We’ve been able to explore the city freely
I made it through my first full day in Sarajevo, feeling much more lively than I did yesterday (running off barely an hour of sleep on the plane). For the start of the trip, we’ve had a lot of unstructured time, and so we’ve been able to explore the city freely for a good portion of the past couple of days.
This city definitely feels different from others that I’ve visited. The geographical setting reminds me very much of Belize. The city we were in there had a huge volcano overlooking the city, and Sarajevo is surrounded with mountains — we’re situated in a valley, and the farther up the mountains around us you go, the more residential it gets. However, the open air cafés and restaurants, as well as the young children being out and about late into the night with their families, reminds me very much of France.
It’s also very small; we took a talking tour today that was only two hours long, and yet we saw a good portion of the city, including the bridge in front of which the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in 1914. The streets are narrow — in many of the areas we walked through that were heavy with restaurants and cafés and shops, the only traffic was pedestrian. It contributes to the less modern feel of the city. There are very few modern looking buildings, and many streets are cobblestone or uneven.
Another thing that stands out is the evidence of the war that’s all around the city. So many buildings have chunks ripped out of them from shelling or bullet holes peppering their walls. In a square we visited on our tour, there were scars from shells filled in with red paint. Those marks are called a Sarajevo rose, and it’s there to serve as a reminder of the grenades that would be dropped in the city, killing civilians. As we took the bus into the heart of the city from the airport, the surroundings slowly got nicer, but many of the more decrepit buildings farther out were far more scarred.
One thing our guide from the walking tour this morning emphasized repeatedly was the multicultural nature of the city; it’s known as the “Jerusalem of Europe”, because it’s home to four major religions: Serb Orthodox, Croatian Catholic, Bozniak Muslim, and Judaism. In our short tour, we walked past worship spaces for each of the four, but there are literally dozens throughout the city. It’s evident in the architecture as well — there’s a line through one of the marketplaces dividing the side of the Ottoman Empire from the side of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A difference of fifty feet on either side gives a very different view; the Ottoman side is crammed with market stalls, and the architecture on the Austro-Hungarian side looks much more like Western Europe. However, it’s impossible to differentiate religions and ethnic groups by looking at people. The only identifying factor I’ve seen so far is the headscarves that some women choose to wear.
It seems that on every street you turn to, there’s a new hostel and money exchange stall. It’s telling of the growing tourism industry here (rising by 10-20% each year, according to our tour guide) — there are countless places to stay, and it’s very cheap, ideal for young people backpacking through Europe. We went out to lunch today, and between the seven of us, our coffees, lunches, and shared appetizers came out to 91 km, which is barely $50.
We didn’t have much of an orientation per se; our walking tour introduced us to the city, and soon we’ll be going to the American University of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AUBiH) to visit and begin our lectures there. The things that struck me most on our tour were the spot where the Archduke was assassinated (it felt like you were standing on history — which you were!), the abundance of houses of worship, and the marks of war that still pepper the buildings and streets. It’s the subtle things that make this feel so different from home.
In addition, we’ve been having meals with our professor, TA, and student advisor to introduce us to the city and language and see how we’re adjusting. My group has only had one thus far, but it’s been a great way to avoid tourist trap restaurants and get a feel for where the best places to go are!