http://sas-summer2009.blogspot.com/2009/07/welcome-surprise-of-croatia.html
Sea The World – Summer 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The Welcome Surprise of Croatia
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BILLY KEEFE MANHATTAN COLLEGE
The first day we arrived in Dubrovnik I went on a field program to the City Walls in the Old Town. The entire tour took around an hour and a half to walk around the walls, which are 1,940 meters long. One of the things that really astonished me was when the tour guide showed us a map of the entire region around and including the walls that was bombed during the war involving Croatia. It shocked me to see how many places in that area were actually attacked and how beautiful the area has become since the war. I really have gained a new respect and appreciation for the resilience and determination of the Croatian people.
As we made our journey around the wall my friends and I were surrounded by breathtaking views. In front of me was the bluest water of the Adriatic Sea. Behind me was an unexpectedly immense, majestic hillside. To the left were vibrant, rustic Mediterranean-style roof tiles of the Old Town houses, cafes, and churches. To my right was the distant seascape of the uninhabited and serene island of Lokrum and the port side of the New Town.
On my fourth day in Croatia, I was scheduled for a tour to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but overslept and missed the tour bus. I sprinted out of the pier and tried to find a taxi bargain a ride to Medjugore, Bosnia and Herzegovina to meet my tour bus. The taxi driver glanced at the side of my backpack and then mumbled something under his breath and sped off. I later learned that the water bottle I was carrying on the side of my backpack, which I bought in Montenegro the previous day, was named after a malicious Serbian leader who carried-out cruel acts on Croatians during the war decades earlier. Judging from the taxi driver’s reaction, I realized that 20 years may be enough time to rebuild houses and reconstruct landscape, but not enough time to heal intercultural relations and amend past atrocities. I put the water bottle in my bag, hailed another taxi and made it to Medjugore, the second largest Catholic pilgrimage, at almost the same time as the field program bus arrived. Though the beginning of the day started off a bit frenetic, the tranquil ambiance of my environment—an environment which not too long ago was literally in the midst of some of the most horrific war crimes—left me unexpectedly appreciative of the beauty and resilience of this region. I left Croatia with an undiluted sense of hope.
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Keefe, Billy [MC????]
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