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A Trip to Bosnia and Croatia in the Tale of An American Student in Florence
This journal entry was submitted by Claire Hannes, a Gonzaga-in Florence 2008 Fall Semester student enrolled in Professor Mercedes Matos Carrara’s Introduction to Florence class
Bosnia and Croatia
My weekend in Bosnia and Croatia was amazing. I learned much about these eastern European countries during the five day trip! I greatly appreciated my experience for many reasons, which I will elaborate on.
On Wednesday the 26th we departed for Ancona by bus (a five hour ride) and then departed on an overnight ten hour ferry to Split, Croatia. The ferry ride was fun, but it was pretty difficult to sleep on the floor! Around 6 am we were all wakened by a lady telling us to get off the floor. We took a bus to Madjugorje, the town in Bosnia in which we stayed, but not before Ovidio was sent back because he did not have a visa. This was a disappointment to everyone, and we would spend the weekend leaving spaces open in photographs so that he could be photo-shopped into them.
Madjugorje was a curious little town, extremely religious, and beautiful. I was effected by our venture up Apparition Hill, the hill where Mary supposedly appeared to her visionaries and told them that God exists. To this day, as our guide informed us, there are people who claim that Mary appears to them daily or annually at the same time. It was very peaceful walking up the hill and sitting at the top for 20 minutes in silence before the statue of Mary.
Though I am not Catholic I found it to be a spiritual experience. The view was beautiful thanks to the scenery and the setting sun. On our first afternoon in Madjugorje we also were shown the statue of Jesus that literally “bleeds” water from the knee, supposedly for an unknown, impossible reason (the statue is said to be pure cement). That was very interesting to see, and I still do not know what to think of it!
On Friday we departed for Mostar, where we met with University students who talked with us about life in Bosnia and the effects of the recent war of 1992. The girl whom my group talked to was nineteen years old, Muslim, and tired of the religious divisions still apparent in society.
She explained that although her parents are bothered that she has Christian friends, much of the younger generation does not think that religion is important in this sense and wants to overcome the biases. The Bosnian war of 1992 was between Muslim Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks, and killed well over 97,000 people. The war had a large impact on the city of Mostar.
Mostar was a beautiful city and I decided to research more about its history. I found that it is Bosnia’s fifth largest country and is named after its old bridge--“Stari Most.” This bridge was destroyed during and rebuilt after the war, and pieces of its original structure still sit scattered on the shore of the Niretva river. The city is still ethnically divided by the bridge-- with mainly Croats on the west and Bosniaks on the east, but political control is shared equally.
During the war, Mostar was sieged by The Yugoslav’s People’s Army (JNA) for 18 months, and when the Croatian Defense Council attempted to take it back, the JNA launched shelling. 12 mosques and numerous other buildings were destroyed. Eventually Croats and Bosniaks forced the JNA out of Mostar. Since the war, over 15 million dollars have been spent on the reconstruction of the city (mainly by the UN).
After spending the day in Mostar, we took the buses back to Madjugorje where some friends and I had Thanksgiving dinner at an Italian restaurant (we needed a taste of home). While we were talking, an American woman came over who asked us where we were from. She then told us about her life, and explained that her doctor sends her to Madjugorje every six or seven months so that she can be “healed” of the effects of the Carbon Monoxide poisoning she got thirty years ago and that her daughter died from. She said that when she starts to feel ill she travels to Bosnia and becomes better. It was interesting to hear her story, since many people believe in Madjugorje’s healing effects due to said Mary’s presence in the town.
On Saturday we traveled to Dubrovnki, Croatia, “the pearl of the Adriatic” which is a gorgeous city on the sea. It was definitely the most beautiful place that we visited on the trip, and I took a lot of photos! The city’s patron saint is Saint Blaise (Sveti Vlaho in Slavic), whose statues are everywhere, and I found in my research that Europe’s third oldest pharmacy (from 1317!) is located and functioning in Dubrovnik.
The day was very relaxing. Lindsay, Eryn and I went to a seafood restaurant where Lindsay was brave and ordered squid. We then walked around the raised pathway that extends above the city and offers amazing views. When it was almost time to leave, everyone relaxed at a bar situated right on the water and watched the sunset. It was the perfect place to be. Those were the highlights of my eventful Thanksgiving weekend!
Lifestyle, Arts and Entertainment - a8.12.11.14.00
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