Voda, Voda (Water, Water)

The coursing emerald Neretva River and my toes in it...












A Turkish Fountain with 12 streams representing the months flowing in to 4 spouts representing the seasons which all come together in the base. The three spheres represent the sun, moon, and earth.






The Adriatic Coastline........














Plitvice Lakes Park


A photo showing people gathering precious life-sustaining water during the siege of Sarajevo.

"Cheese"

When I was alone in Amsterdam, I came upon this incredible photo exhibition of pictures of animals in the wild and they were spectacular huge prints.

I kept trying to take a photo of myself in front of the pictures, and failing miserably at getting a reasonable pic of myself and enough of the animals to tell what they were.

for example, this was the best one... sad but true!

A nice german couple came over and i tried to ask them in English to take a photo, and they tried to ask me in halting english if I wanted them ot take a photo. but something was lst because we couldn't understand each other enough to accomplish the photographic endevour.

Then I had one of those fantastic gestalt moments (to use some of my limited German in meta-application...) where everything became clear... I remembered overhearing some German people asking other German people to take a photo when we were in Germany earlier this year.

So I opened my mouth and said exactly what I remembered, "bitte, maken foto?" (please, make a picture?)

The gentleman from the Geman couple smiled the biggest smile and nodded his head vigorously. He took the camera and I posed for this photo.



After he took the photo, the gentleman smiled a small quirky smile and said, "cheese?..."

I nodded, understanding he was talking about what silly americans say when they pose for pictures.

He grinned broadly and exclaimed, "yes, CHEESE!"

Last Day in Amsterdam

and not sure what to do...

I wandered around this morning and ate strawberries with a fresh croissant.

I bought my train ticket to the airport tomorrow and double-checked my flight details. I'll write a little bit now, then maybe wander some more.

I went to the Van Gogh Museum yesterday and saw many original works including pencil drawings and lots of self-portraits. The museum also has work by Van Gogh's contemporaries, collaborators, and friends, including Gaughain, Monet and others. Very nice collection, and the timing of the day worked out perfectly, because I was able to walk from the hostel to the museum area and it started pouring rain only after I was already inside the museum! The restaurant and gift shop also provided cover from the storm and I happily passed several hours in the museum.

I took the tram to Dam Square and walked to Niewmarkt, where I got tasty Indonesian food at the place Toshi and I discovered on our first trip together here in February. They have sticky rice wrapped around chicken and also krokets "(minced meat surrounded by crunchy breaded layer). But my favorite are these eggs in a red sweet and spicy sauce.

Just down the street is a Shanghai massage place where Toshi and I had foot massages the last time we were here. Toshi and I also visited and got foot, head, and shoulder massages this weekend. Since it is so affordable and so healing, and I was right there and I was sooo tired after walking around all day and then the museum... I got a full body massage and the lady wrung me out like a tube of toothpaste. She dug in to all my knots and tight places in my muscles, and after that I walked home and went happily to sleep.

I was the only one whose bed had stuff on it in th hostel dorm room (4 beds) when I went to sleep, but 3 girls showed up late at night; they had come from Berlin where they told me they had "experienced the nightlife."

There is a motion sensor light in the bathroom (each dorm has its own bathroom attached!) so you don't ever have to fumble for the lights in the dark. very nice. I got up in the night to go, and opened the door... the light flashed on to the 3 girls all sitting on the floor, huddled around their cameras and cell phones, laughing and looking at photos. I jumped and they screamed and it was very funny. In the morning they apologised a lot for frightening me, but I said it only suprised and amused me.

This morning I woke up refreshed and quite happy! also I figured out that I am leaving in the late afternoon, not the early morning tomorrow! and that makes such a difference!

Booked My Return Ticket to Sarajevo!

I will be returning to Sarajevo in July for about 2 more weeks of conferences and meetings!! I am so excited to return here!!!!

2 Stuks

Back in Amsterdam, enjoying tasty fresh juices with chunks of fruit in the juice (they are so yummy!). Our favorite is a limeade/bannana shake with chunks of pineapple in it!

The label says "2 stuks frut" and that is how we identify the best tasty juice in the universe. I bought a ridiculous number of thm last night (they are affordable, healthy, and did I mention... tasty!) and we have a fridge in the apartment (yes, apartment!) where we are staying in Amsterdam.

More soon...

Leaving Croatia

Tomorrow morning we will take a beastly early flight in the morning to Amsterdam, officially ending my sojourn in the Balkans. I am sad to leave this area of the world, but it looks like I will be able to come back soon for a conference in Sarajevo in July. I am ridiculously happy about this, and next time I will pack less and plan to see more of the areas I loved (and some of the places I wanted to visit but did not have time om this trip).

Toshi asked me tonight how I feel I have changed on this trip, and it was a hard question to answer, because I have changed in ways for which I have no words. A lot of this journey has been ablout letting go of my need or desire to control things or have things exactly my way. Burker King is wrong: you can't have it your way! and this is actually a good thing, because we can't really control much of anything and we might as well be happy doing what we can to enjoy this precious life that we have here on Earth.

Here are the most meaningful moments from this trip: Wandering in the Sarajevo market as veiled women smile at me, standing on the reconstructed Old Bridge of Mostar with 6 new Turkish friends, delighting in the marvels of the farmer's markets in Bosnian and Croatian towns, and conversing with the locals in the best broken Croatian or Bosnian I can muster while they summon the Engligh words they learned in school or from TV to come to a kind of common understanding. This is the real fruit of life and the reason for living. To find oneself in that human connection and to realize how similar we are, despite our divergent history and the fact that we live our lives a half a world apart. It is a miracle that we can meet in the middle and find ourselves and each other there. .

Back to Zagreb

We took the bus (at 7AM!) from the small town of Grabovac where we stayed near the Lakes park to the Croatian capital city of Zagreb. It is one of the oldest cities in Europe, but I have to say that I liked everywhere else I have been on this trip much better (sorry zagreb-sad but true-you can't love every place). The ladies here are too fancy and ordinary people are very much "too cool for school." I never like that anywhere in the world from anyone and every other place I have been here the people are much more friendly and open (Toshi said it reminds him of Downtown Crossing in Boston and I agree).

One highlight of the day was that we visited inside the beautiful and incredible Catholic Cathedral, which was built in 1200-something.


Outside there is a very nice fountain with this tall pillar with angels around the base and Mary at the top.

We lit 2 prayer candles. I don't know what Toshi prayed for, but all I felt today was gratitude, so I gave a pyrayer of thanks for everything we have in our very blessed lives. Inside they have a lot of small altars and one of them had a really nice fresco of the last supper.

There is also a ceremonial "statue" (for lack of a better word) of the late Pope (who visited Croatia before passing away and literally everywhere he went they have his photo up-- even the ferries we took had a picture of the Pope riding the ferry!). Anyway, in the Cathedral, this replication of the Pope is laying in state and there is a bit of a coffin-looking thing under him and nice canopy over his "body." He is wearing some kind of fantastic bishop-looking hat. Very stylish.

The best part of the Cathedral was the organ which was simply massive. I wished we could have heard it playing, because it must sound incredible in that space with its high vaulted ceilings (painted with stars- very celestial).

The Cathedral ("Katedrala" in Croatian) has two tall bell towers rising up so high that it was hard to get a photo with the whole church in the shot! One of them was damaged by shelling during the war (in 1994), and it is still under construction now.

These former occupants of the tower are currently awaiting their return to former glory. (I imagine it is expensive to restore it to its former condition, especially because there were a lot of full-size statues and also detailed frescoes carved in to the walls that need to be fixed or resculpted before reattaching them). There is a small gift shop where you can buy tiny pieces of the tower, but we didn't think that was necessary. (I am happy with my little piece of the Berlin Wall).

The best part of Zagreb is the farmer's market which is open everyday and features everything from kitchy stuff to fresh lavendar from the islands to the most tender carrots to tiny tart cherries that only grow in Croatia (and they don't export them either, so you have to come here to try this treat!). We bought some medicinal honey with herbal tincture for sore throats (apparently Croatian honey is some of the best in the world!) from a guy who said he could not speak English well enough to explain to us about the different types of honey. He then proceeded to answer all of my questions in perfect English with a nice lilting accent.

I have noticed that many people criticize their Engligh as a second language when I think it is great, and they won't listen to me when I try to tell them they really do sound great and they are making sense. I guess everyone is a bit self-depricating in this way when trying to use a language that is not natural to them (I always say I only speak a little Spanish and I always insult my skills despite the fact that I have actually been studying and using the language for over 15 years).

Same Same But Different

Our Canadian friends reminded us of this phrase (in wide use in southeast Asia) that describes the state of the world and human existence.

For example, children everywhere chase pigeons.

And little boys play with guns.

Same. same.

But different, because these boys' fathers were slain by guns, or survived by killing others with guns. The games of children take on new meaning when you know these children may well live to see the day when this is not a game.

We wondered why guns are such a popular toy for boys here, when everyone (all the adults at least) know all too well the damage that guns can do.

Well, I said, I can understand why guns are even more romanticized here then in America, because without guns there would be no Croatia.

This country won its independence by fighting for it and dying for it, so it makes perfect sense to me that guns represent ultimate power and authority. It is no different in the streets of the US or anywhere alse where you have to fight to get a piece of safety for yourself and your family in this world.

Gil Scott Heron (one of the fathers of hip-hop and soul music) has a song about how "everybody's got a pistol, everybody's got a 45" and he says very poignently, "when other folks give up theirs, I'll give up mine... this is a violent civilization." And it is true, a gun can keep you alive in this world and keep your children safe. But is is also true that when you bring a gun in to your home, you increase the chance you will be shot by 50%.

So I do not know the answer, and I am in no place to judge these people or the way they raise their boys or how they let them play.

Plitvice Lakes Park

Today we visited the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia, which is an UNESCO World Heritage Site for natural beauty. I have never seen such incredible water before, or so many waterfalls in one place!

We saw hundreds if not thousands of waterfalls. The lakes were once a single river, coursing through this area... but buildups of rock and plantlife began forming in to barriers/dams separating the river in to partially connected lakes, and eventually created waterfalls cascading from one lake to the next lake!


We walked from the lower lakes all the way to the upper lakes (and we took a boat across the biggest lake, in the middle). We ended up where I am pointing at the end of the journey, and we took a tram back down to the lower lakes, where we met our Canadian friends who drove us home.

Toshi took over 400 photos (but here are some highlights). The lakes are every shade of aquamarine, turquoise, blue, and green. You can't believe all the colors present in one landscape or the change in colors from one pool to the next.














The fake worlds created by Disney and other movies try to look like this place, but this is real! (and completely natural)

Grabovac (small Croatian town)

First I must apologise for any typos or spelling errors in this entry. I had quite a lot of wine at dinner (and tried Croatian beer too- very good, but I have not drank beer since high school- sorry mom- so I don't know what is good anyway).

We are staying at a family home in a very small town in Croatia called Grabovac. It is close to the Plitvice (say that 3 times fast= "Pleet-veet-sah") Lakes Park, which is one of the only UNESCO world heritage sites for natural beauty in Croatia. Tomorrow we will see the lakes, so I can tell you more...

But tonight we had a nice bus ride from Split (the coastline) and the bus drivers forgot to let us out at the town, so we had to walk about a kilometer or more back in to town (as rain threatened to downpour on our heads), then find the hostel (not too hard in a small town, because people recognized the family name of the owners and pointed us in the direction of a large yellow house set back from the main road).

We are staying with a family whose home was destroyed during the war, but their new place was just rebuilt last year and it is so nice!! We have a purivate room with its own bathroom for only $30 USD per night.

We ate dinner with the people who own the house and some cool Canadians also. They cooked up every possible kind of meat on the grill (pork, beef,chicken, čevapčiči-mincemeat "sausage" hamburger, garlic meat, etc), also pasta and salad of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and leeks. We enjoyed the meal and the conversation very much, and after we finished eating, our hosts had the extended family over for a meal as well. We got to see the whole family, and get more of a sense for how regular life happens here. On her way out, Grandma said something to Toshi in Croatian that neither of us understood, but Toshi nicely bowed his head and smiled. She seemed to like that. I think she was hitting on him (but I don't mind).

The people here are so nice and so open, both the other travelers and the locals. It has been so great conversing with everyone and I feel we are really making connections.

We had a nice sunset walk and have been watching some other travelers playing travel scrabble (we are too drunk to play....). It is actually quite a nice spectator sport! (especially for a "word nerd" like me!)

Invited to Present My Work!!

So something unbelievable has happened:

I have been invited to return to Sarajevo in July to present my work about the use of rape and sexual violence in genocide.

There is a conference of the International Association of Genocide Scholars that will be held in Sarajevo this summer and even though it was later than the last minute, I sent them an email with description of my work. They scrambled to put me on a panel titled appropriately, "Mass Rape and Genocide," with other experts in the field.

I am so excited I am nearly busting out of my skin. Toshi has to keep grabbing my ankles as I float off to unbelievable happiness that they actually want ME to be part of this. As you loyal blog-readers know, I am in love with Sarajevo and looking for any excuse to come back. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would be this soon!!

Split ("Splato" for Italians)

Split is the second largest city in Croatia, and it has a beautiful Old Town part, which was originally built as the retirement palace for Roman Emperor Diocletian. So it is very cool! There are beautiful cobblestone walkways, and a small Sphinx imported from Egypt sometime in the 500s.

We visited a very old cathedral, with treasures including the heads (skulls) of saints preserved in silver busts (they have a circular glass hole at the top so you can see the skull inside). They also have an underground crypt ("krypto" for Croatians) where you can light a candle (I lit one for world peace; it seemed appropriate). The goodies from the crypt seemed to have been excavated to upstairs with the rest of the treasures (super old bibles, and tons of fancy funny-looking bishop-type hats). But the acoustics down there were crazy due to the sonty structure and the domes room. Toshi pointed out that the dome is more structurally sound than a flat ceiling would have been for an underground crypt. what a smarty-pants.

Our first night in Split, we ate an incredible fish dinner (shrimp, clams, mussles, calamari, octopus, and 2 kinds of fish: the fish came with heads, tails, and eyeballs on! the waitor actually dissected them at the table and pulled out the bones, etc). We polished off a lovely bottle of red wine from the island Hvar (which we didn't have a chance to visit). I learned that I do like calamari (I was always afraid to try it before).

Also they have enormous shrimp here that you eat like lobster. So I was dreaming about getting more of those shrimp (called "scampi," which I always thought was just a way to prepare shrimp) the whole next day and almost caused a fight with Toshi due to the intensity of the longing for scampi... but we avoided that with a quick trip for some ice cream ("sladoled" in Croatian).

In the afternoon we took a ferry to the nearby island of Brač, which was fun and took only about 45 minutes on the fast boat. The views were splendid, and as you can imagine, Toshi took plenty of photos!

On island Brač, we visited a beach where we sat in reclining chairs and dipped our toes in the water. I bought a new dress with polka dots and it was so nice to wear something new (and something clean!).

After the beach, we searched out a seaside restaurant serving... you guessed it... scampi! And I had a whole plate of them, happily munching away, while Toshi sampled local grilled meats (he liked all but one of them, some kind of fatty sausage). The sun started setting over dinner and finished setting as we took our romantic ferry ride back to Split. It was really one of the most spectacular sunsets we have seen (and boy do we love a good sunset!).

Island of Korčula

We stayed for 2 nights on the beautiful mediteranean island of Korčula, and we were smart (lucky) enough to be on the non-tourist side of the island in a small town called Vela Luka. Our balcony has a spectacular sea view, which we enjoyed while eating pizza rated the 20th best in the world, 3rd best in Croatia, and best dough in Croatia! It was very tasty pizza, and in the morning we had "cold Italian banquet" (which Toshi insisted on calling "cold Croatian banquet").

We went scuba diving in the morning and that was an adventure. Toshi did 2 dives and I just did one because my ears wouldn't pop (they need to do this to equalize the pressure) and my contact lens moved out of the right spot in my eye, so I couldn't see out of 1 eye. I had a great time floating at the surface and thinking about what was going on below.

After the scuba dive, Toshi rented a scooter and we tooled around the island enjoying vistas and little beaches. We also went to a large cave called Vela Spila that had been constantly inhabited from 15,000 BC (yes, 15,000 BC!) through the Middle Ages. They have been excavating it and finding all kinds of amazing stuff (which we didn't get to see because it is in a museum that was closed). The cave was neat because it had a large opening in the top that let some light in, but it still provided protection from rain for its inhabitants. There was even a tree growing in the middle of the cave, under a shaft of light coming through the "sunroof."

After the cave, we drove around some more and actually had a little accident on the scooter (we are fine!). A car came around a bend unexpectedly and the scooter skidded out from under us. Toshi did a great job of trying to get us back in balance and he braked so we hit the ground with less force than we would have if he hadn't reacted so well. We have some bruises and superficial scratches and we are very sore today, but mostly we are grateful that we are OK and really not hurt.

After this we went to dinner and Toshi was stretching his shoulders out because they were sore, and he actually popped his shoulder out of the joint (which is painful, but not serious). Luckily, trained first responder that I am, I knew exactly what had happened and I popped his shoulder back in. Then I insisted that we go to the hospital and get it checked out (the have VERY good doctors in Croatia, actually people come here from Great Britain to go to the doctor & dentist here because it is better service and cheaper). The hospital confirmed that it was nothing to worry about since I had popped the shoulder back in to the joint, so we went home and I dressed out cuts and put arnica on our bruises and we took a bunch of Advil. Then we sat out on the balcony and talked about how grateful we were for everything and had a lovely conversation about our future.

All in all, a good day. And definatly an adventure!

Walking the Walls

Toshi and I walked the ancient walls of Dubrovnik and it was really spectacular! The most amazing part is that people actually made them without the help of any modern technology: no cranes, no cement mixers, nothing but what they could make themselves. The fact that the walls are still here is phenomenal and it really shows how people can put their minds to something and make it happen. They don't make walls like this anymore (photos coming soon).

Toshi Arrives!!

Oh I am so happy!!! Toshi arrived last night (from Boston via Dublin where he toured the city during his 9-hour layover). I waited at the airport with all the tour-guide people with their little signs for "Maureen Keogh" and "Anne Flanigan" (flight from Dublin, remember). I watched happy Irish people with their sparkling (smiling) Irish eyes streaming out from the international arrivals area until I just couldn't stand it any longer. I had a little sign that said "Toshi Hoo" just in case he didn't recognize me (remember he hadn't seen my new hair yet). I looked away from the door for a minute, and suddenly he was there!! I showed him the sign and he laughed because at first he didn't recognize me, because he only saw my head from behind (recall that I was looking away from the happy Irish vacationers). Luckily he recognized my dress! haha.

I had set up a flat rate for the cabbie to pick me up at the hotel, then take me to the airport, then pick up Toshi and return us to the hotel. Smart plan. He was a few minutes early to pick me up and when I came downstairs, he was drinking wine at the hotel bar. Not a good sign. He then proceeded to drive like a maniac (80+KM in a 50KM zone along the coastline, windy roads, and passing cars like it ain't no thing!) despite my assurances that we were in no rush.

So when we arrived back at he hotel with Toshi, he tried to make me pay more than he originally agreed. Thanks to IMPACT training, I held my ground, even when he wouldn't give me back my change. He went to get in the cab and I ran around him and got in the way, refusing to move until he coughed up the correct change (which he even lied and said he didn't have). Toshi was impressed, and I have to say that I was too. Previously I might have been too afraid to stand up to him (big bald Croatian man, very bold and insistent that I overpay him), but I knew I didn't have to take that kind of bullshit from anyone. Of course I would (probably) not kick him in the head for such an overcharge, but having the knowledge that I COULD made me bold enough to stand up for myself! As he pulled away with the correc amount and not a penny (kuna) more, I said to Toshi, "Welcome to Croatia!" and we laughed very hard. Actually this is the first such experience I have had and it is NOT typical of the people or the culture here.

I had arranged for Toshi to have a massage/body scrub and healing bath at the "wellness spa" (at the super-fancy hotel next-door) immediately upon arrival. I got a back massage while all this was going on and the lady said I had very good energy and she could tell I was a special person. That was very nice.

Then we went to a great restaurant where we had a mediterranean salad and fried cheese (picture coming soon!). We also finished a whole bottle of unbelievable domestic wine-- it was a sweet red wine with a lovely aroma. I had never finished a whole bottle of wine with one person before and Toshi's not much of a drinker either... so fortunately we had only to walk (stumble) next door to our room. We also checked out the beach at night (like 2 min form our hotel) and Toshi put his toes in the Adriatic, which he said was quite a nice temperature, even though it was late at night.

He is still sleeping and it is taking every shred of self-control I have (I really don't have that many...) not to wake him up...

A War on Culture

Librarians, bookbinders, and bibliophiles prepare to cry.



Books, historical documents, and other important cultural elements were purposely destroyed during the war.





Books and libraries, including the national library of Bosnia-Hercegovina were set ablaze by the Serb military and paramilitary forces.



This is the state ofthe national library now. So sad, I couldn't believe it. This used to be such a beautiful building, and it housed some of the most precious relics and historical records of all South Slavic peoples, not just Bosnians.













Schools and places of learning and cultural exchange were also targetted. This is an elementary school that was destroyed in the war (again, on purpose!). I do not know if the children were inside at the time of the attacks, but I would not be suprised if they were. Attacks on children's schools and other gathering places for children were unfortunately typical of this conflict.

The Great (?) Walled City of Dubrovnik

What can I say about this place... the Old Town is completely encircled by tall stone walls to defend the city (and once its own country) of Dubrovnik from attack by land or sea. It didn't do much to protect the city from the Serbian assault by air during the 1990s, but we won't dwell on that. Dubrovnik is beautiful, but it is very built up for tourists and you can always see groups of people flashing away with their cameras. I have to say i am a bit disappointed with this place. Perhaps I built it up too much in my mind?

The best part of Dubrovnik for me is the fact that Toshi will fly here tomorrow and I will finally get to see him and hug him!

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life

One of the things that always makes me feel better when I start to feel lost and confused or lonely and alone in this world is music.

The item/possession that I miss (the only one!) is my guitar.

On my worst nights (Rijeka in the rain, for example), I am ao grateful for my iPod (thanks Toshi). I almost never use it at home, but on this trip it has been a lifesaver. Here are some of the most helpful snippets that have kept me going and inspire me on a daily basis (not just when things are tough!):

U2 (my favorite Irish dudes) remind me that "I AM NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD. THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN THROW AT ME THAT I HAVEN'T ALREADY HEARD. I'm just trying to find a decent melody, a song that I can sing in my own company."

Ani DiFranco reminds me that "I am not a pretty girl; that it not what I do: I am not a damsel in distress, and I don't need to be rescued!" (good old Arnie...)

Metallica (The Black album: the music I listened to when I first heard about what was happening in Bosnia in 1992-1993) helps me to remember that "wherever I may roam, where I lay my head is HOME!"

Erykah Badu reminds me that "you've only got one chance," but Michael Franti counters that "it's never too late to start the day over, it's never too late to pick up the phone."

Buju Banton tells me that I have to "walk like a champion, act like a champion" if you want to be somebody.

GNR (Guns N' Roses) in their song titled Civil War address the very issues I will spend my life fighting for (against?).
"Look at the hate we're breeding, look at the hate we're breeding,
look at the lives we're leading, the way we've always done before.
My hands are tied, the billions shift from side to side,
and the wars go on with brainwashed pride for the love of God and our human rights.
And all these things are swept aside by the bloody hands time can't deny,
and are washed away by your genocide.
And history hides the lies of our civil war
Did you wear a black armband when they shot the man who said,
'peace could last forever'?
and in my first memory they shot Kennedy and I went numb when I learned to see,
so I never fell for Vietnam,
we've got the wall in DC to remind us all
that you can't trust freedom when it's not in your hand,
when everybody's fighting for the promised land.
And I don't need your civil war, it feeds the rich while it buries the poor.
the power-hungry selling soldiers in a human grocery store (ain't that fresh?).
I don't need your civil war....
Look at the shoes you're filling, Look at the blood we're spilling,
look at the world we're killing, the way we've always done befoe
look in the dark we've wallowed.
look at the leaders we've followed, look at the lies we've swallowed,
and I don't want to hear no more
My hands are tied and all I've heard has changed my mind,
but still the wars go on with a brainwashed pride
with no love of God or human rights
Cause all these dreams are swept aside by the bloody hands of the hypnotized
who carry the cross of homicide and history bears the scars of our civil wars"

The Boss (Springsteen for those who are out of the loop!) tells me that "everybody's got a hungry heart." I said it before and I'll say it again (I stand by my original statement at approximately age 3 years): "I do not have a hungry heart. I am too little to have a hungry heart!"

Turkish Delight

In the hostel in Mostar I met the most wonderful group of Turkish travelers. The night we arrived, there was a futbol (soccar to you Americans...) between Bosnia and Turkey, and everyone in town was watching it everywhere, in pubs, cafes, homes, and on the street. People were painted in btheir team's colors and drinking and yelling and carrying on (in the best way!). It was so cool to see basically everyone in a whole town (and in Sarajevo too because the game started before I left there and was still going on when I got to Mostar) engaged in the same common activity.

Anyway, so it was great to watch the game in Bosnia with Bosnians and Turks each rooting for their own team (Bosnia won and the Turks didn't take it too hard...).

The nest night, I had taken a small siesta in the late afternoon after walking all over town and tiring myself properly. When I woke up, it was raining and I was in a very bad mood. My laundry was drying on the line (and didn't dry very well in the pouring rain!!).

One of the fantastic Turkish people had a set of speakers and invited me to listen to music with him, so I did that. He played a few songs and I asked if he knew the They Might Be Giants song "Istanbul, not Constantinople." I played that for him and we laughed. Then he discovered the playlist of songs (courtesy of my friend Marilyn) devoted to California and San Francisco, so we sang along to the Beach Boys (California Girls) and promised to be sure to wear flowers in our hair when we go to San Francisco...

Then he played some music that made my heart soar. It was the bellydance music I started dancing to over 12 years ago! So we started dancing, and the rest of his friends came back and we had a great couple of hours, playing different Turkish, Egyptian and Greek music and bellydancing our little hearts out!



















Then we all went out for a fantastic meal where I sampled a domestic wine that you can't buy anywhere else in the world. It was a white wine, but sweet and very smooth. Tasty and wonderful.

The (new) Old Bridge of Mostar

By day

And by night

The Old Bridge of Mostar in Bosnia-Hercegovnia spanned the fast-moving Neretva river for hundreds of years, connecting communities on either side. It was a symbol of trust, cooperation, beauty, and connection.

The Neretva river has the most amazing colors and flow. It seems like a liquid emerald city, coursing along on its way.

It is so beautiful that you could watch the water for hours, and indeed I did just that.




Here is a tiny waterfall cascading in to the water. You can't see the green color of the water so much in this one because it is still so early in the morning and the sun isn't hitting the river yet, but you can imagine it.



OK... here is some history for those of you who do not remember, never knew in the first place, or were not old enough to watch the news in 1993...

During the war in the 1990s, Mostar was very hard-hit, especially during 1993 when it was shelled, hit by tanks and artillery fire for months on end. There is still a lot of damage to the town, the buildings, and Mostar was one of the areas in which there was the most architectural damage (particularly older structures like mosques and homes in the Turkish part of town, called the Old Town).

Like in Sarajevo, you will still see many buildings with hundreds of bullet holes, and even more than in Sarajevo you will see roofs caved in and buildings collapsed. In many places, the buildings have been partially destroyed and people are still living (or having a little shop) in the other parts, where the windows are not boarded up and the roof still exists to shelter their heads from the rain.

These buildings are right near the bridge, and you can see the roof of this building is gone in the middle part, and I don't know if you will be able to see hundreds of bullet holes in the grey building in the background, but they are there. You should also be able to see that the grey builing is completely gutted inside and there are weeds and actual trees that have sprouted up inside the shell of the building.

The Old Bridge of Mostar was specifically targetted by the Croats because of its cultural/emotional significance, as well as strategic reasons. Tanks lined up and shot incessantly at the Old Bridge until it fell in November of 1993. In a museum here I saw video footage of the actual destruction of the bridge. Of course it pales in comparison to the human toll the war took, but still I cried to see it fall. I remember that November and I remember thinking at the time that I couldn't believe such a beautiful and really ancient structure could actually collapse in to the river and dissappear because of human ignorance, aggression, and vying for power in the most disgusting ways.

All of Mostar's bridges were destroyed in the conflict, rendering it a divided city. Muslims live on one side, and Croats on the other. The bridge was gone for 10 years.

After a while they erected a temporary bridge (wooden I think). I saw footage of a visit that the Croatian president Tudjman made to Mostar after the war, and he is walking across the temporary bridge. People are yelling in Bosnian, "Look what you have done!"

One of the things the Old bridge was famous for was the fact that young men jump off it from the highest point in to the freezing Neretva river. In fact, it is such a big deal here that you are not considered a man unless you have taken the plunge at least once in your life. One woman, Maya, (from the hostel where I stayed) told me that she once jumped in to the river when she was 17 years old. I saw a man this morning take the plunge! Honestly you couldn't pay me to do this, and I am not afraid of heights or water!

When the bridge was gone, they held the diving competition anyway in defiance (and to raise money for a new bridge). Many international people came to support the fundraising for a new Old Bridge of Mostar.

The reconstruction was done in such a way as to make the new Old Bridge as similar as possible to the old Old Bridge. They dredged the river Neratva for usable pieces of the Old Bridge and painstakingly assembled them (like a giant heavy jigsaw puzzle). They employed artisans from Dalmatia to use traditional techniques of working with stone, using huge iron "staples" (this is not the right word, but it is what they look like) held in the stone with molten lead. Apparantly this technique was so specialized and difficult that scientists and engineers could not figure out how to do it right, so they went to Dalmatia (Croatian coast) to find the people who still build houses and other things with these ancient methods.

In the process of rebuilding, some incredible archaeological treasures were unearthed, including very old "gun balls," like small cannonballs or large round bullets (about the size of a softball). Also they found some helmets and the guns corresponding to the balls. The rebuilding project was stalled for I believe about 2 years while they excavated these spaces and preserved the contents.

This is me on the new Old bridge of Mostar.

The Old Bridge of Mostar is now under the protection of the UN as an UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site (although the UN didn't do such a good job protecting people here, so I don't know what they would really do about any future threats to the bridge. hopefully there won't be any).

I left my heart in Sarajevo

I know usually there is another place to leave your heart, but I am officially in love with Sarajevo!

The people here are so open and warm. Friends greet each other with kisses on both cheeks, and people of every generation stroll the streets holding hands or linking arms. There is a pulse of life here that is undeniable and even the most sceptical can feel something special here.

People here are so alive... so present in the moment, so connnected with each other.

At first I thought, perhaps this is because of the war and the atrocities they endured. It makes sense... right? When you live through something like that, you become bonded together because of the necessity to do so or perish.

But this is not it at all.

Sarajevans were like this before the war, and I believe this is why and how they were able to survie the longest siege of a city in modern history. Because they value life, each other, and this place they call home.

I am already plotting my return.

Sarajevo Roses

The skeletal spiral marks on the ground where shells fell on Sarajevo are called "Sarajevo Roses."

They are all over the city, and once you have seen one, they seem to be everywhere and you cannot help but notice them.

I am told that some have been filled in with red paint, symbolizing blood, but I have not personally seen any like that.

I found several of these on the steps of the National History Museum of Bosnia and Hercegovina, which was targetted during the war because it held the history of the country. Serb military forces were viciously effective in destroying cultural heritage of the Bosnianpeople. For example, the History Museum was so pummelled by shells and artillery that now you have to enter through this crazy back-way (which I almost didn't find) because the front end was so badly damaged during the war (and who has the money to repair such things?).

Can you imagine walking everyday past the spot where your daughter, husband, mother, or friend was killed and seeing the mark on the ground that will never be gone? This is life in Sarajevo... and life goes on, roses and all.

In the places where more than 7 people were killed, there is often a plaque commemorating their passing.


I saw "Sarajevo Roses" in Mostar and Dubrovnik too. Maybe there are some in Zagreb, but I didn't know what to look for when I was there before.



Here are some living Sarajevo Roses, which are part of a monument to the people who died in the Srebrenica Massacre.