My recent trip to Macedonia

[Gocka]

I want to reserve this space for my extended stay in Macedonia this last summer. I want to write in length about what I saw and experienced.

Spoiler alert, I don't have anything good to say.

[Risto the Great]

Perhaps it can be reserved for any recent trips to Macedonia.

[Gocka]

Perhaps it can be reserved for any recent trips to Macedonia.

Yes good idea.

[Phoenix]

Yes good idea.

C'mon mate, where's this travelogue you promised...I'm waiting

[Gocka]

LOL my apologies, I had a thing with a cunt and got distracted.

I will try to start posting in installments because its a lot of shit to cover. Basically just random interactions I had worth noting.

C'mon mate, where's this travelogue you promised...I'm waiting

[Phoenix]

LOL my apologies, I had a thing with a cunt and got distracted.

I will try to start posting in installments because its a lot of shit to cover. Basically just random interactions I had worth noting.

...i'm looking forward to it...always like a good story from stariot kraj

[Gocka]

Okay I will start from the beginning.

On my way to Macedonia, I stopped i London, and Croatia. The airport in London actually had water fountains, the bathrooms had Soap, Sanitizer, and Lotion dispensers. The airport in Zagreb was super artsy, very cool architecture, clean, modern, great airport.

Then I land in Skopje! None of the toilets or urinals worked, forget about lotion they didn't have soap or water in the sinks I think prisons have better conditions. I should have just caught a return flight right then and there.

For the first time no one fucked with me at customs though, so that was a positive.

How hard is it to maintain 1 freaking small airport in an entire country?

I get to my home in Dolno Lakocherej, to find someone stole my fucking mailbox lol, it was metal so I figure they sold it for scrap. Whatever

One interesting thing I noticed right away was when I went shopping. There was a couple of new home stores in Ohrid so I figured I'd get some stuff for around the house. Kitchen ware, and things like that. I bought a few things pretty damn pricey for Macedonian standards, I can buy the same things much cheaper in the USA. Almost every kitchen utensil I bought broke in a few days, or had major defects. I put it down to bad luck. Then after a moth or so after buying many different things from many different places, I started looking at things more closely, and realize something. Almost every single item in these stores was defective in some way. Whether flaws in the finish, missing parts, cracks, etc. The only logical explanation is that all those products are factory rejects of products that are made for other markets. Most large countries have anti dumping laws, that stop China and other from flooding the market with garbage. Macedonia probably doesn't. Once I started looking for it, I could see it in almost everything that was being sold. This is a huge economic problem. They are selling defective product slightly cheaper then genuine quality product. This makes it almost impossible for local manufacturing to succeed. Not to mention people are wasting hard earned money they don't have on garbage that wont last a year. I really felt bad for consumers at that point. In the USA If I buy something, cheap or otherwise, and it breaks in 3 days, that shit is going back to the store and I get my money back. In Macedonia they don't return things so people are getting cheated.


I took a trip to Aegean Macedonia to visit some family. The first peninsula, "Kasandras"

Apparently a hot spot for Macedonian tourists. I went to a place called Kalithea. Every 2nd car had Macedonian plates. I went to other towns along the coast, same thing, Macedonians everywhere. I am not kidding when I saw that Macedonians made up the majority of tourists in these places.

While there I noticed something, there are a lot of native Macedonians WHO REFUSE TO SPEAK MACEDONIAN!

I have a friend who runs a hotel there, he lets me stay for free, so I offered to help him fix a couple things around the hotel. We go to a hardware store, neither of us speak a work of Greek, not 1, I don't even know how to say hello. We have to get a bunch of very specific things, valves, fittings, some electrical stuff. We had no idea how to tell the shop employee what we need. I could have tried English, but I'm a douche, so I told him in Macedonian what I need. The son of a bitch comes back with everything I asked for. There is not fucking way he didn't understand Macedonian. Someone who is fluent in Macedonian but is a layman wouldn't know what I asked for. So this encouraged me to try this out in other places. Bars, other stores, bakeries. It didn't always work but maybe 7 out of 10 times the people clearly at least understood Macedonian. Only one women at a bakery actually spoke back. I said oh, you speak Macedonian? She says, yes but reluctantly. I told her, you are the first person to actually answer me back in Macedonian. She says, a lot of people are scared to. I ask why? She says you ever know who is listening. I told her, you shouldn't be afraid, if everyone thought this way, then there is nothing they could do to you.

Another thing I noticed that broke my heart. Everywhere I went in Aegean Macedonia, I saw the Macedonian sun. On signs, advertisements, souvenirs, cars. In Ohrid you used to see the Macedonian sun, here and there, in Bitola and Prilep too. This last time I don't think I saw it even once. Greeks took something foreign and made it their own. They are proud of it, they want to make that known. I left Aegean Macedonia thinking to myself, I hate those fuckers, but I am also jealous. They deserve Macedonia,at least they want to make something from it. Everywhere you go, its Macedonia this, Alexander that. In FYROM, all I heard was, "fighting about the past is silly" "We are probably mostly Slavs anyway" "Who cares about ancient Macedonians".

I got in an argument with a cop in Macedonia (the first time). I'm walking by the police station in Struga, I see a cop standing in front (he was Macedonian) I ask, "Izvinete edno prasaje, dali smejam da vozam so Amerikanska vozachka?". He says "Sto znam, neznam" I say "kako mojs da neznajs, policajec si, so ke naprajs ako me zastanis sluchajno" he says "pa ke doznajs dali mojs ili ne mojs ko ke te zastanet" I say "me drapas ili ozbilen si" he says "ozbilen sum, mozit smejs mozit ne smejs" I say "Pa fala bogu, deka e ili edno ili drugo, ne postojat drugi izbori. Od koja koris e policajec sto ne gi znajt zakonite" he says " Ne morat da gi znam zakonite" I say " Tvoja odgovornost kako policajec e da osiguras se pochituvet zakonite, kako ke go prajs to, ko samiot ne gi znjas." he says "pazi so zborvis sega te znam koj si" I say " Ej prosto sum zachuden, barem si znael nesto" (yes I'm a douche in real life too). He says " ubo che te najdam pak niz gradov" I say "Che e najs vujnami, i sto ak me najdis" he says "ubo ke se presmetame" I say "Dobro da nosam digitron?" he muttered some curse words and went inside the police station.

I have dozens more for some other time

[Starling]

Greeks will never deserve Macedonia, no matter how hard they pretend our culture belongs to them.

[Phoenix]

...Greeks took something foreign and made it their own...

That right there is the story of modern greece...in one simple sentence.

[Solun]

I took a trip to Aegean Macedonia to visit some family. The first peninsula, "Kasandras"

Apparently a hot spot for Macedonian tourists. I went to a place called Kalithea. Every 2nd car had Macedonian plates. I went to other towns along the coast, same thing, Macedonians everywhere. I am not kidding when I saw that Macedonians made up the majority of tourists in these places.

While there I noticed something, there are a lot of native Macedonians WHO REFUSE TO SPEAK MACEDONIAN!

I have a friend who runs a hotel there, he lets me stay for free, so I offered to help him fix a couple things around the hotel. We go to a hardware store, neither of us speak a work of Greek, not 1, I don't even know how to say hello. We have to get a bunch of very specific things, valves, fittings, some electrical stuff. We had no idea how to tell the shop employee what we need. I could have tried English, but I'm a douche, so I told him in Macedonian what I need. The son of a bitch comes back with everything I asked for. There is not fucking way he didn't understand Macedonian. Someone who is fluent in Macedonian but is a layman wouldn't know what I asked for. So this encouraged me to try this out in other places. Bars, other stores, bakeries. It didn't always work but maybe 7 out of 10 times the people clearly at least understood Macedonian. Only one women at a bakery actually spoke back. I said oh, you speak Macedonian? She says, yes but reluctantly. I told her, you are the first person to actually answer me back in Macedonian. She says, a lot of people are scared to. I ask why? She says you ever know who is listening. I told her, you shouldn't be afraid, if everyone thought this way, then there is nothing they could do to you.

I didn't think there were Macedonian speaking villages on the Halkidiki peninsula even as late as the 20th century. Maybe there were as late as the 18th and 19th century. In Solunsko there of course still are Macedonian speaking villages. Could you just clarify where you believe these people come from who at least understood Macedonian?

[Gocka]

I haven't got a clue. Like I said none of them talked Macedonian back to me except for 1 woman. I suppose its possible they aren't originally from the peninsula, maybe they are people from traditional Macedonian speaking villages who moved to the peninsula fairly recently? I am only guessing here. The thing is there seemed to be quite a lot of them. We were only an hour or two from Solun.

I didn't think there were Macedonian speaking villages on the Halkidiki peninsula even as late as the 20th century. Maybe there were as late as the 18th and 19th century. In Solunsko there of course still are Macedonian speaking villages. Could you just clarify where you believe these people come from who at least understood Macedonian?

[Solun]

I haven't got a clue. Like I said none of them talked Macedonian back to me except for 1 woman. I suppose its possible they aren't originally from the peninsula, maybe they are people from traditional Macedonian speaking villages who moved to the peninsula fairly recently? I am only guessing here. The thing is there seemed to be quite a lot of them. We were only an hour or two from Solun.

Maybe considering that Macedonians are the majority of tourists, then speaking Macedonian is an important asset for employment and Macedonians are willing to re-locate in order to gain employment?

[Gocka]

That's definitely a possibility. It was too far from traditionally Macedonian areas so that certainly could explain it.

Another interesting thing I noticed was that despite there being an overwhelming amount of Macedonian tourists, none of the advertising was in Macedonian. There were signs and advertisements in Russian and Serbian, but not Macedonian.

Maybe considering that Macedonians are the majority of tourists, then speaking Macedonian is an important asset for employment and Macedonians are willing to re-locate in order to gain employment?

[Phoenix]

...Another interesting thing I noticed was that despite there being an overwhelming amount of Macedonian tourists, none of the advertising was in Macedonian. There were signs and advertisements in Russian and Serbian, but not Macedonian.

I would have thought that the answer to that was more than obvious, as was the reason why many understand Macedonian but refuse to speak the language...

I'm more interested in knowing why the fuck you people go to visit that racist shithole...???

I get the fact that some are visiting their ancestral villages but for those of you doing the whole tourist thing...WTF people?

We've already done to death the whole 'fyromian' futility thread and yet the diaspora are just as culpable when it comes to self respect.

Personally, I wouldn't give those cunts the steam off my piss...just remember, the standard you walk past, is the standard you accept.

[Gocka]

I don't get it either. It wasn't even that fucking nice, and its complete bullshit that its "cheaper" than Ohrid or other places., its not. It was my first and last time.

Get this, at the border between Greece and Macedonia, when you try to cross the border with a Macedonian passport, they refuse to stamp the passport, instead they give you a piece of paper, that they stamp, and every time you go you have to bring that piece of paper. It was disgusting.

They wouldn't stamp my Macedonian passport, so when they gave me the piece of paper I said no, I'm not taking it. So then I gave them my American passport and said here you go stamp this, the bitch still wouldn't stamp even my American passport after she knew I also had a Macedonian one. She called someone over, they said some shit in Greek that I didn't understand, and I guess concluded that they had to stamp my American passport.

I will say though while there, people seemed pretty hospitable, I guess business is business for most.

I was there for two weeks, and it felt wrong the whole damn time. I don't understand how Macedonians can go there every year and subject themselves to that humiliation.

I would have thought that the answer to that was more than obvious, as was the reason why many understand Macedonian but refuse to speak the language...

I'm more interested in knowing why the fuck you people go to visit that racist shithole...???

I get the fact that some are visiting their ancestral villages but for those of you doing the whole tourist thing...WTF people?

We've already done to death the whole 'fyromian' futility thread and yet the diaspora are just as culpable when it comes to self respect.

Personally, I wouldn't give those cunts the steam off my piss...just remember, the standard you walk past, is the standard you accept.