ASK Balkans Conclusion: A Prologue

The Balkans. An unconventional trip. While Croatia may be a standard beach location, Sarajevo and Belgrade are atypical places to spend a few summer days. While some might settle into fancy hotels in Dubrovnik, we were settling into sleeping bags and roaming Paklenica National Park. While some peacefully sunbathe on beaches, we worked on our farmer’s tans and kayaked out from Skradin all the way to Prvić Luka and back. While most European cities being toured are full of history and conflicts, our cities’ histories still live in the memories of their people, people our own age. When some might give up when their trip takes unexpected turns, our team kept our high morale, even in the face of significant flooding. Our cities included Split, Livno, Sarajevo (extensive exploration in the rain), and Belgrade (briefly). We escaped to learn about ourselves and about a place that has been the mixing grounds between European civilizations and Middle Eastern civilizations.

So what? We took an unconventional trip. Why should that matter to anyone? Why should it matter to you? Why does it matter to me? We are not unique in the fact that people would rather go somewhere to be active rather than passive. We were not the only ones to travel to these locales. Outside of myself and the group, there are no direct so whats. But we can build secondary and tertiary levels of reasoning based on our experience.

Personally, the time spent in the Balkans was a time for reflection. Self reflection is invaluable to me, and though I can do it anywhere, being away from my comfort zones and familiarities brings a different perspective and thus a new level of thought. Observing new peoples and social dynamics allows for me to evaluate my place in an increasingly global community. How does what I do affect people in the Balkans? I’m not an International Affairs major, I’m an Aerospace Engineer. I could indirectly bring about both aid and destruction. We learn ethics in our classes and discuss how people are treated, but the realities never sink in until the damage becomes tangible. I cannot control how people may decide to use the technologies I help develop, but I will direct my intellect on solving problems that aid people. However, I can also be a voice in my community. This doesn’t mean that I should go out and become a politician or speaker, but that I can discuss my experiences with my friends and acquaintances. Maybe, through the chaos theory, we can share what we’ve learned to change our global community for the better.

One particular theme that emerged in my head post a visit to a memorial dedicated to the Srebenica massacre is ending violence. As I had immersed myself into the Balkans history and culture, I found that the more I learned the more complex and confusing the conflicts and issues were. Thus, I tried to keep any opinions that I formed neutral in respect to the people in the Balkans. The only thing that I was left with was this question: How do we break the cycle of vengeance and conflict that seems to exist between social groups? And more importantly, what can I do towards this goal? I still ponder these questions as I have few answers and experiences. My one solution is to stop the creation of more cycles of vengeance. I think that this can only be achieved with a great degree of maturity. We should try to understand the root and context of a conflict, to realistically evaluate our opinions by keeping in mind that we generally think we are better than others, be able to admit our own shortcomings, and understand that other people do not share my priorities. My goal isn’t to stop conflict between civilizations, but to stop conflict between individuals. I can only control what I do, so I will practice and preach understanding and humility to be a better person. Not as in better than you, but better than I was yesterday. I’m not wise a person, but I think these are safe practices.

So what? I learned. I reflect. I matured. Maybe I gained some wisdom. Why does that matter to you? Maybe I can discuss with you my experiences. Regardless of whether you agree or not, I will learn from our discussion and I hope you will too. If you and I have this discussion, why can’t everyone else? The global society is built on you and me. I don’t think a community has to have a discussion, I think individuals have to have a discussion. If we are all connected, then individuals can cause large waves of motion.

What now? Let’s have a discussion.

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?

So What? - Final Thoughts

Ask Balkans was not only a trip but also an eye opening experience. Throughout the planning portion I gained experience and throughout the trip I gained enlightenment.

From planning to experiencing what I researched first hand, this trip was a whirlwind of adventure and insight. The planning process was a growing experience for me since I was helping with the outdoor portion of the trip. I can say from planning this trip, learning came from doing. There was no better or quicker way to learn exactly what goes into planning an expedition than diving right into it.

There were a lot of moments of personal growth for me as well. The first moment was right when we got to the cars and I was asked to drive a manual, 9 passenger van. This was something extremely out of my comfort zone but I trusted my training and had confidence in my abilities. This ultimately resulted in a success in my book and through this I proved to myself that I need to trust my abilities. The second moment of personal growth for me was being able to admit that "I don't know". It is easy to follow formulas and assume answers but it takes maturity and acceptance to admit that sometimes you just don’t know. Even further, once you admit that you don't know you open your mind to learn from your surroundings. This allows you to not only observe but to understand what is happening and why. One example of this was in the grocery store. We did not know the protocol for produce and Hugh (a faculty guide) suggested we watch the locals to learn what to do. We were in a rush and just assumed that it would be the same as America since it looked the same and we have a preset framework for that instead of admitting that we did not know how we were supposed to go about this purchase. We finished shopping and went to check out and realized that we had done it completely wrong. Instead of admitting I do not know in the first place we seemed more ignorant and insensitive. That was a moment of growth for me to realize that it is more admirable to admit that you don't know and learn from your surroundings versus being ignorant and assuming answers. I used to think that admitting a lack of knowledge was a confession of ignorance (or weakness) but from this trip, I have learned that I was very wrong.

There were a lot of moments of insight on the trip that were evoked due to emotion. The most emotional moments I had were in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The combination of the children begging, the genocide museum, and the scars of war were all too much to process. I still cannot process everything I felt or even put the experience I had into words. However, I can explain that I learned from these experiences. I have learned that this sadness is not something that exists for the sole purpose of mourning. Instead, I have gained a new tool, a new perspective to use in the future. We take tragedies and we learn from them. Not that we think that we alone can prevent genocide or poverty or war but knowing that we can empathize and gain perspective from survivors and war scars that cover the land. We can use these images and stories as motivation for the future using what we have learned as a tool of understanding.  

Final Thoughts

It was a whirlwind two weeks in the Balkans (and a crazy week of work starting the day after I got back), but that time was filled with some of the most memorable experiences in my life. In this final post, I'd like to share just a couple of those memories and their significance to me, couched in David Knobbe's "What, so what, now what?" format.

What?
For a brief recap, we spent time in Croatia, hiking in Paklenica National Park, sea kayaking along the Dalmatian Coast, and a little time in the second-largest city, Split, as well as the cities of Livno and Sarajevo, Bosnia and Belgrade, Serbia. Key experiences in Croatia included learning about how Buljma Pass, our hiking destination, was involved in the war, interacting with people in some small coastal towns, and learning the history of Diocletian's palace in Split. In Bosnia, we visited a museum on the genocide at Srebrenica and explored the ruins of the Olympic bobsled track, and in the short time we were in Serbia, we saw the ancient Belgrade Fortress in Kalemegdan Park.

Paklenica National Park

Prvic Luka, Croatian Dalmatian Coast

Bosnian coffee house in Sarajevo

Olympic bobsled ruins in Sarajevo

View of the Danube from the Belgrade Fortress

So What?

As David Knobbe also says, you don't learn from experience, you learn from thinking about experience. So I spent some time thinking about my experiences in the Balkans. One important idea I came to was that the conflict in the Balkans is not truly over, it's just simmering now, biding its time. In Bosnia and Serbia, we heard the story from their side - we visited a Bosnian memorial to the genocide at Srebrenica (committed by Serbs), and some of the Serbian people we talked with passionately told us of the atrocities committed by the Bosnians while dismissing their own wrongdoing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was little remorse on either side for what they had done. While Bosnia and Serbia could each probably name hundreds of reasons why they deserve vengeance on the other, that won't help them live peaceably next to one another. I thought about the time I spent in Germany, seeing memorial after memorial about the Holocaust. They freely and openly admit their guilt, and by doing so, they've moved past the horror of that dark period in their history. Until Bosnia and Serbia can reach that stage of acceptance of wrong, they seem doomed to continue their ancient feud.

I then thought of this concept in light of the U.S., where we also have trouble owning up to our faults. From military action in Vietnam and Korea to the drone strikes of today, we have in some cases indiscriminately taken the lives of millions of civilians. Maybe we've been overall better than the "bad guys." Maybe, in the end, we did something good. The fact remains that there's been a lot of indefensible bloodshed in the meantime, and that's something we should own up to. The best way to do better in the future is to admit our own guilt and let ourselves learn from our mistakes. Blind patriotism is not admirable; it's counterproductive.

Now What?

To me, one of the most valuable parts of spending time abroad is the chance to understand a different way of life. I've learned countless things from spending time in Germany, and those lessons have worked their way into the way I live now. Although I spent far less time in the Balkans, one of the most valuable such experiences was observing the way people lived on the islands we kayaked to in the Adriatic. At one point, I asked a fellow trip mate how much money he estimated these people had. It was difficult to say - no one owned cars; instead, they all had small boats; their homes were pretty, but many were adjacent to vacant lots or abandoned houses; and people dressed well and ate at quaint restaurants in town. Without any major industry, it was difficult to see how they got by. At the same time, I came to appreciate the lifestyle. Many people, it seemed, took pride in maintaining their yards. People enjoyed the natural beauty of their surroundings and the community of the other townspeople. It was difficult to judge how much wealth these coastal hamlets might have, but the time we spent there was a reminder that money is not the only (and perhaps not the best) way to determine quality of life. Our time in the Balkans was quality time indeed.

-Trey

Final Reflection

Final Reflection

I've had the opportunity to journal and to reflect on our grand adventure over the last week, and soon I will have the chance to email each person individually about how they impacted me on the trip. I wanted to say to everyone collectively as a group, however, that I was so impressed with the quality of the people with whom I traveled.

My travel companions were unique in that I had the amazing opportunity to spend two weeks with the best kind of people: everyone was positive, supportive, and team-oriented. Each person was eager to learn and willing to try new things. Even when we were doing seemingly mundane things like waiting at the airport or riding buses, I had some very thought-provoking, meaningful conversations. It was so refreshing to spend so much time with such high quality people- I feel very blessed to be counted among Georgia Tech's President's Scholars. 
 
This sentiment manifested itself when I was traveling to visit family in Italy after ASK Balkans and I met and hung out with a group of girls my age headed to Florence for a study abroad trip. For the 5 hours we were waiting at the airport, the entire conversation revolved around what time they should take their birth control pills with the time change, which clubs they would hit up first, and whether there was good shopping in Italy. There was also excessive whining. It struck me how fortunate I was to have spent the last two weeks with such an amazing, positive group of people that was focused on the important things in life, like culture and teamwork and solving real world problems.

Thanks for everything y'all,
Lara

Finding my way home

On May 13th a series of rainstorms began what would become the worst flooding in the Balkan region in more than a century. With billions in damage and over 40 dead, this event should have been at the forefront of my mind. Instead I found myself worrying about whether I would catch the flight to England for part 2 of this summer's cultural exposure. I tried to rationalize that worry: I had spent money and time planning for the rest of my summer, it made sense to be concerned. Then, looking outside, I saw the Miljacka River. A great torrent of deep brown water crashed into itself, waves that would pull you under in an instant. The river roared with its swollen water. To think that this was just a small river running through downtown Sarajevo, where there were at least some sort of flood management systems in place. In the narrow mountainside canyons there would be no controlling the water. Some of the group watched a video of a home being destroyed in all of three seconds. In the government's fragmented state there was little chance of any emergency relief or financial assistance after the floods. People were watching decades of toil torn away all around them. After the floods they would return to empty plains of mud where their homes had been. Any surviving livestock would be in disarray, spread miles in each direction. Someone's mother, child, and friend had died while I sat in a downtown Sarajevo hostel worrying about my flight home. I would get home eventually, and my home would still be there! I realized how little of a right I had to worry for myself during the floods. Slowly I think I began to understand something about my place in the world. I had come to the trip excited to "experience a new culture" and "expand my horizons"! It was not wandering through different museums and trying a bunch of food that would teach me a lesson. To understand the burdens that others carry is so much more telling of their perceptions of the world. People in other nations have every right to consider Americans loud and selfish if we can't stop for a second and truly empathize with their joys and struggles.
This trip has left me with some sense of humility and the desire to grow that over the course of my life. The goal is that someday I will be able to step into a completely foreign environment and immediately fall into step, experience the highs and lows of life in a different place. Perhaps then I'll understand my role in these different communities and where I can begin to make my mark on the world.

A Reflection [Nicole Kennard]

This experience held so many insights, great conversations, laughs, and realizations that I can’t possibly write them all down. I came out of this trip with a whole new outlook, and a great new set of friends. Since pictures often speak louder than words, that is how I’ll try to summarize this trip.

What was most interesting to me about the history is how much it still lingers behind. Certain cultural practices remain from hundreds of years ago. I was also surprised by how friendly the people were. You would think an area ravaged by so much conflict would develop a hardened attitude toward those entering their country, but countless times I was amazed by the kindness of people, such as the lady who walked us all the way to a pretty far away bakery in Croatia, or even our hosts at the Maestral hotel.

I was also exposed to the tensions that do still exist between the ethnicities here. Talking to a young teenager in Livno, I came to understand that generations tend to pass down prejudices to their youths, so that while a kid in high school may see everyone the same, he knows that his parents and many of the other kids do not.

Something that also hit home was how fresh some of this conflict was. In Sarajevo, I could not believe that a siege had happened just 18 years ago, when I was born. The fact that I knew nothing about it upon arriving just solidifies the fact that it’s easy to become bogged down in your own life at home. Sometimes you need to lift your head up and take a look at what is happening around you, and around the world.

I definitely was surprised by some of the deep conversations and amazing new friendships I gathered from this expedition. While I’m not one to talk much, I found myself engaging in complex and intellectual conversation, discussing history and religion with those around me—but of course, we joked about just as much.

Finally, I was definitely amazed by the sheer beauty of the area. Nothing can compare to that fresh (unpolluted!) air, the clearest water I had ever seen, the mountains that seemed to touch Heaven. I definitely think one of my highest points of the trip was hiking up to that peak (go Team Summit!) during the backpacking portion. I frequently backpack, but that was probably the hardest hike I’ve ever done, even without a pack on, but when we reached the top, all together, it was so worth it; we truly felt on top of the world in that moment.

This experience has given me a thirst for travel and also for learning about the diversity of people in general. Obviously it is impossible to learn everything you can about a culture and a history of people in just a week, but I am determined to keep my eyes on the horizon and strive to learn more about the people and world around me.