Our Trip to Salonica… Or is it Thessaloniki? Whatever.

So my first out-of-country trip had finally come.  On Saturday, March 29, my site mates and I decided to take a trip to Thessaloniki, Greece.  For me it was my first trip out of country since starting my Peace Corps service.  Leaving the country, even on a weekend, requires a request of vacation from our supervisors and from the Peace Corps. One of my site mates hired one of his friends to drive us to Greece and back in a car while we walked around and shopped for about 5 hours.  As soon as all of the details for the trip were confirmed, we were excited for the day away.

History of Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki, with a population of over a one million people (for the metropolitan area) is a major port city.  As the Byzantine Empire declined, Thessaloniki was eventually invaded by the Ottomans, and the city continued to serve as a major trading hub for the Ottoman Empire.   During the Balkan Wars, Thessaloniki was coveted by all of the involved powers (especially Bulgaria and Greece) as they contested it from the Ottoman Empire.  After the Second Balkan war, Greece ceded the city along with the much of the surrounding coastline along the Mediterranean Sea. 

Erin and Motwani near the center

The Bazar in Thessaloniki

The main square leading to the sea

According to “Balkan Ghosts” by Robert Kaplan, until World War II much of the city’s first language was neither Greek nor Turkish, but instead Spanish.  During the Ottoman times, thousands of Sephardic Jews emigrated from Spain to Thessaloniki due to the Inquisition.  Like other Jews throughout the Ottoman Empire, they found safe haven in Thessaloniki, and they became a burgeoning part of the city.  However, after the Nazis invaded Thessaloniki during World World II, almost all of the Jewish inhabitants (over 50,000) were shipped to concentration or labor camps, and most never returned to the city.

Thessaloniki experienced another demographic shift just before the war after Greece and Turkey were engaged in another conflict.  After Greece lost the Greco-Turkish War following World War I, the two sides agreed to trade their population.  Over 160,000 Greeks were deported from Turkey, and many of these people settled in Thessaloniki.  Due to this major demographic change, there are probably more Greeks in the city whose ancestors came from Anatolia rather than Greek Macedonia.

Getting our American Fixes

Since our trip to Thessaloniki was bound to be short, my list of to-dos were pretty modest: 1) Eat seafood 2) Drink good beer, preferably a pale ale 3) Read a book while accomplishing the other two and 4) Buy as much hummus as I could.  Overall, I had not accomplished any of these tasks.  On the other hand, the two Mak17s who are my site mates had the goal of indulging in as many American pleasures as possible.  I eventually realized that their plan was far more superior to mine. 

We arrived into the city at about 10AM (Greece is an hour ahead of Macedonia) and we headed straight to the grocery store for some reconnaissance.  After we had decided what we would purchase during our return to the car, we made our way to the Starbucks on the sea front.  As I walked into the coffee shop, the barista asked for my order.  My response- coffee.  She was a bit bewildered by my simple, open response so she asked further, “Well do you want a certain type of coffee?  Espresso, Macchiato, Frappe?”  Since I could basically drink any of those drinks in Macedonia, and since most coffee shops in Prilep do not have basic filtered coffee, I responded with the utmost determination “No, just drip coffee.  Thanks.”  And thus I was able to enjoy my first non-Turkish style, regular coffee since the middle of September.

Walking through the beautiful square leading to the sea, it was difficult to remember that I was not in Macedonia (the republic) anymore.  I am now too accustomed to respond to others in Macedonian, and for some reason I could not shake this habit during our day in Greece.  To illustrate my point, there were a bunch of African merchants who were trying to sell bracelets to tourists along the waterfront.  Whenever they approached me, I would instantly respond “Не, фала.”  I instantly felt silly since these merchants looked nothing like any Macedonians I knew, and there would be no reason anybody would assume that they spoke Macedonian.

As we relaxed by the seaside, this bewilderment took a turn as a small group of tourists started to walk past us.  As their conversation was within earshot, I could swear that they were speaking Macedonian.  Now of course, Thessaloniki receives many tourists from its northern neighbor each day.  But this moment further confounded my confused habits, and so I tried my best to shake it off and ignore it.  However, when I mentioned to my site mates that I thought that those tourists were Macedonian, Nick H exclaimed, “See, I told you guys that that is Lila from the Macedonian game show Се или Нешто.” (Се или Нешто is the Macedonian equivalent of Deal or No Deal)  Suddenly, I picked up the pieces of that which I had shaken off and mentioned aloud, “Well I want to take a picture with her!”

So I chased after Lila and her group, and I excitedly asked her in Macedonian if she was Lila from the show.  When she confirmed that she was, I excitedly explained to her that I was an American, but that I lived in Macedonia and watched the show with my host mother.  She was more than happy to take a picture with me.  As we parted ways, I asked Nick H if he wanted to walk with me to the tower further down the quay.  He agreed, and we resumed our sight seeing in the city.  However, as we were walking, Lila’s son approached us and told us that his mother wanted my contact information- phone number, Facebook info, whatever.  I was happy to oblige, and we rendevoused again on the quay as I gave her my number.  I was wondering why she wanted it, and she informed me that she would call me when she returned to Skopje and that she would have me as a special guest on her show.  I felt really happy because a celebrity (even if only Macedonian) had never asked me for my contact information before, so even if I do not call I have a great story to tell.

The site mates hanging out on the quay

Lila and me!!!

The rest of the day was spent eating at TGI Fridays and buying beer, Cheetos, and oreos.  With only 5 hours in Thessaloniki, I am determined to return another day to enjoy it more and to dive into its culture.  But this trip allowed me to indulge in all things American.  And it could not have come at a better time.  As I mentioned in earlier posts, March in Macedonia is very similar to the Marches I experience in the USA.  Work can be boring or stressful at times, and so I naturally want to find comfort in the places and things that gave me comfort from these feelings back home.  Searching for solace, I recently started watching “Chicago PD” through Hulu, and despite losing myself in a great story and set of characters, I am reminded of all of the things I miss about the greatest city in the world.  Chicag-style hot dogs, the EL, Chinatown, walking along the river.  One of the episodes was even filmed near my father’s house at one of my favorite bars in Chicago- The Rainbo Club.  Watching this show both satisfied and augmented my homesickness, and so finding comfort in the small, American things available to us here is all I can do to get through this.

In conclusion, I am somewhat sad that I did not take advantage of the cultural opportunities of visiting another country for the first time in my Peace Corps experience.  But escaping into our own American sphere and wallowing in anything that was “American” in Thessaloniki helped to comfort me.   I now have a few things to remind me of home in my apartment in Prilep.  And luckily, Daylight Savings Time has finally come to Europe, and April is right around the corner.  The next month is filled with events, and as summer approaches, I will have to find a way to both contribute as much as I can to my work in the Peace Corps and relax and enjoy life a bit more.

The Thessaloniki Sea Front

Aleksandar "Omega" Statue

In Thessaloniki, it's always Friday

So sad that Macedonia lacks all of this beer...

A few American (and Cuban and Greek) fixes safe with me at home

Serbian X-Factor

I never thought I would say this, but my host mother and I have waiting for the season finale of X-Factor Adria (Serbia) for the past few weeks.  I would never watch X-Factor in the US, but as I mentioned in a previous post, Turkish soap operas have become boring and X-Factor is currently the only show I can tolerate.  But once contestants began to fall from the show, it was apparent that Macedonia would have its hero in the show- Daniel Kajmakoski.

Daniel is a Macedonian participant who originally hails from Struga.  However, he had lived for a few years in Austria (?) and his English is the best on the show.  So while the others struggle with English songs due to their accents, Daniel rocks these songs.  But this is X-Factor Adria, and thus half of the songs he sings must be in Serbian as well.  As the video below shows, he can master songs in this language as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J58asV6UBoE

So many back home are probably wondering- wait, why are they playing a Serbian show on Macedonian television?  Is Serbian similar to Macedonian, or is Chris confused when he watches the show?  Serbian is technically a different language than Macedonian, and it has some grammatical features (cases for nouns, lack of indefinite and definite articles) that Macedonian does not have.  But since Macedonia and Serbia were once together a part of Yugoslavia, almost 80% of the vocabulary are now shared due to their union for so many years.  So yes, I understand far less than the dubbed Turkish films that I also watch with my host family.  But, I understand enough of the words to put together context for what the judges, contestants, or hosts may say.

Even though the show is called X-Factor Adria, it does not mean that the contestants from the show come from all former Yugoslavian countries.  In fact, the show is only aired in a few of the former Yugoslavia countries, including Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia.  Excluded from this group are Croatia, Slovenia, and Kosovo (and most likely the Muslim part of Bosnia).  The division between the two groups has nothing to do with the differences in language.  Although the dialects spoken in Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Serbia have diverged since the break-up of Yugoslavia, the language is often referred to as “Serbo-Croatian”.  And for the other countries, Macedonian, Slovenian, and Albanian are the official languages. 

Many business-minded people would probably ask, “Well, why exclude other countries that speak Serbo-Croatian? Isn’t this an opportunity to advertise to others in former-Yugoslavian countries?”  Well, those who are aware about the history of the break-up of Yugoslavia will see that the countries to which this show is played aligns with the alliances during the civil wars.  For those history buffs who have time to watch a 5-part series of a BBC documentary, you can learn more about the break-up of Yugoslavia through the Youtube video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oODjsdLoSYo

Basically, citizens of the former Yugoslavian countries are not only feeling the deep wounds of the break-up, but they align themselves by the scars they received from the war.  Equally visible between the division is the difference in religion- Orthodox Christians on one side, and Catholics and Muslims on the other.  

But in the end, X-Factor is just a show about future teen-idols, and we continue to hope that Daniel will win.  I would say that I would be objective in declaring that he is the best singer of the group.  But he is Macedonian, and if votes are cast based on ethnicity, Daniel would only have the support of about 1.7 million Macedonians.  Serbians and Montenegrins in the region total about 9 million souls.  But if those votes are divided among the 4 other contestants, Daniel may have a chance.

But besides watching a tolerable show with my host mother and supporting Daniel, there is one more important reason why I watch X-Factor Adria.  The amazingly beautiful judge, Emina Jahovic. 

The Chuck Norris of Macedonia

Karli Marko, or Prince Marko, is somewhat of a national legend in Macedonia.  Some HCNs call him the “Chuck Norris of Macedonia.”  Luckily for me, his former abode is only about a 2.5 KM hike from my home.  Two weekends ago, my site mate Nick, Ted, and an EVS volunteer named Maud climbed the mountain with me for a leisurely Sunday hike.  I appreciate the fact that the ruins of Karli Marko’s castle, or Маркови Кули (Marko’s Tower) as it is called in Macedonia, are accessible to locals and tourists.  Posted below are some pictures of our Sunday hike (for my family and friends who are Facebook friends with me, you probably have already seen many of these photos).  But I assume that some of you want to know more about Karli Marko and his legend in Macedonia.

So let’s start with the oral tradition: what do modern Macedonians say about Karli Marko?  Well, as I mentioned before, to them Karli Marko is a Macedonian hero and is described as a sort of demi-god.  According to Macedonians, he would reign over his kingdom from his tower in the mountain.  When the Turkish armies would invade the poor, helpless people of his kingdom, he would rush down from his mountain on his horse with his giant spear and single-handedly defeat the “Black Rape” brought about by the Turkish invaders.  Macedonians never forget to mention that he had a manly mustache, and his legend is so important to the national culture that a crappy light beer produced in Prilep is named after him.

However, according to historic sources (read: Wikipedia), many of the assumptions about Karli Marko are incorrect.  He was not a Macedonian king but a Serbian king from 1371 to 1395.  Although the death of his father and of another Serbian lord resulted in his coronation as the King of Serbia, his reign was limited to the western half of Macedonia since the other lords of Serbia did not recognize his authority in their territories.  Eventually his ability to rule extended to only the small territory surrounding his castle in Prilep. Due to his weakness and the rise of other lords in the remaining lands in Serbia, the Serbian kingdom was fractured and would occasionally result in conflicts against each other.

These conflicts made it easier for the Ottoman Empire to invade the Balkans.  It is true that the Serbian kingdoms were able to band together to face the Ottoman armies at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, but that battle drained much of the manpower of the Serbian armies, allowing the Ottoman Empire to continue its invasion into the region.  When all was lost, many of the Serbian lords fled their kingdoms to Hungary.

While Karli Marko may have initially opposed the Turks, he eventually decided to remain a vassal and joined the Ottomans in battles against other Christian kingdoms.  For example, he aided the Ottoman armies in the battle against the Kingdom of Wallachia (in modern-day Romania) in 1395. During this battle, Karli Marko was killed, and the Ottoman Empire annexed his lands into their kingdom.

So, as history shows, Karli Marko was actually a weak lord who saw the uprising of other Serbian lords within his kingdom.  He did not stand up to the Turks but actually chose to remain a vassal for the empire in his lands.  But the ruins of his castle and the oral legends continue to represent him as a regional hero. 

Starting the hike to the top

The hike starts from Varosh, the town surrounding the mountain

A view of the top from the bottom

The Elephant Rock

Prilep

Part of the trail

The entrance into Marko's Towers

The cross at the top