Six Months in . . . #2

Hello, my name is Set.

That's not a typo. For the past six months, to all non-Americans, I am known as Set. There is no Macedonian equivalent for the English 'th' sound. This is actually pretty common - just think back to any movies you've seen with stereotypical foreign accents. Usually they'll pronounce "the" as "dee", or something like that.

Also, in the Macedonian language, you pronounce every letter. There's none of this silent letter stuff we have in English. If a Macedonian reads my name (I hand them my card, or something like that) oftentimes they'll pronounce my name as "Set-kha", since the 'H' in Macedonian is a sort of aspirated k-sound in the back of the throat. It sounds like a short hacking cough.

It's really difficult to make a sound that isn't native to your language, and only Macedonians who are especially fluent in English, or have lived in the West for a long period of time, are able to do it naturally. Our equivalent would be the rolling r-sound in Spanish. Some people just can't do it.

So, to make things easier, I have become Set. This is also the name of the Egyptian god of Chaos and Death, which a surprising number of people seem to know. It also has the same meaning as a 'set' in English - like a dinner set, or a bedroom set. This often confuses people as well, so I usually have to explain myself anyway. And it usually doesn't help.

Six Months in . . . #1

I've realized that I've been here in Macedonia for more than half a year. As with my other experience living abroad, it both feels like I've been here far longer than six months, and that my friends, my graduation from DePauw, are all only a few months back. It's odd, to say the least.

So, in the interests of innumerable, meaningless, pop-psychology buzzwords, I thought I'd write about how I've changed since moving to Macedonia. I'll start out with a big one:

My lungs are probably as black as coal.

Almost everyone here smokes. I've spent a good deal of time around smokers, in numerous bars where such a barbaric practice is still allowed, and I thought I could handle it. Honestly, though, I don't think anybody born after the Surgeon General went crazy on smokers understands how much of a non-smoking nation the United States really is. When people smoke, you tend to notice it. You can smell the tobacco.

It didn't take me long to adapt here, mostly because I was saturated with cigarette smoke from the moment I arrived. Cheap cigarettes cost about a dollar a pack, and if anyone runs out, there's no problem bumming on off anyone nearby. 'Non-smoking' sections in restaurants - even the university - are only for show, because people smoke right next to the signs. Non-smoking areas in cafes or bars are nonexistent. I don't notice it, it doesn't bother me, and I can't usually smell tobacco smoke. There are times, usually at clubs, where there's so much smoke that the smokers themselves complain, in between puffs, and I go to sleep hacking and coughing afterwards.

And the most interesting thing is that, despite my being in the tiny minority here, everyone is incredibly gracious. I can be sitting in a smoke-filled bar, the only non-smoker at a table, and without fail everyone asks me whether I mind if they smoke. Guests in my apartment always ask to smoke on the balcony. It's a small courtesy, but it's appreciated.

Add to that the really terrible, hazy pollution that rests over Skopje for most of the year,and the creaking, exhaust spewing 70's Zastava cars, I'm probably cutting off a few years just by going outside.

But I'll be damned if I don't enjoy it.

The Macedonian Elections

Sunday, March 22, is Election Day for Macedonia. President (a largely ceremonial post in this parliamentary system), Skopje Mayor, and municipal mayors and councils all around the country will be picked today. Or not, because low voter turnout and numerous candidates usually necessitate a second round of elections after the first. That's the best I can do. As much as I am interested in politics, as an American, I absolutely refuse to attempt to understand how a parliamentary democracy functions. One-issue party platforms? Coalitions?! It's all very disturbing and, frankly, nonsensical.

The ruling party, VMRO, is expected to maintain and most likely increase in power, as the main opposition Social Democrats have collapsed lately. If you're actually interested in the internal politics of Macedonia, here is BalkanInsight's Macedonian Election Center. An even better read would be Justin's summary, which I really, really suggest you read.

The last major elections were marred by violence, and there is a worry that new incidents could occur, although most people don't seem to be too worried about it. The violent incidents really harmed Macedonia's progress towards the European Union, so it's important to keep things civil this time around.

Two personal observations:

1.Billboards for candidates are everywhere in Skopje, and elections here are pretty complicated - a Skopje resident has five pages of ballots to fill out. For this reason, the candidates are numbered, and this number appears on the campaign advertisements. This makes them look exactly like advertisements for local news programs to those who speak little or no Macedonian, with the candidate number as the channel. Take this example for Gjorge Ivanov, the presidential candidate for the ruling Macedonian party, VMRO:


Tell me that doesn't look like a morning show on your local NBC affiliate. His slogan in the corner, 'Eden za site' = 'One for All'.

2. I have been getting lots of free stuff. In the past months, groups of supporters for candidates have come to my door. These groups seem pretty targeted: one composed of elderly pensioners, one of blue-collar looking middle-age guys, and one group of attractive 20-something women. They shove notebooks, pens, flyers, etc., in my face and start trying to sell me on their candidate (or gauge my support for someone else). I just tell them I'm a foreigner and collect my prizes. I'm not sure, but I think this sort of thing would be a pretty huge violation of election law in the States. VMRO's people stopped at my door last night, and I got a neon-orange hat for Vladimir Todorovik (Skopje Mayor), a strawberry-scented Gjorge Ivanov (President) air freshener, and a flyer for Ivanov. Neither my wearing of this neon orange hat, nor my freshly strawberry-scented bathroom, constitute an endorsement of any candidate.


Here's to you, Lady Democracy. I hope you have one hell of a weekend.

The Macedonian Economic Situation

I spend an inordinate amount of time online, reading about all the terrible things that are happening to the economy back in the United States, and also in the UK, Ireland, Greece, the rest of the EU, Asia. . . etc. Banks collapse, loans are defaulted on, and all sorts of rotten domino-effects are knocking down innocent bystanders. Several people have asked me how the Macedonian economy is weathering this long-term storm, so I'll attempt to sum it up here. Please keep in mind that an attempt at economic analysis on my part is like a blind man writing a novel with alphabet magnets on a refrigerator.

It's really difficult to get an overall sense of the Macedonian economy. Accurate statistics are very, very hard to come by because a good deal of trade and employment is done in a less-than-legal fashion. Officially, there is 30% unemployment, and there has been for quite awhile, but a good chunk of those 'unemployed' are just skirting around tax laws. Macedonia has always been relatively poor, which probably helps a bit in this particular crisis, because Stopanska Bank wasn't playing the international market on sub-prime mortgages. The Government has thrown out a stimulus package, mostly of infrastructure spending, of 8 billion euro. I haven't heard any chatter about banks defaulting, and all the news stories about "Eastern Europe going bankrupt" or the EU denying emergency loans to 'Eastern Europe' pertain mostly to places like Hungary or Poland. Aside from the riots in Greece (and smaller-scale unrest in Sofia, Bulgaria) there hasn't been much trouble in the Balkans so far.

That being said, there are problems on the horizon. Most of Macedonia's exports are meant for the construction sector - metals, minerals, rock, etc. As the European economy slows, construction slows, and therefore orders for Macedonian exports dwindle. The Macedonian denar is pegged to the Euro, so if the Euro currency runs into trouble, it could take the denar with it. Finally, a great deal of income here consists of remittances from abroad - Macedonians working elsewhere and sending money home - so as Western European economies suffer, so will Macedonia.

That's my best shot at short-term economic analysis, using all my training as a part-time mechanic and Classical Studies major. Take it for what you will.

The Via Egnatia Project

(A View from Hotel Molika)

Two weekends ago, I found myself in a mountaintop hotel, with a snowstorm raging outside. A Turkish woman was shoving candied pistachios at me while two Dutch women and a Greek danced to a traditional Balkan folk tune. The air was full of cigarette smoke - cheap Galoises for the Macedonians, and crooked, tiny hand-rolled tobacco for the Dutch. Everyone was engaged in English conversation, though at that point I was the only native speaker among thirty or so Dutch, Albanians, Turks, Macedonians, and Greeks. These nationalities were further split between various disciplines. There were historians, ethnomusicologists, ethnologists, anthropologists, cultural heritage experts, archaeologists, marketing and business professionals, and a good number of other vague academic fields. Why? The Via Egnatia Project, of course.


(Ancient Heraclea - Theatre)

The Via Egnatia is an ancient Roman road that ran from Istanbul to the port of Durres on the Albanian coast (wikipedia article here) by way of Thessaloniki, and the ancient towns of Heraclea, near Bitola, and Lychnidos, near Ohrid, in the Republic of Macedonia. It was a major highway, and really the best link between Rome and Constantinople. It fell into disuse sometime during the Ottoman period, and in many places has disappeared.

The Via Egnatia project is directed toward restoring this road, both in abstract and concrete terms, as a general link between the cultures of Albania, Greece, Macedonia, and Turkey. The Dutch Embassy sponsored all of the aformentioned academics and professionals to spend a weekend brainstorming at the Hotel Molika on Pelister Mountain near Bitola, and I was lucky enough to attend. I sat in on the 'Archaeology and Monuments' conference section, though I doubt I was of much help.

The next big project of the foundation is a caravan along the presumed route of the Via Egnatia, beginning in the spring. I'll keep my eye on it.

Side Projects

I wrote a book review of "A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire" for Balkanalysis.com.

American Birthdays

I spent this past Saturday with some friends at a really spectacular new winery, Popova Kula, just outside of Demir Kapija in the heart of the Macedonian wine country. The building is brand new, but built with traditional aesthetics in mind. Everything was extremely tasteful. We were celebrating an American birthday with wine and appetizers in the tower.


In Macedonia, whenever an American is holding a birthday party, the invitations specifically say that it will be an American-style birthday. While I wish this meant that every American's birthday celebrated over here is full of barbecue, fireworks, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, it actually means "I'm not paying for you."

In Macedonian culture, the birthday boy/girl is expected to take their friends out for drinks, pay for dinner, or even give small gifts to their guests. This isn't restricted to birthdays. In most any celebration for something gained - say, a promotion, a new house, an award - whomever is being celebrated is expected to treat everyone else. This doesn't necessarily hold true across the board, as each celebration has separate rules, but generally this is the case.

For me, at least, this was very difficult to grasp. It just doesn't make any sense. Friends are supposed to celebrate a birthday by pitching in, giving gifts. We have housewarming parties. If a buddy gets a new job, or graduates from a program, I feel like I ought to buy him a beer. This is American cultural context, and it can lead to some "Who's on First" type discussions when a bill is delivered:

Macedonian: Thanks for coming to my party.
American: No, it was great, here, how much are we chipping in for you?
Macedonian: What? No, it's my celebration. I'm paying.
American: Right. It's a celebration . . .for you. You don't pay.
Macedonian: No, that's why I do pay.

And so on.

I was talking to Eric about this sort of thing, wondering aloud why this is completely inverted. He suggested that, since Macedonia is a traditional society, community and family based, you don't want to get too far ahead of people. You've got the honor of a birthday celebration, or some other event, but you don't want to seem too high and mighty. So you pay, spread the wealth, to make sure that nobody begins to resent you for your success.

America, on the other hand, is more or less meritocratic. In general, we celebrate someone else's success not only because we're proud of the person, but also because we expect to be successful ourselves. We don't resent John Doe's promotion, because gosh darnit, we're just as hard working as him, so we'll be celebrating our own promotions some day.

I'm not sure if this is actually the case, but it sounds good to me, at least in theory. I'd welcome anyone to correct me if I'm wrong.

It's interesting, nonetheless.