really?
Press Statement
Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the SpokespersonWashington, DCJune 5, 2012The United States deplores the statement made by newly elected Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic denying genocide in Srebrenica.
Genocide in Srebrenica is not a…
(Source: state.gov)
If the last lines of the 20th century were written in Moscow in December 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the prelude to the 21st century was written months later—and 20 years ago this month—in Bosnia’s capital, Sarajevo.
25 abandoned Yugoslavia monuments that look like they’re from the future
“These structures were commissioned by former Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito in the 1960s and 70s to commemorate sites where WWII battles took place or where concentration camps stood. They were designed by different sculptors and architects, conveying powerful visual impact to show the confidence and strength of the Socialist Republic. In the 1980s, these monuments attracted millions of visitors per year, especially young pioneers for their ‘patriotic education.’ After the Republic dissolved in early 1990s, they were completely abandoned, and their symbolic meanings were forever lost. From 2006 to 2009, Kempenaers toured around the ex-Yugoslavia region with the help of a 1975 map of memorials, bringing before our eyes a series of melancholy yet striking images.”
(via loveyourchaos)
Weekend Viewing. I just finished up watching the latest installment of Al Jazeera’s new show, The Café, which is fast becoming one of my all-time favorite things to watch. This show was in Sarajevo and brought together a number of people: authors, politicians, security and policy analysts to talk about the state of the political culture and the political system in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was incredibly intense. The arguments were angry and impassioned and there was a lot of deep discussion and back and forth about racism, nationalism, culture and the quality of the democratic system. It actually deserves to be a much longer show and include even more voices in the debate.
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Picture of the Day. Belgrade, Serbia. People gather at a ceremony for the opening of the new bridge over the Sava river. Photo Credit: Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty. Via.
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(via thepoliticalnotebook)
I am currently going through a coffee culture withdrawal. I miss the caffe bars that I see everywhere we go.
I am also now apparently immune to drip/french press coffee, prompting me to go to ERC and get a double macchiato every morning.
Being back in Boston is weird. I suddenly have all this free time (except when I’m writing my papers), and I’m not living out of a suitcase anymore.
Well, at least I have my kitchen back! :)
Finally got back to Boston after hours of travelling!
Zagreb was wonderful and lovely. The city itself was beautiful but there wasn’t much to do. I found out that most people leave the city during the summer for the coast (Dubrovnik or Split).
On the last day in Zagreb we had our presentations, which was really nerve-wrecking as I am never really good at public speaking. With that over (thankfully!!), we had almost a full free day to wander around/write papers. Turns out that it was a public holiday in Croatia then so everything was shut down.
We left Zagreb yesterday, I woke up early in the morning and went to downtown Zagreb with Isabelle to have ice cream for breakfast!! It was really delicious! And I bought macarons to bring back to Boston (3 of them disintegrated on the plane, but the rest are fine!).
Anyway I’m off to catch up on episodes of the Colbert Nation and The Daily Show! Pictures/final thoughts coming up soon!
PS. I miss Kiki-Fi-Keeks already :(
The dialogue is ending and we’re leaving Zagreb in 2 days. Time went by really fast, but really slow at the same time…Some of us are travelling after, or going home, but I’m going back to Boston (I WANT MY BED!!).
So far, our living conditions in Zagreb haven’t been the best; Our rooms are not air-conditioned and it is not exactly very chilly in the city. Speaking of city, we are not even in Zagreb proper. We are, however, right next to a mall which is pretty decent and also today was a great great day!
We went to the Presidential Palace and met with the Chief Advisor of Foreign Policy to the President of Croatia. IT WAS AWESOME. /nerdz
He talked about EU accession for Croatia (which spurred up a great debate), Croatia’s transition from a post-conflict society to a modern, developed society, transitional justice and more really interesting things! IT WAS AWESOME.
Entrance to the Presidential Palace.
IT WAS AWESOME.
After a great, excruciatingly slow lunch (can’t be European) and getting lost around Zagreb, we met the Director of the Lexicography in Zagreb. He talked about the language dispute in this region; how what was once admitted as a single, common language is now divided among the former Yugoslav countries that spoke the same language: Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin. They are all the same but with small regional differences. However, it is not politically correct if one refers to Croatian as Serbian or Bosnian, and the same with Serbian, Bosnian or Montenegrin.
The Eternal Flame, Sarajevo.
The Norwegian Embassy, Sarajevo.
Stari Most, Mostar.
On the way to Dubrovnik!
Sunset from our room in Dubrovnik.
Dubrovnik!
Split.
near “Mini Plitvice”, Slunj
Plitvice!
Plitvice again.
I apologize for the lack of blog posts…the internet in our hotels since we left Sarajevo hasn’t been the best and I haven’t been really patient enough to sit in the room and try connecting.
What happened since I last updated: we left Sarajevo and went to Mostar. Mostar was gorgeous, but really touristy. We had food by the river but it was really really bad and expensive. Boo.
The next day, we met with some representatives from the Croatian Democratic Union. They were really great, young people but their political ideology is exactly what is fueling the conflict in this region. They run on ethnic-nationalist platforms, and advocate for Croat rights. They don’t believe that there will ever be a ‘Bosnian’ identity because they claim that calling it ‘Bosnian’ alienates the Herzegovinian region in the country. I think that this is all just semantics; it’s just a name. I don’t remember if they ever directly answered the question of a united national identity.
We left Mostar for Dubrovnik on Friday (I think—days seem to blur when you’re on a dialogue). The drive there was gorgeous! The highway was along the Adriatic Sea. Basically, Dubrovnik was a mini-vacation on Northeastern’s time (thanks Professors!). The view from the hotel was gorgeous even though the hotel was a Slavija 2.0 (this time it had A/C and we weren’t stuck in a heatwave!)…
The beach wasn’t really a beach…it was not even sand. It was rocks (and painful!) and the Adriatic Sea is not warm at all. It was cold!! I miss the bathwater-temperature South China Sea. Dubrovnik’s Old Town was really bizarre, but beautiful at the same time.
We got to Split after 2 nights in Dubrovnik ($$$$$!), and we went to a beach again as Split was also on the coast. Split is the biggest coastal city in Croatia. The beach…really not a beach. One word: concrete. I had a great time regardless, and we also went through downtown Split (which was expensive as well).
I am now in a kitschy hotel near the Plitvice lakes, and today a group of us went to the mini version of the lakes. It was really beautiful and I can’t wait to see the real Plitvice lakes tomorrow! Hopefully this “hiking” business I’ve been hearing about is not real hiking because
a. I don’t hike
b. I don’t have sneakers
c. I don’t really feel like hiking but it’s supposed to be gorgeous
d. BAAAA
I know that my posts have been ridiculous/not in the best prose so forgive me! I blame the bus rides :P
Pictures later. Hopefully we’ll have great internet in Zagreb!
