Today we visited Trebević, a mountain that provided a completely panoramic view of Sarajevo. The view was stunning, with Sarajevo’s urban skyline and traditional architecture visible.
The fact that the Trebević was so tall and that it provided a commanding view of Sarajevo made the mountain a coveted strategic point; it was often fought over for an advantage. Trebević was used by Serbs to shoot the buildings and the people below in Sarajevo, via artillery units.
It was here, on March 2nd, 1992, that the Bosnian War claimed its first victim, Ramo Biber, a security guard for the Sarajevo Cable Car. The first death to the War that went on to kill tens of thousands of innocent civilians. The view gave me mixed feelings: It was breathtaking, yet understanding and learning the history there gave me pensive sadness.
After visiting Trebević, we had lunch, and then had a lecture by Aida Tule, a Psychologist, who explained how the human ego works. The lecture talked about addiction and the unconscious and conscious mind, reaching to the crux of her argument related to hypnotherapy. “If you don’t understand yourself, you would not be able to regulate it properly, and it would do harm to you. Understanding yourself can be achieved by looking back at memories and learning from them.” It was an interesting how we can gain insight from our experiences — it reminded me of how important our experiences are, and it gave me a moment of reflection to ponder about my experiences here at Bosnia and Herzegovina.