Up in smoke

I admit it. I am weak, I am a loser, and I have no backbone- I smoke, and I started it after the age of innocence. My whole high school period, and my university days I managed to be strong, and not to bend for the coolness of a smoke in the corner of your mouth when in a bar, but within a month in BiH I had my first cigarette. Admittedly, I do not smoke that much (only when I drink, but while writing it down like this it looks even worse), and even cheaper, I am a mooch- I never buy, but I prey from 'real' smokers. All excuses aside, I do what I detested. And will be a pariah for it in the EU.

But not in BiH. I have never been in a place where so many people smoke. All have different excuses for it, varying from stress of the war to 'it is culture', but no-one gets diseases from it. People told me that the percentage of people dying from smoke related diseases if BiH is very low. One way or another I doubt that, but then again, if you see the drinking and driving culture here, maybe that is because people do not live long enough to get those diseases anyway. Fact is that the percentage of smokers here is extremely high.

Unlike in the EU, there is no government-run campaign to stop people from smoking, and smoking seems to be completely acceptable. The other day I had a lay-over at Budapest airport. The Bosnian handball team was on my flight there from Sarajevo, too, and when we landed the first thing half of the team did was rushing of to a smoking corner on the airport, and started puffing away. In all countries of the former Yugoslavia handball is big, and those men are the top athletes of their country. Seeing them smoking so undisciplined surprised me a bit. Maybe indeed it is more culture then addiction. I really hope so, that it is culture, because that would be good for me and my lungs. It means that as soon as I leave BiH, I will quit this little vice, and adapt to the culture of the place that I will be in at that time. Like folk dancing, or Fierljeppen.