Smashing!

I've had chipped windscreens in the past, I definitely remember one of our MINIs needing the glass replaced, but I'd never smashed a window on a vehicle...until last Tuesday. As I type snow is falling outside but a week ago tonight the rain was pouring down. Heavy, heavy rain, even by Mostar's standards. I was driving our Volkswagen Transporter down towards the Stari Grad for another Gilgal gig. Reversing into a parking space I missed the overhanging tree - or rather I didn't miss it. It wasn't in my wing mirrors although I might have seen it had the rear window not been quite so steamed up. One of the passengers in the back screamed 'stop' but in that instance the whole window just exploded inwards. I'll save you the story of us picking up the pieces from this mess but I must mention that driving home later that night without a back window gave fantastic clear rear visibility!

The video gives a little more of the story and some very grainy gig footage - enjoy!

Competitive?

It has been our observation that in the world of retail Bosnia and Herzegovina has yet to evolve in to the fiercely competitive market that we were used to in the UK. It's seems retail is not the only area this is the case. The World Economic Forum has presented its 2009-2010 global competitiveness report and Bosnia and Herzegovina comes 109th out of 133 major and emerging economies.

What caught my attention was that this position leaves the country sandwiched between Uganda, just above it, and Cambodia, just below it. Those countries share the distinctive that at some point in their history they have been the byword for atrocities in their region. Does that make them fitting neighbours?

From my limited perspective - I've visited neither Uganda or Cambodia - I would say no. I find it hard to reconcile the potential I see in this country with the stigma I've seen attached to the others. The sad reality this report highlights is that the mention of Bosnia and Herzegovina is likely to continue to draw the sharp-intake-of-breathe response in business circles.

The financial fiasco that has done much to undermine the credibility of western capitalism over the last year may make you ask if competitiveness is that important after all. It is. While the inexcusable excesses that have been exposed do the system no favours the alternative is stagnation and exploitation. Whether progress is inevitable or not is up for discussion. News articles can be depressing but we see encouraging signs on the ground.

You would have to wear blinkers to only see encouraging signs but here's an example of this morning's news of progress, albeit of the slow and steady type. After seventeen years the railway line has re-opened between Belgrade and Sarajevo. We plan to visit the Serbian capital one day; now we have another transport option!

Mr Writer responds

“Mr Writer, why don't you tell it like it is? Why don't you tell it like it really is? Before you go on home...” Yesterday afternoon, as the Stereophonics sung these words in my ear, I had one of those moments of conscience. Am I guilty of not telling it like it is? Come to think of it do I really know what it is like?

The ‘it’ is probably life in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the land of contradictions that is broadly the subject of this blog; our life and work in Mostar being the particular focus. I am aware, often painfully so, that our life here is nothing like that of a great many of the population. For one, I have a Passport that allows me to live and work around Europe. Bosnian Passport holders need an expensive visa just to visit the UK. Such restrictions affect how you see life’s possibilities.

My brother commented on the video I made of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s World Cup playoff defeat to Portugal that at times I could have been Alan Green. Sometimes I do feel more like a commentator than a player. I’m blogging more about what I’m seeing than what I’m experiencing. Would I want to share the hardships I witness others going through? No I wouldn’t. Does this make me feel selfish and, at times, pampered? Yes it does. And sometimes that bothers me.

Perhaps that’s why the Stereophonics struck a nerve. To tell it like it really is you have to have lived through something with people. The lyric prods at my detachment and places a huge, awkward question mark over it. In a country of many contradictions it seems I have plenty of my own I must resolve or learn to live with.

Better under Tito?

When it comes to remembering golden ages we tend to forget that even then the grass probably looked greener somewhere else. Nevertheless there’s nothing like a good bit of nostalgia to take the edge off today’s hardships and disappointment. Perhaps it should come as no surprise to you to learn that on more than one occasion we’ve heard people make comments to the effect that life was better under Tito. Sure, he still has his critics but in our experience they are few and far between. A great many people, regardless of their background, have very fond memories of Yugoslavia.

And so when we had the opportunity to visit Jajce, where the decision to create a Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was agreed, on the anniversary of the big event we couldn’t pass it up. The video gives a glimpse inside the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia Museum, the picture shows that there are still Partisans out there.

Strike a light!

The eagle-eyed will have noticed that this picture is shot in almost exactly the same location as my post of a week ago today. It appears because yet again it is the location of a surprising sight. I draw your attention to the festive lights strung across the street. These are, in themselves, not much of a marvel. There are plenty of reasons – well at least two! – why there should be lights up at this time of year. It’s just that I heard Mostar was going to pass on having a New Year celebration in Spanish Square this year as a city without a budget finds it hard to finance such things. I had wondered if non-essential illuminations would find themselves plunged into darkness. It’s nice to see things are a little brighter than I imagined.

A different part of Europe

Tuesday afternoon and I climb into the kombi. Our gear is loaded: guitars, amps, effects and Rowan’s bass. We need to get Budo and his drums and head for the old town. I turn the key and as the kombi coughs to life the radio begins cranking out a classic. The Final Countdown! I smile. It’s my view that everyone should be able to appreciate the excesses of the eighties. They don’t have to live off a diet of big hair and tight leather but they should at least be able to see the funny side of it. And the keyboards; let’s hear it for ‘hard rock’ band serving up cheesy-synth-solos. The funny side, see!

We park the kombi where we probably shouldn’t – a helpful local warns us we’ll likely have our tyres slashed! – but it’s as close to the venue as we can get. Valve amps get heavy when they’re carried over cobbles for any great distance. We grab a couple of armfuls of gear each and head for the bar. Through the heavy wooden door we are greeted by two things: the denim and leather clad owner sporting a vintage Iron Maiden T-shirt and a song blasting from the stereo. It’s The Final Countdown...da, da, dah, dah, da, da, dum, dum, dum!

We don’t play that kind of rock music, I never had a mullet and I’m not allowed leather trousers but I appreciate living in a country where such things are not beyond the pale.

(This video has a few other thoughts, and a few photos, from the gig.)

BiH v Portugal - a fan's view.

I should probably be writing more here but getting and at 4am and still getting up at the normal time this morning have got the better of me. We were there last night. It was a good game, obviously the wrong result from our point of view, but as English people we've hasd some experience of losing to Portugal after having a player sent off! I'll leave the video to show the ups and downs of the day.

WARNING: The fans behind us swore throughout the match. I won't claim to have understood the half of what they said. To those of you who will understand, I apologise that some of their comments will undoubtedly have ended up being audible in this video.