August 1st

Leaving Split, we prepared for another bus day that would take us away from the Adriatic coast north, towards Zagreb.  On our way we entered the Krajina region of Croatia, the "military frontier" of Serbia in which, before the war, a large number of Serb diaspora lived.  When Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia, the Serbs in Croatia in turn declared their own independence from Croatia, forming the internationally-unrecognized Republika Srpska Krajina, or the Republic of Serbian Krajina.  These separatists occupied Croatian enclaves in the region, beginning the violence of the wars that would engulf the region (besides the short struggle in Slovenia).  These Serbs were backed by the Yugoslav Army, the JNA, which was predominantly Serb at the time.  At the beginning of the wars, they made significant gains against Croatia.  However, support from Belgrade slowly withdrew due to international sanctions, and the overstretched lines of the Krajina Serbs were pushed back in August of 1995.  The government fled the capital of Knin, and the displacement of the Serbs of the region- numbering in the tens of thousands- was the largest single forced mobilization in Europe since World War II.  Of the original Serb population, numbering at 35-40 thousand, only about 500 to 600 remained in August (these were mainly old people who couldn't make the trip, and would become the victims of war crimes).  Our bus driver, Dragan, a Serb, had served on this front during the war (we didn't get lost anymore!).  Since the war, Serbs have slowly started to move back to the region, but nowhere near their former numbers.  We stopped for lunch in Knin, the formal capital of the failed separatist republic.  I would have liked to stay longer to explore the place where the recent wars of the Balkans essentially began, but we had to move on.

Before heading to Zagreb, our group stopped for an overnight stay in Plitvice National Park, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the region.  This is also the place where, in March 1991, the first casualties of the Croatian war for independence from Yugoslavia occured, when Krajina Serb paramilitaries seized the park and Croat forces attacked to retake it.  Only a handful of us went to experience the park when we arrived, taking a small hike and viewing a few waterfalls.

July 31st

We left Dubrovnik and traveled further up the coast to Split, the second largest city in Croatia.  We had another day off, so again we beached it, swimming and jumping off rocks.  Some of us then walked through the old town (sensing a theme from the history student?).  Split is one of the oldest cities in the area, with some experts dating it at over 1700 years.  Originally a Greek colony, it came under Roman possession.  Walking around, the classical architecture is still dominant.  The marble and layout of the city, with narrow streets opening up into wide squares, certainly is reminiscent of those times.

July 29th-30th

We left Bosnia-Herzegovina to drive to the Dalmatia region of Croatia. Along the way we stopped in Medjugorje, a pilgrimage site for Catholics, to see their big church.  The Vatican has yet to endorse the miracle that is said to have occurred here, when the Virgin Mary appeared to some locals.  We moved on to a Serbian Orthodox church, and one of the clergy there explained how it had been targeted during the war by Croats, with several Serbs being killed in the process.

Moving up the Croatian coast, we drove along the Adriatic into the city of Dubrovnik, a famously beautiful coastal city with a long history.  Dubrovnik was founded in the 7^th century, and was part of the Venetian and Hungarian kingdoms as well as the Ottoman and the Napoleonic Empire.  After World War I, it became part of Croatia.  Early in the war with the Serbs, which the Croats call the “Homeland War,” Dubrovnik was laid siege to in 1991.  The city is built for siege, with high fortress walls, and though the Serbs bombed the hell out of it, they were never able to take Dubrovnik.

After settling in to our hotel, we went to the private beach for some much deserved swimming and relaxing.  Being a tourist town, Dubrovnik is expensive compared to other Balkan cities, but we decided to splurge on a nice dinner for our friend Liz’s birthday!  Dubrovnik was flush with vacationers, and that night out in the old town we met a lot of international people on holiday.  Interesting times were had…

We had Saturday, the 30th, off, so most of us chilled next to the sea, relaxing and swimming.  A group of us went back into town later and toured the fortress walls, offering amazing views of the city and the sea.  Dubrovnik is one of the coolest and most beautiful cities we’ve seen on this trip, though a tad expensive.

July 28th

On our second day in Mostar, we visited the headquarters of the Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica (HDZ), or the Croatian Democratic Union.  This party is a right-wing Croatian party in Bosnia-Herzegovina that represents the conservative Croat minority in the Federation.  Their main issue is the fact that though they are represented in the government, the system doesn’t allow for them to properly select their own officials.  Instead they perceive their Croat leaders as being elected by Bosnian Muslims.  Another goal of theirs is to be as independent in Bosnia-Herzegovina as the Serbs, who have their own defined entity in the country.  They also insisted on using the correct name, Bosnia-Herzegovina, as it includes their region.  It was a strange, crazy visit that we continue to refer to and joke about days later.

July 27th- Leaving Sarajevo

A group of us briefly visited the small museum at the site of the Archduke’s assassination, and spent the morning wandering around Sarajevo, taking in some last minute sights and good food.

We made our way to Mostar, an old, famous city in Herzegovina.  The city is centuries old, and was an important center for the Ottomans, who built the famous bridge there, the Stari Most, in 1566.  The bridge survived all of the conflicts of the region until it was destroyed by Bosnian Croat shelling in 1993, and was the site of fierce fighting during the war.  The rebuilt bridge is a symbol of the history of the city, but also shows its division, with Croats to the west and Muslims to the east.  The authentic old town area, where we ate dinner, offers great food and sightseeing.

July 26th

We visited the Parliament building for Bosnia-Herzegovina, a building that was on the front line during the war and was heavily damaged.  The body returned to the building in 1998 and rebuilding is nearly complete.

We got a deeper look into the wacky government of this country.  Again, it is split evenly among the three constituent peoples of the country: Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks (Muslims).  Even if someone identified themselves as an ethnic Bosnian, they could not hold an office in the Presidency or the Chamber of Peoples.  We also got to meet two MPs, I forget what party/ethnicity they were.  They stated that Bosnia-Herzegovina’s multi-ethnicity should be an advantage, not a weakness, and showed optimism for reintegration, a different view than we’ve been seeing from our other experiences in Sarajevo.  They realize that they will need a new constitution if they want to join global institutions, such as the EU and NATO, and that the main fault of their constitution, born from the Dayton Treaty, is that it places ethnic rights over civil rights.

We visited the International Court of War Crimes and Organized Crime in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is the busiest war crimes court in the world, both to learn about the current set-up of the federation’s government and to talk with those involved in the prosecution of war crimes.  The government of Bosnia-Herzegovina is complex to say the least.  The constitution that arose from the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995 divided the country and government on ethnic lines.  The parties are ethnically based, not necessarily issue-based, which makes harmony and coalition difficult, and some argue that in effect, the causes of the wars have been institutionalized.

We were able to meet two judges from the International Court, both American (one is an NU grad and the other has a son attending now).  Both have worked on important war crimes cases, and serve as judges as well as advisors on effective criminal judicial procedure.  The court uses a hybrid of civil and common law judicial systems, and the Americans offer advice on common law procedure as well training judges and lawyers in the hybrid system, as most that emerge from European law schools are not effective at it.  One example we were shown was a recent decision handed down by one of the American judges that was hundreds of pages long, filled with analysis of each piece of evidence and testimony and a decision based on legal reasoning.  We were then shown a decision from a few years prior in which another judge simply listed the charges, evidence, and decision, totaling to three pages.

At the ICTY in The Hague, of the 86 convicted of war crimes, 79 were Serb.  The court in Bosnia-Herzegovina have a similar ratio, with many more Bosnian Serbs being prosecuted for war crimes, as opposed to Croats and Muslims, of which only a few have been tried.  The difference lies in the magnitude.  The Serbs who massacred have been proven to have taken their orders from the top (Karadzic, Mladic, etc.), and killed mass numbers of civilians in a more or less organized fashion.  The other sides didn’t conduct ethnic cleansing and genocide on the scale that the Serbs did, but it still happened repeatedly.

That afternoon, we met with a Muslim from Sarajevo named Azem, who had been a commander of militia during the war.  He had served in the JNA (for a time under Mladic).  He joined the war in Croatia in September of ’91 against the Serbs, and began organizing and arming local militia back in Bosnia.  When the war moved there he returned to Sarajevo, attempting to form a connection with other neighborhood militia groups to try to fight the well-armed Serb forces.  He described stand-off with the JNA in which he negotiated a cease-fire with the Serb commander in the divided city, and shared other anecdotes and thoughts about the war.  He was mixed on his stance on war crimes, saying that they prolong the guilt of the wars but are necessary for some justice to be had, and could be a way to avoid troubles further on down the road.  However, he also predicted that nationalism will be worse in the future, as the multiculturalism and mixing of ethnicities of pre-war Bosnia-Herzegovina and especially Sarajevo doesn’t exist anymore.

That night we went to the Sarajevska Brewery with the NU alum judge for an excellent meal and good beer.  He also walked us around the city a bit, showing the different styles of architecture of the old city.

July 24th

Today we visited the cemetery for the Bosnian Muslims who were killed in the genocide of the 1992-1995 war, with most of the victims coming from the massacre at Srebrenica, Bosnia, a Muslim enclave in the territory controlled by the Serbian army.  The site reminded me of Arlington National Cemetery, but then I remembered that these graves were filled with civilians, and all in a short three year period.  The site has a mosque as well as a small museum, with photos of the ethnic cleansing and genocide as well as stories of some of the victims.

After the Bosnian cemetery, we balanced the day out with a visit to a Serb cemetery a few miles away.  When we returned to Sarajevo, we lifted our spirits by wandering around, eating and shopping.  One of my friends here, Curtis, has also studied Arabic, and we were both looking forward to trying it out a bit in the old Muslim neighborhood where we are staying.  We asked one merchant if it is widely used here.  He relayed to us a story: he welcomed one customer with a standard greeting in Bosnian.  The customer then asked if he was Muslim, and upon learning that the merchant was Muslim, asked why he didn’t use the standard Arabic greeting “salaam al-Aykuum.”  The merchant responded that he considered himself a Bosnian first and a Muslim (Bosniak) second.  Why should he use a language brought from the Turks when he could greet someone in his native tongue.  Seeing someone who identifies as Bosnian is rare, and ultimately special, as it puts them seemingly apart from the conflict of the region, an embrace of civic, rather than ethnic, nationalism.

July 23

Our first morning in Sarajevo, we visited the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel, the oldest Orthodox church in Sarajevo. There we talked to a friend of Mladen’s, also named Dragan, who is a native of Sarajevo and served in the Serb forces during the war.  He told a heart-wrenching tale of the transition of life in Sarajevo, beginning its celebrated pre-war multiculturalism.  Dragan’s best friend was Muslim, and their friendship survived the early stages of the war, despite the ethnic hostilities that were pulling the city apart.  Dragan aided his friend’s family, as well as other Muslims from his neighborhood into moving to the Muslim-controlled area of town.  Eventually his friend succumbed to the fanaticism of the war, calling Dragan a “chetnik” (term from WWII, fighters for the restoration of Serbian monarchy), and beat him.  There was no contact between the two friends until after 9/11, when Dragan’s friend’s father called Dragan to tell him his friend had been killed in Afghanistan.  His wish was that Dragan be called because he was the best friend he had ever had.  A month later, the friend’s father killed himself.  Dragan maintains a good relationship with his friend’s mother, as well as other Muslim friends, even sharing in religious celebrations, but things aren’t the same as they were before the war.

Despite the heavy morning, our group was able to bounce back at night, walking around the old town and enjoying the partying associated with the Sarajevo Film Festival this weekend.  The highlight of the night (for me) was when we came across the corner where nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, beginning the First World War.  Talk about a history geek-asm.


(Our internet in Sarajevo is pretty weak, so uploading pictures is a problem. Rest assured, more will come later)

July 22nd- Beginning of Sarajevo stretch

We were able to cross back into Serbia without incident, though they did nullify our Kosovar stamps on our passport.  We had to cross the old city of Novi Pazar of our list, only stopping for a bathroom break and snacks as we headed towards Bosnia.  The city and the surrounding area are famous for its old Orthodox monasteries and churches, and we were able to catch sights of them as we wound our way through the mountains.  The drive was long but very beautiful.  We stopped for dinner in Mokra Gora, at the tourist destination called Drvengrad (Woodentown).  A film director, Emir Kusturica, built the town as a set for his film “Life is a Miracle,” and it has been preserved as an idyllic tourist spot for its simple lifestyle, good restaurants, and picturesque views, and is a pretty awesome little place.

After another stretch of driving we crossed into the Republic of Srpska, an entity of Bosnia-Herzegovina.  It is Serb controlled territory and the site of some of the fiercest fighting during the war.  About 20 km outside of Sarajevo we were stopped by police who threw another curveball for the dialogue-rockslides on the route, of course.  There was really nothing else to do on the long detour but laugh (and open a bottle or two).  We arrived in the beautiful city of Sarajevo late at night, and will be here for the next five days or so.  Our hotel is in the old Turkish quarter, well preserved for centuries, and has a lovely old world feel to it.  Despite the cold and the rain, it’s probably my favorite city so far!

July 21st

We visited an organization called the Nansen Dialogue, an NGO that facilitates interactions in Kosovo between Albanians and Serbs.  They also work with refugees and IDPs, mostly Serbs, who fled Kosovo during the war, trying to return them to their property.  We wandered around the pedestrian area a bit more, and then returned to the bus.

Just outside of Pristina, we visited the monument to the Battle of Kosovo.  One of the reasons Serbia is intent on holding on to Kosovo is that it sees the region as the cradle of its civilization and history.  A key aspect of Serb history is the Battle of Kosovo in 1389.  The Kingdom of Serbia clashed against the invading Ottomans.  Both sides were nearly wiped out, but the Turks had reserves to call in, and won the battle, adding the Kingdom of Serbia to the Ottoman Empire.  Serbs view this battle with nationalistic pride.  The monument is a tall tower that offers a surrounding view of the beautiful landscape, and a guard is maintained due to vandalism by those opposed to Serbs.

Before leaving Kosovo, we stopped in Mitrovica, a northern city with a Serbian enclave.  The city is divided by the Iber River, and we stopped at a bridge guarded on both sides: Albanians to the south, and Serbs in the north.  Both sides have their own institutions and for the most part their own infrastructure, and the town is very symbolic of the division that defines Kosovo today.

We planned that evening to stay in Mokra Gora, a town in western Serbia.  However, plans rarely stay the same in the Balkans.  Apparently, when we had crossed in to Kosovo the day before, we received Republic of Kosovo stamps on our passports (despite asking the border police not to).  Since Serbia doesn’t recognize that entity and the border crossing is technically a “security checkpoint,” allowing us to cross back in to Serbia with the Kosovo stamp would be an act of recognition.  The option we were left with was to travel from Kosovo to Montenegro and enter Serbia from there, adding several hours to our already lengthy bus ride.  Despite the willingness of our professor to be arrested and creating an international incident, we decided to change our plans and stay in Montenegro for the night.  We chose an upscale hotel (gotta love that emergency fund from the university!) in the mountain town of Rozaje, pulling in late at night. Our bus got a lot of stares as we wound our way through the sleepy Muslim town, and exploring at night offered only quiet streets, but we were happy with our nice rooms and beds.

July 20th

Before leaving Nis, we were able to visit a small concentration camp from World War II.  During the war, the Crveni Krst camp held a total of 30,000 prisoners, mostly Communists, but also Jews and gypsies.  It was originally a fenced-in enclave with small guard towers, but after mass escape, the Nazis built high concrete walls with broken glass on top.  The camp served as an organizational camp, with its prisoners being shipped off to other parts of the Reich after a period.  Still, the remains testified to the horrors, with small quarters for up to 6,000 prisoners, piles of straw that served as the infirmary, and memorials to the 12,000 executed, both in the camp and in the surrounding hills of Bubanj in self-dug mass graves.  The main building now serves as a museum, with pictures of the prisoners, maps, artifacts, and artwork.  Our tour guide, the same from the previous day, had family in the camp, and gave us a detailed account of its history and the daily life of the prisoners.

We got back on the road and continued south.  Just before the Kosovo border, we stopped on the side of the road and walked to a little restaurant on a stream for an awesome lunch of traditional Serb food: bread, beans, salad, and skewers of pork and lamb, really tasty stuff.  At the border, we first got checked at the Serb checkpoint, by surly, no-nonsense police.  We then traveled about 100 meters to the Kosovar checkpoint, where the police talked with us in English and seemed pretty happy.  I even got a text from their cell service wishing me a pleasant stay in the Republic of Kosovo.  We continued on to Pristina, the capital.  We are traveling with one Albanian, Gino, who is very thrilled to be here and to use the language (I’m not sure how thrilled our Serb group members are).  Driving through, we passed a monument to Bill Clinton.  It’s nice knowing that we are in a place that actually likes Americans.  Kosovo, especially Pristina, is rapidly rebuilding, with many roads being recently paved and modern buildings springing up.  Our hotel was in a very nice residential area, and we could tell a lot of new money was being brought to the city.  However, the countryside remains relatively poor and underdeveloped.  Walking around the pedestrian area that night, there was little nightlife to speak of (though our taxi driver did offer us a connection for prostitutes).  It is a very interesting city, and I wish we could have spent more time there.

July 19th

This morning we bid farewell to Hotel Slavija and Belgrade and made our way south towards Niš, the third largest city in Serbia behind Belgrade and Novi Sad.  On our way, our un-air-conditioned bus broke down on the side of the highway.  After a short wait, we were on our way with a new, AC-stocked ride.  Nis is the birthplace of Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor of Rome.  He built a magnificent villa in the suburb of Mediana, the ruins of which are currently being excavated.  We continued on to what is known as Skull Tower.  After the second Serb uprising in 1809 against the Turks was crushed, the Sultan ordered the skulls of the Serbs to be built into a tower as a warning.  Most skulls were eventually taken down by family, but several still remain.

Upon arriving in Nis, we were welcomed by beautiful weather, an awesome hotel (a step up from Slavija), and a city that was a nice change of pace from Belgrade.  We had a delicious Serb meal, and spent the day exploring, including visiting the Turkish fortress in the city center.

Last Weekend in Belgrade

On Friday we visited another NGO called Veritas.  This organization concentrates on war crimes against Serbs in the Krajina region of Croatia.  This eastern region of Croatia is known as the military frontier, and is heavily populated by Serbs.  These Serbs declared their independence from Croatia in 1990, and the first violence of the wars started there.  The organization helped to convict Croats of ethnic cleansing in the region, with 400,000 Serbs leaving Krajina in ten years.  They also didn't have air-conditioning, and we opted not to pursue a thorough Q&A period.

We returned to the Belgrade Lady to meet with a member of the Democratic Party of Serbia, or DSS (note: different from the Democratic Party, DS, of which the two MPs we met earlier were members of).  This party was founded in 1992 as an opposition coalition against Milosevic.  They broke with the Democratic Party after his downfall, with the main issues being those of joining the EU and stance on Kosovo.  Both parties want the same thing: EU membership would be nice, and Kosovo should remain part of Serbia.  They differ on the prioritization.  According to our guest, DS would join the EU, even if it meant sacrificing Kosovo.  For DSS, if all of Serbia can not join the EU, then they will not be a part of it.  They would prefer it to remain a frozen conflict, and keep the status quo on trade relations with both the EU, US, and Russia.  This speaker was refreshingly honest (more open than the politicians could afford to be) and gave us a look at a different position on the issues inside Serbia.

On Saturday, most of us traveled to the museum for Josep Broz Tito, the Communist leader of Yugoslavia from 1945 to his death in 1980.  The museum contained some of his uniforms, as well as pictures of his visits with diplomats from all over the world. The gifts he received, from furniture to weapons, were also on display.  We were also able to visit his resting place.

Today (Monday), a small group toured three cemeteries in Belgrade.  The first was a Jewish burial ground, and was very beautiful.  The second was for Partisans and Red Army soldiers killed during the liberation of Belgrade during World War II.  The third was the cemetery of note since the 19th century, and holds famous Serb and Yugoslav cultural, civil, and military heroes since then, including assassinated Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.

July 13th-14th

July 13^th

Today we visited an NGO called the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, a group that reports on security matters and advocates for transparency and cooperation with the security systems of the government.  One of their tools is a grading system, 1-5, that rates how transparent and efficient a branch of the security service is.  The organization has seen a lot of progress since its founding in 1997, but still advocate for improvement in this area of government.

At night, a group of us went to a soccer match between one of the Belgrade teams, FC Partizan, and an Albanian team from Macedonia.  Needless to say, tensions were high going into this ethnically charged match (Albanians and Serbs do not get along well).  The fans were nuts, and we made sure to wear the right colors (black and white, not red) in order to avoid confrontation.  We were greeted at the stadium by enthusiastic fans and stoic riot police.  The first half was scoreless, with the Partizan keeper saving a PK.  We obviously didn’t understand the cheers, but the gestures we recognized, from the middle finger to a Nazi-like salute (confusing, as these are Serbs who hated the Nazis).  Aly was able to translate the cheers later: “Kill, kill the Albanians,” “Mladic!” and most importantly, “Kosovo is Serbia!”  Stuff was thrown at the Albanians as they were cursed walking on and off the field.  It was one of the most charged sporting events that I’ve been to.  In the second half, the floodgates opened for Partizan, scoring four goals.  It was pretty bad soccer, but definitely an interesting cultural experience, we’ll say.

July 14^th

This morning we took a bus again to Zemun.  We were able to meet with a Serb Orthodox priest and professor of theology.  We visited a very beautiful chapel, and then adjourned to another building where the priest served us rakija, a traditional local brandy, usually made from plums.  It is a very potent drink, but also very tasty.  We discussed with the priest the role of the church in politics and how the institution interacts with others of different religions.  One point the priest made was that it is dangerous to equate religious faith with national identity (something that is very easy to do in this region), and that faith should remain independent.  After the meeting, we went to a mall for lunch, and some members of the group broke off to see the new Harry Potter movie, almost twelve hours before the fans in the US.

We had the afternoon off back in Belgrade, which was used for cooling off, catching up on reading and blogging, and relaxing.  At about eight, we returned to Zemun for a short cruise down the Sava River at twilight.  Arriving at the confluence of the Danube and Sava allowed for a beautiful view of the city lit up at night.  After the cruise, we walked along the Sava until we met up with some local friends at Freestyler, one of the best club/barges in the city, and had an awesome dancing night.

July 12th

Today we had another lecture at the Belgrade Lady, this time conducted by Professor Ioannis Livanis, our resident EU expert.  He gave us a crash course in EU history, how it functions, its role in the world, and what its interaction with the Balkans is like.  Slovenia is already a member state, and Croatia will become one in 2013.  Serbia's future is uncertain, hinging on its ability to prosecute remaining war criminals, and whether Croatia will even let them in.  What we took from Ioannis' lecture was that the EU plays a vital role in financial development and trade regulation, but its growing amount of member states has increased the number of voices and slowed its effectiveness on deciding important issues.  However, Serbia, and other countries, want to join, as it lends credibility to international perception of a state's democracy and political system, with the granting of trade benefits and access to the EU budget as well.

We were also lucky enough to meet with two members of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.  Both men were from the Democratic Party, the party currently in power.  One MP, Dejan Nikolic, is the chair of the Trade and Tourism Committee (we mentioned we were staying at the Hotel Slavija, and he immediately apologized), and is also on the Environmental Protection Committee.  The other was Milan Vuckovic, a member of the friendship group to the US.  Both were young (the party has 10 members around 30 years old).  Both were involved in youth political movements against the Milosevic regime.  They described the Serbian government as "exotic."  Politics aren't personalized, so voters choose a party to vote for, and the party then sends members it chooses, a system the Democrats are trying to change.  Another goal of this party is full membership of the EU.  They also have elections coming up next year, with the key issues being familiar, including rising unemployment and educational reform, as well as decreasing industrial production.  They both expressed their appreciation for the US, with Vuckovic saying that he wanted America to be the leader of the world (something I doubt he would repeat on television).  We got down to the nitty-gritty asking questions about Kosovo and Bosnia.  They said their party's position, as is that of most Serbian parties, is that Kosovo is unrecognized as independent and is a part of Serbia.  They respect Bosnia's sovereignty, but stated that the creation of new countries, especially in this region, is not always the answer, and the solution has to be smarter than that.  It was a very informative and enjoyable meeting.

We returned to the Belgrade Lady for another meeting, this time with the interesting CANVAS organization (Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies).    The organization grew out of the Otpor! movement, the non-violent youth led movement that was instrumental in the overthrow of the Milosevic regime in 2000.  The organization used humor, independent media, and non-violent protests and civil disobedience in the cities to achieve their goals, working alongside with other anti-Milosevic actors such as opposition politicians.  In the years after the regime fell, Otpor evolved into an independent NGO called CANVAS that would spread the ability to overthrow governments, first across Eastern Europe, then throughout the world.  They are contacted by groups first, and then put on workshops in which they help brainstorm tools for change.  Every revolution is different, and CANVAS can only help with the ideas, it is up to the revolutionaries to customize and adapt for their own particular country.  CANVAS is willing to work with anyone of any ideology, as long as their revolution is non-violent.  They do not accept government grants, preferring to remain private in order to maintain independence.  Success stories of their influence can be seen in Georgia, Ukraine, and especially in the recent Egyptian revolution, which adopted the Otpor! Symbol of the clenched fist.

That night, a some of our group walked to the old fortress, the Kalemegdan, where MTV was hosting a big international party. Good times were had by all.

July 11th

The last few days in Belgrade have been sweltering to say the least.  Belgrade was the hottest city in Europe, even topping temperatures set in Cairo.  Coupled with the lack of air conditioning in our hotel, and you are left with a pretty uncomfortable situation.  We sure were missing 7-11's free Slurpee day back home!

After an early morning aloe run to soothe the burns from the beach the day before, our group was able to visit the Serbian Office of War Crimes, which handles the special prosecution for war crimes and organized crime, and meet with the institution’s historian.  A lot of progress has been made by the office since it was created in 2003, prosecuting almost 400 people.  The office aims to individualize war crimes and cooperate with international institutions such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.  Because there was no such accountability after World War II in the Balkans, ethnic hatreds from the war were not allowed closure, and that’s what the War Crimes Office is attempting to avoid.  The office has had to cooperate with neighboring nations, and has a jurisdiction larger than Serbia in order to fulfill its mission.  With the work that the office is doing, Serbia is able to move closer to joining the European Union, and attempt to rebuild their image in the international community

After the meeting at the Special Prosecutor’s office, we had a final lecture on the history of Yugoslavia, covering the establishment of communism following World War II through to the wars of the nineties.  It was all very interesting and helped to further set the context for what we are going to be experiencing on this dialogue.

While getting a snack, I had an interesting encounter with the gypsy that frequents our neighborhood.  We have been warned many times not to give them money.  As I was about to pay for some popcorn, the gypsy later came from out of nowhere and grabbed the money in my hand. A brief tug-of-war ensued, with me eventually gaining the upper hand against the tiny woman.  Take that, gypsies. To reprimand me, she pinched me in the chest (on my sunburn), and walked away.  We saw her later receiving money from another woman, and proceeded to follow that woman as she walked down a side street.

July 8th-10th

Entering our first full weekend in Serbia! On Friday, our group had the day off to do explore the city and do some work, i.e. get started on our Belgrade scavenger hunt and begin our first writing assignment.  A group of us went to Tasmajdan Park.  A beautiful green area with cafes and art, the park also is located next to the striking Church of Saint Mark. Then we walked to the Belgrade Zoo and had a kebab lunch.  At the end of the day, we retired to one of our normal locations for free internet in order to work.  We've picked out some pretty nice coffee shops and cafes nearby Slavija Square, but the winner usually ends up being McDonald's, as it has very reliable internet, is a lot nicer than those in the US,  and, most importantly, has air conditioning, something our hotel noticeably lacks in the Southern European summer!

The next day was another hot one, and our group boarded our tour bus to travel to Novi Sad, the hometown of our bus tour guide, Dragan.  Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of Vojvodina, an autonomous province of Serbia.  It is famous for its diversity, boasting a tolerant population of numerous ethnic groups, languages, and religions.  It is a major cultural center for Serbs, with many of their great 18th and 19th century writers and intellectuals emerging from there.  It is also home to the Exit Festival, one of the biggest music festivals in Europe, hosted in its Petrovaradin Fortress, built through the 18th century.  The festival was this weekend, hosting big names such as Jamiroquai, Deadmau5, and MIA.  However, we weren't able to fit it into our schedule.  In Novi Sad, we were able to go to the river beach along the Danube to cool off, along with thousands of other Serbs looking to beat the heat.

That night, a small detachment of us went to a bar along Knez Mihajlova, the commercial pedestrian walkway near the Kalemegdan.  Among our group was a Serb-Egyptian student named Aly (pronounced Ali).  We have been very lucky to have him on the trip as he has lived in Belgrade for a while, knows the good spots for recreation, and speaks the language.  At the bar, our other friend started up a conversation with the Serbs at the table next to us.  He chatted them up for a while in English, then lamented that he didn't speak "Serbo-Croation." Upon hearing that, Aly tensed up, looking for signs of ill will among the locals from the faux pas.  Though basically the same language (BHS) is spoken in the Balkans areas we are visiting, Serbs insist the language is called Serbian, whereas Croats call it Croatian, etc.  Though nothing came of the incident, Aly elaborated for us.  He made clear that when we travel to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, we are not to bring up his Serb nationality, whether to ask him to translate, talk about his ancestry, etc.  He warned also not to do the same with the student on our trip who is Albanian.  It was really a moment that served to drive home the divisions between these cultures that seem so similar to us.

After receiving an extension on our writing assignment (Thanks Professor Sullivan!), on Sunday we were able to plan a beach day to a man-made lake on the Sava river.  After a short bus ride out, we had an excellent time swimming as well as having fun on our rented paddle boat.  The lake was definitely a welcome retreat from the heat of the city, and we returned to our hotel for an added treat: fans for our rooms!

Doesn't get much better

On Thursday, we had another Mladen lecture at BOS, bringing his crash course in Balkans history from World War 1, through the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Kingdom of Yugoslavia), and going to the end of World War Two.  It was during this time that the split between the ethnic groups became more polarized, with Serbs and Croats on opposite sides during WW1, with Serbs sustaining massive losses.  Croats have never really been fully behind the idea of a unified state in the Balkans (what Serbs pushed for, to avoid foreign influence), as they have an ideal of independent state right.  This created a dysfunctional political system in the postwar KoSCS, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.  It eventually became a dictatorship after political infighting and ethnic terrorism.

Mladen explained that a modern-day questioning of Yugoslavia's involvement in WWII has emerged.  In 1941, the Nazis offered the KofY non-aggression if they could pass through to the Middle East to get oil for the invasion of Russia.  The king agreed, but the people and the officer corps staged a coup, and were dragged into the war.  The Croat population of the army surrendered quickly, with many collaborating, and the Serbs again sustained incredible losses, mostly at the hands of fascist Croats.  The war crimes at this time were unbelievable.  Mladen explained how cutting a throat is obviously hard work, so Croats developed special gloves to ease it up.  They would have throat-cutting competitions, with one winner finishing at 1,200...in one night.  Eventually, Yugoslav communist partisans under Tito were able to liberate themselves from occupation, which is where the lectures will pick up again next week.  The suffering of the war has caused modern Serbs to question whether it might have been better to just have let the Nazis go through...

After the lecture, our group visited the Zoran Djindjic Fund, a group that offers internships across Europe.  They are founded on the ideals of Djindjic, who was an opposition leader in Milosevic's regime, became Prime Minister, and sent him to the Hague.  He represented a bright future for Serbia.  He was assassinated in 2003 by organized crime figures closely connected to the Serbian special forces.

For dinner, we went to an excellent restaurant across the Sava river in Zemun (on the dime of the university).  The delicious food kept coming: salads, fish, potatoes, fried olives, chicken, sausage, and desserts.  Whenever we thought the meal was over, there was more.  It was incredible to say the least.

So far, I have not blogged about our night time activities, but this night's story I feel like I need to shout from the top of a mountain.  A lot of Belgrade's night life takes place in boats along the Sava river, and that was our plan for tonight. We walked for a while from Zemun, trying to find a place good enough for us Huskies.  We were turned away from one that was a private party, and passed on some crappy barges.  We were close to giving up.  That's when we saw a brilliantly illuminated boat across from the Kalemegdan, heavily decorated and blasting music.  We tested to see if there was a list (by strolling right in), and walked into a dream world.  Now, Serbian women are the most beautiful women I have seen in my 22 years, and they all apparently were on this boat.  Whispering to ourselves around the massive crate in the middle of the boat filled with top shelf booze, we initially guessed it was a wedding we were crashing, and assumed we would get kicked out sooner or later.  Then we realized it wasn't a wedding: it was the after party for the Miss Serbia 2011 pageant.  Out of the most beautiful women in the world, we were in the same space as fifty of the cream of the crop.  It was difficult to drink with our jaws hanging open, but we made it work.  I ventured into some black label whiskey, and asked the bartender for just a finger.  He slapped me on the back, said "This is Serbia!" and topped me off.  There was great dancing and pictures with the contestants.  The winner was not the one I would have picked (she must have a great personality, there was a lot of other talent there), but it was still our greatest night out so far, and surely set the bar high.  It was definitely a great advertisement for Belgrade's tourism industry!

July 6th

Today we had a lecture back at the Belgrade Lady from Mladen, who had been given the daunting task of catching us all up on the history of the Balkans, beginning in pre-Roman times and ending for today just before World War I.  Obviously the history of the region is very complicated, with Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians moving into the area up until the 7^th century.  There was little difference between these tribes then.  The Ottoman invasion in the 14^th century served to introduce religion more into the ethnic identity equation, which is also based on the dialects used.  The languages are all almost identical.  According to Mladen, about 90% of the words in Serbia, Croatia, and amongst other ethnicities are the same, giving this common language the term “BHS” (Bosnian, Hrvatska, meaning Croatian, and Serbian).  We also discussed how since the rise of nation-states, there has been ethnic nationalism, but also the Yugoslav idea- that the tribes in the Balkans are all the same, and that they should unite to form a strong state to deter empires (namely the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottomans) from attempting to control them.  It is a very complicated and intricate history, but Mladen was able to make sure we all got a basic understanding of it and a grasp of the different identities in the Balkans.

Our structured meeting in the afternoon fell through, so our group improvised, and opted to return to the Kalemegdan to visit the military museum of Yugoslavia.  We found it interesting that the museum allowed for equal information about Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbian history, as the current Serb government has yet to really create and instill a strong national identity.  The museum remains unchanged since the breakup of Yugoslavia.  An amused Mladen mentioned that he would have loved to see the Croatian version of the museum, and how it differed.  The museum was very interesting, stretching from Celtic weapons to early Yugoslavs, from Turkish warriors and Janissaries to Communist troops.

Just wanted to throw on here that I love this place.  When we first drove in with Dragan, I was really not super psyched to be in Belgrade for two weeks.  The Socialist architecture did not give off the most aesthetically pleasing vibe, as I had been expecting one of the ancient beautiful cities of central and western Europe.  But Belgrade has definitely grown on me.  I’ve begun to look past the post war buildings, seeing a city with a vibrant and strong culture, a people who are hospitable and kind, and needless to say, I’m having the time of my life.

July 5th

We got up early in order to have a meeting in New Belgrade.  A healthy length away from our hotel, our group was forced to use the Belgrade public transportation in the middle of rush hour.  It is similar to other big city rush hour commutes, packed into a crowded bus with no air conditioning and little room to maneuver. Not the most pleasant moment of our trip, but definitely a cultural experience, we'll put it that way.

Getting off the bus in New Belgrade, we walked to the headquarters of B92, an extremely influential media group in Serbia.  Originating as a radio station, the liberal station was involved in the turning of the tide against Milosevic, refusing to be silenced by the state and broadcasting news and information without a license.  It was the most popular television and radio station in the last two decades, with several channels, including a 24 hour news source.  It has since fallen in ratings, and has resumed its role as a government watchdog, but still remains popular for news and entertainment.  We were escorted around the station by one of the co-founders and current leaders, who was fired for standing against Milosevic, but is now back on the job.  He explained the inner workings of the station, showing the studios for news, morning talk shows, and radio.  He gave an interesting tour, but many of us were distracted by the Spongebob episode playing on the several screens around the building.

After another cramped bus ride back into Old Belgrade, we broke for lunch.  We reconvened at the "Belgrade Lady," a skyscraper a few blocks from our hotel.  One of the building's inhabitants is the Belgrade Open School, a private university of which Mladen, one of our trip leaders and Belgrade native, is an alum.  One of the ads greeting us outside the elevator to the 16th floor was for the chance to enjoy an American experience studying abroad at the University of Nebraska. What fun.  

Anyway, the school was kind enough to let us use one of its classrooms for our lectures for the next week and a half.  The lecture this day served as one to ground us in the purpose of the dialogue.  We looked at the ideas of different theorists of cultures around the world and how they applied to the Balkans.  Mostly, we focused on Sam Huntington’s idea of “Clash of Civilizations,” with Professor Sullivan slashing his theories of essentially dividing the world’s population into 7 or 8 groups.  The lecture complicated these theories, challenging the simple notion that the conflicts in the Balkans go only as deep as religion and other easily identifiable factors.

July 4th in Belgrade

Happy Fourth of July!  I did miss celebrating Independence Day Northridge family-style, but this way was just as enjoyable.

In the morning, our group walked just behind our hotel to the dominating Saint Sava Temple.  It is Serbia’s largest Orthodox temple, and second largest in the world, with construction beginning in 1935 and still being completed (due to stoppages from conflicts).  Saint Sava is considered the founder of Serbian Orthodoxy in the 13^th century, and is obviously a national hero (one of the rivers that runs through Belgrade is named after him).  Four hundred years after he died, the Turks burned his bones in response to a Serbian nationalist uprising.  Thus, with his ashes scattered to the winds, Serbian believers see Sava as being everywhere.  The temple is already very beautiful, and will be an even more incredible landmark when it is finished.

After enjoying the temple, our group walked across downtown Belgrade, admiring the mix of architecture along the way.  Pre-WWII structures with Eastern and Slavic influences stand side-by-side with bland, gray, blockish Socialist buildings, with a few modern edifices sprinkled in.

Our walk culminated in the famous Belgrade Fortress, the Kalemegdan.  Positioned at the meeting of the Danube and Sava Rivers, the fortress has been a strategic position for centuries.  It has been held by all nations who have controlled the region, including the Celts, Romans, Byzantines, Turks, and Austrians.  Its incredible architecture shows its history, and it provides impressive views of the rivers as well as New Belgrade.

Following the fortress, we had a chance to have a special meeting with the Archbishop of Serbia.  The Slovene who is in charge of a small population of Catholics in predominantly Orthodox Serbia, the Archbishop was extremely kind, generous with his time, and helpful towards our dialogue’s purpose.  He explained the history of Catholicism in the Balkans, pointing out that the first Christians outside the Levant were here, as Paul came through on his way to Rome.  The Archbishop explained that any meeting of east and west, such as the cultures of the Balkans, shouldn’t be divided, but rather treated as gold.  He also explained how essential the youth of today are in making these dreams of peaceful coexistence a reality.

After the meeting with the Archbishop, our group was given the night off.  Many of us chose to head down to the Serbian Parliament, where a homecoming celebration was being prepared for the returning Wimbledon champion, native Serb Novak Djokovic.  A frenzied crowd waited outside for hours, waving flags and singing traditional as well as popular Serb songs.  When Djokovic emerged brandishing the cup, cheers and fireworks in the Serb national colors poured from the masses.  Merriment verily ensued, with cars honking and reveling going deep into the night.  Even though we weren’t in the US for Independence Day, we all still got a chance to see some awesome red, white, and blue fireworks and have a big party!

Zdravo!

Welcome to my blog about my dialogue to the Balkans! Our group arrived yesterday (7/3) after a long trip from Boston via Munich.  I was very excited to get to know everybody, and chatting with fellow students at Logan Airport about our expectations really helped to get me pumped for the trip.  We arrived in Belgrade at about 1230 pm (body clocks six hours behind).  I had planned for my first picture of the trip to be us going through customs, but was halted by a stern Serb guard who made me delete the pic with a thick Slavic accent.  After meeting with other students and Mladen and Ioannis at the airport, we also met up with our bus tour guide, Dragan.  From the airport to the city, Dragan pointed out interesting facts about the landscape and history of our route, with Mladen chiming in with personal stories.

One site along the route that caught my eye was a bombed out building in the middle of downtown Belgrade.  It was in the center of the government complex.  Dragan explained that it was the former Defense Department, destroyed during the war with NATO in the 1999.  The location is being competed over by companies and government agencies, and in the meantime the rubble serves as a monument and a reminder to locals and tourists alike about the war.

For the next 15 nights, our group is staying at the Hotel Slavija.  Professor Sullivan described it as "a good location for a hotel, but not the best hotel!"  Certainly when we checked our rooms, it was clear we were not in Kansas anymore. A reminder of Serbia's Communist past, the hotel provides the basics, as it is just being used as a home base.  Discussing our rooms, we swapped tidbits such as weird smells, lack of shower curtains, the lack of feng shui, and the mysterious "Foxy" shampoo.

The surrounding area certainly holds many conveniences, from ATMs and Exchanges, to coffee shops and kabob joints, to markets and bars.  While exploring with Dan, Liz, and Colin yesterday, we walked down one of the main streets all the way to the Belgrade fortress, the Kalemegdan. Along the way, we saw beautiful fountains, street vendors with gelato, and underwear stores.

The day was certainly a great opening experience to the knowledge, culture, and fun that Belgrade and the Balkans have to offer!