Tuesday, March 28, 2017
My Inspiration
I've been saying for years that I want to travel the entire world, all 196 countries. People react like it is impossible, so imagine my pleasure to find that someone out there did it: Cassie de Pecol. And so can I.
Rocko
Rocko is someone you don't forget. He comes in and I greet him with a warm "Hi Rocko!"
"You remember who I am?" He says, surprised.
With his long hair, thick accent and quickly discernible sense of humor, of course I remember who he is. Rocko is 70 years old and from the former Yugoslavia.
Rocko says he has heard I went to Bosnia and asks me what I think of it. I tell him I love it; it was so beautiful. He treats me like I am wrong. 'The place is horrible!' he expresses in the same emphatic way he says everything.
It turns out Rocko owns two houses in Bosnia, one in Mostar and one in Sarajevo. He was born in Sarajevo. He came to the United States when he was 28 and has been here ever since. I learned today that he is Serbian. This means, he explains, and as I learned in Bosnia, to be Serbian is to be Orthodox; they are one in the same. Rocko lost 25 family members in the Bosnian war in the 1990's. His sister lost her husband, her two sons, and her father in law all in the matter of two weeks.
He made the mistake of taking his family to visit the Balkans in 1991. He landed in Croatia. They took the passports, and he was worried they weren't going to let him out. As soon as he got his passports back, he and his little family, consisting of his Serbian wife and two young sons made their way straight back to the U.S. It was a scary experience for him.
At heart, Rocko is a Serbian. He says that Serbians own almost all of the land in Bosnia because the Bosnians do not like to work. From the way he said it, it seems that the Bosnian's aren't ambitious. Then, they want all of the land, for which they did not work. According to Rocko, this is was the reason for the war in the 1990s. He thinks, as it seems that many others in Bosnia do too, that all of the Muslims/Bosnians in Bosnia should have been killed long ago. His father is buried in a Muslim cemetery, he wants to move him to the Serbian cemetary. He thinks it is the current plan of Muslims is to infiltrate Europe with Muslims starting with Bosnia. At the same time, he doesn't like war and believes that it is something that makes poor people suffer.
Rocko talks of the corruption in the former Communist country and how rampant it was. He is a Trump fan, hopes Trump is successful in getting Muslims out of the U.S. and is grateful that Hillary didn't win. He thinks the U.S.'s plan was to be at war with Russia. He doesn't think that democracy is for every country. Some places need a dictator. He thinks Kosovo should be a part of Serbia, as well as Macadonia.
His material grandfather lived in the U.S. in St. Louis! It turns out that from 1897 to 1903 there were many Bosnians who came to the U.S. When WWI broke out many of them volunteered to go back to fight. Some of them died, some of them stayed, some returned. His maternal grandfather was one of the ones who stayed in Bosnia after the war. I asked if this was why St. Louis was chosen as a resettlement location for Bosnians. No, he said the early settlers simply came because St. Louis was the center of things back then. No relation to the later settlements.
Rocko never quits at anything. Nothing. His now wife stood him up for four dates before she showed up. When she did, they were engaged within two months.
Rocko could have talked for hours. He said he'll bring me books next time he comes and thanked me for talking to him. Really, I couldn't have been more fascinated.
"You remember who I am?" He says, surprised.
With his long hair, thick accent and quickly discernible sense of humor, of course I remember who he is. Rocko is 70 years old and from the former Yugoslavia.
Rocko says he has heard I went to Bosnia and asks me what I think of it. I tell him I love it; it was so beautiful. He treats me like I am wrong. 'The place is horrible!' he expresses in the same emphatic way he says everything.
It turns out Rocko owns two houses in Bosnia, one in Mostar and one in Sarajevo. He was born in Sarajevo. He came to the United States when he was 28 and has been here ever since. I learned today that he is Serbian. This means, he explains, and as I learned in Bosnia, to be Serbian is to be Orthodox; they are one in the same. Rocko lost 25 family members in the Bosnian war in the 1990's. His sister lost her husband, her two sons, and her father in law all in the matter of two weeks.
He made the mistake of taking his family to visit the Balkans in 1991. He landed in Croatia. They took the passports, and he was worried they weren't going to let him out. As soon as he got his passports back, he and his little family, consisting of his Serbian wife and two young sons made their way straight back to the U.S. It was a scary experience for him.
At heart, Rocko is a Serbian. He says that Serbians own almost all of the land in Bosnia because the Bosnians do not like to work. From the way he said it, it seems that the Bosnian's aren't ambitious. Then, they want all of the land, for which they did not work. According to Rocko, this is was the reason for the war in the 1990s. He thinks, as it seems that many others in Bosnia do too, that all of the Muslims/Bosnians in Bosnia should have been killed long ago. His father is buried in a Muslim cemetery, he wants to move him to the Serbian cemetary. He thinks it is the current plan of Muslims is to infiltrate Europe with Muslims starting with Bosnia. At the same time, he doesn't like war and believes that it is something that makes poor people suffer.
Rocko talks of the corruption in the former Communist country and how rampant it was. He is a Trump fan, hopes Trump is successful in getting Muslims out of the U.S. and is grateful that Hillary didn't win. He thinks the U.S.'s plan was to be at war with Russia. He doesn't think that democracy is for every country. Some places need a dictator. He thinks Kosovo should be a part of Serbia, as well as Macadonia.
His material grandfather lived in the U.S. in St. Louis! It turns out that from 1897 to 1903 there were many Bosnians who came to the U.S. When WWI broke out many of them volunteered to go back to fight. Some of them died, some of them stayed, some returned. His maternal grandfather was one of the ones who stayed in Bosnia after the war. I asked if this was why St. Louis was chosen as a resettlement location for Bosnians. No, he said the early settlers simply came because St. Louis was the center of things back then. No relation to the later settlements.
Rocko never quits at anything. Nothing. His now wife stood him up for four dates before she showed up. When she did, they were engaged within two months.
Rocko could have talked for hours. He said he'll bring me books next time he comes and thanked me for talking to him. Really, I couldn't have been more fascinated.
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