Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

I just returned from a protest opposite the law faculty here against domestic violence. It was an unexpected turn – I had just finished having a chat about TEFL with the teachers at Djermana’s school, fulfilling my end of our deal, and my Bosnian teacher invited me along to the demo. I was quite surprised to hear of such doings actually as I’m continually hearing about how Bosnian people take a very passive approach and organised public activism is non-existent and they only come out into the streets to cheer about football victories.

This was a simple but striking demo- just people standing silently along the river bank with black cloth strips over their mouths or eyes and cloth banners pinned to their clothes. There were a few cameras and my teacher says it’ll probably be on a lot of the news as the issue ties in with a recent story about professors taking advantage of female students, promising them pass grades. I didn’t hesitate to join these guys today but at the same time I wondered if I might have become a little more timid than I would be in Manchester, cause I'm not sure what constitutes a social faux pas round here. There was no whooping and cheering back to cars that honked in support and I wore the cloth over my eyes instead of my mouth which lent greater anonymity, although that didn't occur to me til later. There weren’t any other hijabis in the line along the bank but there was one present with her little boy in a group across the road.

I saw a girl in proper Turkish-style scarf and long coat combo with a guitar strapped to her back earlier today. Only in Sarajevo..