Beautiful War Zone

If I had to pick a place for war, it would be Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the most beautiful war zone. The mountains used for the Olympics a mere 8 years before the war then provided shelter for the attacking Serb Army. The stage was set for the perfect crime.

Take the mountains of Colorado and put them on crack - nature spills everywhere, dripping into towns and cities, daring the people to fight back as they circle the city. Tito's communist legacy is echoed by ugly apartment buildings - gray concrete racing to the sky. Every 6 feet add a Mosque, every 16 add a Church. Split the remaining space between houses and parks. Buildings switch between Turkish, Austro-Hungarian and skeletons left by the War. Finally, sprinkle in awkward hyper modern structures. You are here.
Welcome to Sarajevo.

Flirting with Post Conflict/War Zones

"There is definitely a threat and danger of land mines in BiH, but it does not mean that you cannot step off the asphalt" Travel Guide

I seem to be flirting with post-conflict/war zones: El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Northern Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina. I'd even be as bold to say that my nine country/eleven month time frame could identify as an affair. For some reason, I am fascinated by violence and all that it encompasses. It is as if I am trying to educate myself on everything suburbia effectively sheltered me from. It is addicting because this line can be drawn to encompass everything from faith to politics. They constantly play off one another. What does God have to say about the nun who was tortured in Guatemala? Am I "blessed" by living in a gated community and the family sleeping outside damned to hell because they are "stupid and lazy"; what sins did the poor commit? Why are human rights activists being assassinated? Why was sex trafficking catalyzed during the war in BiH by the very soldiers and peacekeepers here to protect the people?Why is impunity given to internationals so that they march through as untouchables? And why did this "protection" allow the fourth largest European army to turn on itself and carry out the longest siege (1400 days) of Sarajevo since Stalingrad?

From January 2003 to June 2009 all I could do was talk, read, watch, and question. Now I am here to work. I am proud of the legitimacy I have attained and still stunned that I have been given permission to ask questions. I will be working and living abroad for 10 weeks in Bosnia and Herzegovina in three different cities, the capital Sarajevo, Mostar, and Srebrenica (the site of the worst massacre since WWII). It is a research fellowship but basically translates into an internship researching international aid effectiveness. I am working for the organization Beyond Good Intentions focusing on the specifics of human rights, legal aid, and psychosocial effects of returnees and refugees. Day to day, I will spend half my time with organizations, learning the logistics, and the other half with the recipients of aid. My research will provide the background information for the first film-based case studies on international aid by profiling different organizations for case studies. These case studies will be filmed between September 2009 and July 2010 and will be available in university classrooms starting in the fall of 2010.

As I was told this week, welcome to the "circus."