Today I learned about a war that I probably thought of as “distant” when it was happening between 1990 and 1995.  It is sometimes referred to in casual conversation in Croatia as “the Greater-Serbian aggression (Velikosrpska agresija), and is almost always called the Homeland War (Domovinski rat) when it is spoken of formally.  Almost twenty years after the fact of that war, the country where it happened is still scarred, both physically and psychologically.  In Vukovar, where we began a drive through the countryside to Osijek, about half of the homes were destroyed in the conflict. In Osijek the devastation was systematic and vicious.  I had lunch with the Kelemen family who live in the village of Laslovo a few miles from Osijek.  All the building in the town were damaged, some completely destroyed.  The Kelemens have rebuilt from nothing that was left of their former home.  After the death of 20,000 people in Croatia with many thousands more left wounded, what amazes me more than anything else is that the Kelemens are not consumed by hatred of the neighboring Serbs who caused their great suffering. They say they can’t forget, but they know they must not let their culture take the ugly shapes of anger and vengeance.   Times are hard.  The average monthly income of families in Croatia today is $400.  The Laslovo villagers grow as much of their food as possible.  They are resourceful.  They dance.  They work.  They go to school.  They love life.  

The Croatian Tambura Band in concert this evening lifted my spirits.  Even after terrible things happen, people try to be good.  Amazing...