I have since learned the reason why so many of the buildings still stand.. and it's not to give the residents an in-your-face reminder of what war and hatred can do. Maybe some of them stand for this reason, but, for the most part corruption that still remains post-war have made rebuiling or destroying of these buildings a painstakingly slow process. The government rebuilds or destroys buildings, one at a time, city by city, as money is given to do so... So for people who do not have the funds to fix up their home or place of business on their own (which, with a 20%+ unemployment rate and not much of a middle class, leaves a majority of people) are left with these buildings next to their home, leave the bullet wounds to remain on the outside, or find elsewhere to live... For right now, that's just the way it is. I have read from different sources while researching BiH that lots of people here have the mindset that, "yes, the war is over.. but we still have to face corruption and lots of red tape". These two things hold back a place like Mostar, but that's not to say people (like us) don't come to see what it's like..
To be honest, though, Paul and I really had no idea the extent of the devastation that still remains here.. We just came to see the bridge and the surrounding beauty of the city. It's hard not to take pictures of something that is so far removed from everyday American psyche, a war at home. I am sure I would not have been so affected had I taken the military path, but as the 'hippy" that I have been labeled by friends and family (not that I take offense to it.. especially as a backpacking yoga teacher, I mean, come on...haha) my peace loving and often idealistic view of the world was shocked by what we saw..
And...enter our experience in the "Ljublianska Banka" tower, aka the "glass building", aka the "Sniper Tower". Our last full day in Mostar, we decided in order to get a good view of the whole city and see the inside of a creepy building, we would take the hike up the concrete steps to the "sniper's nest" and take a look around. The feeling we got when we entered was overwhelming...it was dark, cold, and sad. The graffiti-covered walls coupled with the broken glass on the floor gave me a feeling like this was not a place to hang out for too long.
We started making our way to the staircase (with no handrails or walls on the outside of the building, mind you) and began to walk up the steps.. About 3 flights of stairs up, I looked to my left and there was an older lady doing laundry in her kitchen, literally feet from me. I started thinking to myself, "that lady may have lived here during the war...", and I mean, we could have had a conversation from the stairs to her window.. It made me realize how close these people were to death and violence.. I started to feel dizzy and sick to my stomach. I don't know what floor we made it to in the end, maybe even the second to the top. Paul and I both had this weird dizziness and feeling that we shouldn't be in there, because of what it represents and what happened there.. We took a few pictures and made our way down. The feeling lasted for a couple hours, and we both just ddn't feel right and felt generally sad.
Trash and debris that still remain (some from bums, and also insulation, broken glass, etc)
I noticed there were like 100s of plastic forks, so I was assuming it came from a break room? There was also loads of black film that came from back-up reels of old computers and data systems. I have since read you can find old bank statements and information from customers in the 90s, as well as bullet casings and stuff from the snipers. We didn't bother to look for any of it.....
The building is now a canvas for graffitos and a home for the homeless at night.. I don't know when the people of Mostar will be able to rid their skyline of this building, but as far as I can tell, they want to forget about it as no clean-up efforts have been made. I don't blame them.
Some photos taken from whatever floor we were on.. A nice view, nonetheless.
See those snow-capped mountains in the background? That's what we drove through on our way to Sarajevo. I slept through most of the trip (but now my cold is gone, and so is Paul's, hallelujah!) but managed to see the winding roads through tiny villages with snow. The bus ride was fine, and I never felt like we were going to die, so that's a plus!
We got to Sarajevo yesterday and were welcomed, first, by a blanket of thick smog. I have never seen anything like it.. We have air-quality alerts in Atlanta, but that's usually when it's hot and sticky... It's December and cold outside.. I guess that doesn't matter when you have a densely populated capital that has lax rules on emission regulation from vehicles and industry! Wow.. as we were driving in, I thought it was fog... Then as we got closer I could smell it and it encapsulated the city as far as I could see when we came down the hill and into the valley. Not good on the lungs..
They even give you a piece of Turkish Delight! mmm
It's a shame, because Sarajevo, with its Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman architecture, is a really pretty place. And there are mountains with Alpine-style homes circling the city. Half the time we've been here I haven't been able to see the mountains, though. It was a struggle to walk from our apartment into the main part of the city. My eyes and lungs burned from the smog, which at some points smelled like burning plastic, so you know that's healthy.
The bridge where Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated... how sweet!
Sarajevo is another place, like Mostar, where the fact that it was ravaged by war is still very evident. Most of the buildings have been rebuilt or demolished, but some still remain. Most of the homes have patched up the bulletholes that once pierced them, but you can still see where buildings were riddled by guns or shelling. Sarajevo was a place that was under seige for nearly 3 years, but thankfully, it has revived itself and for the most part, is renewed.
We visited the Bosnia-Herzegovnia Historic museum today, which is a must see. For an outsider, this place informs and explains the events leading up to the war, what life during the war was like for the people here, and what happened to the horrible politicians who funded and promoted the war... I was glad to see that most of them have either died or are inprisoned. There were also lots of photographs showing buildings around the town and how they have rebuilt since the aftermath of the seige.
We saw what people ate during the war, like "canned beef" and other rations from NATO, UNICEF books that teachers used in basements and in stairwells to educate kids during the war (yes, they had way worse teaching conditions than I could ever imagine....wow.), articles from newspapers that still ran despite the newspaper company being shelled and destroyed. The resilience and determination of these people is so inspiring.. They lived through a time when they had to fear crossing the road, going to the market, or even burying the dead without being shot at by a sniper or shelled by enemy forces. They even built a tunnel underground and out of the city when their resources were getting low to bring in goods and communicate with the outside world. They were surrounded in their own city for almost 3 years, bombed and attacked daily, and still managed to have a somewhat "regular" life for most of it. I can never complain again. This trip has been so humbling so far, and really it's because we have met so many amazing, kind, and brave people who have been through so much and still go out of their way to make sure you are taken care of..
For example...We are staying in an apartment by the "Old Town".. We arrived to the bus station and I contacted our host to let her know we had arrived. We waited maybe, 3 minutes, and she comes up to me and calls me by name, and perfusely apologized that we had to wait. She then took us outside and showed us to a taxi, where she apologized for "not speaking English well", put us in the car and away we went with her to her home. She then paid for the taxi, and explained she was sorry because she had to leave to go back to work. This kind lady left work to come meet us at the bus station and take us to her home, to then go back to work. And she apologized to us! The hospitality we have felt since being in the Balkans has been incredible... the people here are genuine, kind, and want to make you feel at home. She brought us apples that were grown in her backyard, just as Teo brought us a big basket of Kiwis that were grown in his backyard. For some reason the Western world has this view of Eastern Europe, and I can wholeheartedly say that this view is far from the truth. If you want a good dose of culture and hospitality and not break the bank, this side of the Adriatic is a nice place to visit..
The Bosnian coffee here is amazing, too.. It's like Turkish Coffee.. we enjoyed some today.
They even give you a piece of Turkish Delight! mmmTomorrow, back to Croatia to explore Zagreb (the capital city) for a couple days before we head to Budapest!!! I finally got a coat (I thought I was going to freeze solid today with 3 layers on) and Paul finally got a beard trimmer! He has informed me, that he will keep the beard the whole trip. I say it's fine as long as it's somewhat maintained........ It's getting out of control. Until next time1
MC
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