This entire trip has been nothing short of spectacular, but these past few days have been the most influential, not just of this trip- but of my entire life. I can without a doubt say that I am an entirely different and changed person.
The day before yesterday, we departed from Belgrade and began our quest to Montenegro. Along the way, we made stops in Srebrenica and The Bridge on the Drina.
The view from my window on the bus was beautiful. The mountains of Bosnia are incomparable in magnificence to any other that I have seen before. Situated in this magnificent scene is the small town of Srebrenica. In Srebrenica some of the most cruel and horrific acts a man could ever commit occurred in 1995. Serbia committed acts of genocide against Bosniak Muslims. In total 8,375 men (and some women and children) were slaughtered. There are still finding bodies today in mass graves scattered across the mountains.
While in Srebrenica - we visited with an organization that is working to move Srebrenica past its dark past. They had little funding and just listening to the women speak was terribly depressing. Her words preached hope, but in her eyes and expressions, hope was no were to be found.
On a happier note, we had the opportunity to visit The Bridge on the Drina- which was the inspiration for Ivo Andric's famous novel. This experience was rather emotional for me. After reading the entire book- it was sad to see that the problems created around the bridge in the past have not been resolved in the present- or I guess I should say no happy ending in the end. There was trash on the spectacular bridge and beggars hunched in the corners. The town around the bridge seemed to be on the poverty line. I would think that such a great bridge would yield a great city.
After leaving the bridge, we headed to Montenegro...we didn't see much because it was getting dark, but what we did see was AMAZING- something out of a fairytale. The mountains, lakes, and tunnels through the mountains were stunning!
No comments:
Post a Comment