Part three of When will people learn?
When I sat on Besim's balcony in Sarajevo and we sipped coffee while he showed me the hills from where the Serbs bombed his house.

Besim was very eager to please. I was a bit apprehensive about staying with an unaccredited stranger, but he seemed more worried that I would steal his stuff. On the first morning we had breakfast. Besim produced a tray with some syrupy cake, a pot of Bosnian coffee, and a glass of water flavoured with rose petals. I was impressed. As we talked a mix tape with Santana, Moloko and Bob Marley played in the background.

Besim brought up the subject of the war. He said that under Tito everybody lived together ok. Then Tito died and Tudjman and Milosovic messed everything up. For three years the Serbs laid siege to Sarajevo, and Besim had no electricity or running water. Ten thousand civilians died during this time.

The next afternoon we had coffee on the terrace, which overlooks the Bašèaršija. There's a super view of the surrounding hills. He says he dared not go out on the terrace during the siege, that from his window he could clearly see the Serbian positions on the hillside. One night three grenades landed on his roof and blew up his home. He didn't want to say anymore. Like I said, he lives alone.

Now, instead of Serbs on the hillsides, there are graveyards. Besim's home was rebuilt with help from the Norwegian government. He is thankful and just happy the war is over. He doesn't seem to hold any grudges. He says he is a telecommunications engineer and he works from home. He says most people lost their jobs during the war. He spends most days in a cafe near the Bašèaršija, keeping an eye out for someone to fill his rooms. If he can get someone to take his bed, he sleeps in the kitchen. He smokes all the time. He doesn't talk much or make eye contact when he does.

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