The Struggle in Tetovo

The first week of Pre-Service Training will take place over the next 5 days (until Saturday) in Tetovo, a city just west of Skopje near the mountains.  Tetovo is the “unofficial Albanian capital” of Macedonia, and based on what most of us have seen so far, that description seems about right.

We are staying at the Woodrow Wilson school, a private school with lodging that predominantly caters to Albanian students seeking an American-style education.  Walking through the school, one gets the sense of American culture being imposed on/ celebrated by the students and faculty here.  For example, as I write this post in the school cafeteria, I am staring at a wall smattered with pictures of American celebrities, including Eddie Murphy, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Eliza Dushku, and Vin Diesel.  Macedonian culture and language seems to be excluded in the curriculum, as only Albanian, English, and German offered at the school.  However, the school did want to clarify to all of Peace Corps that it is a “multi-ethnic” school and is open to both Albanians and Macedonians.

Our Welcome Meal at Wilson HS

My room during the first week of PST (shared with two others).  It is a dormitory room that usually houses younger students at the school.

View of the mountains from my room

View of the front of the campus of Wilson HS

My first breakfast in Macedonia.  The freshest tomatoes I have ever eaten, pate, hard boiled egg, toast, plum, and coffee.

Tetovo is a city with a metro-area population of about 65,000 people, and around 55% of its population are Albanian.  It lies just east of the Shar Mountains which mark the border between Macedonia and Kosovo (which is primarily Albanian).  According to our guides, it is a thriving center for business and education, but is often neglected by the Macedonian government due to its large and influential Albanian population.  Tetovo is also a major college town with two colleges hosting over 15,000 students.

As Yugoslavia broke apart, most of the fighting took place between Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia.  Macedonia was spared much of the ethnic fighting.  However, as the strife in Kosovo and Bosnia began to settle, the refugee situation in Kosovo and Bosnia spilled over into Macedonia.  Thus began the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia between the Macedonian government and the Albanian National Liberation Army.

Our group never received a formal lecture on the insurgency, but much of what I learned can be found at the Wikipedia page (yes, pretty lazy of me to provide a link to Wikipedia, but the article is organized well).  According to the article, most of the fighting took place between the NLA and the Macedonian army, though many civilians were injured in the crossfire, and over 76,000 people were displaced by the fighting.  The fighting did not last for more than a few months, and a peace agreement was signed in Ohrid ending the conflict.  The Ohrid Agreement ultimately granted additional rights to ethnic-Albanian citizens, and it granted Albanian an official language status within Macedonia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tetovo 

A long documentary (in Macedonian) is also available on Youtube, and you may watch the video through the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUfgBoMt1Yc

As you will learn from these links, much of the fighting took place in the mountains, from which the Liberation Army fought and hid from the Macedonian army.

Ethnic tensions still exist today between Albanians and Macedonians.  As far as I could tell, it is difficult to distinguish between Albanians and Macedonians in the street.  I sometimes feel nervous speaking Macedonian to the people in Tetovo since I am not sure whether they are Albanian or Macedonian, and if Albanian, if they can or are willing to speak Macedonian.

Despite the struggle between these two groups, much of our Peace Corps group has experienced an internal struggle regarding our site placements.  Most of us will be placed in a Macedonian community and speak Macedonian with our host families and colleagues.  However, a few of us will be placed in dual culture communities, and this subset will be required to learn BOTH Albanian and Macedonian. 

The list of those pre-selected to join the dual culture program was shared with our group today.  I was not pre-selected, which is fine by me.  I would have been thrilled to learn both Albanian and Macedonian, but I was not adamant on joining these communities.  Additionally, there are opportunities to work with NGOs or municipal governments that try to bridge the Albanian and Macedonian communities, even though these would not require one to learn Albanian.

The site placement for our Pre-Service Training will be announced on Friday, and we all anticipate the next step.  Until then, I am trying to enjoy Tetovo as much as I can.