Peace Corps in Macedonia: 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.