THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 6, 1996 TAG: 9601060234
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SANJA OMANOVIC, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
This New Year's Eve for Sarajevans was completely different from those of the past three years - except at midnight.
At midnight, it was as if the worst days of the war were back again. There was shooting everywhere. Soldiers were firing machine guns, rocket launchers, mortars - everything they had - into the air. It was like a bad dream. Many Sarajevans retreated to their bathrooms or other out-of-the way places for safety.
But midnight passed, and the first days of January have been peaceful. The only noise now is the sound of the heavy helicopters transporting equipment for the NATO implementation forces.
Sarajevans have had the same wishes the past three New Years. They wanted the war to stop; they wanted peace.
For the last three holiday seasons, they barely had anything to eat or drink on their tables. There were some foods, but they were so-called ``war recipes'' such as rice pie with a little onion, a poor substitute for potato pie, a Sarajevo favorite. There were also oriental cakes, which normally would be made with nuts. During the war there were no nuts, but with some bread crumbs in it, and a little imagination, it looked like the real thing.
There were no Santa Clauses, no Christmas trees.
``I know that Santa Claus should come by sleigh, but he took a taxi, because there was not enough snow,'' Vanja Ilicic, 4, said. She had come with other Sarajevan children to the Bosnian Cultural Center, where an actor from a local theater troupe was portraying Santa.
Vanja had never seen Santa Claus. She was an infant when the war started; she had never gotten a gift from him. When she saw him, she opened her eyes widely and shouted, ``I know you! I've seen you in a book!''
Another child, Ana, 3, was given an orange by her mother. When her mother started to peel it so she could eat it, Ana burst into tears and cried, ``Don't do that! Don't take it from me. Please sew it back together.'' She had never seen an orange before; she thought it was a toy.
On this New Year, the shops were full of people. Restaurants and hotels advertised their New Year programs.
Everyone's New Year's wish was the same as it was before. Just one word: peace.
But this time, Sarajevans have reason to think that their wish can come true.
``I cannot explain how happy I am. I lost everything I had. My house, my car, a little shop for renting videotapes - everything is destroyed,'' Mirza Hadzimusic, 37, said. ``But the most important thing is that my family - my wife and two kids - survived. I'm young enough to start a new life, and I will do that.''
This holiday, Sarajevans had better food on their tables. They could buy everything they wanted - if they had money, of course.
``I made roast veal, burek (a traditional meat pie) and baklava (a layered confection of dough, nuts and syrup). Thank God that I was able to make all that,'' Zrinka Ilic, 66, said.
Most Sarajevans spent the holidays at home. It was nice to be home and feel safer than before. It was nice to close your eyes at midnight, make a wish and dare to believe that peace is already here. It was nice to see people in the street with bags full of gifts and food.
In multi-ethnic Sarajevo, the holiday period offers a season full of celebrations: Catholic Christmas on Dec. 25; New Year's Day; Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7; Orthodox New Year on Jan. 13; and Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, which begins in late January.
There are lights now along the streets by night. The store windows are bright and decorated, almost like a dream. Sarajevans hope they will not wake up in some other familiar, cruel reality.
Holding his little daughter in his arms, Junuz Zigo, 25, said: ``We were faced with death every day, every hour, every second for almost four years. I have a feeling that I have lived only in the present during those years. Now I'm starting to believe that we will have our past and future again.'' MEMO: Sanja Omanovic, a Bosnian journalist, was a National Forum Foundation
visiting fellow at The Virginian-Pilot. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Sanja Omanovic, a Bosnian journalist...
by CNB