Day 28: Hello, Sarajevo!

6/3/22

Hands down - favorite city yet...

Here, there is a meeting of cultures, west and east, and the blend is beautiful.

We went to a Turkish restaurant the night before.

The food was flat out amazing. I had a kebab with garlic and onion, and a side of bulgar.

On the right is my friend's dish, though I don't remember what it is called, it was tasty and especially so with the yogurt that came on top of it. Seriously yummy, I want more!!

Also, the host gave us some Turkish tea (on the house!) and as a tea conoisseuse, it was delicious. It was gentler than black tea, but that is my closest approximation. I also loved the beautiful glass it was served in.

If you ever go to Sarajevo, which you should, the restaurant is called Konyali.

We visited the Faculty of Political Sciences of Sarajevo!

Our professor host was Sarina Bakić, Professor of Sociology, with a focus in cultural diplomacy and reconciliation.

She told us how Sarajevo is the Jerusalem of Europe, how it is doubtlessly multicultural and multi-religious, and has been since antiquity. You can find Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim and Jewish houses of worship all within the same city area.

She attributes much of the resurgence of conflict to the political elites, who feed into nationalistic ideas for their own agendas to stay in power. It is not in their political interest to have a peaceful society.

Bakić describes how detached they are from society- they have so much power they don’t care what ideas academics like her have, they don’t care about their young people.

The Dayton Accords that created Bosnia and Herzegovina as we know it today worked to stop the war, but today there are some issues with it. Bakić referred to it a straightjacket. The arrangement of the peace accords worked 25 years ago, but now the context is different. In order for it to be upheld, each group needed certain protections, which they got. Only a member of a constituent ethnic group can run for office, but today this restricts minorities. The constituent groups consist of Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs. There are two federal entities: Serbs are the majority in Republika Srpska, and Bosniaks and Croats make up the Federation of Bosnia, with a Bosniak majority. However, this system leaves out Roma, Jewish and Slovak peoples, who cannot be candidates for presidency.

There are also segregational elements of society, such as in schools, Serb children go to school on one floor of the building while Bosniak children are on another. In those different floors under one roof, they learn completely different histories and views of the war. The young learn in school to be afraid of the other, and “they did this to us.” They don’t learn about the other, often don’t want to know him, and this gap in information allows them to grow nationalist ideas.

In one city, young people protested to end this segregation and got the change they desired. It can be done, and many places want to do it. However, there is also still that fear. Parents feel fear sending their children into what they think are unsafe situations with the other at school.

This is detrimental to reconstructing a multi-ethnic state.

Bosnia doesn’t have a ministry of education at a state level, because state entities require consensus.

Interestingly, this generation is even more exclusive than the older generation. They tend not to have mixed marriages, and keep to their “own” and feel safer that way. These mixed religion marriages (remember ethnicity and religion are one and the same here) were beautiful and normal in Yugoslavia

The older generation who lived through the wars reject this violence, but some young people would take up arms if the Dayton Accords were in jeopardy.

Bakić wisely attributes this behavior to a deeply traumatized society, where anxiety and fear of the other is a form of existence.

Bakić says that Bosnian people feel like they are in an experiment, and they’re tired of it because no one asked what the citizens actually want.

There is also a distrust for the UN and the EU, both of whom failed to prevent the atrocities such as Srebrenica and let the war last longer than it needed to. Simultaneously, she says there is the expectation in Bosnia that someone else will step in and solve the problem.

In the politics here, there isn’t a precedent or culture to kick out incompetent government officers when they do something resignation worthy- and you know they won’t resign. This exists other places in the west, but that culture is absent here.

She is a fascinating woman and powerful speaker! I honestly look up to her a lot after today.

Sarajevo has plentiful high quality sweets shops. One, ChokoLokum (where I even made friends with the ladies who worked there!) had the most tastily crafted goodies made from Turkish Delight (Lokum), nougat, and pistachios or hazelnuts with everything from rose petals to saffron on the outside.

I am bringing my family a box so they can taste this magic! ...If I don't eat it first! 😂

Not sure what the strange shadow on my head is... oh well.

We had a traditional Bosnian dinner, and it was very tasty. So good in fact, that I forgot to photograph the food before we ate it.

At dinner, I absolutely loooved this pitcher. I went and bought a similar one for myself later. It's wrapped up for travel, but when I unwrap it I will share a picture!! The design and craftsmanship is enchanting.

Even the way it pours water is beautiful.

The one I bought was covered top to end in engraved a floral pattern akin to this one, colored silver with black in the crevices of the design to add depth.

I think this is something I will use for my whole life. The gentleman engraved my name and "Sarajevo" on the bottom too!

Loving this city already,

Ćao for now!!