Muslim Prayers (from 9-11-08)

Several times a day intercom`s broadcast the prayer of the Koran from the minarets of mosques. They wake me at 5am and I fall asleep to them at night. You can hear them throughout Sarajevo not just in the Muslim neighborhood in Old Town. The chants make me feel tranquil. It is Ramadan so the cafes are quiet and empty. Everyone is at the mosque praying. From a Westerner´s perspective the crowd of people praying outside look as though they are exercising with soft yoga bends and stands. Part of me wishes I was a member of the community.

Transcribing my experience from Sarajevo

September 10th

Two million books were destroyed in the National Library during the time of the war. Bombs exploded in every direction, but the main target was this national treasure. The Serbians wanted to eliminate the library because it had documents that dated back to the beginning of Sarajevo. It was a powerful source of information and now the locals have no records of where the origin of their people came from.

I visited the ruins of the national library today. The building was still standing and a local artist named Edo Murtic displayed his art exhibit on both levels of the remains of the library. This artist employs power of great range through his paintings. The exhibit showed the destructive essence of war through the perspective someone who first hand lived through it. The title of his series of painting is "Eyes of Fear." It shows man as in a state of primal fear living in an animal state of awareness. These painitngs are of such dramatic strength and politically charged with fear of power and how power power causes corruption in mankind. Some of the sketches look like they were out of pure madness all portrayed through a series of skull paintings. The contrast between the bombed building with hanging paintings was very powerful.

Recharge

I hit a plateau in traveling. I lost my purpose and started to get depressed about my future, but I am taking it as more of a sign that I need to recharge.

I am in Munich with my friend Sandra from high school who lives in a small village outside the city. I have been to Oktoberfest. I went twice and it is everything I thought it would be being more lively than any concert or festival I´ve ever been to, but it wasn´t as exciting as sight seeing and visiting with an old friend.

I was in need of staying in one spot for awhile. Recharging is just as important as a good nights rest. I did do a lot of sightseeing today. I went down to the Olympia park where the 1972 summer olympics were held and then to the futuristic BMW museum.

I am gaining my energy for my next bulk of travels, which includes hiking in the snowy caps of Slovakia, sightseeing in Graz, going to Berlin, exploring small villages in Hungary and Poland and possibly spending a period of time (longer than two days) in either Italy or Amsterdam or Transylvania. I don´t plan past a couple of days so these are just some ideas floating around my head. If I get sick of traveling I will not force myself to go on further.

More than anything this traveling experience is more of a mental exercise. I am focusing my energy on staying in the present. Not having control over my future scares me and I have a tendency to think about the past. When I am in the present I am better than fine.. I am strong and compelling. I am learning to live day to day and for the most part I am understanding how to do it.

I´m learning loads about other cultures and meeting interesting people.

I will transcribe my journal onto my blog soon. Right now, I am only concerned about relaxing and taking care of myself.

Photos from Munich Click Here

From Munich, Germany

Photos from Vienna Click Here

From Austria- Vienna, Innsbruck, Crystal World

Photos from Zagreb, Croatia

From Zagreb, Croatia

ljubljana, Slovenia

I went hiking today.