“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” -- Miriam Beard (from, The 50 Most Inspiring Travel Quotes of All Time)
It never gets old for me, challenging everyday conceptions of space and time. 30-something hours ago I was home, and now I am halfway across the world. Its a thrill that settles in my stomach, like the butterflies that accompany a first date, every single time I head for the airport. Airports symbolize more than annoying 3-ounce bottle rules, body scanners, and strange sweaty seat buddies (you know who I'm referring to). For me, airports represent adventure, freedom, and the potential of going literally anywhere in the world. It presents infinite realms of possibility.
As I find myself in Belgrade, Serbia, attempting to read street signs in the Cryllic alphabet and witnessing the many echoes of old Yugoslavia, I am slowly realizing that this part of the world is truly different from everything that I've ever experienced. What does it mean to travel the Balkans? What defines its people, languages, culture, and music? I wonder what I will come away with when I leave this seeming region of exceptionally visible national pride...
I have a feeling that the next few weeks hold the potential to transform, and continue to build upon the experiences that have changed my views of the world. It began in Zimbabwe and Jordan, and continues again this summer. I am travelling to Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) with three colleagues, spending the next three weeks with BiH highschoolers that we mentored and facilitated discussions on democracy during their exchange-leadership program at Willamette this past spring. These 'kids' (aka, soon-to-be-functioning-adults) are literally the product of civil war. Thus, the future of Bosnia and any prospects for justice or long-term reconciliation rests on their shoulders. Hopes for peace could again crumble with the aftershocks of genocide: nationalism, ethnic hatred, distrust of ones neighbors lack of forgiveness, and religious intolerance are only a few challenges they face.
But! As always, there is hope! (As the die-hard optimist, you couldn't expect any less from me of course haha). These young Bosnians are intelligent, genuine, candid, and so incredibly motivated to change their own communities and hence create a new BiH - a nation that supports democratic ideals of liberty tempered by social responsibility - a nation that can heal ancient wounds not through the suppression of identity but rather through the embrace of differences.
Obviously, I've turned the world into my soapbox. What can I say? I'm not one to censor myself.
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