to avoid looming car-sickness. We stopped at a coffee shop at our halfway point where a bought a large package of speculoos biscuits and a REAL Fanta! I think it made up for the hilly bus-ride.

The city of Mostar is built along the Neretva river, which is the most amazing turquoise color. It looks like it’s been dyed with food coloring because it’s so hard to believe that a river could be that color so naturally! My photos don’t do it any justice!

Mostar can best be described as a village/city that came out of a J.R.R Tolkien novel mixed with an M.C Escher drawing. There are white-washed stone buildings that still stand from medieval times with bridges leading to other levels of the city. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before! Mostar is more historically known for the old bridge, which was built by the Ottoman’s in the late 16^th century. It’s 90 feet long and 64ft high.

During the Bosnian war, the city of Mostar was subject to an 18-month siege. Unfortunately the 427-year old bridge was destroyed during the war, which really exemplified how destructive the war was. Prior to this trip our class watched video footage of the multiple attempts by troops to destroy the bridge until it collapsed. In 2004 funds from multiple countries and organizations enabled the reconstruction of the bridge and interestingly enough they had the original plans for the bridge down to the type of stone to use! It’s a really impressive bridge and we were lucky enough to witness a local jump off the bridge and into the water, which is done very frequently for tourists but unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of it.

We didn’t spend much time in Mostar but I did get some time to buy some local art which I’m really excited about!

Then we drove a few miles further into the mountains to Kravice which is a series of waterfalls from the Neretva river with the same turquoise color). This was the moment when I realized that Bosnia has so many hidden treasures. History, natural beauty, great food, and beautiful people! The weather was so hot and seeing the waterfalls was like seeing Shangri-la in the middle of the desert!

As we drove down through the mountains and back down to Sarajevo we shared some hysterical stories and silly laughs. We stopped by the river and had the best lamb I’ve ever had in my life (sorry mom)! More laughs down the mountains and then straight to bed!

View from the Mostar Bridge

View of the Mostar Bridge

This was Kravice from the top.... we were in for a serious surprise!

Kravice! Look at that friggin water!

Better than Fanta in Europe!

Bosnia Kaffa

View of the river from where we had spit roasted lamb and potatoes. One of the best meals so far!

Day 3 (June 13, 2012) - War Crimes Court

Today we went to the war crimes court and met with American judge, Philip Weiner. All current war crimes that occurred during the Bosnian War are now tried in Sarajevo and not in the Hague. There are 43 national and 5 international judges in Bosnia.

Interestingly enough there is no mandated time limit for trials, which can be very frustrating and delays the much-needed justice of heinous war crimes. For example, a current case against 4 men for war crimes in the town of Srebenica began in 2010 and is still going on.

The most common trials that Judge Weiner views are war crimes, organized crime, economic crime and corruption cases.

The judge was very accommodating to our questions and was able to discuss some of his frustrations with the judicial system and the politics within the country. He admits that there is a lot of corruption in this city and spoke about how even in schools it is very common to pay teachers for good grades and EVEN to have sex in trade for good grades. The judge told us about one instance in which he read a job posting for a medical position and it clearly stated that in order to get the job, the applicant would have to pay 24,000km which is close to $20,000. This comes as such a shock to all of us but this has been going on for so long that it is second nature and no one has stood up or been effective in saying that it’s wrong.

We left the war crimes court and returned to our hotel to process how we felt afterwards and then some of us ventured through town and did some shopping. There is an underground marketplace that has knockoff sunglasses and handbags galore and handmade scarves. It reminded me of the underground shopping places in Brussels with all of these unique vendors. Of course, I bought 2 pairs of sunglasses and a new handbag (the first of what I think will be many to come).

Still jetlagged but doing ok. Tomorrow we are going to a town outside of the city called Mostar.

  One of the views from the veranda at our hotel

At the war crimes court

   Just a small view of the copper street. It's funny how we steal copper from houses and it's worth so
                                             much when it's worth practically nothing here!

View of Sarajevo from one of the forts

Dinner at the Spite House. From left to right Me, Dasha, Heidi, Rhonda, Julie, and Ann