Last Christmas, we were visited in Langham by my grandad’s in-laws: Spomenka, Aleks (Zorka’s brother), and their two kids, Yelena and Luka, as well as Zorka and Aleks’s mother, Vlada. We were able to see them again this summer, this time at their house in Bedford. They were very gracious to pack eight more of us into their home that already housed five people (including Spomenka’s mom, who is visiting from Belgrade) and feed us dinner. As Spomenka is Bosnian and Aleks Serbian, the meal was very traditionally Balkan and included steamed cabbage wraps (they used the much better British word, “parcel”) and a wide variety of bite-sized desserts.
The highlight of my visit was my 90 minute interview with Spomenka about her experience growing up in and living in the Balkans during the war in the 90s. I plan to interview people in each (or most) of the countries we will visit this summer about the Balkan war and I am very grateful to have gotten the chance to hear Spomenka’s account. Even after hearing her describe so much, I can’t begin to imagine the horror of being trapped in a warzone for much of a decade. For example…her family was without electricity and running water for five years; she lost many family members, friends, and teachers from bombings, shootings, and illness; and her mom, who we met, is missing half of her intestines and stomach due to a bomb that exploded in front of her three days before the war ended. Our conversation certainly put things in perspective and it was a blessing to get to hear Spomenka’s story. I’m eager to interview more people – strangers, next time – and hear the other perspectives on a war that feels so far removed from us Americans but devasted so many lives not that long ago.
Thank you, Spomenka!
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