Nachricht Nummer : 240 Übertragungszeit : 3 min 37 sec Nachricht von : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.ZER.sub.org Betrifft : Zagreb Diary 15 August, 1993 Erstellungsdatum : 27.08.1993 12:53:00 S+2 Realname: Wam Kat Zagreb Diary 15 August, 1993 Dobar dan, I think that I went to bed at the time that you normally stand up in Pakrac, around 5 in the morning with other words. I decided that the party was nice enough when some ladies from the kitchen "stool" my "private" bottle of rakija, which anyway was nearly empty. They took it from the table, ask if it was wine, and after my answer that it was rakija, she immediately got stars in her eyes and put the bottle on her mouth and finished in one time the last 5 centimetre, "dobre" and putted the empty bottle back in front of my noose. Outside the shooting had cooled down, it can't be very funny to be UNPROFOR around here if you have to disturb all parties looking for arms at every Saturday evening. At 10 more or less was able to lead my delegation through the Croatian part of Pakrac, during the tour I tried to convinced them what they could do back home in Sittard to help this place. We made the normal round, Hrvatski Dom, the both churches, the hospital and a bit of the street were the shops uses to be. We ended as planned just before 12 at Scorpia were Vanja was waiting with a small official delegation from this side of Pakrac. In the mean time that the official blah, blah was going on, I went with Simo to the Croatian and UNPROFOR checkpoint in order to prepare the trip of the whole group 18 people, to the other side. Although we have the official UNPROFOR paper now at last that we can go, you never know of course what has happened last night which maybe have changed their minds. But hurrah, hurrah, everybody is friendly and co-operative today. And then the great moment comes. For the first time in the history of Whiskey Charley 8 a group of 18 international people walks over it. The Croatian check point greets us, nema problema, the Canadian open the barrier and it looks for everybody if this is the most normal thing on earth, but it took us 6 weeks of preparation. We walk through the total destroyed street up to the Serbian checkpoint, which is about 250 meter up the road. There they also want to have the names, so every nice passes the checkpoint one after another, after the police agents has written down their name in an old notebook. And than we are in the Serbian part, I don't who is more looking at whom, every where you see people standing up in their gardens to see this strange group of people walking through their village. What is going on, a guy on a tractor nearly drive one of the people of his socks, shouting something what I can't understand, after I shout back that we are on our way to his "major", he react "dobre, dobre" and tries to make his excuses. The "major" expect us, the rakija bottle stands on the table and his has round up all the glasses he could found. The big room is filled with all the people and you can see from his face that he likes this attention, when he put the rakija in the glasses, we found out that there are two glasses two less, nema problema, Wam and I can drink from the bottle, we know each other is his reaction. As always he surprise also this time the people with his balanced speech about co-operation with the Croats and peace in Slavonia. The volunteers are surprised, since some have been hearing now for 6 weeks that I always was talking with a war criminal and some how they had made another picture from him. My delegation, which just visit with me the hospital, wants to know what he is thinking about using the hospital together. Nema problema, but the Croatian flag should be removed. My delegation member react that he should put his flag next to it, the reaction is ad rem as always, their should be only one flag on the hospital, the red cross flag, if you go to a hospital you go their for medical reasons, not to make politics. On the way back to the Croatian part of Pakrac some people of course can refuse to buy some things, the pay with German marks and become multi millionaires, after ten minutes at least 5 are carrying a plastic bag, not to carry the goods they bought, buy to carry the return money they got. Today the exchange rates reached 35 million dinar for a DEM, two days ago I got only 30 million (on the Croat side it is now 2500). Goran they guy who wants to study in Beograd walked with us back to the checkpoint and it is there that everybody start to realise the line through Pakrac again, the last two hours, after the first impressions were just like on the Croatian side, the Serbs have no tails and no horns, they don't have long hair and beards and tattoo's of white eagles on their arms. Goran is just a normal guy, who likes to talk about modern music and is immediately part of the group. The first reactions back in the Croatian part is asking me if he or she is allowed to join the first building team on the other side, it is obvious that all like to go there and work. It is a pitty that my delegation wants to go directly further to Istria, since I would have loved to stay on some more to hear the first reactions in Scorpia. When we drive a few hours later from the highway to Koper we pass a traffic jam from at least 20 or more kilometer of mostly Slovenian cars who return back to Ljubljana from the coast. I hope for Croatia that all this people have been on a part of the Croatian coast and that they spend some thing there, since the country can use some income. Bok I Mir from Zagreb, Wam ------------------------------------------------------ Zagreb Diary can be found on a lot of different electronic networks, it is copyright free and can be ported to any network or other means of communication you like, but please drop my a line, you can reach by sending a message to wam@zamir-zg.comlink.de or wam@zamir-zg.comlink.apc.org. Zagreb Diary is dedicated to Tyche, Pjort and Rik, so that they found out what there father have been doing all that time in Zagreb. Financial support for Grassroot relief work in Croatia or BiH can be send to Kollektief Rampenplan (atn. Lylette, Postbox 780, 6130 AN Sittard, Netherlands, tel:. +31-46-524803 and fax: +31-46-516460 or to Zagrebacka Banka, Zagreb, accountnr.: 2440291594, to Kat, Pieter Jan Herman Fredrik, Brace Domany 6 6fl nr3, 41000 Zagreb. 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