Sarajevo

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When you think of Sarajevo, the first thing that comes to mind is the war. It wasn't that many years ago that this city was under seige. Reminders are still visible - the UN peacekeeping force, the burn-out skeleton of the former parliament building still standing, the scars on the pavement. But Sarajevo seemed to me like a city that was rebuilding and moving on, not dwelling on the past.

The thing that really made an impression on me is the relgious diversity of the city. Although the population is primarily Muslim, there are large Christian and Jewish populations that all seem to coexist rather well. I'd never been in a Muslim city before, and the first time I heard the call to prayer it really hit me.

It was ramadan as well. One day around 4:30 me and a girl Samantha I met wanted to get a bite to eat, and we noticed most of the restaurants were empty, but there was one nearly full with people. We figured this must be where the non-muslims go, so we sat down, and our waitress brought us two glasses of water and plate with some dates. Samantha took a sip of water and looked up to see everyone in the restaurant gaping at her. We didn't realize that it was 15 minutes before sunset and everyone was just sitting in the restaurant waiting until they could eat and drink. Luckily, we were spared a moment later as a large group of old women came in to the restaurant. There weren't enough seats, so we gave them our table and ducked out managing not to look too horrible. A few minutes later, walking through town, we could see the restaurants packed with people just sitting there, staring at their food. Then a cannon went off to signifiy the sunset, and the town suddenly exploded with the clink of forks and everyone tearing into their food.

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Comments

[aki]

:)
hehe i loved the way you described the dinner experiences...:)..Must have had a few laughs after that..Nah you were never in trouble...Bosnians aren't like that..in fact very like yourself...cheers