How do you explain a trip like the Balkans?

Three weeks have elapsed since I returned from the Balkans and for twenty one days I have been wondering how to write this post. How do you summarize a trip to the Balkans? How do you tell the stories to friends and family while explaining how and why it changed you? I then realized I had begun humming the tune to 'How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?' from The Sound of Music and had already found my answer.

Oh, how do you explain a trip like the Balkans?

How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

One of the beauties of traveling is that each explorer gains something different from the experience. I enjoyed the outdoors portion a little more than the 'academic' urban portion, yet each area was rewarding on personal and educational levels. Groups split up and sought out the characteristics and attractions of each location that best suited their personal interests. The flexibility and customization of the trip was absolutely wonderful as it allowed for personal questions and curiosities to be addressed instead of herding a group of twenty five individuals through a preset, stereotypical schedule.

When I'm with her I'm confused

Out of focus and bemused

And I never know exactly where I am

 

With this flexibility came confusion and I fully believe it was a good experience. There was an overarching plan and a method to the chaos with check-in times, buddy system exploration, and pre-researched suggestions but there was an element of vulnerability. We were open to criticism - of the city to be explored, of our preconceptions, of ourselves - and for every day of the two weeks spent traveling, the Balkans did its best to challenge the group. I feel that everyone rose to that challenge. 

I didn't speak the language. I barely knew how to get around each city, yet there was never a day that I regretted signing up for this trip. The museums and displays and monuments I visited always showed a different side to the story - be it religion, wars, or simply everyday life. There were comforting elements of home in every city but the different customs and habits made me feel like I was just out of sync or just a beat off the city's tempo. One of my favorite memories was sitting by the Latin Bridge in Sarajevo and just watching the people. It's so easy to think of foreign countries as fundamentally different, but on that street corner I just saw people going about their day like any other American city. 

Many a thing [I] know you'd like to tell [me].

Many a thing [I] ought to understand.

And on that street corner, I wondered how much I had missed. There was only so much time to spend in each city - and the worst flooding in 120 years certainly did not help Belgrade's case - but I felt that I barely scratched the surface. Despite the research and specialized preparation prior to departure, I realized I knew so little about the area and its culture. I was so ready to take information at nearly face value that I wasn't even aware of some of the biases that were being formed. It was fascinating to travel from country to country and learn about one conflict from three different perspectives. 

And sadly, it's a conflict that has a troubled legacy. In Sarajevo, the national museum is closed due to budget cuts and there were riots as recent as February. Many people I spoke with (from all three countries) referenced - directly or indirectly - the corruption and inefficiency of the bureaucracy. As we traveled, I saw reminders of the war. Bullet holes in houses. Sarajevo's Roses. Warnings of land mines. On many of these occasions I kept thinking of the ominous quote "Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." 

But how do you make [them] stay

And listen to all you say?

To me, the Balkans was a reminder of the past and an opportunity for the future. The names of ethnic and religious conflicts are present in every household - Israel/Palestine, Afghanistan, Rwanda. The United States and the United Nations have choices to make in these conflicts just as they did in the Balkans conflict. The question is whether past involvements will serve as experiences to guide future decisions or experiences lost in the course of time and the political process. I profess absolutely no political expertise and I recognize that I know even less of the constraints and information available to those in power at the time, but I believe the world's intervention in the Balkans region yielded many lessons - both good and bad. The Balkans has plenty to teach the world if we choose to take the time and listen. 

How do you explain a trip like the Balkans?

How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

I can't explain what the ASK Balkans trip has meant to me because it left me with more questions than I started with. Some of these questions may never be answered even after years of reflection, but it is still a worthwhile exercise to ponder them. It was worth the discomfort of realizing what I took to be fact was really a matter of perspective. Climbing mountains with the security of a tent, food, and water suddenly looked like a walk in the park compared to the flight of Srebrencia's men to safety through the mountains under enemy fire. The contrast of Sarajevo's Olympic glory in '84 and the now mine-laden abandoned Olympic sites was stark and honestly uncomfortable. The Balkans challenged me, questioned me, and I am a different person for the experience.

How do you explain a trip like the Balkans?

How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?

How do you find a word that means the Balkans?