Aida: My name is Aida and I'm from Bosnia and I wanna talk about my experience with the war in my country. The war started in 1992 when I was six years old. I remember the day when I went to my friend's house and my mom was going to the store and she told me like, you need to go home because we need to go to my grandmother's house who lived in the other town. She told me that the war started but I was six years old, but I didn't really know what war mean. I was happy because I was going to visit my grandmother. So then I left there with my mother. My father and my brother stayed at home because my brother had to go to school. He was almost finished so he wanted to stay to finish.

So I left there and I guess my parents thought it was gonna be better, be safer for us. Maybe it was, but it was also scary. Most of the time we spent in the basement because we had to hide with about twenty people together with us. We also spent the time in the cave. Whenever we hear the sound of the airplane or the sound of the bomb, we were running to try to escape and we didn't really have, we were not hungry, but we didn't have good food to eat.

I spent in that town about two months and then I left to the other town where my aunt was living. We went there one morning about three o'clock because we were scared to go in daytime. We went there and we found a house where we lived. And my father had to go to the army. I didn't go to school because schools were closed. It was too dangerous to go to school. My mother didn't work. I lived with my grandmother, my brother, my mother. We were always afraid for my father because he was in the army. I remember one morning I woke up and my mother was worried, sad and I ask her what happened, she said that my father was hurt. Somebody shot him. And then he went to the hospital. He spent about two months there and then after that, he didn't go to the army anymore. I can say that I was very lucky because nobody in my family was killed, nobody died and I always had something to eat, I was never hungry. I always had clothes to wear, I had a place where I could live. The other people, a lot of children stayed without their parents and a lot of young people were killed in the army and a lot of people didn't have anything to eat.

They didn't really have to explain, I didn't understand the things that there were happening around me. Like when the airplanes were flying, they were dropping the bombs. And a lot of people were killed. I remember how hard it was the first time I heard a man I knew was killed. It was the first time in my life I heard someone was killed. Yeah, I was young, it was hard to understand.

I don't really understand. It was a war between the Bosnian and Serbian people. The Serbian people wanted one nation, they wanted to have more power, they wanted to have Bosnia. That's all I know. They wanted to have one nation, power. Serbian people started the war. You just had to run away, save yourself. My parents knew I think, they didn't want to tell me. I was too young for those things. I found out when the war started. I didn't go to school because I was six years old, we didn't start school until seven years old.

I came to America in April 30th, last year.

When the war started, everything changed. Like Serbian people and Bosnian people, they were friends, but when the war started, they became enemies. Even in the town where my father was born, your neighbors come to kill you or beat you if they are Serbian people. The people who live across the street from your house, they were fighting each other. I didn't see it. It happened when I left, when I went to my grandmother's house in the other town, but people were talking about that. My father was there.

The war finished soon, I think 1995 and when I moved to town where my aunt lived, I came from there to here, I started to go to school and we didn't we couldn't go back home, but after that, maybe we could. Maybe in last two years, we could go back, but we didn't want to. My life

actually started when I was about seven years old. The war finished, and I started to go to school. I don't really remember what happened when I lived in the town with my father.

I think they did help us (the peacekeepers) they were… I don't know how to explain that. I think they were also fighting. They fight the Serbian people. I think they helped us to rebuild the houses after the war, the buildings, they gave us the money. I think that's what happened.

When I left Skender Vakuf, all Muslim people left town and the Serbian people came there and they are still there, the Serbian people, that's why no people want to go back there, especially young people. Like in Zenica where I lived for ten years, there were a lot of Serbian people, but now mostly there are Muslim people and Serbian people left to.. I don't know, some of them left to Croatia and Serbia.

To come to America? Because my mother didn't work. My father did work, but he worked in the other town, so he was only coming home only on weekends, or sometimes after fifteen days, after two weeks. He couldn't find a job in the town where we lived. You know, it was hard. Also, the house where we lived, it was house of… they were also Serbians. And they decided to sell the house so we had to go back to Skender Vakuf and we didn't want to do that. And also for my brother's education. Mostly because of the money.

(In school) we had the regular classes. We didn't really talk about the war. Maybe a little, but we didn't have special class. From the place that I came from? Nobody was in my school.

Right now, it's not bad, it's good. Also, the houses are rebuilt and lots of people came back to their places that they lived before the war. If you go to Bosnia right now, you can't really see that a war happened. Situation is good, except that there is no money and people don't have jobs. That's the only thing that is difficult.

Actually, I never wanted to come there. I had friends there, I had a big family, my cousins, my aunts, my uncles, everybody was with me, we lived near each other. I miss them. I like here, but it's not that…

Agnes: Did you feel safe after the war?

Aida: Yeah, after the war finished, I felt safe.

Yesterday I got a letter from my friend, sometimes I call them, we send letters to each others. My aunts, we always call them every weekend, so we are in touch.

That's the only thing I would be sad about. About you [this group of refugees], about this, about coming here on Friday. My school, I don't really like it, my school here.

Sumitra: What did you feel like when you first came here?

Aida: I cried everyday. I thought, I will never learn how to live here. I wanted to go back. I was just thinking about nice moments that happened to me when I was in Bosnia. I was thinking about my friends, about my school, about everything and I just cried and cried. And then when I started going to school, it was easier. Right now I feel good, better.

Agnes: Did somebody help you with this transition?

Aida: My first school was my summer school in IRC. I didn't start going to school until September. I came in may and I tried to go to school to register but they didn't want to accept me because it was too late, the school year was almost finished and then I couldn't go to school, I had just to wait. And then I got the letter. Annie sent me the letter. She asked me if I could come to summer school and I accepted and then I met all these people, Mariana, Sumitra and it was nice.

My friends told me, Oh I'm very happy that you became an actress.

Jean: You said when you came here, you'd never learn how to live here. What did you feel you had to learn?

Aida: Like when you go to the street, you hear that people only speak English, sometimes other languages, but mostly English. I miss to hear when you go to street and people speak your language. New York City is beautiful, but it's different. People are a little bit different, the children. You can't really find good friends, especially the people in my school. Maybe it's about me, because I'm too quiet, I don't really talk too much. I'm not crazy like everyone else. But I always say I wish I was crazy.

Raeshma: We think you're crazy.

Sumitra: Just because you're quiet doesn't mean you're not crazy.

Raeshma: Do you remember what your first day was like here, your first impression?

Aida: My first day in America? When I came here, I lived with my aunt, my uncle, my two cousins and my grandmother, so there were nine people in one apartment. I didn't know anybody except them. I just sit in the house, I watched TV and I cried.

I didn't think there were so many people here who are from Bosnia. Especially where I live in Astoria. There are so many people, there are also Bosnian stores and video stores, so when I go there I feel nice. When I meet Bosnian people, when I can talk to them in Bosnian. There are kids who go to school with me. A lot of them are from Bosnia. Also my parents know some people. Like when we have Bosnians holidays, they make a party, so we go there and meet each other, we [do] traditional Bosnian dance, or songs, Bosnian songs, Bosnian music.

Sumitra: What about when you think about back home?

Aida: Yeah, it makes me sad, especially when I listen to the music, especially some songs that are special to me. Or when I read the newspapers, I brought some newspapers, some magazines, so I read them. Or when I see the pictures and it reminds me of everything, I start to cry, I feel sad.

Sumitra: what did you bring with you from Bosnia? Anything that was special to you?

Aida: Yeah, like me and my cousin used to write to each other even if we lived near each other but every time we see each other, we give it to each other and we read it, even if we talk everyday, and it was fun. I brought those letters and sometimes I read them. It's like a diary. I brought all the music tapes, all I had. I brought some other things, newspapers. We promised to each other that we would never let anyone read it. I call her every

weekend so we talk. She sent me a letter two weeks ago and some pictures. She asked me if I would send her a letter, and I said, but we talk every weekend. And she said, but still, I would like a letter.

Raeshma: See how American you've become already?

LouLou: Do you have something in Bosnia like Hollywood?

Aida: We have famous singers, actors.

LouLou: What about sports?

Aida: Yeah, we like basketball and soccer.

I like everybody, Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, I don't really have a favorite, I like them all.

Marijana: Can you tell us the story why all Muslim people can't eat pork

Aida: Because we are Muslims and Muslim people just can't eat the pork. Well, is there anything Christians can't do?

Sumitra: There's a lot of things Christians can't do.

Mariana: No, is there a story? The pig did something and…

Aida: I don't know, God said we can't eat it and that's it. Like it's a dirty animal. Very dirty-

Marijana: But it's cleaned.

Sumitra: Is there a food you don't like?

Marijana: Beans.

Sumitra: Why, are they dirty?

Raeshma: I think it's an old dietary restriction. And I think at that time, there was a reason, certain human diseases you could catch from it. And it's just become a tradition.

Agnes: It's just a tradition-you do it one night. I you just keep it as a tradition, then it just becomes a tradition, your grandparents did it, so you do it.

Raeshma: It's just like meat pies here. Someday in the future, people will say ‘Why do all refugees eat meat pies on Friday?' And they'll say, ‘because they have to!' But it's because we brought meat pies one day and there was a reason.

Sumitra: There's also a lot of things being done to meat in this country, a lot of people are getting more aware of hormones being put into meat. Mad cow disease. People are using hormones to just make large amounts of meat. And then we eat them and get diseases. So many a couple of hundred years from now, people will say those crazy people! They used to eat meat!

Loulou: Chicken is kickin' and fish is my dish. You should go to an African party, everyone wants chicken. Chicken! Chicken all over! My father said the other day, ‘One day you'll turn into chickens.' And one reason is that because in Africa, we do have the hens and stuff and then we kill them to eat, but it's very expensive to eat. People can probably count how many times they've had chicken. We have more fish.

Raeshma: And so it's expensive here to eat fish.

Loulou: Yeah, when I first came here fish is so expensive and it's like so small! So we all go for chicken.