 How did this clip make you feel?  Why did the musicians play instead of trying to find a way to survive?  How did people respond to the musicians?  What is the main message/meaning?  Why did I show you this clip, in connection to the novel?

 Capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina  Geography: Sarajevo is located in the Sarajevo valley of Bosnia, surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River.  Famous for its traditional religious diversity, with adherents of Islam, Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Judaism coexisting there for centuries. Due to this long and rich history of religious diversity, Sarajevo has often been called the "Jerusalem of Europe“  In 1914 it was the site of the assassination that sparked World War 1. Seventy years later, it hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics.  For nearly four years, from 1992–1996, the city suffered under the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War for independence.

 The war resulted in large scale destruction and dramatic population shifts during the Siege of Sarajevo between 1992 and  The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare. [  Serb forces of the Republika Srpska and the Yugoslav People’s Army besieged Sarajevo, from April 5, 1992 to February 29, 1996 during the Bosnian War.  After Bosnia and Herzegovina had declared independence from Yugoslavia, the Serbs, whose strategic goal was to create a new Serbian State of Republika Srpska (RS) that would include part of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, encircled Sarajevo with a siege force of 18,000 [ stationed in the surrounding hills.  The Bosnian government defense forces inside the besieged city were poorly equipped and unable to break the siege.

 It is estimated that nearly 10,000 people were killed or went missing in the city, including over 1,500 children. An additional 56,000 people were wounded, including nearly 15,000 children  Prior to the Siege Estimated Population: 435, 000  After the Siege Estimated Population: 300, , 000  Today the city is recovering and adjusting to a post-war reality, as a major center of culture and economic development in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Grbavica

The first happened on February 5, 1994; 68 people were killed and 144 more were wounded. The second occurred on August 28, 1995 when five mortar shells killed 37 people and wounded another 90.

 A Sarajevo Rose is a concrete scar caused by a mortar shell’s explosion that was later filled with red resin.  Mortar rounds landing on concrete create a unique fragmentation pattern that looks almost floral in arrangement.  The marked concrete patterns are a unique feature to the city.

Just as the Sarajevan’s turned the mortar shell scars into something unique and beautiful signifying the many lives lost during the Siege, reflecting on your own life how can you turn a bad situation into a good one? Reflecting upon past or present experiences and decisions… Was there a time in your life where you were caught in a bad situation or had to deal with a negative experience? (Death of a loved one, failing something, broken friendship, divorce etc) (are you currently experiencing this?) What happened? Or What is happening? What did you decide to do? Or What will you decide to do? How did you deal with the situation? Or How will you deal with the situation? Was there anything you would have done differently? (If so, what would you have done differently?) Is there other ways you could deal with this situation? How could this bad situation or negative experience be made into a good or positive one?