I had a blog entry started that went something like this:
Mom pardon my French here for a moment – Holy Fuck! I’m in Bosnia!
This is one of those places that one, when growing up in America during the tale end of the Cold War, thinks one will never see. Along with places like Prague etc. But then 1989 happened, the wall fell, Communism began to crumble and along with it Yugoslavia. From 1991-1995 (for those that might not remember) there was war on a massive scale in this part of the world as countries began to splinter off and vie for autonomy, freedom and their own national identity as well as land and resources. Bosnia was a particularly violent part of all that and even now the wounds are still fresh and the scars have only just begun to cover them. You can still see bombed out buildings and walls riddled with bullet holes. And yet, they have an amazingly active nightlife and things in general seem to be returning to something of normality.
Then I met Bata and took his tour. While much of that is true it’s not the complete picture and so I’m going to attempt to give you the complete picture. But it will be a series of posts as it will require words, images and videos to get the job done properly.
But if you believed the war was over in this part of the world, you are sadly mistaken. Yes, they are not shooting at each other, dragging people into concentration camps and ethnically cleansing en masse, but the war continues. The war is a war of oppression, thinly veiled threats and inaction. It’s a war fought in the political circles, the business fronts and the minds of all involved. And so I feel it is a story that must be told. So prepare yourselves because, it’s not going to be an easy ride.
So let’s start nice and slow first off with showing you some of my first impressions of the place:
KPICASA_GALLERY(MostarDay1)