Mostar
The war in Mostar is still present
March 14, 2005
The ride was good and I got into Mostar late last night, but I had a place to stay
and went there immediately. The people here were extremely welcoming and when I
asked for the location of a good restaurant they made me dinner; when I asked what
there’s to see in the town, they gave me a tour.
Dinner was good, truly Turkish, which I was told means that it’s also truly Bosniak.
We (the family I stayed with ate with me) had seasoned rice, a role with rice and
meat in it, cabbage salad, and baklava for dessert. The food was really good outside
the cabbage salad and I practically inhaled it all.
After dinner, I headed out into the town with the young man who lived and worked
there, unfortunately I forgot, and never could correctly pronounce his name. He
showed me the city; all the mosques were lit up, reflecting off the green river
as people sat outside drinking their coffee and tea. The people seemed at peace
in this perfect little town with cobbled-stoned streets and stone roofed buildings.
We walked through old town, across Stari Most, Crooked Bridge (both rebuilt since
the war) then up the other side of the river until we hit the old Tito building
then returned to the house.
Along our walk he told me all about the war; he fled to Skopje, whereas Omar (whose
house I’m staying at) fled to Turkey. He talked of the Serb attack, then the much
longer and brutal Croat attack on the city. The Croats destroyed the bridges and
many mosques. The city still lies in ruins and much of it is war-torn. The city
is slowly being re-built, but much of the international funding has disappeared
on its way due to the extensive corruption present in the city.
He also talked of the tension still today and the old front line defining where
the Bosniaks and the Croats can go. During the days they can cross, but after about
8:00 at night if anyone crosses that line they’ll get beat up pretty bad. He said
you can tell in the face who’s Bosniak and who’s Croatian, but I could only tell
on a few individuals. He said it’s a matter of time before another war breaks out,
unless everyone leaves first, but they can’t get out easily and they need visas
now even to visit former Yugoslav countries.
On the way back there was a call to prayer, but no one seemed to even notice. He
said that no one is really religious and the mosques look nice, but the city only
needs one since, although people believe in Allah, they rarely go to the mosque.
We talked of Tito and Milosevic, the former was great and treated everyone well.
He said that Tito made the people work together and that it wasn’t forced, but just
was, whereas Milosevic was terrible. He said the Bosniaks still look favorably on
Tito and have buildings and statues for him, but Milosevic is in The Hague and if
he ever returns the people will kill him immediately.
“This is one city, but two countries” is a good explanation of Mostar and “this
isn’t even a country, it’s just a mess” would be a good description of Bosnia &
Herzegovina.
Later we went out to a café. Everyone goes out at about 8 or 9:00 and is in by 11:30,
no one stays out past midnight. Plus being Muslim there aren’t bars, but only cafes
that serve coffee, tea, and alcohol. In the cafe there were people drinking their
tea next to others drinking alcohol. The music seemed very Turkish, but he said
it’s Bosniak. He said everything that’s Bosniak is also Turkish, and that they’re
the same thing.
He also talked about the local languages being identical, but having three different
names for it. Whereas we call it Serbo-Croatian in English, the Croats call it Croatian,
the Serbs call it Serbian, and the Bosniaks call it Bosniak.
He also talked about his life; he was born in the north of Bosnia, but his parents
left him and he was sent to an orphanage in Mostar. At 13 the war in Mostar broke
out and the whole orphanage went to Skopje for five years at which point they returned
to Mostar. He talked of his lack of friends and how everyone does drugs. He didn’t
consider marijuana a drug, but said that he used to smoke it every day, but has
since stopped.
Omar is like his father and lets him live and eat in his house, Omar pays for his
cigarettes and in return he works the house. I think the two of them need each other
personally, and they seem to get along well and understand each other.
Omar I know very little about, he went to Turkey during the war and said that the
house has been his family’s for generations; he’s only now finishing the repairs
from the war. I don’t know where his wife is, but I met his daughter, who now lives
in Zagreb. He’s a retired professor and speaks French and German fluently.
Typical Bosniak buildings
Old town
Today I woke up early and saw Mostar during the day, I also jumped over to the Catholic
part of the city. Not much to say though, I saw the same stuff I saw yesterday,
plus the other side, then took off to the station, where I met a Japanese guy. His
bus was about 15 minutes late, mine was an hour late, which seems typical here.
On the way out of town we passed mine fields and old valleys filled with junk cars
on the way out of town along with a huge cemetery on the hill in the Catholic part
of the city, yet another remnant of the war.
Catholic side
Neretva River
Stari Most - Old Bridge
Stari Most - Old Bridge