Feeling Better In Bosnia

Before I say anything else, I have added some photos.

Today was the first day everyone was starting to feel almost better, which was good. We had a lecture in the morning from Tim Clancey, who is the guy who runs the tour group we are using here in Bosnia. The group is called Green Visions, I think, and they focus on eco-tourism and sustainable development. He gave us a brief history of the war that started here in 1992. It was very interesting, but also very confusing because there are a ton of sides and people involved. After that we went on a walking tour of the town, it was the first time I felt like I was actually in the town because our hotel is a little bit out of the downtown area. Then we had a group lunch, and I didn't eat much because I still wasn't feeling great. After lunch we drove out to the airport area because there is a tunnel there that was used to smuggle supplies in from the airport into the city while the city was under siege from 1992-1995. We got to walk through a small section of the tunnel, which was pretty crazy. The tunnel is 800 meters long and less than 4 feet high. They also showed a video of some footage from the war, mostly buildings being bombed and what not. After that we came back to the hotel for two more lectures. The first was given by a Bosnian Muslim who was hard to follow. He had a lot to say but was pretty unorganized. At the end there was sometime for questions and answers, and that was good. He had some intelligent things to say in regards to fundamentalist Muslims, especially people like bin Ladin, and how there is a responsibility on the part of the Muslim community,but also on the part of the American community for his and other extremists actions, especially bin Ladin and his cronies who were trained by the US. He also talked about how military intervention is not always the best idea, and at times drives people to more extreme actions. After that was had a lecture from a sociologist on the social science of peace and reconciliation in Bosnia. To be honest it was hard to follow because the lecture was very research oriented. Overall it was a great day, especially because I felt close to 100% for most of the day, and everyone is on the upside of being sick.

One thing that really struck me today while being out was the amount of damage still visible by the war. On many of the buildings around town there is still evidence on mortar fire and bullet holes and damage from explosions. I feel that it would be a depressing, constant reminder to walk around and and constantly see the damage in all these buildings. Perhaps there is no money to make repairs, or they have possibly been purposely left as a reminder, but if I were someone who suffered through the war, I would not want to be reminded in that manner daily.

Tomorrow we have some free time in the morning, so I am hoping to poke around Sarajevo a little bit and maybe by a present for a certain someone. In the afternoon we are giong to make our way up into the mountains and see some things up there. Hopefully I won't get sick on the bus. Then on Monday we depart for a long coach ride to Vienna, Austria. I think the ride is about 15 hours, so I am planning on getting some reading done.

If you think about it, pray for Bosnia. Most specifically, pray for the people of the country, that they can more towards peace and reconcilliation; pray for the politicians of the city, that they can begin to reach agreements and help move Bosnia away from its past and towards a brighter future. Bosnia is a beautiful country that has faced tragedy in the recent past and it would be an even bigger tragedy if that past ruined the countries future.
Love and blessings,
Mikey