Written 11/8:
As I’ve said many times in my blog, most of the Bosnians that I encounter are good people. Many of them are extremely welcoming, and excited and curious to meet me. Just today, on the tram, I was sitting next to an older woman who tried to start a conversation with me. I could say a few sentences, but then had to confess that, “I don’t understand Bosnian” (“Ne razumiem Bosanskom’”). She smiled, gave me a very sweet squeeze on the arm, and wished me a good life as she got off the train. It felt so special to have such a positive encounter with a complete stranger, whose life is so different from my own.
Unfortunately, there are some mean, xenophobic people here too. There are bad people everywhere, I guess. On Sunday evening, a man rang the doorbell of my friends’ apartment, and complained that a member of the Sarajevo Philharmonic had gotten drunk and thrown a bottle from a balcony onto his car. He claimed that someone had witnessed “an Italian guy” do it on Saturday at midnight, and was completely sure that it came from the second floor, where my friends live. Of course, on Saturday night, we were all asleep, being so exhausted from our week of preparing for the Tchaikovsky concert. The only people who we in the second floor apartment were my friends Arvida and Morena, having a quiet night at home. Another neighbor overheard the commotion and came out to vouch that there was no party going on that night.
Sara got nervous about the accusations and decided that she wanted to throw away all of our empty bottles, left over from our Halloween party. I told her not to worry, because we did nothing wrong and there was no reason to do anything. Unfortunately, as Sara took the bottles down the stairs, a woman (the wife of the accuser) grabbed her bag, started scolding her, and pulled her and the bag back up the staircase. Poor Sara! Arvida heard the commotion and came out to translate. The woman accused Sara, threatening to call the police. Suddenly, her story changed, and she was so sure that the bottle had been thrown from our apartment on the fourth floor, rather than the second floor. Arvida told her to go ahead and call the police, since we were in the right. The woman turned white, and offered not to press charges if Sara gave her money.
Aha. She wants to take advantage of us, and blackmail Sara for money, I think.
Sara stayed with Arvida in her apartment, and sent me a cryptic text message indicating she was in trouble. After the commotion ended, I headed down the stairs to find out what happened. Sara seemed very scared and worried, but I was angry. How can people be so mean, assuming, and rude?
The man and woman came back one more time to yell at us, threaten us, and ask for money. Arvida brought Sara and me to the door and translated for us that we were asleep early on Saturday night, and knew nothing about what had happened to their car. They stormed off, saying that we should expect to see a police inspector the next day.
The next day, Monday, came and went without incident. I figured that the couple realized that they were being assuming, had no case against us, and let it go. Or that they were just trying to take money from us and had given up. However, today, the man called Alisa, claiming that he was pressing charges against Sara, Arvida, the Sarajevo Philharmonic, and me! I don’t think anything will come of it, and am not worried, since we didn’t do anything wrong. As I told Sara, “there’s nothing illegal about taking the trash out”. Just in case, Sara called the embassy to let them know what is going on, and we obtained a number to call in case of any legal emergencies.
I have never been falsely accused of anything serious before, and it is at once scary, infuriating, and embarrassing. It sucks to feel discriminated against, just because I’m foreign. I did nothing wrong, and I hate that I might be an official suspect of a crime. If anything, the woman who grabbed Sara should be charged with assault.
I am also very sad to have bad relations with some of our neighbors. It is bad to be a victim, but in some ways it is even worse to be viewed as a perpetrator. I really respect and admire the Bosnian people, and am heartbroken that the feeling cannot always be mutual. Maybe the man and woman are telling the truth, and their car was damaged. Maybe they genuinely think that we had a party, and damaged their property. It is true that us Sarajevo Philharmonic members have had a couple of parties, but we are guilty only of being a little noisy. All of our neighbors are noisy too, and we would happily keep it down if asked. If the man and woman truly believe that we are guilty, I feel sorry for them as well as angry. If so, I really want to look them in the eye, and explain that I am a good person, and it is unfair of them to assume anything about me.
In conclusion, ARGH!
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