Sarajevo, Sarajevo

Sarajevo, Sarajevo. Out of the many exciting places in the Balkans, this city is most familiar to my ears and imagination. I use to think, when I just finished pre-school, that Sarajevo was a wicked city ruled by the bestial Serbs, due to overwhelming reports about the Bosnian war in the news at that time. As a kid- a very small kid- I couldn't yet relate places to its circumstances, let alone histories. I never understood what war was. And I guess I never wanted to know. So when I heard "Sarajevo" and "Serbs", I made my conclusion, not too irresponsibly, considering my age.

Today, as I hopped into the bus to Sarajevo, my understanding of it was still noticeably shallow. There wasn't much that I could boast on my knowledge of Bosna or any cities in it, but about the war. Brushing the war aside, Sarajevo is to me a city of tradition. I could already see, in my outstretching imagination, traditional Bosnians walking and hustling in and around the city. Bosnians with their tall hat, long skirt, and simple scarf. I could also see cities and hills, and I could see large busy markets of hundreds of years old. The only problem was, I wondered if any of these imaginations are well-founded.

Although Nubli understandably chose to dream away again, my eyes would never give in, perhaps due to the excitement that I myself couldn't explain any better. Rijeka Neretva, the green river from Mostar seemed to want to send me off- it flowed calmly beside our bus as we left our trail. So, for the next two hours before its disappearance my neck was locked into looking to the left, with my lips whispering praises to the Almighty, and my eyes washed by His awe. In between those, I was unduly entertained by a cute 7 year old english speaking boy who found so much interest in me. Nothing better, from Allah, to fill my time.

As the sky turned darker, I began to notice some changes in the terrain of our surrounding. The road curved and turned more vigorously, and on our right a valley filled with lights became more and more visible. In a matter of minutes, before I could decipher our position, we entered a main road and started to drive along with an old tram, sliding by our side. "We're in Sarajevo", I whispered to Nubli.