An Englishman in the Balkans

Today’s episode its a bit different. Today I talk to Tom Beck who’s originally from Watford in the UK but now lives near Potsdam in Germany.

Tom has recently published a Book called “Goodbye Britain”

I am a Brit who left and settled in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tom interviewed me for his book, and after reading it, I wanted to find out about the stories that others who have left Britain had to tell.

Tom has also visited Bosnia and Herzegovina so I wanted to hear what his impressions of the misunderstood country were.

You can get your copy of Goodbye Britain: https://goodbyebritain.co.uk (https://goodbyebritain.co.uk)

Follow Tom on https://instgram.com/heytombeck (Instagram)

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In this episode Tamara and I talk about International Women’s Day or Dan Žen, but simply referred to as osmi mart (8th March).

So find out a little history and culture from not only Bosnia and Herzegovina but also the former Yugoslavia.

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Tamara and David answer some of your questions:

1. Are there many houses made of wood in BiH? Seems that most houses are made of bricks. In Norway 90% of the houses are made of wood.

2. Is Herzegovina a separate geographical area within BiH?

3. What are the various culture that made up Banja Luka and the various cultures in present day? What about the people living there. What are their occupations; industry, tourism etc?

4. How many dogs you guys have?

5. How did you guys meet?

6. What are the rules to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina at the moment?

7. What is your favourite place in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

If you enjoy the podcast please subscribe/follow and share with a friend!

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Tamara and Me look at some Facts concerning Bosnia and Herzegovina.

When researching somewhere to visit, I invariably land on links that say 5 fun facts about wherever, or 6 stunning places you must visit.

So, on this episode we look at some fun facts from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Without giving too much away, a few of them are quirky and not well known at all.

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Hello and welcome to the living in Bosnia and Herzegovina podcast. A podcast that tells stories from this much misunderstood country. In today's episode, we'll be finding out more about folklore, and in particular, traditional dancing. Back in 2019, I became aware of a young lady from South Holland, who had been dancing with a folklore ensemble in the nearby city of Banja Luka. She was at that time starting to make a film about Bosnian folk dancing, because she felt that these traditions might be starting to disappear, and she wanted to preserve that experience for future generations. So in the COVID world of early 2021, I have caught up with Efie Derksen to find out more.

David:

Efie, you're in the Netherlands, I'm here in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I bumped into you quite randomly on the internet, and I thought, "What an amazing story." So we've never really met in real life. So if we did, my first question to you would be, "Who is Efie?"

Efie:

Yeah, that's a good question. I am very jealous because you are there. I miss it so much to be in Bosnia. But, I'm Efie, I'm a Dutch woman and there is no genetical link with the former of Yugoslavia, but for me it's something I grew up with. So it was in our home. We always listened Balkan music. And first, your question, who is Efie? I'm a lot of things. I'm a nurse, and I'm making a from my heart. I'm not a filmmaker. So it's just something that I wanted to do, to preserve what we can find now.

David:

I read a little bit about you, and you said that your parents are both from the Netherlands, were into folklore themselves. But they met not in the Netherlands, I understand, but somewhere close to here as well.

Efie:

Yeah, it's true. They met in Hungary. My dad is a musician, he always was, and he loved music from the Balkans. It was just that feeling, and the new music, and the songs. So he would travel to the Balkans to learn from the musicians there. And my mother was a folk dancer, and in that years, I'm talking about '70s early '80s, I don't know. It was very popular in Holland to do folk dancing. So there were courses, and she went to a course in Hungary. There was just like a folk festival, and my dad also was travelling there, and he came to play, and she came to dance, and then they met like two Dutch people and the one folk festival in Hungary, so it's funny. Yeah.

David:

What made you want to come to the Balkans, and in particular Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today for example, we're talking about the wonders of the country, and yet I was just before talking to you, dropping in on a seminar to try and encourage tourism, and to try and encourage visitors to come here, and it's been an uphill struggle, always is, and always has been an uphill struggle. What made you want to come to this country? This very misunderstood country in Southeast Europe.

Efie:

Well, in the first place, I had the culture in my heart. The songs, and I never was interested in... Well, I was interested, but I never cared about the war stories, because I think that's a big problem. People still think like, "Is it safe going to Bosnia, or Serbia because of the war?" But I think for me, it's the people that I come for. They are so open, and loving and in particular Bosnian people. Because I think in history, they were always the ones in the middle. They were always the ones that people came to attack, or how do you say it? And I think they are more vulnerable, I guess, they are more open. They are more warm. You feel at home when you come there, it's just the second home, and they embrace you.

Efie:

And even after all those crazy things that happened in that country with all those ethnic groups, they are just still open. And beside that, when people come, maybe the first thing they need to know, it's a beautiful country. It's beautiful nature. It's beautiful. The food is really... I see you are very lucky. You can eat a lot...

Sounds of The Balkans In this edition of the podcast, we play some eclectic Balkan music mixed with some Balkan gossip .

The tracks we featured are:

Balkan - https://www.facebook.com/omikimusic/ (Omiki )

I Daje - https://www.facebook.com/SassjaSassja/about/ (Sassja)

Baila Leila - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goran_Bregovi%C4%87 (Goran Bregović)

Lasting Kind of Love - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Popovi%C4%87 (Ana Popović)

Opa Cupa - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_Soul_Party! (Slavic Soul Party)

Trust - https://www.facebook.com/bruhuuhu/ (Bruhuuhu)

Cross the Line - https://dubioza.org/ (Dubioza Kolektiv)

Samo Malo- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnifico_(musician) (Magnifico)

Na Na Na Na - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubismo (Cubismo) with Josipa Lisac

Noć Noć - https://popnable.com/bosna/artists/57683-brutal-protest (Brutal Protest)

Professor Jakov - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_3 (Let 3)

Siki Siki Baba -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko%C4%8Dani_Orkestar (Kočani Orkester)

Duni Mi Duni Ladjane - https://www.discogs.com/artist/1269235-Teodulija (Teodulija)

Banja Luka - http://banjaluka2024.ba/en/jazz-rez-quincy-jones-sends-his-love-to-banja-luka/ (Quincy Jones)

Go Marko Go - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boban_Markovi%C4%87 (Borban i Marko Marković Orkester)

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Sounds of The Balkans

In this edition of the podcast, we focus on music from Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Croatia and Serbia.

Some old tracks and some really up to date ones too.

The tracks we featured are:

https://www.divanhana.ba/en/biography2/ (Divanhana) - Oj safete, sajo, sarajlijo

https://amiramedunjanin.com/ (Amira Medunjanin) - Ajde Jano Kolo Da Igramo

http://www.snailrecords.nl/artist/ljb/ (Ljiljana Buttler) - Nocas Mi Srce Pati

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0aban_Bajramovi%C4%87 (Šaban Bajramović) - DJelem, DJelem

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parni_Valjak (Parni Valjak) - Moja Je Pjesma Lagana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekatarina_Velika (Ekaterina Velika) - Zemlja

https://www.facebook.com/vanjamisica/ (Vanja Mišić) - Tu I Tu

https://www.n1m.com/sopot?album=66179 (Sopot) - Zovi Me

https://www.facebook.com/sundaystoriesofficial/ (Sunday Stories) - Dišem

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanda,_Kod%C5%BEa_i_Neboj%C5%A1a (Kanda, Kondža i Nebojša) - SAT

https://www.facebook.com/killokillobanda/ (Killo Killo Banda) - Vinska Pesma

https://www.facebook.com/grupadetour/ (Detour) - Proljeće i ja

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Today it's a bit of a look back episode, to an interview I did in 2016, when the Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka was re-opened after some 23 years.

The Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka was originally commissioned by, Ferhat Pasha Sokolovic and built in 1579. It stood near the centre of Banja Luka until the night of  6–7 May 1993, some 27 years ago, when it was destroyed by explosion.

The Ferhadija's location remained destroyed for these years and some said that it would never be rebuilt, but rebuilt it was. There were a lot of people involved in the rebuilding, a lot of unsung heroes, and one of those unsung heroes is a Brit like me.

His name is Donald Reeves and he has an NGO called the Soul of Europe. Donald came back to Banja Luka to attend the opening back in 2016. I caught up with him in a hotel coffee bar in Banja Luka and I wanted to find out more about how difficult it had been to get the mosque rebuilt and his thoughts on peace building and reconciliation here in the Western Balkans.

But before I started talking to Donald, I really didn't know much about him apart from what I found on Twitter.

It said he was a maverick priest, a writer, a broadcaster, a peace builder, generally a nuisance, a visionary with attitude, and also a very dangerous man.

So why a very dangerous man when it comes to something like peace building?

READ OUR BLOGPOST ABOUT REBUILDING THE FERHADIJA

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In this edition of the Podcast, I’ll be focussing on Spomenik. Spomenik are large monuments from the former Yugoslavia, and you see them across the whole of the Western Balkans and in particular here in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Normally, they're massive structures built out of concrete, and I think the architectural design is called “Brutalism” but they are very, very impressive.

The Spomenik Database can be accessed at https://spomenikdatabas.org (https://spomenikdatabas.org).

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On this edition of the podcast Tamara and I visit the wooden church at Romanovci. Over the years, I have developed an interest in wooden chapels and churches, and mosques with wooden minarets, that are to be seen across Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Today I travelled the short distance to Romanovci, to see the church of St Nicholas (Sv Nikola).

Sadly it was closed but I will come back to see inside.

This church is special, in that it is a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Ask us any questions or give a suggestion for a Podcast.

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