The monstrosities to MOSTAR

2 August 2013: Yesterday, after a three-hour bus ride from Dubrovnik to Mostar that, for political reasons required three border checkpoints between Croatia and Bosnia/ Herzegovina, I saw first-hand the strong lingering effects of the massacres that Serbs and Montenegrans inflicted on their neighbors thoroughout the 1990s after the collapse of the former Yugoslavia. Unlike both Slovenia and Croatia, which have both managed to rebuild and also become members of the European Union, Bosnia/Herzegovina still suffers tremendously and Mostar became my first major piece of anecdotal evidence that I personally saw.

Before going on my trip,  I had never even heard of Mostar, but, through traveling, I had heard it was a small city steeped in a cultural confluence of Christians, Muslims and a small Jewish district. I felt like I needed to see it ( and Sarajevo) and I am glad I did.  I feel like I need greater understanding of the cultural diffusion that took place for hundreds of years in the Balkans, and Mostar was great for that.

Mostar was also extremely important in the sense that I really gained a greater realization  of the crimes committed under former Serb dictator Slobodan Milosevic and the near complete destruction of a city that is a UNESCO World Heritage site that had been around since the 1500s. When I arrived, I saw decrepit buildings pockmarked with bullet holes and damage from shrapnel as well as scores of graves of people who paid the ultimate price defending the city.
I will just say I was saddened and angered to think something so horrible like that would have happened 50 years after the Holocaust on European soil in what was a highly advanced socialist nation.

So as not to focus solely on negatives, I did find Mostar to be really beautiful, with the Old Bridge, ornate mosques, and turquoise river that runs right through the city. It was, until I arrived in Sarajevo last night, the most Islamic city I had ever visited and I heard calls for weekday prayers all over the city. It was really nice to branch out and expand my own personal experiences.