Say My Name, Say My Name

Over the last few weeks, traveling through a variety of diverse, and some cases politically complex places, I think we've been culturally sensitive and politically aware enough not to make insensitive or down right stupid comments.

Considering the variety of border disputes, the language variations, as well as the number of religions and disputed ethnicities, it's quite a feat. Which makes it all the more galling that I would make my first slip up in the more familiar, and relatively politically stable, Greece.

Perhaps I was feeling relaxed in the cosmopolitan Thessaloniki, Greece's second city; perhaps I was just tired from the two and a half hour delay on our train from Istanbul, or maybe jut having a stupid moment; but sat in the lovely hotel lobby, I responded to the kind and helpful hotel manager’s question without thinking.

“Where are you off to tomorrow then?” he asked.
“Macedonia” I replied.
Instantly I see his horrified face.
“You can’t be.”
Oh no, I’ve said the wrong thing. I’m desperately I’m trying to thing of a way out of this.
“You’re in Macedonia now, maybe your going to Skopje.”
“Yes that’s it.”

 It’s too late the man is now taking a framed map of the ancient empire of Macedonia off the wall and bring it over to me to explain where the real Macedonia is.

Ancient Macedonia originally covered an area of land which is now largely in Greece, but also in Bulgaria,
before Alexander the Great expanded the empire as far as India. He was, in fact so great it now appears that even today, everyone wants him.

It turns out that the Greeks are furious at their neighbouring country for using the name Macedonia, and the ancient Macedonian flag as their own, when, as this man pointed out to me, the ancient Macedonians were Hellenic not Slavic. As a compromise they have now been recognized internationally as the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia or FYROM, but Greece is not happy with this and has refused to recognise Macedonia as a country, and have vetoed their applications to NATO and the EU. They incidentally don’t agree with the term Macedonian to describe the people or language of the country either.

So I would have been no better calling it FYROM, and surely, in a country that uses the Greek alphabet talking about a country that uses Cyrillic anonyms are not the way to go.

All this in mind, what do you do when you’ve accidently mentioned the Former Yugoslavian Republic of the Place That Must Not Be Named?

Well, you can either mark yourself out as an anti-Greek, FYRPTMNBN apologist or you can play to the English stereotype of the silly foot in mouth bumbling fool (think Hugh Grant films).

I started first by trying to better myself by asking an intelligent question. When he responded with “Have you heard of a county called Yugoslavia?”, I thought it’s clear what I have to do here - I went polite, bumbling fool, “oh really, oh I’m awfully sorry…”  (Don’t worry, if your Welsh, you can get a way with this too).

Having spent an afternoon in Thessaloniki’s fabulous ancient history museum it’s clear that their ancient Macedonian history is an important part of the city and the surrounding area. Thick with ancient ruins, the city itself was named after Alexander’s sister no less, and it was in this region that phonetic writing was invented. You do start to feel a bit for the Greeks, especially as the Macedonians (or those who reside in the country that must not be named) have now named their airport Alexander the Great after their great hero.

All this apart, many members of the international community point out (quite rightly) that the Greeks don’t own the history, and denying a new country with a tough past accession to the EU and NATO over a name is churlish at best, bullying at worst.

For those travelling between them its just a little confusing.

Both Thessaloniki and Macedonia – both beautiful Ohrid and mental Skopje – had an abundance of charms. I’ll write about them tomorrow – and Luke will get all excited about Kosovo, and massive posters of a certain former UK Prime Minister…

Take care,

Luke and Louise

(Posted by Louise)