I'm on a bus from Mostar (Bosnia) to Dubrovnik. Bosnia is a wonderful country with just about the kindest, most generous people I've ever met. This is in large part (though not completely, in my opinion... But what do I know) to having recently gone through a horrible war.
Our host in Mostar, a man in his 50's, had no choice but to take arms when his hometown of Mostar came under attack. As I understand it, the Bosnians and Croats were fighting on the same side, then began fighting each other. The Main Street in Mostar became the main battle line, and most of Mostar (a city of 100,000) was destroyed. Our host said he was only a civilian and didn't know anything about fighting. He was terrified, but after a month he said he was no longer scared and said "I could go like this to the snipers (sticking out his tongue in mockery) and not be scared." He is proud of his town. He has traveled the world (including Saudi Arabia three times, where he said everyone gives him free stuff because he is from Bosnia and they take pity on him), but loves his hometown and will never leave. His perspective on life is very simple: everyone is human (not Bosnian or Serb or whatnot), love don't hate. His affect is one of being carefree, but with with the knowledge and wisdom of having gone through a horrible time.
Our tour guide in Sarajevo, Erwin, is in his early 30's. He lived during the siege of Sarajevo for two months before his family (minus his father) escaped to Catalonia. There, he learned Catalan and Castellano, which has served him well. For years he gave free walking tours, but then his mom had a heart attack so now he's made a business of giving tours. He said Sarajevo only has one shot at recovering. If there's a terrorist attack, then the tourism industry will suffer tremendously (unlike Madrid, London, etc. which will always attract tourists despite terrorist attacks). He (like every other Bosnian we met) knows that his government is corrupt and painfully bloated/slow (64% of the government's budget goes toward administrative costs). He has a dark sense of humor, as he says do other Bosnians (this existed before the war but has since been exacerbated). But he was an excellent and generous tour guide. Of course all guides are incentivized by Trip Advisor and therefore go the extra mile, but I have no doubt that his service to clients was sincere.
Americans are very highly regarded in Bosnia. Madeline Albright was the one who first presented evidence to the security council of massacres. Richard Holbrooke (according to a documentary I watched) is highly regarded. Bill Clinton as well - even though our Mostar host keenly said "Monica Lewinsky and then Bill Clinton help us!" Our Mostar host was very happy to know we are Americans. He exclaimed "I love Americans! You all so happy and say 'oh this amazing'. I have guests from Finland. I talk English like Tarzan but they talk like robot. I say 'how are you' and the answer (he does an impression of a robotic, dour Finnish person)." He went on to talk about how he disliked travelers from Saudi Arabia because they have tons of money and act like it.
I've heard this many times before about American tourists. Even though we may be crude/ignorant of the world beyond our borders, I'd much rather we be that than condescending.
Sarajevo has a very long history of being conquered by others: Ottomans, Romans, Austro-Hungarians. Our host in Sarajevo said this gives them an openness to others (not in a "we are the world" sense, but there's definitely a baseline tolerance when you have Catholics, orthodox Christians, and Muslims living side by side. Funny how that works, and is in contrast to the way we self-segregate ourselves in the US (and other countries too, of course).
Side note: I'm reading a book by Krista Tippet from the On Being podcast, and she talks about John Lewis and john powell and the way the conceive of loving the other... Encounters and policies will help, but human nature is still to hold biases. Of course, implicit bias is becoming more and more accepted as an important lens through which to view the world, but I liked how john powell articulates that we're undergoing a shift from only policies (eg school bussing) to a more sophisticated understanding of human nature (implicit bias) as a necessary means for change.
Anyway, I really like Bosnia.
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