Final Reflections on ASKing About the Bosnian War

There were so many incredible components of our Balkans trip that I could (and have been) reflect on each for days - from the physical challenges of the outdoor component, to the wonderful new friendships formed, to the sense of PS family that never ceases to amaze me, to my own personal development in many ways - but I am going to keep this blog post focused on the ASK component of the trip, and the struggle of searching for an explanation or answers to questions that simply cannot be answered - can only be contemplated and discussed, but that in and of itself is valuable enough.

“How do you knit back together a society when those primarily responsible for tearing it apart don’t believe they did anything wrong?” – When I read this quote in a New York Times magazine article about the war in Bosnia published coincidentally two weeks after our return from the trip, reading this extremely relevant article began to help me pull together and process so many of the facts, thoughts, and feelings that I had observed throughout our time in the Balkans.  (The article can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/05/29/magazine/srebrenica-life-in-the-valley-of-death.html?ref=magazine).

What struck me most in all of what I learned in the Balkans was the dividing sense of blame placed on each side of those who fought in this war.  Both sides, the Bosnians and the Serbs, are quick to voice and publicize differing accounts of the war and who is to blame, or who should be considered the “bad guys.”  By being able to experience both countries on this trip (albeit, a much briefer experience in Serbia), the concept of seeing two sides of a conflict and having no true “good” and “bad” sides was a recurring theme. 

In Bosnia, the Srebrenica museum was heart-wrenching and educating, yet quick to make Serbians out to be the true perpetrators of the war.  The atrocities committed were inexcusable, no doubt, yet I was acutely aware that the museum presented a very one-sided view of what had happened.  This is not a bad thing, it seems natural for one country to present history in a way that shines light on their positive acts and the negative acts committed on them by other countries that they overcame.  Countries all over the world have been doing this for centuries – just look at the American history lessons that we are taught in grade school. 

In Serbia, I was lucky enough to have an enlightening conversation with Angela’s uncle at dinner.  He told me all about the attacks on Serbia by all of the larger countries around the world (when the U.S. and others stepped in the end the war).  From his point of view, as he repeatedly told me with extreme passion and defensiveness, the large and powerful countries ganged up on and beat up his small country in an inexcusable manner.  This viewpoint was yet another very one-sided view of what had happened, contrasting to the Bosnian Srebrenica museum. 

The New York Times article brought this theme back to my reflection of the trip, with accounts of the devastating atrocities in Srebrenica and throughout Bosnia that made Serbs out to be the “bad guys,” and with contrasting accounts from Serbs who deny many of the crimes that Bosnians place on Serbs – claiming they never happened or that Bosnians killed equally as many Serbs yet will never admit it.

All of this opened my eyes to the defensive placing of blame onto other parties that even in today’s modern, globalized world is as inherent to human nature as breathing.  “Saving face” was a concept I repeatedly learned about Chinese culture when I studied the language (and saw exemplified in the Beijing Olympic opening ceremonies scandal of the less attractive little girl singing from behind stage)  – the concept of wanting to protect one’s honor by always showing the side of the story that paints yourself or your country in the best light possible.  People do this everyday in little ways, countries do it constantly in the writing of their own history. 

It is not something we should strive to do or be proud of, but I don’t think it is such a terrible thing either (and realistically, it is something that is never going to chance).  But it is crucial that we be aware of the fact that we do this.  As one Serbian woman quoted in the article said, “If we are ever to have peace here, we must stop trying to place blame on one side or the other and recognize that both sides suffered.”  This holds true to all of us, far beyond the extent of the war in the Balkans, and is something that, while I know I cannot solve or fix, I will be increasingly aware of going forward in my life.  The idea of having a heightened awareness of how things affect two sides of any situation and from this, increasing your compassion for others even when you see them as enemies. 

Compassion is, at the heart, the real lesson I think I have learned from this trip, and the goal of living it out in small ways everyday to try to spread a better way of treating and viewing others to one day hopefully become a more compassionate and understanding society. 

ASK Balkans: Summary and Final Thoughts

                   

I don’t even know where to begin. The entire ASK Balkans process has been so memorable. I have travelled before, but this trip takes the gold for best travel experience. I will go over some of my favorite memories in hopes of doing the trip justice, but I don’t think any number of words or pictures can capture how truly spectacular this experience was.

When the acceptances for this program went out in early spring, I was overjoyed to have received a spot on the trip, but somewhat concerned because I didn’t know many people on the trip. I’d say I was an acquaintance to about half of the group. That began to change even before we hopped on a plane to Europe. We were all thrown into our city planning groups. I was hesitant at taking on more work at first, but soon looked forward to these meetings. We laughed and joked around and somehow ended up with some solid plans for Livno and Sarajevo (which almost all changed once we got there, but more on that later). The more I spent time with the people on the trip, the more we planned, and the more I learned about the Balkans, the more and more excited I became.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the semester was over and we were meeting up at ORGT to head out. We were exhausted from finals week, but even more excited for what was about to come. We finalized some necessary logistics, grabbed our Mountain Houses, and were on our way.

 We touched down in Zagreb and made our way to Samobor, Croatia. I didn’t sleep at all on the plane. Indeed, most of us were sleep deprived when we arrived. That didn’t stop us from scarfing down a hearty meal of bread, salami, and cheese. Little did we know just how many meals those three ingredients would supply over the course of our trip… Refueled with food, several of us headed up to a run down castle on the top of the hill adjacent to the village. We climbed around, laughed and talked, and took our first pictures of the beautiful Croatian landscape. I ate with a smaller group of people and feasted on some delicious cevapi. Dessert followed when the rest of our group made it from the airport. We decided no one should miss out on a chance to see the castle, so I went up to the castle again with a larger group. Staring up at the night sky, speckled with stars, so far away from home, felt serene.

The next day, we split up into the two hiking groups. Fred, Kyle, and I went with the first group, but had time to kill, so we decided to hike to the peak of Anika Kuk, one of the best lookouts in the park, allegedly. Turns out it was. Highlights of that trip included finding a donkey, thinking we were lost, and realizing we were at the top of the mountain when our comrades were pulling into the park. This realization prompted a rather speedy trip back down the mountain. Our group camped at the base of the national park that night. We shared more laughs, frustrated each other with riddles, and enjoyed the delicacy that is a Mountain House.

 Some drunk climbers stole our tent stakes in the middle of the night, but we got them back, along with the message that “there is no respect in the Balkans.” The whole ordeal was humorous, in hindsight. In the morning, we dawned out packs and started our trek north. The hike was great! It was so much fun enjoying the nature and everyone’s company.

Eventually, we made it to our shelter. We met Tom and Berry and Seka (Tom’s dog). We talked with them and some Polish people into the night. Since we didn’t have gas for our stoves, we made do with what food we had. This led to us “Creating the Moment” with our dry hot chocolate packs. Cheese and Nutella also goes surprisingly well together. Canned rooster is not good; neither is Kikiriki “peanut butter.” The cabin shelter in which we slept got so hot in the middle of the night. It felt like a sauna, which seemed very out of place for the middle of the night on top of a mountain.

We woke up and said our goodbyes to our new friends when the rain lulled. We hiked back along a ridge line with some more gorgeous scenery. The weather improved as we hiked, and Kelsey and Fred kept spotting more of “God’s fingers” along the way. There is supposed to be a rock formation of God’s fingers somewhere in the park, but having not seen the actual formation, Kelsey and Fred decided to name finger-like rocks in the distance as individual fingers of God. I think we might have ended up with all five by the end of the hike. When we did end our hike and meet up with the other group, we all departed for Skradin for the next portion of our trip.

We met our sea kayaking guides, Philip and Tin (unsure of how he spelled it), and I explored the city with a few people before dinner. We ordered a pizza after dinner because apparently hiking for 4-6 hours several days in a row makes you pretty hungry.

            
To the water! The next day we embarked on our sea kayaking portion of the trip. I have kayaked on a lake before, but never for the amount of time that we did that day (~8 hours), much less on the Adriatic Sea. Again, it was great to be challenged physically while enjoying the nature and talking to friends, new and old. We stopped in Sibenik for lunch, which was scrumptious (local seafood for me) and then completed the second leg to Prvic Luka. We even made it in the local newspaper! (Link to Article) Hotel Mistral was so nice and the staff was extremely friendly. I remember watching the sun set on the island and thinking about how grateful I was to be there. That night, we talked about our progress as a group and what we’d learned so far.

The next day, we kayaked about 45 minutes to an adjacent island called Zlarin, where we played Frisbee, swam in the sea, ate gelato, and relaxed after a hard day of paddling the day before. When we got back to Prvic Luka, I walked to Prvic Sepurine, the other village on the island, with some friends. We explored the town, had a blast hanging out with each other, and got some breathtaking photos of yet another beautiful sunset on the island.

The following day was basically the first day of kayaking in reverse. When we were departing from Sibenik, however, the water was very choppy due to more intense winds. We braved through it, but I got caught by a wave the wrong way and flipped over in my kayak. The water was… refreshing (very cold). Once I climbed back in and pumped out the water, the rest of the trip went without a hitch. We drove to Split, Croatia after shaking the salt water out of our ears and picking up our vans in Skradin, which marked our trip’s transition from the wilderness portion to the academic portion.

The academic portion of our trip started off with exploring Diocletian’s palace in Split. Chaffee gave us a short tour that recounted some of the history of the palace, as well as some facts and tidbits about palaces and castles in general. It was so neat to be walking through halls and pathways where the stone building around you was built in the fourth century! The architecture was grand and still looks breathtaking to this day; I could only imagine what it looked like when it was built. After exploring the palace, we broke up into smaller groups to wander around the city. I ended up finding a spectacular view with Chandler and Angela at a café on top of a mall. We played around with different filters on our cameras and enjoyed some downtime. Here’s one of the panoramas I took of Split from the rooftop with some filter fun applied.

The next day, our group headed to Livno, Bosnia. Livno is more of a rural town, and as such, it seemed like we were the only foreigners there. I like the feeling of not being overrun by tourists from so many different places, so Livno gave a nice reprieve from that being in between Split and Sarajevo on our itinerary. We had a fancy dinner the first night in Livno with many local guests who were friends of Chaffee’s from the last time he visited the city. The next morning, we climbed into the vans bright and early to go see a herd of wild horses! The horses could have been anywhere in a 50 square acre stretch of land, but we were fortunate to find them after hiking for about 5 minutes from where we parked. It was so neat seeing about 150 wild horses just living peacefully and naturally without any human influence. It was also nice to just walk among the horses and reflect on the trip while practicing some photography.

The next stop was an old tower about halfway down the mountain. We parked our vans, and then hiked over to the tower. I’m still not sure what exactly the tower’s specific purpose was, but the best part of the hike was seeing Livno spread out below us. We also happened upon a shepherd, which I had never seen in my life before. It was so cool to see a different lifestyle. Everything in Livno (and Europe in general) seems much slower and laid back. That evening, we did a “helium stick” team building exercise in which we had to lower a tent pole with everyone touching it the whole time. The five to ten minute exercise ended up lasting an hour because we had so many leaders and couldn’t come to a consensus to get everyone on the same page. To be honest, we never actually did the exercise successfully, but we learned a lot along the way. That following morning, I attended my first every Catholic mass, which was quite the experience since it was in Bosnian instead of English. There was a lot that I didn’t understand and had to be explained to me after, but I thought it was neat seeing another religious perspective. I compared and contrasted a lot of what I saw and learned to what I practice as a Protestant Christian.

We then drove to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. We ended up staying in Sarajevo for three days instead of the original two because of historic flooding in the Bosnia-Serbia region. This closed about half the roads between Sarajevo and Belgrade, so we ended up staying in Sarajevo for one extra night while we figured out the logistics of traveling between the two final cities. Sarajevo is city that’s seen wonderfully peaceful times and horrifically violent times. A group of us went on a self-guided walking tour and saw the Latin Bridge, where Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated, which sparked the beginning of World War I. It was humbling standing on the spot where one event 100 years ago altered the history of the world in such a significant way.

Another highlight of my time in Sarajevo was exploring the ruins of the bobsled track from the 1984 winter Olympics. A group of us ordered five taxis and went up to Trebevic, a mountain next to Sarajevo. The elevation change between the city and the bobsled track was so great that it was snowing on the mountain! It was almost surreal to be having a snowball fight in Bosnia in the summer. We hiked up to one of the starting positions of the bobsled course and walked down the actual course. At one point, you could see holes in the track that had been used as sniper mounts in the siege of Sarajevo from 1992-1996 (“longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare” – Wikipedia). There was also a neat acoustic phenomenon at one of the turns in the course where you could stand 20 feet away from someone and whisper to them. The concrete bobsled track would carry the sound along the turn to the other person.

We went to a museum on the genocide in Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. I learned a lot, but found myself emphasizing with the victims and trying to imagine what life would be like if I was in that situation. It was a humbling experience. To continue the new religious experiences, I visited two more cathedrals in the city, as well as he world’s first electrically illuminated mosque. That was the first mosque I had entered, so seeing the inside was a neat experience after having done some interfaith work over the past two years at Tech. We also tried to go into a synagogue, but it closed about 15 minutes before we got there. The fact that all these religious facilities were within mere blocks of each other seemed out of the ordinary and pretty special to me.

One last noteworthy mention for Sarajevo: coffee. I don’t like coffee, personally, but I went to so many little coffee shops and cafés with my friends. The Bosnian style of drinking coffee is unique. They serve concentrated coffee in a pot with some hot water. My understanding is you pour some of the hot water into the cup and some of the coffee and voilà, you have coffee (that might be the Turkish style.. they’re very similar and I get them confused a lot). The whole procedure is very methodic and ritualistic. Here are my friends and I in a tiny coffee shop in the historic district of Sarajevo.

Due to the flooding I mentioned, we ended up flying to Belgrade, Serbia. Due to flight logistics, most of us were only in Serbia for about 12 hours. That didn’t stop us from making the most of it though! We hit the ground running by visiting the Kalemegdan fortress in a park near our restaurant for dinner. The view of the city over the river was spectacular and, you guessed it, plenty of pictures ensued. Our dinner was at a nice restaurant that was woefully unprepared for the size of our group. We were packed into tiny tables and the food was handed out haphazardly, but it was still a great experience. I sat next to Angela’s uncle, who happened to be a conductor and composer. We talked about music and his experiences living in the Balkans. It was a great night, but the night bled into the morning as we got back to the hostel. We closed out the trip with a group discussion and packed up our stuff. We all stayed awake and hung out until we had to leave for the airport at 3 AM.

It was hard saying goodbye to all my friends. I got accepted to the trip knowing maybe half of the people, but I felt like I ended the trip being best friends with everyone. I deeply cherish and will hold on to my memories of my experiences on this trip, as well as my friendships with everyone with whom I traveled. These relationships that formed and grew over the course of the trip are perhaps the most valuable takeaway I’ve gained from my Balkans experience. I know we’ve all headed our separate ways for now, but I’m looking forward to the reunions with these friends in the future. Even if some people aren’t at Tech because they graduated or if their life leads them somewhere else, I’ll keep in touch. I am extremely grateful to have made the friendships and connections I made on this trip.

So what now? Well, I’ve gained an even greater appreciation for planning and learning through traveling. I hope to take these experiences and keep them in mind so I can make the most out of my future travel. Furthermore, I’ve come out of the trip with a much greater global perspective. Seeing and experiencing these new cultures always teaches me how my world at Georgia Tech is not all that’s happening. It’s easy to get sucked into the college bubble and live in my own little world. There’s so much out there. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have seen some of it on the ASK Balkans trip, and I can’t wait to explore the world more in the future!

            

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.