Siege of Serajevo

We met our guide Neira again this morning but at 9:30.  I needed a slow start to the day so that was a good thing.  We drove out to the Tunnel of Hope or the Tunnel of Life as it is known.  Neira kept up a running commentary on the bus with no opportunity to ask about what we were seeing but with the history of the siege of Sarajevo.  Fair enough, I guess, as that is what she was there to teach us about.

We passed  by the City Hall which is now a museum.  Interesting architecture and considered the most beautiful building in Sarajevo.  It was built in 1894 which is easy for me to remember because it is the same digits as the Olympics but reversed.The architect committed suicide by jumping from the second story window before the project was complete.  I don't know exactly why.

We left by driving around the block so this is the heart of the old city from the back side away from the river.

We came today to see this tunnel and have the explanation and detail of the war of Serbia against the Bosnians.  I can give no clear explanation on my own.  I actually at one point was thinking the Siege of Dubrovnik during the Homeland War and of Sarajevo happened at the same time and in the same war but can't even guarantee that at this point.  So much information given at high speed and with great emotion that mush of it did not stay with me.  I may have to study up on it but you can start now!  Siege of Sarajevo

 I do know that it was not a good thing.  It lasted more than four years.  The people lived without electricity, running water, enough food.  Our guide was wounded twice, once at the age of nine while waiting to get water for her family.  The other time at a playground when a bomb went off.  When they speak of bombs they are not talking about being dropped from the sky but more of a grenade or mortar shell.

The U.N. forces secured the airfield.  The tunnel was dug from the outside territory, under the field and into the city.  Supplies were able to be sent in and people taken out.

We drove out of the city into an attractive suburb and then down the long somewhat deserted except of tunnel visitors road.

Frightening statistics of a senseless aggression.

This is a Sarajevo Rose at the tunnel site.  The red is in indentations of the pavement.  We saw them everywhere.  There are still burned out buildings and ones abandoned because of war damage.

The center flag is a combination of the Croatian, Serbian, and Muslim flags.  The yellow triangle is supposed to indicate unity of the three partisan groups.  But it also reminds the people that the Bosnian - Herzegovina government has an untenable presidency which was dictated by the peace settlement.  There are three presidents, one representing each group,  The are elected for five years.  Each nationality can only vote for their own nationality.  The presidents rotate every 8 months!  Think about it.  Something is done and then undone and surely each president leans toward improving the lives of their own partisanship.

There were many posters.  I like this one, not so much for the beauty pageant that meant life carried on as much as possible like normal but for the confidence and smugness of this well dressed woman almost daring the enemy to do something about it!  This lady had an unbroken spirit!

Here Neira describes that this is about the size of the space that she and eight other family members lived in for the whole war.  It wasn't even a room.  The blocked off space in their apartment hallway so that it was long and narrow but away from windows and doorways...1,425 days!

We walked the length of the remaining tunnel, which was not long.  Even I, at just over five feet tall, could not stand up.  A few more desserts and I would not fit side to side either!  Tunnel of Hope

It was about 12:30 when we set off back to the hotel but the streets were jammed with traffic and every tram barely had standing room.  Most of the trams were in terrible condition, even with broken windows!

Once we got back to the hotel we went to the museum about the genocide on our own.  Well, we followed Tina but then were on our own.  This restaurant just cracked me up with the name.

We couldn't take pictures inside the small, one room, second floor museum.  There were many photos of mass graves, children trying to live normal lives, close ups of sad, time worn faces.  There was a movie of clips of life at the time.  Srebrenica Genocide

It was good Friday afternoon so we stopped into the Cathedral on the way home.  In our faith Good Friday is really the holiest day of the year, particularly between noon and three o'clock which is treated as the time the Christ hung on the cross.  In the Cathedral the monstrance was exposed and three priest and some nuns sat in reverent, silent prayer during this vigil.  I took just a couple pictures after praying myself for a few moments.

The church was relatively plain and simple compared to many of the cathedrals we have visited.  It was almost restful.

But outside the quiet holiness of the church there was very loud music blaring.  The Bosnian Youth Basketball was having a round robin of games.  Excited youngsters were playing and cheering on their favorite teams.  Other games and distractions were keeping the children entertained until their turn to play.  It was such a strange juxtaposition when we had been hearing for two days how the country was on- third Christian.

  We took side streets back home.             

Elva is always happy when we stumble on ancient ruins.  These are being protected by the hotel that discovered them while digging the foundation.  So now the building is next door.

It occurred to me that I had not shown you the beautiful mural that decorated my room at the hotel with views of the highlights of this city.

 Now it was time to go for our first Home Hosted Dinner.  We were back on the bus and divided into three groups to visit Communist Apartments.  OAT finds people to cook traditional meals and welcome groups for dinner.  OAT buys the food, sets the menu so that everyone had the same dinner, and also gives a stipend to the hosts which surely improve their lives.  They have to speak good English and be willing to answer a lot of questions.  They get to ask a lot of questions and discussions can be quite interesting.  No one from the company goes along.  Tina and Mickey had coffee nearby and the dinner is allowed for an hour and a half approximately.

This is the living dining room in the tall building. 

 The apartment has this, a small kitchen, bathroom with wash machine which drains into the ancient tub.  There are two bedrooms for for the three adults and three children.  I saw one of the bedrooms and it had only a futon and small three drawer dresser.  I suspect that Nana sleeps on the living room couch, Mom, Dad, and baby have one room, and the two kids for now have the other bedroom.  It soomed rude to ask for a house tour or details.

When we got to the 8th floor we removed our shoes   The faily is Muslim but we found out during dinner that none of them have ever been practicing.  That emphasizes that here being Muslim is more of a nationality than a religion. The elevator was installed in 1984, the same time as the Olympics were held.  But this building had nothing to do with that.  The exterior atmosphere of the complex was reminiscent of Cabrini Green for those of you who know Chicago.  Our hostess stated several times how safe it was.  How her 7th grade daughter and 5th grade son could walk safely to school but at night Dad meets them to come home. 

This is Sara.  She is in 7th grade.  Loves school.  The kids go to school in split shifts.  Right now Sara begins at one in the afternoon until six o'clock.  Has her dinner there and then starts track practice.  She does the sprints and the long jump.  This gets her home about 10:30 at night.  Her brother is on mornings so comes home at one, then goes back at seven for soccer practice, also getting home around ten.  Dad was at school with him.

View from the window.

Selenia was gracious and did most of the talking.  She is not listed as the hostess but her mother in law does not speak English although she understands some. 

 We have discovered that all the families seem to live together and none of them like the mother in laws but this family seems to get along well.  Selenia was working until her two year old, Zara, was born.  There is a mandatory one year leave and when she called to get back on the schedule as a dishwasher at a restaurant she was fired over the phone.  Grandma can't really handle taking care of the little one all the time so the family decided that with the cost of day care, transportation, and meals away from home that it would not pay for Selenia to find another job. The draw back is that she is already 32 and it is hard to get any job after 35!   She seems very happy though and was very interesting to speak with.  She told some really cute stories.  One was that when her soccer playing son was seven he was sure he would be a big important millionaire professional player.  He was going to take his Mom wherever she wanted to go.  She wants to see New York City and stay about a month.  She will fly on a plane and stay in a hotel.  He thought about it and how much it would cost.  He told her he would pay, she could go for ten days but would have to go on a bus!

Zara didn't have to be asked to smile.  She knew a raised cell phone meant picture time!  The had a nice T.V., cell phones, and internet.  The boy loves to play video games and not read or do homework.  Even in this second poorest country in Europe they have the screen time issue!

I thought that this was so clever to decorate the plate.  Nana is a good cook.  Nana is also the decorator of the apartment.  Every year the clean everything and repaint every room  Nana picks the bright colors.  Last year was purple.

Love this moon on our walk home from the bus!