Okay, well here we go...today has been busy and there is a lot to tell you!
First, we passed by Mount Olympus while traveling from Kalambaka to Thessaloniki today. Unfortunately the clouds were in the way, so you can't see the height of the mountain, but trust me there is snow at the top!
When we got to Thessaloniki we first went to the United States Consulate and met the Consulate General. Unfortunately we couldn't take our cameras into the building though. Security was really tight: we could only enter the building one at a time, went through the metal detector, had our bags scanned, then our bags were opened and looked through. But it was pretty cool to be the special guests of the Consulate General.
After visiting the Consulate we went on a little stroll through the city. One thing that is most interesting is the graffiti--it's everywhere. When I asked Dimitrious about it, he said it was all political. There aren't really any gangs in the city. So JERAUN -- there really aren't any colors that are offensive to Greeks.
The final thing we did today was listen to a few lectures by some of the university professors. One was very interesting because it was on the Macedonia issue, something that us Americans don't know all that much about, but is very important in our world. Actually, Obama has talked about it on the campaign a bit and says he is sympathetic to the Greek side of the issue. Here's what's going on:
Back during the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and other Balkan countries were part of the USSR. Greece was also under communist rule as well. When Russia fell and these countries were free, they began deciding on borders, etc. Macedonia is a provence in Greece (the northern part of the country where Thessaloniki is located is part of Macedonia). So when the Balkan people began dividing up the land there were lots of conflicts (think Kosovo and Bosnia). The problem was, of course, who had the right to claim all the parts of the land. At the moment the countries are divided up, but the other question then was how to name the countries. The people in Yugoslavia didn't want to keep the name because they wanted a new identity since they weren't communist any more. Since so many of the people came from northern Greece (Macedonia) they named their country Macedonia. Make sense so far? I know it's complicated :) I'm still learning about the issue too...so pardon any of my mistakes!
Anyway, calling Yugoslavia Macedonia made the Greeks VERY unhappy since that is their name. Since Greece is part of the European Union and NATO, the country has the right to block any other country wanting to become part of these organizations. Macedonia/Yugoslavia wants to become part of the E.U. but knows that Greece will block them because of their name. At the moment the United Nations is mediating the conflict. Greece is asking Macedonia/Yugoslavia to add at least an adjective (like "New" or "Upper") to their name to make it different from the Greece Macedonia.
There is a lot of tension here in northern Greece about this issue and people are very passionate about it. The other concern (or issue) is that Macedonia is so unstable that it is possible it won't even exist after 10 years (which is supposedly what the Albanians are banking on since they want the land...and actually control most of the western part of Macedonia any ways).
The Balkan history is very interesting. I don't want to get into much more detail so I'll continue tomorrow.
One last interesting note before I end though: here in Thessaloniki the "Anti-American" rate is at 93%. Greeks here really dislike the U.S. Policy. They are all very interested in seeing what happens with Obama too, though!
Look at how much you've just learned! Hope you're all doing well. Talk to you tomorrow.
1 comment:
Since the people in Thessaloniki don't like the US, are the people rude to you?
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