Sorry, couldn't resist. It was way weirder when the flight attendant said that to us on the plane. People haven't stopped welcoming us to Sarajevo since we got here, which is bizarre since all I can think about is the movie.
I've been writing more installments of the blog, but I haven't had access to the Internet until now, the evening of our arrival in Sarajevo at the home of my cousin, Michelle, and her husband Marco. Unfortunately, we don't have the password to their wireless network, so I'm not on my own laptop. Thus you'll have to wait until tomorrow for me to copy and paste what I've written since Saturday about the rest of our time in Munich. I'll skip ahead to Sarajevo so that Munich—including a very exciting surprise at the airport—can be a separate entry. Sorry to be disjointed, but as I told one reader earlier who was making suggestions about the blog, we're still on vacation here, folks.
The flight to Sarajevo was interesting in only small ways, in that I was one of only a handful of women on it and there were a bunch of military types on it as well. There's still an international military presence here. Also, everyone opted to drink beer and/or wine, even though it was barely noon. I realize that's an American observation, but it was amusing how much bottle clinking was happening. Of course, everyone was drinking in appropriately European moderation.
It took us less than two hours to get from Germany to Bosnia. As we taxied I thought about the scene in the movie with the UN press conference at the airport, during which a nearly-empty plane took off, not taking any of the Bosnian children to safety because that would have violated the terms of their mission. I'm hazy on the details of how that worked, although talking with Marco has helped clarify that part of my confusion is the result of it being a big mess of international proportions. Initially the UN was at the airport only to protect it, with nothing allowed to go in or out. Compound that with a munitions embargo because it was a civil war, so that the people of Sarajevo were sitting ducks as they were under siege with no weapons coming in to protect themselves, while being surrounded by the Yugoslav army with mortars and long-range rifles.
Back to the airport. It's easy to get sidetracked with recent history, since it's so thoroughly present here.
When we disembarked we were startled to see that the signs were first in English, second in Bosnian. That's only the case as the airport, not the rest of town, but it was certainly handy for us. It's a testament to how much international involvement there's been here in the past decade. The airport is tiny, pristine, and efficient. We were through passport control and baggage claim, meeting Michelle and Marco, within 15 minutes of landing. Their car was about a minute outside of the airport.
We jumped right into our visit by touring the Tunnel Museum, which is just on the other side of the airport. As we circumnavigated the airfield to get there, the signs of the recent war were already apparent, in the form of buildings pock-marked from shrapnel of mortar fire and brand-new construction to replace what had to be torn down. I was impressed at Michelle's finding the museum, since it's located through a neighborhood and a field; she commented that the first time she visited it was in the snow over unplowed roads. [The muezzins are at it again, by the way; we're surrounded by mosques and the sound of their calls echoes through the hills.] Before we got there she mentioned that it's an informal, family-run affair, and it is that; we parked in their driveway and met one of them on the way in, saying hi to their cat, who was perched on a sandbag.
The tunnel was built by the Bosnian army and volunteers during the war as the only way in and out of the besieged Sarajevo. It ran from a beneath an apartment building on the other side of the airport, beneath the airport, to the basement of the family's home. We saw a home-made video comprised of footage from the mortar fire on the city and the tunnel in action, which showed at one point the opposing army passing right outside the house but never knowing the tunnel was there. There was also a display of all the dignitaries and celebrities who've visited the museum, including Richard Holbrooke, who was one of the major players in the peace accord and is now working on our behalf in Afghanistan and Pakistan (the man doesn't like to take it easy). Daniel Craig, Richard Gere, Juliet Binoche, and Emily Watson were among the celebrities.
The pinnacle of the museum visit is going through what remains of the tunnel on this side, before it caved in from the weight of the planes at the airport. It's quite an eye-opening experience to hunch over in the cramped space, picturing it at least ankle-deep in water, trying to push an injured friend or family member on a cart to safety or to bring in loads of food for those starving in the city. Very few people escaped this way, since there wasn't exactly a great option for escaping further what with the army all around, but supplies got into the city that way, which was life-saving. In this place among many others here, it's hard not to shudder because it's at once so terrible and so recent.
That's all I have in me for now. There was more to our first day in Sarajevo and I hope there will be even more on our second, if only it'll stop pouring down rain. We can take a gentle shower, but we're not so into traipsing about drenched. I suppose a day of rest visiting with family couldn't hurt, though.
No comments:
Post a Comment