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These are recent stories - the rest are in my latest book, "Walking Through Adversity."
Stories about European Trips (2)
Rob bryant2006-01-09 11:30:04
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Serbs watched from the other. The town of Metrocica is half Albanian and half Serb, and neither group will leave, so the UN heavily guards the bridge and won't let either side cross. The Serbs and Albanians living together here would be like putting the Black Panthers and KKK together in a village and then told, "Y'all get along now - no feuding allowed." Hatred like this is taught by parents and friends, and as relatives are involved and/or killed by the other side. It seemed absurd to me, but then I realized that even the US went through the same thing years ago with racism, slavery, and the treatment of the American Indian. The difference is, we decided to stop the killing and hatred and have a legal system that defends all of our citizens (except for OJ of course). I visited both the South & North Stations where our police officers were keeping the peace. I admired them for their courage (even though we pay them very well).
Borders on the Ridiculous: During the next two days I toured more of the country and assessed our performance and turned in a report with the Program Manager. I traveled back across the border of Kosovo and Macedonia and waited for three long hours at the border. It was intimidating to see all of the soldiers and to realize that if my passport were to be stolen, or visa not correct, they would not let me cross. Helicopters fully loaded with weapons hovered at the border waiting to be released upon a car that tried to cross without permission. It was madness, and I was struck with the total arrogance of the Kosovo people. They had total disregard for anyone but themselves. People and cars would cut in line and then stare back at others who dared to be in their way. There was no regard for age, or anyone other then themselves. I found myself actually angry and wanting to push others out of the way. Then I realized, I was being caught up in their frenzy. It is no wonder that there is so much anger
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See photographs from:
Serbia Montenegro Gallery
,
Germany Gallery
,
Croatia Gallery
,
Bosnia-Herzegovina Gallery
