Beginning on Tuesday, the 17th of May, I embarked on a financial environments field trip to Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy. This experience, as incredible in isolation as it has been proven to be, is of a special importance to me: it is the third attempt to undertake this trip, as it was delayed twice due to the pandemic, and it comes only days after my graduation from Texas A&M. All of these elements have combined to make my first few days under Ms. Guyton?s international tutelage a surreal experience.
I am writing this entry at the end of my 6th day on this journey, wherein the vast majority of our time has been spent in various towns in Croatia. Our first area of focus was Dubrovnik: a beautifully historic and intimate castled city along the Adriatic coast. Our primary tour guide, Lidija, has done an incredible job recounting the history and underlying themes of the sites we visit, which only add to the impact our visits carry. A particular observation that stuck with me from Dubrovnik, save for the clear economic and cultural impact that the production of HBO?s Game of Thrones has had on the region, is the lasting effects of numerous wars throughout history. Although it?s often brought up that the mighty walls of Dubrovnik were never conquered, it is possibly undermentioned that the city was sieged and shelled by the Yugoslav Army in 1991, despite its classification as a UNESCO heritage site. The effects of these struggles, both through the physical bullet holes left behind and the mental and cultural weight of these memories are found here, eliciting a somber tone for knowing that such atrocities occurred and a proud one for the resilience of the Croatian people in their fight for independence and ultimate success in keeping their history alive.
On our 5th day on the trip, we zig-zagged through Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina in order to visit Mostar on our way to Split. Despite their geographic and historical similarities, the two countries couldn?t be more different. Croatia?s membership in the EU and more prominent tourist service industry by virtue of an incredible amount of coastline means they have a more ample set of resources to deal with. This was very clear as soon as we crossed the Bosnian border: the seemingly omnipresent white buildings with orange rooftops seen throughout Croatia were replaced with heterogenous concrete structures interlaced with large, over-the-top hotels. What?s more, the cultural divides that define Bosnia & Herzegovina?s history are jarringly present in the modern diaspora, although surely to a lesser extent. The tragic struggles between religious and ethnic groups throughout the country?s history under various rulers resulted in such practices as Christian women tattooing themselves with crosses to prevent a forced marriage to Ottoman soldiers. No place in Bosnia is more representative of these differences than Mostar. The beautiful bridge that the city is known for, Stari Most, has itself been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times and separates the two sides of town: the Christian population and the Bosnian Muslim population. Being present to the differences in market offerings, restaurants, peoples, and architecture in the two sides of town separated by a single bridge, if only for a few hours, was especially impactful for me.
As fun as the activities and excursions from this trip has been, and as great of friends I?m discovering through our shared experiences, I find the history and modern culture of the region to be the most interesting aspect of this journey. The idyllic scenes shared with my new friends are always underscored by the ethnic groups that make up the region, the lingering impact of communism through the former Yugoslavia, and the economic disparities found between countries with costal access and EU membership versus those that have neither. Although our time here has been short, it has been nothing short of spectacular. I am incredibly grateful to have been afforded this experience and summarily plan to research the region more and return in the future.