Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
bodybuilders made me think brains and brawn are a zero-sum game. Some are built like
big tubes, with muscles that seem to squeeze their heads really small. They live in poverty,
amidst broken concrete and angry graffiti, with little but unemployment in their futures.
Later, after a two-hour drive on deserted roads through a rugged landscape, I arrived
at the humble Serb crossroads village of Nevesinje. Towns in this region all have a “café
row,” and Nevesinje is no exception. It was lunchtime, but as I walked through the town,
I didn't see a soul with any food on the table—just drinks. In this village, where unem-
ployment is epidemic, locals eat cheaply at home…and then enjoy an affordable coffee or
drink at a café.
A cluttered little grocery—with a woman behind the counter happy to make a sand-
wich—was my answer for lunch. The salami looked like Spam. Going through the san-
itary motions, she laid down a piece of waxed paper to catch the meat—but the slices
landed wetly on the grotty base of the slicer as they were cut. A strong cup of “Bosnian
coffee” (we'd call it “Turkish coffee”)—with highly caffeinated, loose grounds settled in
the bottom—cost just pennies in the adjacent café. Munching my sandwich and sipping
the coffee carefully to avoid the mud, I watched the street scene.
Big men drove by in little beaters. High-school students crowded around the window
of the local photography shop, which had just posted their class graduation photos. The
schoolgirls on this cruising drag proved you don't need money to have style. Through a
shop window, I could see a newly engaged couple picking out a ring. One moment I saw
Nevesinje as very different from my hometown…and the next it seemed essentially the
same.
