Narrating Hospitality in the Balkans
Storybites 11 to 20
February 4, 2020
A group of students from the United States, Canada, and Mexico went to Croatia to participate in the ‘Narrating Hospitality’ course in Zagreb, Croatia at our partner institution the European Center for the Study of War and Peace.
During their stay, they engaged in conversation about hospitality and hosting the other in an environment that most perceived as strange, challenging, and sometimes even hostile.
What changed in them after this experience? What lessons did they take with them? What little moments did they experience in their lives that turned out to be the transformative?
We share eight of the twenty Storybites students presented at the end of the program.
Ally
“I was blown away by this act of hospitality that they had given up their home so that we could be there.”
Meabh
“I realized the hatred between the British and the Irish wasn’t a personal one but a political issue and if people got to know each other maybe they wouldn’t feel this way.”
Daniel
“Pretty soon we were having a conversation in very-broken English, and he starts teaching me some basic Spanish using sticky notes.”
Jacquie
“If we ignore our otherness, then we are forgetting an entire part of what makes us who we are.”
Katie
“Dustin, the man on the beach, was proof to me that you can’t spend your life waiting for happiness to come.”
Hart
“In a moment of encountering a stranger I found that love trumps hate.”
Indy
“We talked and I realized that we both have learned something. You can’t ask for acceptance if you aren’t going to make yourself vulnerable.”
Charlie
“I expected animosity based on stereotypes but this person welcomed us to his home with unconditional hospitality.”
Andrew
“Through our conversations, we never really resolved anything but at least we developed an appreciation for each other.”
Urwa
“During a war tainted with religious conflict and bias, the priest wanted to ensure that he served all humanity without any discrimination.”
What about you? Do you ever experienced a moment of radical transformation? Do you have a story to share that can inspire others to see through a different perspective?
Send us your Storybite!
More Storybites
“For I had no one in the world, and that meant everyone in the world was mine.”
“If you go to the outside, if you go to the United States for a couple of years, maybe you will forget. And you will be coming back. We will miss you, but we will see you later. But if you die, no chance to see you later in time.”
“In the safe space I’m a part of, I can take a step back to reflect on myself, my background, and my position as a women with intersecting backgrounds.”
“Although I maybe can’t go back…I’ve always been very intrigued by my family’s identity as Persians who have left their country.”
“You might be different, but perhaps you have something that I don’t have.”
“It is important to have the willingness to listen to each other and the patience and tolerance for each other.”
“It gave me a place (..) to accept myself and accept that what I feel and who I am was good enough.”
“Instead of seeing it as a wall between two different groups, it’s really an opportunity for hospitality.”
Thembi shares a story about facilitating conversation between black and white employees on the effects of Apartheid in South Africa.
“They were the person who forced me to see the effects of the church’s stance on the people who identify on the LGBTQ spectrum.”
“…she’s this person who has invited me in her life. As I journey with her, she is also ready to journey with me.”
“…it really clued me in on the importance of listening and trying to root out the bigger problems…”
“…living with people who have been neglected, people who have suffered before, I have been able to accept myself…”
