Front Matter - Part 03

unexpectedly. It was indeed a pleasure to see her again. She invited me to go to her home but I didn’t have time. As soon as I walked into the church I ran into two more academics who I had always wanted to meet. I had met Professor Vasil Iliov a long time ago but it was nice to see him again especially since I have written about his work in my history book. The second unexpected surprise was meeting Professor Tashko Belchevski, another academic whose work I admire and have also written about in my books. Slave introduced me to several people including the Bishop Kiril who invited us to be his guests at Leshok. I also met Dragi, a priest who a long time ago was serving in Canada. I met a lot of people outside the church including many Detsa Begaltsi (refugee children) who I knew from Toronto and Judge Kole Mangov with whom I correspond over the internet and Marko who has a radio program and once in a while collaborates with Dragitsa’s local Toronto radio program “Voice of Macedonia”. While in Canada I had been a guest at Marko’s radio program in Macedonia over the telephone a few times in the past. I was lucky that so many people came to the church to see the King and Queen and was fortunate to have met them even if it was just for a moment. By noon I was back in my apartment and busy on the phone making arrangements to meet with more of my friends. I had contacted Robert, a professor at the Kiril and Metodi University in Skopje who I knew from the internet but he was out of the country at the moment. I then took a chance contacting Aleksandar my soldier friend in hopes of meeting with him in the evening because I knew he was working during the day. But as it turned out Aleksandar was off that day and agreed to meet me for lunch. I had another appointment at 4 pm which I could not miss so our meeting was going to be brief. Aleksandar arrived by taxi and took me to his favourite restaurant “Makedonska Kukja”. I also wanted to meet with Dean, my other soldier friend, a mutual friend of Aleksandar’s and a friend of my friend Lou from Toronto. Dean unfortunately was sleeping during the day because he was working the night before. In spite of that however, Aleksandar kept calling him until he finally woke him up. In the meantime, Aleksandar ordered us a few skopski (beer) and a large lunch consisting of a salad and a variety of meats including sausages, broiled pork and hamburgers. While we ate Aleksandar,

whom I knew from Toronto while he was on tour at CFB Borden, told me what happened to him when he returned to Macedonia. Aleksandar is a tall, proud and sensitive young man whose only wish in life was to become a high ranking officer in the Macedonian military. He was already an officer when he and six other officers came to Canada to train and was expected to be promoted to a higher rank upon his return. But as it turned out instead of being promoted, he was dismissed, given the boot unceremoniously as he put it. The explanation was that the military had to make room for Albanian officers to meet a certain quota as agreed upon by the interim agreement. Naturally Aleksandar was devastated; he just lost his job which ended his military career. There is some logic in what the government of the time did but it leaves a lot to be desired in the way it did it. I later found out that Aleksandar was not the only one dismissed. Practically four out of five officers from that time were dismissed, including Dean who had fought in that terrible war and was wounded. “I expected a medal to be pinned on my chest,” he said “but instead I was given the boot and not even acknowledged for my sacrifice.” I was dumbfounded as I sat there listening to story after story. I didn’t know what to say! For obvious reasons I will not be making any personal comments about how I felt but I will say that my heart goes out to these brave men and women soldiers who put their lives on the line for the defense of our country and our identity. It was 2:30 pm when Dean arrived at the restaurant and I finally got to meet, face to face, with the soldier I had heard so much about from my friend Lou. Soon afterwards another former soldier, a mutual colleague of Aleksander and Dean’s, also joined us and as the three exchanged “army buddy” stories I listened intently. A little later Aleksandar’s wife Snezhana came and joined us too. Aleksandar met Snezhana in Canada while she was studying here. Aleksandar also told us an interesting story about his tour in Greece. Yes it’s true, Macedonian officers were sent to NATO bases in Greece. This particular place was in central Greek occupied Macedonia and the project was run by a non Greek commanding officer from Western Europe. Knowing the situation between Macedonians and Greeks this officer made sure Aleksandar was not bullied by his Greek counterparts and frequently asked Aleksandar if everything was okay. He shouldn’t have worried about Aleksandar because he is an impressively fearless big man. “The thing that intimidated the Greeks the most was my name ‘Aleksandar’,” said Aleksandar. “I wore my

flag and symbols on my sleeves openly and with pride inside the base and out on the streets,” said Aleksandar. One day he went to this restaurant by himself and was approached by the oldest of the three owners and brothers and asked in English where he was from. Aleksandar naturally told him that he was from the Republic of Macedonia and that he was Macedonian and spoke the Macedonian language. The next time Aleksandar came to the same restaurant with his colleagues from all over Europe he was always served first, which they found odd considering how Greeks treat Macedonians. Aleksandar brushed it off by saying that he was a regular customer there. Another time when Aleksandar was alone at a table and there were no others nearby, the same owner came to Aleksandar’s table and spoke to him in Macedonian, which was no surprise to Aleksandar because he knew many Macedonians lived in that city. What was surprising however was how quickly this man changed to speaking English when another person approached the table. It was getting near my time to leave but in order to spend some more time with my soldier friends, I contacted Slave, told him where I was and asked him to come and pick me up from there. By 4 pm we were in Slave’s office at “Makedonska Iskra” waiting for reporter Fidenka from Ohrid Radio to do a recorded interview with us. The interview took about an hour and Fidenka recorded thirty-six minutes. While the interview was conducted Slave received a phone call from Zoran, a friend of his and Macedonian Consul to Perth, Australia. Zoran wanted to meet with Slave and asked me to tag along. Zoran was at the Irish Pub café and said he was going to wait for us. As soon as we finished the interview, Slave contacted his wife Nada to let her know we were going out. But Nada insisted that we come upstairs to their home and eat supper before we left. Considering the good cook she is, I didn’t need much convincing to stay. I had the most delicious rich soup, cheeses, fresh bread for supper and cake for dessert. Thank you Nada. While we were having dinner I received a phone call from Robert, my professor friend, who told me he had arrived in Skopje so I asked him to join us at the Irish Pub café. Despite our tardiness, Zoran waited for us and we had a pint as we shared stories. Robert arrived also and we finally met person to person after so many years of correspondence over the internet. Being a

professor I pictured Robert as being much older, but compared to us old folks he was much younger. Zoran had to go on a long trip out of town so he left fairly early. Slave, who had a long day, was getting tired and he too left early. Robert and I stayed and shared pints and stories until much later. Robert is very knowledgeable in many aspects of life and wants to hear stories as much as he wants to tell them so it was a real pleasure meeting him, getting to know him in person and sharing conversations of the many things we cherish and have in common about Macedonia. We left the Irish Pub café around 11 pm; Robert was kind enough to drive me home in his car.

The Begaltsi Gathering and book promo

It was Friday morning July 18th when I received my wakeup call from Slave reminding me that we had an appointment to meet Katerina, a radio program host, for an early morning interview. Katerina wanted to interview me for a while and had asked Dragitsa Belchevska from “Voice of Macedonia”, a Toronto based Macedonian radio program, to let me know that she was looking for me. While in Macedonia I had asked Slave to do all the coordinating since I depended on him for his assistance with the media and for transportation. It was a hot day so I decided to wear short pants and a t-shirt knowing full well that we were not going to be filmed. But just as we arrived at the secure area, a security guard stopped me and informed me that I could not enter the facilities dressed like that. It took some intervention from Katerina to convince the guard to let me in but just this one time. Just as we passed that barrier Slave also informed me that I could not go inside the church like that either. “This is Macedonia not Canada,” Slave said jokingly, “we follow certain etiquette here with regards to dress code.” The interview went well, Katerina recorded about half an hour of our discussions before we left for the Begaltsi gathering at the “Boris Trajkiovski” Sports Stadium. We intentionally arrived early so that we could meet incoming guests as well as find space in the parking lot. A huge crowd had already gathered and was heading inside the stadium. The first person we met was my friend Odie Belchevski from Toronto. Odie had left Canada a few days before me and I expected that he would be in Bitola so it was a surprise to see him in Skopje. But as he put it, “I wasn’t going to miss an important gathering like this for anything.” The next person I recognized was Nase Parisis, my activist friend from Solun. It was nice seeing him again. As we continued to push inside we met many Begaltsi from Canada who I recognized. Then as we climbed up the stairs looking for a seat, we ran into John and Tsena who were sitting together with Vasil and Dotsa Bogov from Australia. I met Vasil and Dotsa in person last year when they were visiting Canada but I had known them over the internet for a long time. As we sat in the bleachers watching the crowds flow in, I kept watch for my cousins Spiro and his brother Vasko. Vasko and his wife Marina had come from Bulgaria to Bitola just to visit with me but with

our change of plans a couple of days before I missed my trip to Bitola so they decided to come to Skopje to visit me. Slave suggested I stand up as I was looking so when they arrived they could see me. As soon as I stood up I got a phone call. The person on the other side asked me to turn around. Low and behold it was Spiro with Vasko and Marina. They were sitting behind and just above us. By noon the incoming crowds had subsided and the program was about to begin. As I looked down at the main level I recognized Liljana Ristova, Editor of the newspaper “Canadian-Macedonian News” and Pobeda Piskacheva Producer of the Toronto based television program “Macedonian Edition” both from Toronto getting ready to photograph the event. The first to speak was Lefter Mantze, a Begalets living in Ottawa, Canada and famous plastic surgeon. The sound system unfortunately was very loud and caused much echo in the large stadium making it difficult to distinguish what was said. From counting the number of people in one square pattern and counting the number of patterns in the stadium, I estimated there to be around five-thousand people. The next day I heard in the news that six-thousand people had attended the gathering. Among the officials and dignitaries that were guests of the Begaltsi were Branko Tsrvenkovski, the President of the Republic of Macedonia, the Parliament Speaker, Bishop Kiril and others. The person to get the most attention from the crowds was Lube Boshkovski, the former Defense Minister who had just returned from The Hague. In the crowds I saw Edmond Temelkov the Macedonian activist and now Mayor of the town of Pustets in Mala Prespa, Albania. Edmond was also a speaker at the event. People that I recognized who gave speeches included our very own Risto Chachkirovski representing the Begaltsi from Canada and Petse Vasiliadis representing Vinozhito. When Petse Vasiliadis finished his speech he returned to his seat where he was sitting with several other people. At the same time Liljana Ristova happened to be standing right next to him so I motioned to her to get Petse’s attention so I could speak with him but Petse waved me to follow him into the lobby where it was quieter. My cousins followed and so did Liljana, Nase and Slave. Later we were joined by Ireneusz from Poland whom I had met before in Toronto several years ago and who was at the gathering representing the Begaltsi from Poland. There I was introduced to two more Macedonian

activists from Greece, Petse Dimchev and Krste Ashlekov of whom I had heard great things but I had never met them before. It was a wonderful sight to see as everyone smiled with excitement being glad and thankful for the occasion that brought us all together in one place at the same time and able to meet. Spiro too was well known to the activists from Greece. He later told me that while he was a member of parliament he had fought for the rights of the Begaltsi as well as the rights of the Macedonians in Greece. It was getting late in the day by now and Spiro and Vasko were getting anxious about returning to Bitola the same day because they were planning to cross the Greek border and go to the gathering in Ofchareny, Lerin the next day. I got my things from Slave’s car and we were off to a late lunch. As usual Spiro was buying so he took us to the “Kaj Zlate” restaurant, a place he had taken me before. Spiro was well known to the restaurant staff as we were all greeted with smiles when we arrived. It was too hot to sit outdoors so Spiro suggested we go inside where the place was somewhat cooler. Seeing how we were all shy, Spiro ordered for all of us which included a Skopsko (beer), Macedonian salad, something new for me that I hadn’t tried before and the grilled pork injected with cheese for Vasko, Marina and himself. Spiro also wanted to order three of something in a large size but the waiter was suggesting a small size so it was finally agreed it would be the small size. When the food arrived I discovered the three small items he ordered were spiced hamburgers injected with cheese which were about six inches in diameter and about three-quarters of an inch thick. Being amazed by the size they call “small” I asked Spiro what was a “large” like? He motioned with his hands making a circle which would measure about eight inches in diameter. We also had a plate full of compiri (French fries) as well. It was a meal to remember. Thank you Spiro, you sure know how to look after your guests. After our late lunch the four of us returned to my apartment where we got to know each other a little better. Spiro decided to have a short nap before the long drive to Bitola, leaving me to spend some more time with my first cousin Vasko and his wife Marina. No sooner had my cousins left than it was time to go to the book promotion which was scheduled for 8 pm at the Skopje main library. Slave came by at about 7:40 pm and after picking up John and Tsena we were there by 8 pm.

The library was packed with people and it was at least several degrees hotter inside than outside. We pushed our way in and Slave told us to wait while he figured out what we were expected to do. Usually during a book promotion the author is required to say a few words so I had prepared a speech. But as it turned out most of the ceremony was in tribute to the Detsa Begaltsi and so were the two books being promoted. They especially selected authors who had roots in Aegean Macedonia (Greek occupied Macedonia). At the end of the tribute my book (“Istoriata na Makedonskiot Narod od Anichkite Veminja do Denes” translated from “History of the Macedonian People from Ancient Times to the Present”) was promoted first and I was referred to as an author with roots from Aegean Macedonia, which for me was an honour. Neither author was asked to speak. After the ceremony we were visited by guests who wanted to know if I was one of the authors and to congratulate me. There were also more requests for interviews but I directed them to Slave. Both John and Tsena stayed with me throughout the entire event and gave me their full support. I also had the pleasure of meeting Sonja Prus that evening. Sonja is the lady who translated my book from English to Macedonian. Boiling hot but satisfied with the way the book promotion went we left the library and Slave took us home. Since I didn’t get the chance to read my speech at the book promotion, I decided to include it in this article and pay tribute to those who made this project a reality:

Speech: Book promotion in Skopje

Thank you everyone for coming here tonight and for giving us your support.

First I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who contributed to the realization and success of this project. I would like to begin with John Givens who not only gave birth to the idea of translating my History book but who also believed in my work and did everything possible to raise funds, organize and distribute this publication. I would like to thank Makedonska Iskra, Slave Nikolovski Katin and his team for accepting and carrying out the task of translating and publishing, distributing and promoting this book. I would like to especially thank Sonja Prus for her meticulous and tireless effort in translating 500 pages of the text and for her technical contribution in putting the book together. I would also like to thank all those who contributed to the editing and verification of the material which includes Dobrina Sejmenova Bozhinova, chief editor, Fidanka Tanaskova, Snezhana Velkova and Sofia Semenpeeva, editors, Elena Tosheva, editor and reviewer, Denis Tenev, technical artistic editor and others. I would also especially like to thank our sponsors for their personal and financial contributions without which this project would have not been possible and they are; John Bitove, Peter Bassil Tupurkovski, Angelo Argiro, Benefit Society Oshchima, Pete and Mary Kondoff, Dr. Dragi Denkovski, Peter Alousis, Dr. Alexander Georgievski, John Kuzev, John Givens, Zess Pedias, the Chachorovski Family and all others who financially contributed to the realization of this project.

Now I want to say a few words about how all this started.

For me this has been a journey of personal discovery which began about thirty years ago when I became interested not just in the stories my parents and friends told me about us, the Macedonians, but in the greater sense of who the Macedonians are and what it meant and means to be Macedonian. My journey of discovery took me to books which showed me that we are an extraordinary people with a great past and with a lot to offer.

My interest in the Macedonian cause and our struggle as people was heightened with the Republic of Macedonia’s independence in the early 1990’s and lead me to many debates and controversies which in time gave me a voice in my community, which eventually manifested itself in writing. As I began to write, mostly for the internet, I discovered that there were many young Macedonians out there hungry for information about Macedonia and about our struggle as Macedonians. As more questions surfaced I became more involved and more obliged to help out. This naturally lead me to publish more and more articles and eventually to publishing books. I believe it is very important for every Macedonian to first learn who we are as a people and then engage in the struggle to achieve our place in the world. But we must only learn from those who have our best interest at heart and not from those who work against us. The Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia who speak the Macedonian language and can attend Macedonian schools have a place to learn. But what about the people who live outside of the Republic of Macedonia who strongly feel Macedonian but don’t speak the Macedonian language? Who is going to help them? This is a question I considered very carefully given that in my community in Canada there are second, third and fourth generation Macedonians who strongly feel Macedonian but can’t read Macedonian. I estimate that 75% of Macedonians in the Diaspora who are well educated and prepared to defend their rights as Macedonians cannot read or speak Macedonian. I estimate there are close to one million Macedonians worldwide who fit this category. This is a strength that cannot and must not be ignored. Such people have the skills and resources and are economically and politically unrestricted to act on behalf of Macedonia and the Macedonian peoples’ interests. That is why I have made it my mission to be in contact with such people through articles, books and other publications. They need to know about our struggle and they can only learn in the language they understand. Today for the world there is a Republic of Macedonia and a geographical Macedonia but for us there is only one Macedonia and one Macedonian identity. Only through the unity of our people can we win this struggle which will not only strengthen us for the next step, the realization of our rights in the occupied parts of Macedonia, but will

shape our children’s future. Let us do the best we can and let history judge us as the generation which struggled and succeeded.

Thank you.

Titles Published By Risto Stefov

- Oshchima The Story of a Small Village in Western Macedonia - History of the Macedonian People from Ancient Times to the Present - Macedonia An Illustrated History with Maps, Photographs and Biographies - Recovering Macedonia Expiration of the Treaty of Bucharest 1913 - The Little Book of BIG GREEK LIES - English – Macedonian Dialectal Dictionary Based on the Lerin-Kostur Dialects As Spoken by Oshchimians - Short History of the Macedonian People - This Land We Do Not Give a history of Macedonian resistance to foreign occupation By Michael Seraphinoff and Chris Stefou (Published by Nettle Hollow) - Short History of Macedonia (Published by Macedonian Literary Association of Australia “Grigor Prlichev”) - Istoriata na Makedonskiot Narod od Anichkite Veminja do Denes (Published by Iskra)

Titles in the works

- Macedonian Struggle for Independence - Macedonians in Greece 1939 – 1949

Begaltsi Activities day two

I don’t remember exactly what time I went to bed the night before but I discovered that if watched some television before going to bed I would fall asleep easier. Besides, there were many programs being presented on TV about the Begaltsi which were of interest to me. In fact almost every night there was something on the TV about the plight of the Begaltsi. One night there was an open discussion in which Begaltsi leaders from various countries of the Diaspora, including Ireneusz from Poland, had participated. I was very impressed with what was said and the level of knowledge these people had regarding the Macedonian question, particularly regarding Macedonian issues with Greece. I got my wakeup call as usual and by 9 am we were on the grounds of the Sveti Kliment main church. Just as we arrived we were followed by a procession of priests lead by Bishop Kiril who waved us to join them. I walked with the procession right up to the door of the church but decided not to go in, not because I wasn’t wearing proper attire but because people outside waved me to join them. The church was packed, mostly with Begaltsi from the Diaspora. After the liturgy (in honour of the Begaltsi) the people came out to the yard and busied themselves greeting one another and carrying on conversations. John and Tsena were also there and so were many Begaltsi from Canada and Australia. There I met Ivan from the Macedonian Literary Association of Australia “Grigor Prlichev”, Todor Petrov, president of the World Macedonian Congress, Kole editor of the magazine Loza from Solun (I was introduced to him by Liljana Ristova), Lefter Mantze from Ottawa and others. Another person I kept running into again and again was Gotche, son of a famous musician from Oshchima. Included among the Begaltsi were also reporters from Macedonia as well as from the Diaspora. I saw Liljana Ristova and Pobeda Piskacheva from Canada and Marko and Stojan (the reporter who interviewed us a few days earlier) from Skopje. I also saw the Karapanchev family from Toronto with young Alexander, long time reader and fan. I met the Karapanchevs the night before at the book promotion. Among the people in the crowd were a number of students who were doing research on the Begaltsi and used this opportunity to do some interviews. I was approached by several asking for interviews but had to tell them that I was not a Begalets. One particular young lady, whose

name I later found out was Emilia, asked me what my name was and seemed to show interest in who I was. I later found out that her husband reads my articles which I regularly publish on the internet. In the churchyard I was briefly interviewed by Pobeda and by Marko after which we departed for another Begaltsi event at MANU. This event was a symposium and by far the best event I attended in the Begaltsi program. As soon as we arrived Slave had to go so he left me there to enjoy speech after speech delivered by professors, academics, scholars and relatives of the Begaltsi. All speeches were about the plight of the Begaltsi and concentrated on events surrounding the lives of those who lived and died through the war years. Some speeches were detailed and informative while others were very sad and full of emotion. I just hope that MANU will put the speeches together in a book (zbornik), publish it and make them available to the general public. I sure would like to have a copy for myself. While sitting in the auditorium listening to the speeches, Liljana asked me if I had met a certain gentleman sitting in the front row. I did not recognize the gentleman so Liljana took us both outside to the lobby and I met Jordan a Macedonian activist from Bulgaria. I spent some time listening to Jordan as he described the situation in Bulgaria. From what he said the Macedonians in Bulgaria are in a desperate situation, more desperate than that of the Macedonians in Greece. Most Macedonians living in Bulgaria are very poor and can’t afford computers or access to the internet. They don’t even have enough funds to maintain circulation of a newspaper. Liljana was in agreement with what Jordan told me and said that she had heard similar stories from other activists. Slave too later told me a similar story of when he and Steve Pliakas paid a visit to the Macedonian activists in Bulgaria and were asked to visit their office. He said, “They took us to a poorly lit room that resembled a dungeon more than an office.” Both Steve and Slave donated all the money they had with them at the time, feeling sorry for the condition under which these people had to work. Unfortunately a one time donation did not solve their problem, as these people need a continuous injection of funds, training, equipment and access to the internet and to other mediums in order to make progress. Liljana suggested that this would be a task for human rights organizations to undertake to ensure that our compatriots in Bulgaria receive the help they need.

While talking with Jordan, Pobeda and Ireneusz and a couple of young ladies joined us. One of the young ladies was a student from Poland studying in Macedonia. The second young lady was also a student from Skopje. They were working on a project about the Begaltsi and wanted to ask some questions. Liljana introduced us to the young ladies pointing out to them that Ireneusz too was from Poland. We agreed to answer their questions but it would have to be over lunch. We decided to meet at Fufo’s café. While Ireneusz drove the students to the restaurant, Liljana paid for a taxi cab and took Pobeda and myself there. When we arrived we met Todor Petrov, Lefter Mantze and a couple of their friends. Lefter offered to buy us lunch and since the ladies accepted so did I. The main dish we ordered was Italian pizza but I did not find it as good tasting as what I was accustomed to here in Canada. Thank you Lefter. Soon after we ordered our food Ireneusz and the students arrived but they had to pay for their own food because by then Lefter and one his friends had left the café. Liljana and Pobeda also had to go after eating lunch, to run some errands leaving me and Ireneusz to answer all the questions, which took us a couple of hours to do. After we were finished the students left and Ireneusz took me to another café where we had the best fresh fruit juice and ice cream in Skopje. We spent another hour talking and exchanging ideas about Macedonia and its problems with Greece. After parting company with Ireneuz I headed down Skopje center looking for a taxi. There unexpectedly I ran into John and Tsena and their friends who were sitting in an outdoor café. With them were Vasil and Dotsa Bogov from Australia, Vangel Stojkovski and his wife from Canada and Risto from Skopje. They were waiting to go to another Begaltsi event at 9 pm, the “60 Years of Exodus 1948-2008” presented at a nearby art gallery. Instead of going back home and coming back, I decided to stay with the group until it was time to go to the gallery. I had a great time talking with Risto who turned out to be quite feisty and a bit argumentative at times but it was all in good fun. On the way to the art gallery we passed by the bronze monument dedicated to the Detsa Begaltsi where we were approached by a man asking for money for his wife’s expensive cancer surgery. I had heard the same story from a different man at a different location earlier that day. I asked the man if the money collected by the other person was

also for his wife to which he replied he had no idea what I was talking about and that his plea was genuine and he had the papers to prove it. When I asked him to prove that this was not a scam he blessed me with many kind words and left. Speaking of begging, while Ireneusz and I were eating our ice cream earlier at the café a young Roma girl came to our table begging for money. I gave her 10 denars. This was not the only time I had seen young Roma children begging. They often did it on the street at intersections where cars stop for traffic lights. My cousin Spiro keeps a dish of coins in his car for such occasions. I asked him why does he encourage children to do this by giving them money and why aren’t they in school? He had no answers; he said he felt sorry for them. I had also seen Roma boys on custom made three wheel bicycles pulling trailers loaded with flattened out cardboard boxes. I had seen Roma adults rummaging through dumpsters collecting bag loads of plastic bottles. From what I had heard from travelers I expected Skopje to be a lot dirtier but that was not the case. Every day on my way out from my apartment I saw a woman cleaning the parking lot, street and collecting loose trash. Outside the city, especially on the highway however it’s a different story. I saw truck loads of trash, mostly plastic bottles, ditched in ravines at some places on the highway. I recently heard that the Macedonian parliament passed a law against polluting which should help keep the country clean but will the law be enforced? Only time will tell! As the crowds amassed in the parking lot in front of the art gallery we again ran into people we had met before. I saw Goche my Oshchimian friend, this time in the company of several other Oshchimians who I introduced to my friend John. Goche promised to give me a CD with some of his songs so we agreed to meet the next day at the Leshok Monastery where the Begaltsi picnic was to be held. The gallery was air-conditioned so it was not as hot inside as it was outside in the parking lot. When the doors opened we were drawn by the push of the crowd waiting to get in. Once in we followed the crowd circling through the gallery, occasionally stopping to look at the abstract paintings and sculptures. All of the artwork was dedicated to the Begaltsi of the Greek Civil War. As we moved along there were people handing out magazines. I took one and leafed through it. It had colour photographs of the sculptures and paintings displayed in the art

gallery and the text was printed in Macedonian, English and French. Here are a couple of verses I borrowed from the magazine: “Between the artist and his work there is a long road, often impassible. It can be named Sisyphus’ road, and Orpheus’ as well. Since, at the end of that arduous journey, life defeats death, by means of the art.” (Ivan Capovski) “The expulsion from one’s homeland is a tragic event which imminently leaves a permanent mark on the entire life of a person.” (Menka Karapasovska) The gallery tour was concluded by speeches given by the organizers of the Begaltsi Association. I believe Saturday July 19th was also the day that many Begaltsi were expected to board buses to cross over the Greek border and attend the celebration in Ofchareni. But from what I was told the organizers decided to cancel the buses because of threats from Greeks who were secretly planning to attack the visitors. The organizers did not want to put their guests at risk so they told them if they wanted to go to Ofchareni they would have to find their own means of transportation and go at their own risk. Unfortunately because most of the Begaltsi were from the Diaspora they were not prepared to make such a journey on short notice so many did not go. According to my cousin Spiro who did go, the Ofchareni event has the lowest turnout in years. I later found out that some neo-Nazis had infiltrated the Ofchareni celebration but did not cause any trouble.

Begaltsi Picnic at Leshok

When we left the art gallery John and Tsena asked me to go with them. John offered me a ride in the taxi he hired and took me home first. As I sat watching television I suddenly remembered two nights ago asking Gjorgi Donevski if he had seen Vera Foteva, a lady I wanted to meet. Vera had sent me a copy of her book (with Liljana) entitled “To Hell and Back” (a monograph of her life’s experience in the Siberian prisons) as a gift a couple of years ago and I wanted to thank her in person but so far I as unable to find her. Traian, a friend of mine from Toronto, had also asked me to get him Vera’s book which gave me twice the reason to find her. Gjorgi had told me that Vera’s book was only available from Vera and was not sold in any bookstores so I made sure not to forget to look for her at the picnic in Leshok. The next morning Slave came by bright and early, picked me up first and then picked up John and Tsena. Slave had to drive his son’s car because he son Aleksandar had borrowed his to go on vacation. On the way to Leshok Slave again took the opportunity to give us a tour of the land and talked about the region’s local history. He showed us the borders where some people were thinking of dividing Macedonia and giving the western part to the Albanians. He also showed us Karpalak an area where eight Macedonian soldiers died in 2001. As we traveled west on the right side of the road we saw a couple of ostrich farms. As we passed a valley between two tall mountains we could see, about half way up the mountain on the opposite side in the distance, machinery surface mining the land and loading the material on trucks. According to Slave they were mining sand and loose gravel. How could they be mining sand half way up the mountain? Sand is a bi-product of water; it belongs in the valleys and beaches. What was it doing way up there; half way up the mountain? I asked Slave if anyone had studied how these mountains were formed but he didn’t know. Could these mountains have been made by sand and gravel deposits from a retreating glacier? I made sure I observed the terrain on my flight back and noticed that most of the area we flew over was fairly flat, only Macedonia had sharp mountains all grouped together. In fact as we passed over Britain I could see the glacier scrapes on large rocks. So the Macedonian mountains could be the result of the melting glaciers

from the last ice age. I would be interested to hear what geologists have to say. Before going off the highway to climb up to Leshok, Slave took us on a tour of Tetovo. Although there are some Macedonians (about 20%) living in the city, the villages are predominantly settled with Albanians. Because of the tall mountains in the background (Shar Planina) water is plentiful and the fields are green and lush. In fact the entire area on the south-east side of Shar Planina was dotted with villages and higher up the mountains were hotels and resorts. How could the mountain support so many villages and where do they get their water? According to Slave, most of the water comes from springs higher up the mountain. Shar Planina is so tall that a great deal of snow accumulates on its peak over the cold seasons and melts throughout the warm seasons, providing a constant flow of water year round. As we passed through the center of Tetovo we could see new developments springing up everywhere. Tetovo is growing rapidly and is probably now the second largest city in Macedonia. The road to Leshok was steep, winding and narrow but Slave used his good driving skills to get us there safely. On the way up we noticed many wild plum trees loaded with ripe plums ready for picking but we did not stop for any. Judging from the small crowd we found there, we had arrived at Leshok early. Then while I busied myself looking at the surrounding mountains, the others went inside Sveti Atanasi, the larger church in the Leshok Monastery. I did not want to go inside since I was not wearing the proper attire; I was wearing short pants and a T-shirt. As soon as the others came out of the monastery we were invited to go inside a building and join Bishop Kiril for a cup of tea. One of the priests took us upstairs to the second level and showed us into a conference room. Among the guests included there were distinguished members from various Macedonian Church communities in the Diaspora. Bishop Kiril offered us snacks and drinks and informed us of the various projects he was working on. I was very impressed with the Bishop’s knowledge of the Diaspora particularly the names of people he knew including those of our own Macedonian community in Canada. He seemed to know a lot more people in my community than I did. He knew John and Tsena from way back in the days when the St. Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Church was built. John at the

time was President of the Church. This was the first Macedonian church built in Canada and probably in the entire Diaspora. I had known of Bishop Kiril from before and I had seen him at the church and at picnics but I had never met him in person. He is an impressively tall man with a very deep commanding voice that can be both gentle and overpowering which always commands respect and attention. Just as we got comfortable exchanging stories with the Bishop he was summoned to perform the liturgy at the Sveti Anastasi Church. On our way out Bishop Kiril pointed to the bullet holes in the window inside the lobby above the door. A lot of damage was done to the churches by the opposing faction during the 2001 conflict which was already repaired but some still remained as a reminder of the violence that was acted out against this Christian holy place. Again I could not go inside the monastery so I decided to look around. Below the monastery there was another older and smaller church. It is called Sveta Bogoroditsa and was built in the 16th century. Just above it was an enclosure with a marble covered grave and headstone of a priest named Kiril Pejchinovitch about whom Slave had spoken to me earlier. As I was reading the inscription “Kiril Pejchinovich Tetoets (1771 1845)” I noticed Emilia, a young lady who I had met before, coming towards me. She had a gift for me. It was a perfect reproduction of a coin from Philip II’s time. The coin was enclosed in a small hand crafted wooden box, an inch and a half cube. Inside the lid of the box were inscribed the words “Philip II of Macedon 359 to 336 BC” in Macedonian and English. On top of the box a sixteen ray Macedonian sun was engraved. It was an impressive gift, I was touched by her generosity especially since it came from a person who I had just met a couple of days ago. Thank you very much Emilia. (Emilia has her own business where she makes and sells reproductions of ancient coins. She can be reached via her e-mail at turnipfish_2612@yahoo.com). Good luck Emilia. Just as I finished talking to Emilia I was met by another man passing by who asked me what my interest was with Kiril Pejchinovich. He introduced himself as Professor Momiroski who was born in Leshok and was familiar with its history. When I introduced myself he seemed to know me which made me curious so I asked how he knew me. He said he had just heard me talking on the radio. I remembered the radio interview we recorded with Stojan a couple of