Friday, 9 May 2008

Fast food

We were sitting in a Ćevabdžinica in Baščaršija. We were obviously eating ćevapi with kajmak. When we finished, she took a crumpled paper from her jacket. It was a poem in Serbian. I need to study it for my exam tomorrow, she said. Then she started translating to me:

Wait for me, and I'll come back!
Wait with all you've got!
Wait, when dreary yellow rains
Tell you, you should not.
Wait when snow is falling fast,
Wait when summer's hot,
Wait when yesterdays are past,
Others are forgot.
Wait, when from that far-off place,
Letters don't arrive.
Wait, when those with whom you wait
Doubt if I'm alive.

Wait for me, and I'll come back!
Wait in patience yet
When they tell you off by heart
That you should forget.
Even when my dearest ones
Say that I am lost,
Even when my friends give up,
Sit and count the cost,
Drink a glass of bitter wine
To the fallen friend -
Wait! And do not drink with them!
Wait until the end!

Wait for me and I'll come back,
Dodging every fate!
"What a bit of luck!" they'll say,
Those that would not wait.
They will never understand
How amidst the strife,
By your waiting for me, dear,
You had saved my life.
Only you and I will know
How you got me through.
Simply - you knew how to wait -
No one else but you.


Then she asked me if I liked it. I just said Yes, it's very beautiful. She nodded and sighted.

This is from the old hard times, you know, she told me. Everything was dark, hard, scary. Even looking through the window. Not to talk about going out. If your mother went out for water, and it took to her 5 minutes more than usual, then all nightmares came to my head. All was sad. But everything had a meaning. Important things were measured and valued just how they worth. Now things are different. Everything is like fast food. Like ćevapi. Everything must be done right now. And love is not fast food. We don't know what it's important in life anymore. So we are confused and frustrated.

I didn't reply. We took a look at Sebilj. It was snowing again.

(Few days later I discovered that this poem was written by Konstantin Simonov in 1941. He was Russian. All that made me feel a bit disappointed. Few weeks later, Sarajevo celebrated its liberation by Tito's Yugoslav Partisans on April 6th 1945. The same year Simonov wrote the poem, the city was occupied by the Nazis that used the Croatian Ustaša government as a puppet. Then the image of the Russian poet in the war front missing his lover Valentina came to my mind).



Dedicated to you for all the inspiration.

OST Some Skroz song I like on Radio Sarajevo

Thursday, 8 May 2008

Blue and Red

There are some things in life that you just cannot explain. I heard many times those are the best things that can happen in your life. I don't know if this statement it's true or not. I just say that they are things that are hard to explain.

For example, I like football. Very much. I know it's just a sport, a game like any other games in the planet. But if my team scores, I feel euphoric. A discharge of adrenaline travels all around my body. I feel happy for a second. And also if my team, Barcelona, loses like it did yesterday (4-1) against its biggest rival (Real Madrid) I can't stand my rage for a while. I feel sad. And then I realise that it's just 22 guys running after a ball. They are millionaires and they will still be millionaires today, they don't care about you and your frustration, said someone. And then my mind switches to some of my daily worries.

I saw this graffiti for the first time few months ago. It is just in front of Grbavica Shopping Center, which is next to my office. It's been a long time that I wanted to talk about it, and I think this is the best day. It's a good evidence of Bosnian sense of humour either. (Note: the pronunciation of Barca in Bosnian is similar to the original Catalan word Barça, refered to FC Barcelona).

There are 2 football teams in Sarajevo, both playing in Bosnian Premijer Liga: FK Sarajevo and Željezničar, also known as Željo. The FK Sarajevo plays in Koševo Stadium, the biggest one that hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics inauguration, its colour is red and it is more popular in the center and old town. Željo was founded by some rail workers in 1921 (in fact its name means "rail worker" in Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian), its stadium is located in Grbavica and blue is its colour.

You probably will think that fans from both teams hate each other. I thought the same till I saw fans from Sarajevo and Željo walking together to see the local derby at the Quarter Finals of the Bosnian Cup. During the match, hooligans from both sides compete to be the noisiest. They insult each other following the long tradition of Bosnian swearing. But when the game is finished, they leave the stadium together. Don't be surprised if you see a bunch of blue and red flags together in the trolleybus stop.

But it may happen that the any public transport is working after the match, due to that some hooligans destroyed once some tramways "celebrating" a victory. It's a hothead action we also saw in some other Western countries like the USA or the United Kingdom. In Sarajevo you might hear about some hooligans knocking a tramway down. What is very hard to find in the newspapers is the chronicle of a fight between hooligans of Sarajevo and Željo.

Blue and reds share a passion for a sport that probably they cannot explain either. But at least all of them understand one thing: they are only rivals in the stadium. Because football it's basically just a sport.

I think some hooligans from Spain or Italy should come here to see a Sarajevo-Željo match.



OST Zoster - Hercegovina