The drive from Slavonski Brod, Croatia to Sarajevo is three-and-a-half hours on a two-lane road that winds with the river. Looking out the window at the small towns bordering the highway, steeples from cathedrals and mosques are the tallest points amid the deteriorating buildings and homes. It was dark when we pulled into Sarajevo on a Friday night. My GPS said we were driving past the Olympic Stadium of 1984, but the dark hole and the silence of the night echoing from the once-vibrant stadium was deafening.
We’ve now been in Croatia for the longest-shortest month and a half. In a time such as this, what could happen and what is happening are constant discussions, and “what if” has been the conversation starter for 30 days straight it seems.
The stories that the refugees carry with them in this crisis can barely be re-told with true impact in a blog post. Even a picture is a small snapshot of a scene that continues to change every moment of every day.
After a little over a month in Croatia, I [Jamie] figure it’s about time I contribute to this blog…
It’s hard to ignore all the misinformed political conversations surrounding the refugee crisis in Europe, particularly from current U.S. leadership and many presidential hopefuls. In the midst of political and media interests promoting social justice for migrants in Europe, I am severely disappointed at how easily we forget the need for earned immigration and the many men and women patiently waiting to enter our country legally - often at great risk to their lives. With 2,000 people walking through camp every day, it is hard not to wonder what will happen to them.
In one year, will the same children in need of clean clothes and a long bath be in school learning a new language? In 10 years, will their parents be established in a community surrounded by European neighbors they personally know? In 25 years, will the same teenagers that walk through this camp in Croatia be professionals or parents? The future weighs heavy on the present. Here are some faces of the future captured this week. After working nearly a month straight, we needed a break.. and Bled, Slovenia is the place to be. Castles and mountains gave us the refreshment we need to get back to Croatia and press on! After seeing these views, we sure miss Montana.
Molim! Bok Bok! Hvala!
Since these are the only three words we can speak in Croatian, they somehow always come out in exclamations and a giggle since it is obvious how culturally incorrect we are. Sometimes, passerbyers on the street will look at us with disdain, and other times they smile at our “cute” attempts to be local. Regardless, we probably will leave Croatia with hardly a sentence in our back pocket. We blame this on the fact that we don’t have much interest in learning it in the first place when others around us can speak choppy, broken English just fine. The fed-up-with-it attitude day has finally arrived. It is normal to go through a variety of different ups and downs while living in a foreign country, where being flexible starts to make your tolerance sore and the small things become annoyingly obvious. Some things that we have seen this week and the cultural nuances of the Balkan region have been slightly wearing.
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