FRIDAY, MAY 31
CHANGING LANDSCAPES
“Does it look different,” asked Chloe from the backseat of Igor’s car. We had just crossed the border into Greece. Igor said it would take awhile before it looked different, after we passed through the mountains, then the plants would look more tropical. Igor, the owner of the Airbnb where we stayed in Ohrid, drove us to Thessaloniki.
But, he was wrong, the landscape did change right away. Land that was thick with foliage in Northern Macedonia, was cleared for agriculture on the other side of the border. Greece, unlike Northern Macedonia, receives funds from the EU to subsidize farmers. Also we saw our first coal burning power plant, revealed by the open expanses. It was pumping dark smoke into the air. The land is rich in coal, explained Igor.
On both sides of the border, the roads were nearly clear of other travels. Igor drove very fast. We passed a few dead dogs on the roadside, and others padding along. In Northern Macedonia, we passing through mid-sized towns, most suffering from de-population. Ohrid has a population of 40,000, down 20,000 in recent years. A larger city we drove through used to have 100,000 but now has a population of 60,000. “People are migrating out,” said Igor.
Macedonians are moving away, but foreigners, Europeans mostly, are coming in, buying homes, at least in Ohrid. A house on the lake can be purchased for 50,000 euros. People are buying their retirement homes.
IGOR’S IDEAS
Igor and I talked about the complexities of the region, Macedonian history, Macedonian allegiances with the Serbs and Bulgarians, his views of capitalism, the Roma, his family in the US and their wealth. He thinks capitalism is the worst of all political/economic systems, and explained how the workers are poorer now than they were under Tito. He talked about government corruption in the region, the reputation of Albanians in the Balkans and throughout Europe as crooks.
“No one likes us, the Macedonians,” said Igor, and laughed gently. Like the young woman at the travel agency who explained the name change from Macedonia to North Macedonia, he laughed at the absurdities of what he saw as Macedonia’s situation. From an outsider’s point of view, Macedonia’s absurdities seem like dark problems but the Macedonians we met negotiated them with a lightness of spirit.
MACEDONIANS ON THE GREEK SIDE
Though the Macedonians were mostly able to avoid the recent Balkan wars, in the early 1900s, they experienced a turbulent, violent history in their relations with Greece. The Greeks killed nearly 100,000 Macedonians in the area near the border, and to this day the Greeks claim that Macedonia belongs to them. “Are any Macedonians still living here,” I asked Igor, about the mountainous region near the border. “Yes,” he said, “but they have to say they are Greek. They had to do it to survive.”
As we exited Greece’s mountainous region, the plants changed, as Igor said they would. Bushes roadside were colored with bright pink and yellow flowers.
ARRIVING IN THESSALONIKI
It was pouring rain when we arrived in Thessaloniki. Sunny Greece, it was not. But Igor said, “The sea brings fast change. The sun will come out. ”
Thessaloniki felt dirty and poor, scruffy as we drove in. The apartment where we were staying was on the edge of the city, an area where people go to get car parts. But as we walked down the bricked, narrow street to our building, we saw a church, built in the 1300s, at the end of the street and realized it wasn’t dirty and poor, it was a mixed bag, very mixed, century by century. And Igor was right about the sun. While we hauled our luggage up three flights of stairs, it came out.
Later we entered the Orthodox church next door. A priest was in the process of blessing a young man by the alter. A heavy stone building, covered in frescos and mosaics of gold, it felt like what I think a church should feel like. It didn’t make us feel small in the face of it’s magnificence, but instead the weight of the building grounded us and made for an intimate, safe feeling. The Byzantine depictions of bible stories covering all the walls were beautifully simple, almost modern and graphic in design.
Off we went to explore. The sun was bright and strong as we walked toward the port and along the boardwalk on the sea. The white, pale and off-white buildings, many around 6 to 8 stories, were bleached by the bright mediterranean light. The city was busy with traffic and people.
Strangely as much as I enjoyed the Balkans, it felt good to be in Greece, to be back in an EU country, to find familiar products on store shelves, to see the plenty, even in a country as bankrupt as Greece.
