It is timely that Day 8 of my Balkans trip report comes today. As cities burn across the United States over the death of George Floyd and frustration over decades of structural inequality, an encounter in Skopje, North Macedonia demonstrates human depravity knows no borders.
On a less serious note, we enjoyed a pirated Hollywood movie premiere in Skopje as well.
Read more of my classic trip report through the Balkans
Introduction: Road Trip Through The Balkans
Review: US Airways A330-300 Business Class Philadelphia To Munich
Balkans Day 1: Sick In Belgrade
Balkans Day 2: Belgrade – Sarajevo
Balkans Day 3: Sarajevo – Dubrovnik
Balkans Day 4: Beauitful Dubrovnik
Balkans Day 5: Accused Of Espionage In Montenegro
Balkans Day 6: The Diverse Architecture Of Tirana, Albania
Balkans Day 7: Refreshment In Kosovo
We left Pristhina in the late morning, catching a bus to Skopje, North Macedonia. I say North Macedonia, but during our visit the country was still known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or Macedonia for short. Greece, which viewed the use of the world Macedonia as unjust cultural appropriation, eventually worked out a compromise with Macedonia. In 2019 the Macedonia officially became North Macedonia.
The bus ride, like all of our bus rides during this journey, was uneventful and picturesque.
We arrived in an ethnic Albanian area of Skopje with minarets and women wearing head coverings.
Quite a contrast from the more hedonistic main part of the city–
We had reserved a guest room in the city center and got in a taxi to take us there.
Racism in Skopje
The taxi driver was wearing a Taqiyah (Muslim head covering) and drove to our guest house, which was not too far from the United States Embassy (no photo issues, unlike in Montenegro)
We arrived and the car pulled up to the front door. Our lodging was a pre-Airbnb Airbnb; a guest house in a residential neighborhood.
We jumped out of the car and the driver jumped out too in order to pull our luggage out of the trunk. The owner came out and when he saw the Albanian man, a sneer came across his face and he started yelling at him in Macedonian. Wagging his fist, he demanded the man get back into his car and immediately leave.
Looking at us, he called the man a piece of shit in English and said that we should never have gotten into a car with such a “horrible” person. The driver was still standing there.
Um..what?
The owner of the guest house was part of the ethic majority, Macedonian and Eastern Orthodox (based upon the religious icons that festooned his house). The taxi driver was part of the Albanian Muslim minority.
You know what was the saddest thing? The look on the taxi driver’s face. You should have seen the look of despondency.
North Macedonian is about 2/3 ethnic Macedonians and 1/3 ethnic Albanians. Clearly, there are tensions. You can read more about them here.
It was so sad to see this and I just didn’t know what to do or say. Leave the guest house? Lecture the guest owner? Hug the driver? We just stood and watched. To this day, much like an incident I witnessed in Swaziland (which like North Macedonia, also changed its name and now goes by Eswatini), I vividly recall the indecent.
Hate is real. I feel like a coward for just standing and watching. It’s why the present issues are on my mind.
A Pirated Hollywood Premiere
To date this report, it was the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, the final installment of Chris Nolan’s Batman trilogy. I’m not a huge movie fan, though I see more than my fair share of moves when I am on an airplane, but I loved the Batman series by Nolan.
Well, the latest movie was out and we wanted to see it. So we found a theatre that had it and spent the $2.50 on a ticket (score!) to watch it. While it wasn’t camcorder quality, it certainly appeared to be bootlegged. It was in English with Macedonian subtitles (that was a gamble on our part that paid off). No ads. No credits. It began on time and ran uninterrupted.
And it was a great movie.
Exploring Skopje
Skopje as a city did not impress me, though perhaps the taxi driver incident just stained my impressions of it. The city center if full of statues, monuments, and bright lights. It’s not just war memorials, but Skopje’s own version of the Brandenburg Gate and Arc de Triomphe. Take a look:
It all seemed a bit eclectic.
CONCLUSION
After walking around for a couple hours, we ate some street food then retreated to our guest house and fell asleep. Our next stop was our final destination: Thessaloniki.
Remember the Wing and a Prayer blog that Gray Roberge used to write? I still laugh his impressions of Skopje…
Yeah, you should have canceled, and had that same taxi driver take you to the nearest nice hotel…oh well. We all learn from our mistakes.
what was the point of this post?? sigh….white men always want to insert themselves but act clueless. You want to tell us how someone was racist but you stood there and did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! shame on you!
You waited how many years to provide this click bait blog content?? SHAME ON YOU for being an ally to a RACIST. I didnt expect much a FRUMD apologist
I’m in the midst of a trip report. This was part eight. The timing was coincidental. And I write frankly and honesty about what happened because I do feel pain over the incident, even eight years later.
Caution, triggered ANITFA readers on the blog!
I agree with Aaron, but I’m a Black male, so the guesthouse owner might not have wanted me there either. That aside, I spent a few days in Skopje (and Ohrid) a couple years ago and thankfully I experienced no racism toward myself or between others (the same in Albania and Kosovo). The riverfront area with the massive buildings and statues was a sight to see and the old town, though fairly quiet while I was there, was quite enjoyable. There I found a great outdoor beer garden with live music and many tasty brews. Good times.
I doubt I could have stayed in that place after the incident with the driver; on the other hand, it might have been difficult to get away. A dreadful experience…
How is it “racist” to be intolerant of someone….from the SAME race? “Racism”. Good God, that’s the most overused word on Earth right now. What you saw was ethnic conflict personified, xenophobia, maybe even religious bigotry. But it’s not racism any more than the Ukrainian/Russian conflict is racist.
Albanian versus Macedonian? Remember, this was all Yugoslavia.
I just visited there last year. Swearing about Albanians is a national pastime in N. Macedonia. It’s not racism, but rather ethnicism (not that that makes it any better).
It is one of the natural consequences of multiculturalism — in the case of the Balkans, first under the Ottomans and then under Tito’s Yugoslavia. Fostering distinct ethnic identities within a society is only a good idea if you’re an oppressive govt. in charge: divide and conquer. The problem is, the moment the govt. falters, the genocide begins. Supporters of multiculturalism in the US should take note. Multiculturalism only has two possible long-term outcomes: disintegration and genocide. This has played out over and over: in Bosnia and Croatia; in Rwanda, in the DRC; in the former Soviet Union…..
Oh the uproar…. First I didn’t realize these trips were taken way back in 2012 and are just being posting now in 2020. I know there were incidents in Macedonia, so I did a quick Google search.. yeah found that there were some killings by ethnic Albanians.. All of you who are shouting “Racism” which is incorrect as mentioned previously. should just be quiet….
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/world/europe/killings-heighten-ethnic-tensions-in-macedonia.html