Front Matter - Part 02

As soon as we arrived from the cottage I had a quick, cool shower and immediately went to bed. The next thing I remember is being fully awake a little before 6 am. I got my wakeup call at 7 am and Slave told me to dress in formal attire. He was coming by to pick me up at 8 am and we were going to the Sitel television station for a live interview at 9 am. I didn’t bring a jacket but did bring a shirt and tie to go with my long pants. Slave approved and we were off to the Sitel studio in Gradski Stadion in Skopje. Slave tried to instruct me on what to say but I am not very good at following instructions so the only question I had for him was, “Will there be a translator to translate for me from English to Macedonian?” I had asked for a translator before I left Canada and Slave had agreed to get one. Unfortunately the only thing Slave said was, “No, but don’t worry about it, you will do well speaking in your dialect. People here love to listen to you speak in your dialect.” I remember Spiro remarking several times a couple of days before about how he loved to listen to me speak in his departed father’s dialect. “If that’s the case then we will have to explain to the interviewers,” I said to Slave “to speak slowly and ask me questions in simple words so that I can understand what they are asking.” We made it to the studio early and were told to wait a while outside in the lobby where we watched the previous live program. When our turn came they quickly escorted us inside where we met Anita, the morning show hostess. She asked a number of questions both personal and about my books and assured me she would make sure I understood her questions while conducting the live interview. The interview which was scheduled to take five minutes actually took twenty minutes. I guess they found what Slave and I had to say interesting which lead to more and more questions. Most of the questions were about my books but she did ask important questions about Macedonian issues especially ones relating to Greek occupied Macedonia, the place where I come from. The show I was told was aired worldwide and was seen in Australia, the USA and Canada. I did receive feedback from one person from Australia who said he saw us on Sitel and wanted to purchase one of each of my books. By 10 am we were finished and back to my apartment where I changed to cooler clothing. Slave also went home to change and, after

picking up John and Tsena, we were on the road to see Macedonia. We took the highway “autopat” from Skopje following the Vardar River to Veles. It was a clear, scorching hot day as Slave kept speeding to make up for lost time but John and Tsena would not approve, not because they did not have confidence in Slave’s ability to navigate treacherous curves, but because being from Canada they didn’t like to break traffic laws. Slave agreed to keep to the speed limit and if he didn’t he heard about it from the back seat. I couldn’t help but remark to Slave the way Macedonians drive and break traffic laws at every opportunity. Just the other day I had seen two cars go through a red light. Pedestrians too disobey signals and cross the roads on red. Almost everyone owns a cell phone and is talking on it while driving even though it’s against the law. The roads in Macedonia are narrow and there is no parking anywhere so everyone parks wherever they can find a spot even in no parking zones; yet they don’t seem to get fined. But one thing I need to mention is that drivers in Macedonia are much more skillful and calmer than those in Canada. The way they drive it would seem like everything is synchronized. Cars just miss one another without hitting. Pedestrians seem to slide by without being hit. Bicycles zoom in and out of traffic without causing slowdowns, cars cut in and out of lanes and no one seems to get upset. I never witnessed a single act of road rage. Worst about the roads is that there are no guardrails even at the most dangerous places yet there are less traffic accidents there than there are here in Toronto. The cars in Macedonia seem to be a lot more stable and balanced because it is scary how fast drivers navigate treacherous curves without sliding off the road or overturning. All cars in Macedonia are small and standard with manual shifts. I have watched both Slave and Spiro zoom through traffic shifting gears and steering with one hand while holding the cell phone with the other, something I couldn’t do even if I wanted to. After passing by the city of Veles we reached our first destination, Stobi. Today Stobi is just an archeological site but years ago it was one of the largest ancient cities in the region. According to Roman historian Titus Livy, Stobi is located on the Erigon River (Tsrna River) near the Axios River (Vardar River) and is an old city dating back to the 3rd century BC. Livy mentioned this city in his 2nd century BC historical accounts in his references to king Philip V’s battle with the Dardanians. He mentions that the battle, which by the way Philip V won, took place in Paeonia in the vicinity of Stobi. Livy also mentions Stobi in his

historical accounts that refer to Macedonia’s division and loss of independence in the year 167 BC when Stobi became part of the 4th meris. It was particularly hot and dry when we were visiting Stobi that Monday July 14th. July is not a good month to be visiting Stobi especially by people from Canada who enjoy the cool weather and can’t stand the heat. At the site we were met by resident archeologist and tour guide Metodija who, patiently in the grueling sun, took us for a tour first at the lower and more recent Roman ruins and later up higher at the older ruins. The Romans tended to build their settlements lower in the valley where it was possible to deliver flowing water to their homes and baths via their famous viaducts. We saw many sights in the ruins including the theater, casino, prison, basilica, the Thodosian Palace, the House of Parthenius, the large bath, the Synagogue and of course the Baptistery with its beautiful floor mosaics. The Stobi archeological site covers a vast area which is currently being excavated and which will take years and an army of archeologists before it is all dug up. According to Metodija, Stobi is much larger than the current archeological site. Some of the old city extends beyond the current limits where today it is covered with the houses of nearby urban settlements. Unable to take too much more of the 40 degree centigrade heat, we left the ruins and retreated back to the nearby café and gift store where we had some rest and a cool drink of mineral water. There we were joined by our tour guide and archeologist Metodija for a long discussion not only about archeology but also about general issues concerning Macedonia. At one point during the tour he mentioned he was hated by some Greeks because of his work, after which John looked at me and smiled for I too fall into the same category. Macedonia will need a lot of help to excavate all its archeological sites which now number over one-hundred and fifty. One way to do that is to create a new international archeological department at one of the Universities and enroll foreign archeology students by offering them practical education with hands on experience. Courses could be taught in English and Macedonian could be offered as an elective for those who want to learn Macedonian. The students would not have to know Macedonian in order to take archeology courses and naturally would be paying for their own education which would make the

department self sufficient. I am sure that every student will also invite friends and relatives for a visit, bringing more tourists to Macedonia. Plus at the end of their education, Macedonia would have many young friends who I am sure would serve as cultural ambassadors for that country. The idea for an archeology department for foreign students in Macedonia is Pete Kondoff’s brain child. Before leaving Canada, Pete had asked me to discuss his idea with various people in Macedonia, which I did. Just as we were having a long discussion about Macedonia with Metodija we were joined by a couple of gentlemen who had learned from our morning television interview that we would be in Stobi that day. One of those gentlemen was Nikola who knew about my work from the internet and was interested in advertising my books on his website www.macedonium.org. Nikola, or Nikolche as he is known to his friends, is doing a fantastic job of promoting Macedonia’s heritage, history and culture on his website. Resident archeologist Metodija had a lot to say about Stobi, not only about the ruins but also about this grand city’s historic greatness about which very few people know. Macedonia’s history has not yet been written and what has been written has been written by Macedonia’s neighbours and enemies. Macedonians must now use the tools of archeology and excavate archeological sites like Stobi, Heraclea and countless others and finally write their own history. Macedonia has the greatest number and richest archeological sites in the world; the vast majority of them still unexplored. For a place to have amassed such archeological treasures it must have had a very rich history, which I have no doubt will surface in time and prove to the world that one of the oldest and greatest civilizations Europe has ever witnessed once lived on those lands. Such a place cannot and should not be allowed to exist as a satellite of others. It needs it own place in history and I believe archeology will aid in finding it. I look forward to visiting Stobi again in the future but not in the summer, perhaps in the spring or better yet in the fall when the grapes are ripe, picked and wine flows like water.

On the road to Berovo

After about an hours rest at Stobi, I visited the gift shop and purchased a few books, one about Stobi. In front of the building at the entrance we met a group of students and had a short discussion with their professors, one of whom happened to be a daughter of parents born in Tsena’s village in Greek occupied Macedonia. Unfortunately we forgot to tell Tsena until we were in the car on the road. She was so disappointed. Headed downhill, south on the “autopat”, we entered a long tunnel through the center of a mountain and as we traveled through the tunnel we came to an opening where John asked Slave to stop the car. It was an unbelievable sight. There was an elongated rock crevice in the center of the mountain no wider than 20 meters and stood vertical as high as the mountain. It seemed as though some giant had used an axe to split the rocky mountain in half. There was a stream running through the crevice and John asked me to follow him as he rushed downhill following the water until we reached the mighty Vardar at the bottom. There we took pictures in hopes of capturing the height of the sheer cliff. But no photograph can do the cliff justice; one has to be there to appreciate its majestic height. I can picture rock climbers trying to conquer and tame it. It was a treacherous rush down the hill having to navigate our way down on sharp and slippery rocks but it was breathtaking to see the rock from the bottom. Then came the hard work of having to walk back uphill on the rocky creek. But it was worth it. Out of breath we hopped in the car where Slave and Tsena waited and we sped off through the second part of the tunnel. It was a vigorous uphill walk and I appreciated the exercise even in the boiling heat. I don’t know how John felt; I did not want to ask. Back in the car we resumed our tour as we passed by Volandovo and Marventsi. It is rumoured that Alexander the Great may be buried under the manmade hill (tumba) near Marventsi but unfortunately that archeological site has not yet been excavated so, given how hot it was that day, we decided not to visit it. Our next destination was the museum in Gevgelija where we saw all kinds of small, ancient statuettes; some original some reproductions. It was a small museum and did not take us too long to see everything before we were out again and on our way to Bogdantsi to visit the

printing house “Sofija” (www.sofijaprint.com.mk) where my book was printed. There we met Dragi the owner and several of his employees. Dragi gave us a tour of his facilities and later took us to lunch in a cafeteria on the main floor of the same building. Dragi’s office was a treasure house adorned with a variety of books and artifacts from ancient times. One could spend hours looking at his stuff and probably years trying to read the books he has amassed. Before going to lunch Dragi showed us a flyer with a map, of which he had only one copy, made in Italy showing the Apostle Paul’s travels. What was really interesting about this map is that the town Bogdantsi was on it. I asked Dragi to make copies and send me one here in Canada. Hopefully he has not forgotten. I will ask Slave, who by the way also reads these articles, to remind him. In spite of our offer to pay for lunch, we were treated to one fine meal by Dragi. We were Dragi’s guests that day and he would have it no other way. Thank you Dragi and Slave for buying lunch. We ate course after course of assortments of meats and locally grown vegetables including very hot baked peppers. Hot peppers came on the side so you could choose to add them to your meal or eat them as they were on their own; that is if you were brave because these peppers were not for the timid. Tsena and I decided to try them first. We certainly were not going to be intimidated by these tiny elongated vegetables. The first bite was a surprise, after that it became easier to eat them as beads of sweat rolled down our faces. I ate a couple of hot peppers and left the rest. I didn’t want to be impolite and eat them all. As usual the meats consisting mainly of freshly prepared pork and sausages were delicious but the most memorable choice of food was dessert. We were served plain vanilla ice cream with tiny wild figs. It was the most delicious ice cream I have tasted in a long time. The tiny black wild figs were soft and broke apart in my mouth releasing a sweet aromatic flavour that made my taste buds dance with joy. Before we were finished eating Dragi’s son came for a short visit. Soon we said our goodbye’s and left to continue on our tour. On our way out of Bogdantsi we passed by Lake Paliortsi, now a dam where the Apostle Paul was shown to have passed by on the Italian Flyer with the map about which I mentioned earlier. Two Italians, a brother and sister, are currently building a monastery there in honour of St. Paul.

We continued traveling south until we reached Lake Dojran where Slave played a joke on me pretending he was going to cross the Macedonian-Greek border and enter Greece. As much as I wanted to go into Greece and visit my birthplace I had promised my parents I wouldn’t. I didn’t want to break that promise no matter how tempting it was. It broke my heart to be so close yet so far. Just as Slave entered the border on the Macedonian side he made a “u” turn and we were back on the road on our way to Strumitsa. It was mid-afternoon by now and scorching hot even with the klima (air conditioning) in the car going at full blast. Strumitsa is a very old city with many new buildings. It has gone through a transition and is becoming a beautiful modern city. Unfortunately with the hot scorching weather it was almost impossible to stay too long so we continued on our way north and uphill looking for cooler weather, our destination; Berovo. As we traversed the difficult winding incline we were constantly reminded by the road signs that this was a steep and treacherous winding road. On our way up we could see behind us the Strumitsa valley dotted with villages almost touching one another. This indeed was an agriculturally rich land but it was very dry and burning hot in the mid-summer sun. As we began to near the peak of the mountain range we saw herds of cattle roaming the roadside. After crossing the mountain peak we could still see cattle descending the hill on the other side but the weather had changed from hot and dry to cool and moist as if we had changed climate. Everything on the other side was green and alive and cool enough to finally open the car windows. By now it was past 7 pm when Slave declared that we were nearing the revolutionary village Berovo. I can see why our revolutionary forefathers made this region their stronghold. It was a struggle getting up the mountain by car; imagine what a struggle it would have been to climb the mountain on foot? That is why our Ottoman occupiers never bothered to unless necessary. Slave had made reservations the day before in a local hotel for us and as soon as we arrived we went to check in. I was not accustomed to local practices so I felt a bit anxious when the hotel clerk took my passport and would not give it back. Slave reassured me that that’s the way things were done there and that I would get my passport back when we checked out. Slave too had to surrender his identification card.

The place we stayed at is called “Hotel Manastir” (www.hotelmanastir.com.mk). It was a nice, small and clean place. Each room had a tiny kitchen with a small fridge stocked with liquor, pop and bottled water. It had a television with more channels than I would have had time to flip through. The bathroom had a shower but no bath and no hot water. The hot water tank had a switch outside the bathroom and had to be manually turned on. After having cold showers a couple of times at my apartment in Skopje, I discovered the hot water tank switch which I needed to turn on in order to have hot water. Back home in Canada we have our water heaters on all the time even when we don’t use the hot water. As soon as I had my shower and washed my sandals, because they were literally caked with mud from the dust and from my sweating feet, I joined Slave at the hotel’s restaurant. John and Tsena joined us later but by then we had had a couple of “yellows” (yellow is what Slave calls whiskey because of its colour) and some snacks of fresh baked bread, cheese (kaskcaval) dipped in flour and egg batter, fried and some plain fried feta cheese. The “yellow” sure went down smooth with the tasty snacks. We had eaten so much for lunch no one wanted to order supper. Slave and I however continued to order more “yellows” and nibbled on the snacks as Slave was in the mood for telling stories. Slave told me a lot of stories that night but darn if I could remember any of them. I did remember hearing him mention the name “Miss Stone” at one point referring to the time just before the Ilinden Uprising in 1903 when Jane Sandanski’s Cheta captured an American missionary named Miss Stone and held her for ransom. I also remembered seeing a movie about her in my younger days and writing about her in my history books. But what Slave was really talking about is how some Macedonian villages in the general area where we were staying converted to different denominations of the Christian religion. Slave’s point was that the Macedonians here were very poor and no one cared about them, certainly not their Ottoman overlords. These missionaries were the only people that genuinely showed interest in them and gave them what they needed, including money to open churches and schools and teach their children in the Macedonian language. I am told that this practice continued well into the 1920’s when in 1924 the Methodists opened a Macedonian school in Strumitsa. I also found out why the Catholic Church does not allow priests to wed. According to this version, an unwed priest would have

no reason to amass wealth because he would have no one to inherit it so he was most likely to care more for his parish than for himself, whereas a priest who had a family, especially many children, would care more for them and less for his parish or his bishops.

On the road back to Skopje

Having changed beds again I found it difficult to sleep in Berovo in spite of the cooler weather. I stayed up and watched television for a while but it was late that night before I was able to fall asleep. Surprisingly I slept in until 7 am and again watched some of my favourite Bugs Bunny classic cartoons on TV before I came out for breakfast. On my way down I had noticed that Slave was waiting for us. I ordered “ham and eggs” for breakfast out of curiosity to see what it was and sure enough it was ham and eggs. I found it curious that it would be called “Ham and eggs” in Macedonia, but why not? As usual the food was plentiful and delicious. John and Tsena joined us a bit later. As soon as we had breakfast we checked out of the hotel and were ready to go. For those interested, the price of every item available in the little fridge was listed on a sheet of paper found in the desk drawer in the room. The hotel bill for me for the night was 1,565 denars (about $ 40 Canadian). I did not drink anything from the fridge. When we finished stowing our luggage in the car we went back up the hill behind the hotel and visited an old monastery called Sveta Bogoroditsa. Slave knew the priest there and was hoping to say hello but he was not there. On our way out of Berovo we visited Berovo Lake. Slave drove us to the top of a hill near a private resort and from there we could see the steep faces of the mountainside and the winding lake at the bottom of the valley. It was a beautiful sight and I could see myself spending a few days there. As we made our way back we visited Pehchevo and passed by Razlovtsi, the old revolutionary town where the Razlovtsi and Pancharevo uprisings took place in 1876. We then visited Delchevo and met Ljupcho, an old fashioned iconographer who was painting an icon of a saint for Slave. As we continued to descend the mountain range Slave rhymed off village after village as we passed them. We then continued to wind down following the edge of a man made lake until we reached the Kalimantsi electric generating station. After that we passed the village Istibanja famous for its folklore festivals and its unique Shopski Igri (dances) which are danced to the beat of the drum. At the bottom of the mountain range there was a beautiful green valley dotted with villages like the ones one would find in Greek

occupied Macedonia. Water was plentiful there as ditches were built to carry it across hillsides. Everything below the water line was lush and green and everything above it was dry, roasting in the hot summer sun. As we continued traveling through the valley we took a small detour to visit Vinitsa, Nada’s (Slave’s wife) hometown. Nada has a sister living there. The name Vinitsa comes from the word vino, meaning wine. From what Slave told us, during old times when there were bad droughts and the river water was used up people had to use wine to wash and clean themselves. There were times when there was more wine in the village than water. This is how, I was told, the village got its name Vinitsa. It was about 11 am when we arrived at Risto and Vera’s (Nada’s sister) house and it was burning hot outside. Inside it was relatively cool. Vera served us all sorts of homemade pastries, fruits and drinks as Risto dazzled us with his private coin collection of ancient coins and other artifacts which he has accumulated by purchasing them from the local farmers who have unearthed them while working their fields. It was a pleasure visiting with Risto as we both share a love for ancient things. Risto showed me a number of his books he had collected over the years and gave me a couple of his prized possessions; a magazine and a calendar both with photographs of artifacts found in the nearby Vinichko Kale archeological site. I only agreed to take these items after he assured me that he could replace them. The Magazine called “Vineam” was published on March 2008 and the calendar is from 2007. The calendar has a different terracotta (baked clay) tablet for every month of the various artifacts found at the Vinichko Kale archeological site. January has a fully intact terracotta of St. Christopher and St. George, February has a broken up and pieced together terracotta of the Miracle of Prophet Elyseum, etc. December has a beautifully intact and preserved terracotta of the Archangel Michael. The magazine, which has a full front page of the Vinichko Kale archeological site, is about recent, local archeological findings, events, traditions, old skills, etc. Thank you Risto I will treasure them both. As much as we wanted to stay and chat, we had a lot to cover and were running out of time so we said our goodbyes to Vera and took Risto with us to give us a tour of the Vinichko Kale archeological site. Slave drove up the hill on a winding, single lane dirt road that resembled a footpath more than a road, with barely enough space for the car to fit. I thought Slave to be very brave taking chances like that

with his car and his passengers but I figured he knew what he was doing. I just asked what would happen if a vehicle came down the other way? Slave laughed and said one of us would have to back up but hopefully it would not be him. We traveled about half a kilometer before we found ourselves at the top of the hill. There was not much to see there except remnants of walls being excavated and preserved but the surrounding sites were breathtaking. Risto took us through the archeological site in the hot sun and showed us the various dugouts, fortifications and tactics used by our ancient, Middle Ages and more recent forefathers to defend their homeland. On the way back we saw Giorgi’s (the iconographer and artist who has painted the frescoes at Sv. Kliment in Toronto and those at Sv. Dimitrija in Markham) house at the entrance to the road to Vinichko Kale. We took Risto back to town and passed through Orizari, Kochani and entered the city of Shtip or Astobo as it was known in ancient times. For me Shtip is synonymous with Aleksandar Donski, a historian and one of my favorite authors of Macedonian history who over the years inspired me to follow in his footsteps. When I heard we were headed for Shtip I immediately asked Slave to make contact with Aleksandar. When we arrived in Shtip Slave made the phone call but Aleksandar’s wife told us he was out of the country at the time visiting the United States. I was so disappointed. I am sure he too will be disappointed when he finds out we were in his hometown and we did not meet. I should have e-mailed him before I left Canada but I had no idea we were going to visit his hometown. This being my first time ever visiting Macedonia I had no expectations of the kind of reception I was going to receive. My personal plans were to visit my relatives, participate in my book promotion and attend the various events put together by the Detsa Begalsti (Macedonian refugee children from the Greek Civil War), all to take place in Skopje. I had no idea of the plans Slave and my cousin Spiro would have for me, the places they would take me and the number of people they would have me meet. We had a late lunch in Shtip at the “New Village” restaurant and as usual they delivered big on the food. I wanted to try different things at every meal in hopes of sampling a wider part of Macedonian cuisine so Slave ordered a pastry resembling a pizza but oval in shape and loaded with various meats. I found it quite tasty but Tsena did not find it that remarkable because the bottom of the pastry was tough. We had a few Skopski (beers) and I decided to have some ice cream in hopes of

recapturing the taste I had acquired the day before. Unfortunately that was not to be. The ice cream here too was exquisite but could not top the taste of the one I had had the day before. After finishing lunch we continued on our way back to Skopje passing by various towns including a town called “Tri Cheshmi”, an Aegean village where Macedonian refugee’s fleeing the Greek Civil War were settled. We passed by Ofche Pole and went through Sveti Nikole and Kumanovo before arriving in Skopje at around 6:30 pm. The plan for Monday July 15th and Tuesday July 16th was to start out with a tour of Stobi and continue with visits in Gevgeliski Rit, Marvinci (ancient localities), Valandovo (church), Strumitsa (churches, localities and other places in Strumitsa region) stay overnight in Berovo, visit Vinitsa (Vinichko Kale), Bargala, Shtip (localities) and return to Skopje. On Wednesday July 16th the plan was to visit Kavadartsi (locality), Prilep, Markovi Kuli, Stibera (Aminta’s grave), Krushevo, Bitola and Heraklea. Then on Thursday July 17th the plan was to visit Prespa, Ohrid (localities, churches), Struga, Kichevo, Gostivar, Leshok in Tetovo and return to Skopje. Unfortunately due to other activities we could not cover all the ground we had set out to cover for Monday and Tuesday. Then Tuesday afternoon as we were headed back for Skopje, Slave received a phone call from Bishop Kiril’s office and was invited to attend a very important meeting with the Mir and his Wife (King and Queen of Hunza) so our plan for Wednesday and Thursday was put on hold. I was invited to go with Slave but I declined the offer (I know my friend Steve Pliakas will never forgive me for this. Steve called me when I returned from Macedonia and told me how disappointed he was that no one had told him that the Hunza King was coming to Macedonia. He wanted to see him again). I regretted not going later but it was too late. As soon as I found out that we were not going on a tour for the next two days I began to plan visits with my family and friends. The first person I contacted was Tomche, a friend I had met through the internet who wanted to meet me in person. He said he would not be available for the next couple of days because he was working and told me he would call me back later. The next person I contacted was Kiro, also a friend I had met through the internet who agreed to meet with me the next day. He had company that night and could not meet me right away. I made several more phone calls but was unable to make any

more arrangements so I decided to go and spend the evening with my friends John and Tsena at Makedonka’s (John’s cousin) place. I got back to my place around 11 pm and had a long deserved rest.

Visiting with Kiro

I spent the morning of Wednesday July 16th reading and viewing some of the material I had accumulated the days before and at 9:30 am I contacted Kiro and told him where to find me. He came by at 10 am sharp with his brand new Mercedes and we were off towards the city center. I had never met Kiro before in person and had no idea what he looked like or what business he was in. I assumed he wanted to meet and talk probably about politics and history but Kiro had different ideas. As it turned out he is a young Macedonian businessman currently living in Los Angeles who has invested in Macedonia and goes there every year in hopes of making more investments. Kiro for me was a godsend because he gave me a totally different perspective on Macedonia. Kiro made it clear from the start that I was his guest that morning and he was going to show me every aspect of Skopje but we had to have breakfast first. Even though Kiro does not live in Skopje he has been there enough times to know the city well. We drove right into the city center and parked in a private guarded parking lot. We then walked a short distance to Fufo’s café for breakfast. I told him I wanted to sample different things from the Macedonian cuisine so he gave me a couple of options. I chose pancakes. I was expecting to get flat thick pancakes sprinkled with maple syrup but instead I received two thin, foot wide large crepe pancakes; one smothered in chocolate sauce and the other in marmalade. I enjoyed them very much as I listened to Kiro talk telling me stories of his experiences in Macedonia. Just as he was talking we could hear conversations at the table next to us getting louder and louder. Then another table was added to the three tables already joined. Then there was a roar as another person joined the group. When things got quiet I decided to look, out of curiosity, to see what was going on. I looked at all the people at the table but was able to recognize only one face. It was Lube Boshkovski, the former defense minister who was released from the Hague, who arrived in Macedonia the same day I did. “Is that Boshkovski?” I asked Kiro. He confirmed and asked me if I wanted to meet him and have my picture taken with him. I declined, not wanting to disturb the reunion with his friends. When we were finished breakfast Kiro took me on a walking tour of the city center. As we walked block after block he pointed at buildings, cafés, businesses that are owned by the families of party members who basically took possession of the properties for

themselves when the Yugoslav Federation and system fell apart. It was not a pretty picture but as Kiro put it today’s crooks in a generation or so will become tomorrow’s legitimate businessmen. It seems that this happens everywhere when a transition takes place. About sixty years or so ago Kiro’s family owned a business in Yugoslavia before Yugoslavia turned communist. For owning businesses members of Kiro’s family at the time were jailed. Ironically the same people who jailed businessmen about half a century or so ago are now the new businessmen. Kiro seemed to know the plans for every building being constructed and the owners of the businesses in the area. He took me to a mall at the bottom of the city center near the museum that was once a railroad before the earthquake. This particular mall, which looked like an ordinary Canadian or American mall, is owned by a Turkish businessman. It is fully air-conditioned and attractive to shoppers. Inside it has an assortment of shops with brand names like Nike and Reebok, a huge grocery store and a cafeteria. There were also escalators joining the two levels. The mall was packed with people, “But how many do you see carrying packages?” asked Kiro. Not many because they have no money to spend. Kiro was very clear about what he said to me and as much as I didn’t like the situation he described we had to agree that it was the “status of current affairs”. He said he wanted to invest a lot of money in Macedonia because it was the right thing to do but not under the conditions that currently exist. There are many Macedonian businessmen in the United States who are carefully watching the situation and would not invest under conditions where they have to buy their way in. Kiro said he was tired of having to bribe people to get the job done and this time he wanted to do it the right way. If he succeeds in investing without having to bribe someone then many others will follow. “I can buy a business today just like that if I want to but I have to bribe someone. I am tired of doing business that way and want to legitimately invest without having to pay under the table. It is not the money I am concerned about, I have plenty of that, it’s the welfare of this country and people who I love very much that I am worried about,” he said. “There are at least a dozen Macedonian businessmen in the USA who are watching me right now to see how I do and if I succeed in doing business legitimately then they will all follow suit,” Kiro said.

I spoke to other people about this and many agree that Macedonia has a long way to go before things are sorted out. They also agree that things are changing, especially in the private sector where the customer is treated with respect. It’s the leftover institutions from the Yugoslav era that still need to be shaken down. “We in the Diaspora are very much concerned with what goes on inside Macedonia, particularly in the business and tourist sectors, and will not invest if we are not given attention and treated right” seems to be the message I am getting from our Diaspora compatriots. Too many times I heard the words, “I called them and left a message and they never called back.” Or “my call was returned a week later” or “I sent them an e-mail with a business proposition and they never got back to me.” “Perhaps this is how they do business in Macedonia but we in the USA don’t tolerate that.” I joked around with my friends there by saying that Macedonia has reached a bottom low but the reality is once something reaches a bottom low the only direction is up. For an optimistic investor today’s Macedonia is a haven for development and progress. It has all the right elements to become a great country and an economic power. It has an educated labour force willing to work hard and all it needs is to be given the opportunity to prove itself. The problems Macedonia experiences today are solvable simply by enforcing the law which the Macedonian citizens and voters can demand from their government. I also had discussions with Kiro about Greek occupied Macedonia and the current state of affairs with regard to the Macedonian refugees from the Greek Civil War and their properties. I had heard sometime ago that Greece was asked by the European Union to set aside a budget to settle these property disputes. I also said that Greece has completely ignored that recommendation and continues to insist that Macedonians don’t exist. Ownership of property however has nothing to do with ethnic affiliation so I was wondering why Greece is playing such games? To my surprise Kiro had an easy answer to my question. “Greece is broke!” he said. But how can Greece be broke when we constantly hear from various Greeks how rich Greece is and how “out of the goodness of its heart” is economically helping Macedonia? Perhaps the Greek businessmen who work for themselves are rich but the Greek government is broke, flat broke and not only that but it has accumulated such a deficit that it has put the Greek taxpayer in debt for generations. Greece is now counting on the European Union to pay for

its mistakes and settle its property problem with the Macedonian refugees. Naturally the European Union does not want to do that and why should it? That is precisely why Europe is ignoring the Macedonian minority in Greece and would like to see its problem with the Macedonian people disappear! It’s always about money! Looking at the problem from this perspective, all of a sudden it begins to make sense. Europe refusing to recognize the Macedonian minority in Greece is simply a measure of avoiding having to pay them for the damages Greece has caused them. If the problem is ignored long enough, maybe it will disappear! Imagine how happy Europe would be if we Macedonians disappear from the face of the Earth. I have always wondered why Europe didn’t want to deal with the Macedonian question, now at least I have some idea. Perhaps this is a cynical and simplistic approach to understanding a complex problem but to me this makes sense. I had a great time with Kiro and am thankful to him for giving me the grand tour of Skopje, which by the way included a visit to the new US Embassy, and for the productive discussions we had. The new US Embassy by the way is not just a building, it’s a series of buildings designed to house over one hundred families. Some of you may not agree with this but I see the US Embassy as a positive factor in Macedonia both economically and in terms of security. Besides the direct jobs that the Embassy will provide to Macedonians, the one hundred or so families living there will also need food, clothing, entertainment, etc., which will be provided by the local businesses. In terms of security, the US is not investing a great deal of money in a country it does not intend to support. Also, who would dare attack Skopje with such a large US civilian presence there? Before our tour was over, Kiro took me to the Skopje commercial center and to the old Turkish Pazar where old mixes with new and one gets to meet people from all ethnic groups both rich and poor living in Macedonia. I was back in my apartment by 1 pm and got busy on the phone trying to make arrangements to meet with more people. I contacted my soldier friends Aleksandar and Dean but they were both working. Unfortunately it was a working day and I couldn’t make any arrangements on such short notice so I decided to call my cousin Vasil and went to visit him. His son Zoran was kind enough to pick me up and take me there. Zoran is a software developer and works from his

home so he was available on short notice any time I needed a ride. I took advantage of him several times to chauffeur me to various places. My cousin Goche joined us a while later and I spent the rest of the day visiting with them. Zoran took me back to my apartment at 11 pm.

Unexpected encounters

I did not sleep well that night not only because it was very hot but also because of the many things going through my mind. It was a long day and I had had many discussions that day first with Kiro then with my cousins. I am usually unable to sleep if I don’t give my brain some rest before going to bed. Again I was up at 4 am listening to the birds chatter at first light. I hadn’t slept well in the last six nights yet I didn’t seem to be tired. I got my wakeup call around 7 am and Slave told me we were going for an interview at a radio program that morning but first he had some business to attend to at the Sveti Kliment main Church and wanted me to go with him. He picked me up around 8 am and soon afterwards we were at the church. We walked up the cobblestones and entered the church but it was practically empty so we left and went to a building next door to do the interview with Stojan for “Makedonsko Radio”. It was a recorded interview which lasted about one hour with twenty minutes or so of recording time. Stojan asked a variety of questions including some about my birthplace but the one that stumped me and caused me some emotion was about how I saw Macedonia. I have always imagined Macedonia to be legendary and a great land with everything being big but considering that the entire country could be traversed in a couple of days by car, I found it in reality to be very small. The program aired two days later on Sunday morning at 9 am. I would be seeing Stojan again the next week. By the time we came back to the church there was a huge gathering in the yard. In the middle of the gathering was a procession escorting the Mir and his wife (Hunza King and Queen) into the church. Slave left and as I waited for the procession to go by I was met by several Oshchimians who had seen me on television and wanted to know who I was. They had heard that I had written a book about Oshchima and were looking for it in the bookstores. They were disappointed to find out when I told them it was written in English and was not sold in Macedonia. There I also met Stojan the old General from Oshchima. I gave him greetings from my father, who insisted that I visit him. Just as more Oshchimians began to gather, Slave showed up and asked me to go with him to meet some people inside the church. On our way there I ran into Professor Angelina Markus whom I had met before in Canada. It was as much a surprise to her as it was to me to meet so