Signs of the times?

The Cyrillic text on this sign has been obliterated. It's the other way around in Republika Serpska

A couple people have asked why we aren't talking about work in the blog. It's pretty simple: We (especially Bill) are working with a small group of investigative reporters and they most likely wouldn't like their affairs aired, so to speak. So we are keeping this more personal and less professional.

This roadside sign doesn't make you want to get out of the car!

But basically, Bill is doing his usual coaching and mentoring, what he does best! I am sidekicking. Also, I am exercising my best communication skills at the market down the street where a Bosnian woman and I chat rather loudly and with great animation - though neither of us understands the other. She always gives me extra scallions, so I guess it's successful.

One thing that is happening at the org we are working with is that they have a series trying to show how everyone is getting along here. Meaning the Serbs, the Croats and the Muslims. At first we thought that was so nice, how everyone has forgiven everyone else. How naive we were!

 On our trip last weekend we saw a few things to illustrate that. We drove through a piece of Republika Serpska, which is the Serb part of Bosnia & Herzegovena. All the road signs are written in both Western characters (probably it's officially called Roman characters?) and Cyrillic. Driving out of Sarajevo, the signs have the Western on top, then Cyrillic on the bottom. When you hit the RS, it is the other way around. But we noticed the Cyrillic all shiny on top and that the Western on the bottom was usually defaced. When we left Croatia heading back to Sarajevo, the Western writing on top was all shiny, and the Cyrillic spray-painted out. Hmm.

Pretty new Mostar bridge, replacing the bombed one.

And then in RS, we met an Orthodox monk at a monastery/winery, and he told us all about how everyone hates the Serbs, but really they were the victims of the Croats. (And how they hate the Americans, but that's another story.) Then in Dubrovnik, our landlord told us how bad the Serbs were and that the Croats really suffered at their hands. And then in Muslim Mostar (in Bosnia & Herzegovina) we saw how the Croats had bombed the famous Mostar bridge (now rebuilt).

We also hear that the kids in school here are only taught about the war from either one perspective or the other (we don't know for sure this is true, but we've heard it several times).

So we are anxious to read the series about how we are all getting along here. We wish it were true!