Story.

After two grueling days on the bus we were ready for some time in Sarajevo. Our first visit was with Dragan a Bosnian Serb. He told us this heart-wrenching story about his life in Bosnia.

Prior to the war he and his best friend were from different religions, but that did not matter. He invited his friend to their religious holidays, such as Orthodox Easter, and his friend being a Muslim invited Dragan to his holidays. The two were inseperable, until 1990, when Dragan’s friend did not invite him over to celebrate one of the high holy days of the Muslim religion. When Dragan asked why he wasn’t allowed his  friend told him that his father felt that the Serbs were the enemies of the Muslims.

Then in 1992, Dragan’s town fell under Serb control. All the Muslims were in danger, so although Dragan and his friend were not as close he still helped Dragan and his family to a safe territory. Dragan then spent time and money sending care packages to his friend’s family while the war was going on. The Dayton Peace Accords of 1995 were signed and Dragan’s municipality was given to the Muslims, so he moved his family out of the area. While leaving he ran into his old friend. The meeting was bittersweet, Dragan was happy to see his friend alive, but saddened when his friend called him an aggressor and blamed the Serbs for the war. Because all of their belongings did not fit into car on the first trip Dragan came back, but upon his arrival a group of Muslims beat him up, one of them was his best friend.

A new law was passed that allowed the Serbs, and others who were forced out to repossess their properties.  As he was in the process of rep[oscession he ran into his best friend’s mother. She apologized for her son and husband’s behavior. She explained that the two of them had joined an extremist branch of the Islam religion. She then went on to explain that her son moved to Afganistan in 2001, and was later killed. Prior to his death Dragan explained to his father that he was sorry for all they had done to Dragan, he explained how Dragan was the best friend he ever had. The wife then went on to explain that  her husband was not able to cope with the loss, and then committed suicide.

To this day Dragan still meets with his best friend’s mother. She considers Dragan her second son, and is eternally grateful for all that he had done. She wants him to be one of her pallbearers at her funeral. Dragan then explained that he helped a total of six families, but of those six only two remain in contact, while the other two deny Dragan helped at all.

Hearing this story, made the war seem even more real. As we walked through each of the cities or made stops we had seen bullet holes or heard the stories of rebuilding but to hear two friends lost touch because of this war saddens me. I would like to thank Dragan for taking his time to meet with us and explain his story. (below is a photo of Dragan at the Serbian Temple in Sarajevo)

After leaving the temple, we headed to the market for lunch. Marissa and I then explored the market we wanted to get some  souvenirs for friends and family. Although it was pouring rain, we were ready for an adventure (in my attempts to find soccer scarves we ran into this character below). The old town was gorgeous, and inspired by Turkish architecture. Later that night I headed out with a small group to the city and enjoyed the nightlife.