It's friday afternoon in Sarajevio, Bosnia. I arrived last night at 11pm on the bus from Belgrade, and today, after a day at the Sarajevo office of our partner company, I am out exploring the town. After changing to shorts and a t-shirt at the hotel (hotel Emona in Bembasa), I cross one of the bridges which go over the miljacka river and find myself in the middle of nature. The air is incredibly fragrant with what I think is wisteria (I am later told that is not wisteria but "locust tree" (or "acacia" in french), whose flowers are edible). Then I notice music coming from a stereo nearby: soulful bosnian folk music of the kind V. and I sometimes listen to in New York. I walk towards where it is coming from and happen upon the recording of 
a video. The young film crew is on the right and I can barely see a singer on the left, surrounded by greenery. This is a moment of pure balkan magic. I get closer, turn on the zoom on my digital camera and take the next picture, a close-up of the singer. She is holding her glasses in her left hand and a flowering branch in her right. My bosnian is not very good but I understand some of the word: "... moje bela sarajavo grada..." ("my beautiful city of Sarajevo..."). I stay until the end of the song and move on, filled with a feeling of pure joy.
One of the many cemeteries dotting the hills of Sarajevo. The
siege of Sarajevo by the Yougoslav People's Army (JNA), aided by bosnian serb forces lasted three years, from April 5th, 1992 to February 29th, 1996. This was the longest siege in the history of modern warfare.
It's friday afternoon in Sarajevio, Bosnia. I arrived last night at 11pm on the bus from Belgrade, and today, after a day at the Sarajevo office of our partner company, I am out exploring the town. After changing to shorts and a t-shirt at the hotel (hotel Emona in Bembasa), I cross one of the bridges which go over the miljacka river and find myself in the middle of nature. The air is incredibly fragrant with what I think is wisteria (I am later told that is not wisteria but "locust tree" (or "acacia" in french), whose flowers are edible). Then I notice music coming from a stereo nearby: soulful bosnian folk music of the kind V. and I sometimes listen to in New York. I walk towards where it is coming from and happen upon the recording of 
a video. The young film crew is on the right and I can barely see a singer on the left, surrounded by greenery. This is a moment of pure balkan magic. I get closer, turn on the zoom on my digital camera and take the next picture, a close-up of the singer. She is holding her glasses in her left hand and a flowering branch in her right. My bosnian is not very good but I understand some of the word: "... moje bela sarajavo grada..." ("my beautiful city of Sarajevo..."). I stay until the end of the song and move on, filled with a feeling of pure joy.
One of the many cemeteries dotting the hills of Sarajevo. The siege of Sarajevo by the Yougoslav People's Army (JNA), aided by bosnian serb forces lasted three years, from April 5th, 1992 to February 29th, 1996. This was the longest siege in the history of modern warfare.
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