Yeesh, and I thought the inflation in some of the Latin American countries I've studied was bad. I can't really imagine what life is like with such rates; only enough to know that I really wouldn't enjoy it.

The Bosnia/Serbia/Croatia thing came up in one of my third-year courses, and there was also the suggestion that the differences in language--at least starting from the time things got roughest--wasn't even as great as the differences between some dialects in Italy, and the divisions really did seem to go along religious lines. It was a challenge, though, as a student from one of these republics really took exception to the implications of the discussion.