Exploring Macedonia with my Brother

On Wednesday, I arranged a private kombi service to drive my brother and me from Thessaloniki to Prilep.  Many of my friends had taken this service before, and I arranged the trip prior to departing to Istanbul.  However, when I was trying to call the service on September 3, I was unable to get a hold of anybody at the company.  Already settling back into the “Balkan” mindset, I shrugged it off and decided not to worry about it.  I knew that somehow, someway, my brother and I would return safely to Prilep.

As my brother and I waited patiently in the hotel lobby, I finally was able to connect with the driver from the agency.  He confirmed that he would pick us up in front of the train station (and not the bus station, which I only discovered upon arriving to Thessaloniki that it was different and farther from the city center).  However, he told us that he would be leaving Thessaloniki at 2PM and not 4PM.  I was utterly confused, but after numerous phone calls and after walking from the city center, we were finally able to meet with the driver and depart from Greece.

When we arrived in Prilep, my host mother had lunch prepared for us.  She made bean manja and prepared some cabbage.  My brother was very impressed with my host family’s hospitality, and after some time he settled in by me as I started to unpack.  The weather had been much cooler and rainier than when I had left Macedonia for my vacation, but luckily when we arrived the sunny skies were holding out.  Therefore, I decided to take my brother up Markovi Kuli so that he could experience Prilep’s greatest attraction and see all of the town.

At night, I showed my brother Prilep’s center, and we enjoyed some Macedonian beer as well as some traditional food at a local kafana.  Throughout the trip, I tried to convince my brother that the tomatoes in Macedonia were glorious compared to any tomatoes I had eaten in the USA, and I think by the end of the trip he began to agree with me and actually enjoyed some of the tomatoes.  On Thursday, I spent most of the day catching up on the work I had missed.  My host brother was super kind and took my brother into the center to enjoy some coffee and to show him some of the Macedonian lifestyle.  By the time I returned home, we decided to take a quick run, but upon our return we were drenched by a squall passing through the area.  Besides being soaked in the rain, I am sure that my brother was partially shocked by some of the peculiarities of the rural trail which I run, including the hazards of encountering dogs, as well as my intrigue for the wild blackberries that grew along the path.

On Markovi Kuli

Digging the lax copyright laws in Macedonia

Ruling out a night at VIP (the raging nightclub in Prilep), my brother and I decided to enjoy a tame night by eating at Makedonska Kuka and enjoying a quiet evening in the center.  After dinner, we joined Maud and Darko for billiards and backgammon.  On Friday, we woke a bit early to prepare for our trip to Ohrid.  We decided to stop for an hour in Bitola so that my brother can see what (in my opinion) is the most beautiful city in Macedonia.  He definitely enjoyed how different the architecture was compared to Prilep, but he was disappointed that we were unable to visit the zoo, especially since he would miss the chance to be so close to the fox.

After our quick stop in Bitola, my brother, Ted, and I caught a bus to Ohrid.  We passed through a rain storm but fortunately the rain did not follow us to Ohrid.  My brother enjoyed another authentic Macedonian meal, and we met with Sarah and Dan near the center of town.  We decided to take it easy that night by enjoying some games in our flat.  We woke relatively early on Saturday in order to enjoy Ohrid.  After slurping up some chorba, we walked straight to the lake to see all of the sites.  Walking along the shore, we climbed to Kaneo, which is the iconic church in Ohrid.  Jutting on a cliff over the lake, there was no better view of this classical Macedonian city.  Next we visited the fort, which in reality was a modern reconstruction of a fort that probably existed on the site centuries ago. 

Chorba!

If I had not visited Ohrid several times before this trip, I would have definitely considered the visit to Ohrid my favorite part of the vacation with my brother.  There was something so serene and simple about the Lake Ohrid shore and the forests around the fortress.  However, we were determined to visit Sveti Naum, the monastery just north of the Albanian border, and at a very leisurely Macedonian pace, we were able to find a wild taxi to take us to this site.  It was about a 30-minute drive from Ohrid, and as we arrived I was surprised how developed the place was.  Even though Sveti Naum was a holy site, it was also significant to Macedonia because located here was the source of Lake Ohrid.

The water that feeds into Lake Ohrid is provided by a spring located at Sveti Naum.  The spring originates from Lake Prespa, a smaller lake to the east of Lake Ohrid, but situated many more meters higher.  Thus, the water from Lake Prespa seeps through the rocks and emanates from a spring that feeds into Lake Ohrid.  This water is clear and pure, and at some points it is safe to drink right from the source.  Ted, my brother, and I explored the springs as soon as we arrived.  We were able to hire a boat to row us through the source.  Since it had been raining recently, the warmer rainwater began to rise like fog and float on the colder spring water.  We could also see the sand from the bottom of the source bubbling as water emitted from the porous ground.  The boat ride ended at a church where three springs met at one point.  This church was famous for providing women the ability to become more fertile if they drink from its water.  As much as I attempted in this paragraph, accurately depicting just how glamorous this spring was is very difficult to do.  Luckily this source was protected as a UNESCO heritage site- otherwise, beer companies like Heineken and Budweiser offered to pay tens of millions of dollars to purchase the rights of the springs in order to build a brewery.  Doing so would have destroyed the wonder of these springs and Lake Ohrid itself.

Where the springs meet the lake

Lake Ohrid

Taking a ride on the spring

The church with the springs granting fertility

A floating restaurant boat

On Sunday morning, my brother and I embarked on our last leg of the trip.  We took a bus to Skopje and I checking our bags into our hostel as we set out to explore the city.  After showing my brother the gaudy statues and fountains in the city center, we made our way to the (supposedly) largest Turkish marketplace outside of Istanbul.  My brother enjoyed touring the narrow roads of the charshija and seeing the view of Skopje from the fort.  Since we had plenty of time to kill, I treaded across the charshija on a mission to discover where the hookah place that I had first visited during Field Day (in October 2013) was located.  After finally finding the place, my brother and I spent a couple of hours relaxing and playing more backgammon.  The rainy weather finally caught up with us, and by nightfall, we were able to meet with Dan at a bar and enjoy my brother’s last Macedonian meal.  At 4AM on Monday, my brother flew from the Skopje airport on his return to the States.

In Skopje

Exploring Mother Theresa's Memorial House 

I definitely cherished these past ten days hanging out with my brother.  It was great sharing this adventure with somebody back home.  Peace Corps suggests to all volunteers that they encourage a family or friend from home to visit them during their service.  Because upon returning after those 27 or so months, all of the stories about the food, dancing, music, creepy crawlies, frustrating or inspirational moments are intangible unless that person has been there.  For the most part, my brother’s expectations of Eastern Europe were pretty well met (he especially enjoyed that people here continue to sport the track jackets).  But I think my brother has discovered the “Balkan way”, and my mindset or behavior upon returning to the States will at least be understood by him.