A Whirlwind Weekend of Balkan Adventures

So let me start off with, wow. I've been feeling a little spring fever induced antsy-ness (I don't want to go so far as to say anxiety) but I've felt a a little restless. I am very happy in Sarajevo but I needed a change. It is, after all, a pretty small city and the amount of things to do are growing but the different places to go are few. Anyway, regardless I needed a change. And I change I got! I have two friends from my language class who are freelance journalists and they were going to make the journey to Kosovo, literally for a day because we all had another fellow

classmate/friend's wedding to attend on Saturday afternoon in Sarajevo. So, they kindly extended the invitation to a

nyone who wanted to go and I leapt at the chance. What is a better way to change it up than to have a short adventure? So we left early Friday morning for our journey. We were going to Kosovka Mitrovica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovska_Mitrovica) because there was a youth center there that was opening and they were going to cover the event. Mitrovica is the definition of a divided city. It really doesn't get much worse than that. The northern side is the Serbian part and the southern side is the Albanian part, with a river in between. It is not that people can't cross the bridge but rather that they won't. Follow the wikipedia link to find out some background information on the city, but basically it has been a very violent city since 1999

(probably before that as well) and the tension is high. The youth center was created in an attempt to bring Albanian and Serbian youth

together and although they

freely admit that it is not a solution just a first step, still it is not looking good. At the opening of the event only 10% of the people who attended (a lot of bigwigs both international and local as well as students) were from the South side (it's located on the Northern, Serbian side). And the point is, you have to pick aside to put it on, there's no way that you can put it in the middle, but that means someone has to cross and frankly, it's a risk. Some of the teenagers/20-somethings that we talked to said that they do cross for the occasional coffee but mostly they don't. One official told the journalists that there are about 70 instances of conflict a month. 70!! We felt safe, it wasn't a hostile environment all around, it was a very directed tension. After we left the opening we walked around and actually on both sides we were approached by teenagers who were interested in why we were there, it's not a very high tourist destination. They talked about it and were very blunt. It's interesting because I feel that when I talk about nationalistic rhetoric in Bosnia people are first quick to deny it's "as bad as you think" and then as the conversation gets going, more and more nationalism comes out (if that person is so inclined to think that way, not everyone is a nationalist). But what was interesting is that no one denied it in Kosovo. It was point-blank "I hate Serbs" or "Remember, Kosovo is part of Serbia." It's very interesting because Serbia doesn't recognize Kosovo as a country (even though they share a border and crossing was interesting, how do you deny the other country yet you need to check my passport to pass? Also, it wasn't a very official border, almost like a gas station on the street), so there is a population (Serbs) in Kosovo who doesn't agree that the country that they are living in is a country. You see it everywhere, the flags, even the language is different and you can get into big trouble speaking the wrong language in a part of Mitrovica. I was told that the Kosovo police don't even have authority in the Serbian part, no one recognizes them. Actually, it's very interesting because there is a lot of military presence in Kosovo, you see tanks driving on the roads and in Mitrovica there were KFOR, UN, EU and other forces there at various points, but at all four corners of the bridge. We even saw police checking every car that drove on the bridge. It's like an exaggerated Bosnia. It raised a lot of questions and it was too bad that our trip was so short. All three of us really wanted to stay and there's talk of even returning. Of course that's just one city in Kosovo but a very interesting city to say the least.

But our drive was long. The trip was actually only about 420 km (=260 miles) so that's a little over a 4 hour drive, I guess, b

ut since there are no highways in the Balkans -- ok, not true but let's say on this particular drive through Bosnia, Serbia an

d Kosovo we didn't come across anything more than a two-lane road, mostly through the m

ountains -- it was about a 9 hour drive each way. So the trip all together was about 30 hours with 17-18 hours in the car

and only 2-3 hours of sleep. Still, I'd say definitely worth it!

On our way back we stopped in Višegrad to take some pictures of the Bridge on the Drina, which Ivo Andrić received a Nobel Prize for writing a book with the same name (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_on_the_Drina). This is a picture of the bridge.

Then, we went back to Sarajevo for the wedding and before I could crash (even though we were all a little loopy from lack of sleep) I hopped on the bus to Fojnica. I stayed there Sunday, enjoyed some beautiful weather and a nice day of walking and then went to Zagreb with a friend and a few other people.

It was a perfect situation because there were a few people from Fojnica who were going to do a job (working on a house) in Zagreb and I got to ride along and then stay at my friend's cousin's place while I was there. The first day, Monday, it was disappointing because it was quite rainy and unfortunate weather but my friend's cousin took me around with his friends and showed me, maybe not too much of Zagreb but a nice cafe/bar tour. Ha. I was a little worried I wouldn't get to see the city in our short trip but luckily I got the next day to explore on my own and enjoy some beautiful, sunny weather.

Zagreb is a great city. It's full of churches, museums and beautiful Autro-Hungarian buildings. Really, I thought I was in a little Budapest. It didn't hurt that it was an early-spring day. It was a nice change from Sarajevo, it's much bigger, the streets are wider and, I hate to say this, but it's more European. There are most Western stores and shops and the whole place is more, I'd say, comfortable. I thought it was really beautiful and was actually surp

rised because mostly you hear about Belgrade and what a great city that is but not much about

Zagreb. There are many different squares with parks and statues and it's very easy to navigate, although I almost had a heart attack because basically no one pays for the trams but as we all I know I'm not too good with breaking the rules, but when in Rome...and it turned out fine. There was a great market that I dabbled in and bought some pretty flowers to give to our hosts and ducked into many different churches that were each very unique. I didn't try any the museums because I wanted to get more a feel for the city in my short time but I'm sure if I go b

ack, I'll have to check at least some of them out. I have many (mixed) feelings about Zagreb and I guess my opinion of the city caught me off guard --

I wasn't expecting to think so much of it. I sat in one really nice square and drank some coffee outside and co

ntemplated my feelings toward the city and as compared to Sara

jevo. I think Zagre

b is a beautiful, European city that

I could be happy living in (this is all from one day, mind you) but it's just not as interesting or complex as Sarajevo. I love that you can be leaving a church in Sarajevo and hear the call to prayer from a minaret across the street. Ah, it's not like I have

to choose but it's good to know that I enjoyed it, whatever that will mean, we will see.

And now I'm back in Sarajevo, at work (which I have skipped for a few days). The sun is shining but it's not too warm. Hopefully with April a few days away that will mean some permanent spring weather.

A Would-Be Tense Political Situation

So, as I've said before Bosnia had yet to form a government from the October elections. The Republika Srpska did in fact form their own, but the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Bosniak (Muslim) and Croat (Catholic) half of the country) and the federal government could not come together to create a government. What amazed me was that nothing in daily life changed, there wasn't mass chaos or even small pockets of confusion, everything went on as usual. Now, I'm sure that if I was a Bosnian citizen and got certain benefits from the government things might seem like they were different but for the most part it seemed that nothing really changed for most people. It just goes to show how detached the government is from its population.

Well the most recent update is that a few days ago they went to create a government for the Federation of BiH, but it is contested by the Croat population who says that they did not include the most popular Croat party but instead a different one that is more moderate and Bosniak-leaning. There have been protests in highly Croat populated towns, such as Mostar, but there's really been nothing going on in Sarajevo. I was discussing with one of my friends who is a journalist how incredible it is that we can be in the capital and have almost no idea that this is going on. We were also saying how great it would be for Bosnia if there were protests, if people finally got so upset about the political corruption that they did something about it. Many people, in fact most, aren't happy with the politics and politicians of Bosnia but the resignation to the status quo and the inability to believe that anything can change (even and especially disconcerting people of my generation) gives people no reason to make any effort to change anything. Of course everything should be peaceful but it would be great if people took a united front to stop all of the divisive discourse in Bosnian politics. Great but unrealistic. That's the other side that I was discussing with my friend, it just doesn't seem likely that anything of significance will come of this.

Also a lot of this information is really hard to come by, especially with the language barrier. It is on the news frequently but when you don't understand Bosnian, you are just looking at Eastern European parliament members on TV (which can be entertaining as well). Luckily I had someone who was keeping up on it and translating it for me. We'll see but for now, there's nothing to report in Sarajevo...

Here's a very short blurb on it:

Croat parties won't recognise new BiH Federation president

20/03/2011

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) -- Outgoing Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) President Borjana Kristo said on Friday (March, 18th) that she will not hand over her duties to newly elected President Zivko Budimir. He was elected in violation of the constitution and laws, Kristo said, requesting that the Constitutional Court comment on the issue.

Budimir was elected as FBiH President at Thursday's constitutive session of the House of Peoples, which was boycotted by the two main Croat parties, HDZ BiH and HDZ 1990. The parties complained that the election was held before three Croat-dominated cantons had nominated their delegates for the FBiH House of Peoples. (Nezavisne Novine, Dnevni Avaz, Srna - 18/03/11)

Spring's First Attempt

Here are some pictures when I was walking around in the early evening last week. The weather has been nice and warm, a pleasant start to spring. But not to get ahead of ourselves because there were some snow flurries yesterday.

Moving Right Along...

So February has been a busy month. Busy but pretty productive as well. This past weekend I made the big move to my new place. I love it. No, no I reaaaaaally love it. Feels so good to here. Leaving work on Monday I actually was excited to go home, I didn't notice that I dreaded it a bit before, but the difference is amazing! Thank goodness February is a short month, I don't think I could've held out for much longer but now I feel like its home. Also, I have internet (!!!) and cable TV so I get a few English-speaking channels, most importantly CNN. Here are a few pics of the new place:

My bedroom. Kind of plain but as you can see lots of cabinets/closets. On the other side there is a door to the balcony and even a bike on there that my landlord said I can use. The doorway that you see leads to the bathroom with the shower and washing machine. I felt that out of respect for Harry (who is in a happy home, I assure you) I wouldn't include a picture of the bathroom. But, it is very nice (and clean!) and there is a separate small room/closet with the toilet. Mm, check out those green walls.

This is the kitchen from the view of the living room. Yes, I have a table to eat at! It's very exciting. Also the kitchen has a dishwasher and a microwave. Two luxuries that aren't very common in Bosnia (according to my experience). Probably don't need to use the dishwasher since it's just me, but good to have. The microwave will come in handy with leftovers.

Here is my living room. That couch is spectacular! Also, it folds out so if anyone wants to travel this way, there's a bed for you. The pink table isn't my favorite but it matches the one pink wall (which I will spare you) but really when you think about it all, it's no big deal. Did you notice the floors? That's right, no Communist-red "carpeting."

So I'm very happy. It's nice and warm (the heating is so much better) and it's cozy and comfortable. I am thinking about a little house-warming shindig in the next weeks. Also, it is about 10 minutes from work so my commute is amazing! It's also closer to the Pidros so I can go over to visit more (especially in the nicer weather).

I've had a lot to do at work this month, a lot of deadlines for grant applications, and it's been nice to be busy and even a little stressed. I've been given a lot of concept notes and proposals to write and even the opportunity to develop my own. I had to rush two over to the EU building (and got a cool visitor's pass to get through the security doors) to submit two concept notes. Of course like any application it's frustrating because then you just have to wait to hear back, but my work has been good and I've gotten good feedback from my co-workers, so that's nice. Last week we also had Gariwo's big Civil Courage Award Ceremony which is our big event for the year. I was focusing on my grant apps (they were due the day before the ceremony) so I wasn't very involved but it was nice to be there to see what we produce. I have my own thoughts of the production of the ceremony and also opinions on the Civil Courage Award in general, but it was considered a success so I'm happy for my co-workers.

Yesterday was Independence Day so we had the day off of work. First, I find an independence day to be very strange if it's not in the summer but second, no one celebrates. It's literally just a day off of work -- not that I'm complaining. Actually it makes sense. I mean it was only in '92 that they got their independence from Yugoslavia and we all know what happened right after, so it's not this happy we-beat-the-British mentality that I'm used to from home. Also a significant portion of the population doesn't want to be considered "Bosnian" so why would they celebrate the independence of Bosnia? It's a little sad, at least from my perspective where the 4th of July is a patriotic holiday that is celebrated by everyone, as a community...with fireworks. It would have been nice to see some fireworks yesterday.

The weather has been up and down. It got really warm, everything melted and was such a tease. Then it got cold again and snowed. Then warm, and now more snow. Basically Boston. But it's March, so it's the end of winter (although everyone has been saying what long winter Bosnia has but I'm maintaining my Boston comparison). Real spring should be a few months away, so I'm gonna take advantage of the snow while I can. It is nothing compared to what everyone got back home this winter, so I'll keep my complaints to myself.

I'm not sure if the news covers this back home, but Bosnia has yet to form a government from the October 2010 elections. This baffles me, I feel that if there is a system in place how can you just simply not form a government? Well, apparently you can. From what I understand they don't agree with the election results and are having trouble then deciding who gets what portion of the government. There's also a lot of contention because (ok, this might get confusing so bear with me) the Bosnian-Croats are complaining that they didn't get to vote for their third of the presidency because the Bosniaks voted for the Croatian president and their argument is that it's not a representative of their position but rather the Bosniak's. The idea, to me, of not having a formed federal government means that things stop functioning, but it's not so. Nothing has changed the day-to-day life and you wouldn't even know it if you didn't read the news. I'm sure there are some aspects that are affected but mostly, it's not, and definitely not to me. We'll see what will happen. I know the German government was having leadership from different parties come to negotiate and try to push the Bosnian officials to make progress, but I'm not sure how much good that did. At the end of the day, the EU is still in charge in Bosnia and I'm sure they want a government to form faster than the Bosnian political parties do.