The League of Macedonian-Americans

Volume 1, Issue 9
6/21/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

IN THIS ISSUE:
This weeks questions:
Recap of the Week...............1
Next Weeks Goals...............1
Test Your Knowledge.............1
Did You Know?...................2
Crossword.......................2
Lyric Mix Up....................2
Narodna Song of the Week......3-4
Book Review...................4-6
Book Club.....................6-7
Weekly Satire...................7
Quotes about Macedonia..........7
News from Macedonia.............7

Recap of the Week

Increased membership and online

presence
Continued promoting Book Club idea
Completed Advertisement for MHR
Review

1. This town in Pirin, Macedonia was also once

known as Mehomija.
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2. What was the name of the Macedonian

uprising in the Skopje region in the year 1072?
3. Which ethnic community in Macedonia
refused
to
participate
in
Macedonias
referendum on independence from Yugoslavia
in the early 1990s?
4. This Macedonian, who is of Azerbaijani
descent, won a bronze medal for Macedonia in
the 2000 summer Olympics.
5. In the late 1980s, he came out with the very
popular song called Dojdi Mi Leno Na
Perniche Belo.

Next Weeks Goals and Projects

Increase online presence

Continue planning and implementing
new initiatives and plans
Watch news for use of FYROM and Slav
Reach out to more Macedonian
organizations

Test Your Knowledge about

Macedonia!
Last weeks answers:
1. What is the name of the historic site, located just 12 miles
southeast of Skopje, where the Byzantine Emperor Justinian
I was born? Tauresium, Gradishte
2. Why does Radika River in Macedonia have a strong green
color to it? Calcium carbonate
3. In what country in the 1940s were the Macedonians not
allowed to enter cities in order to sell their produce or buy
produce? Greece
4. What color peppers are the most widely grown in
Macedonia: green, red, or yellow? Red
5. Bitolchanka is recently composed folksong by which
female Macedonian artist? Tatijana Stefanovska

People are not quite sure where the name Macedonia

(Makedonija) comes from or what it means, but there
have been several theories. Some people believe that it
derives from a king named Macedo, but very few
people put credibility in this theory. Other historians
believe it is a mutated form of Mygdonia, which was
the name of one of ancient Macedonias provinces.
Some believe that Makedonija means mothers land
or belonging to the mother. Others say that in the
ancient Macedonian language the name of the land
was Kaukon and that Makedon is a Hellenized
version of the name, which could potentially mean
highlander. The laundry list of possibilities also
includes: master, landlord, large land, and the land of
war. So the conclusion? Were just not sure. But it is
our name and it has been around for almost 3,000
years so lets hold onto it.

Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald? Contact us at
leagueofmacedonians@yahoo.com and visit our website at www.leagueofmacedonians.com.

The League of Macedonian-Americans

Volume 1, Issue 9
6/21/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Macedonian Crossword
1

Lyric Mix Up

The following lines are from lyrics of new and

old Macedonian folk songs. Complete the lines
in the first list with their missing lyrics from the
second list. You do not need to know the songs
to complete this exercise they make sense on
their own based on both their meaning and
rhyming pattern. However, knowing the songs
will help.

6
7
8
9

10

Across
5. /skrshi
8. /pijan
9. /obetka
10. /bubachka

Down
1. /fer
2. /odmor
3. /ezerche
4. /dzheb
6. /kiselo
7. /nervozen

The Alphabet as a Helping Tool

=a
=e
=k
=o
=u
= sh

=b
= zh
=l
=p
=f

=v
=z
= lj
P=r
X=h

=g =d
= dz = I
= m = n
C=s T=t
= ts = ch

= gj
=j
= nj
= kj
=dzh

1. ______, .
2. , _____.
3. , _____.
4. _____.
5. _____ .
6. , _____.
7. ,
_____.
8. , _____.

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.

Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald? Contact us at
leagueofmacedonians@yahoo.com and visit our website at www.leagueofmacedonians.com.

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The League of Macedonian-Americans

Volume 1, Issue 9
6/21/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald? Contact us at
leagueofmacedonians@yahoo.com and visit our website at www.leagueofmacedonians.com.

The League of Macedonian-Americans

Volume 1, Issue 9
6/21/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Narodna Song of the Week

This weeks song is Oj Ovcharche, Mlad
Ovcharche (Oh Shepherd Boy, Young Shepherd
Boy). This song is meant to be sung slowly,
passionately, and joyously. The lyrics in English
are as follows:
Oh shepherd boy, you young shepherd boy,
why are you so happy?
How can I not be happy? My sheep gave birth
to lambs.
How can I not be happy? Every other one had
twins.
And my wife just gave birth; she gave birth to
my son.

Book Review
(Note: Our book reviews are reviewed for their
substance on Macedonia and Macedonians.
Therefore, a book that may not be primarily about
Macedonia or Macedonians will still be reviewed, but
mostly for its content relating to Macedonians.)
This review is of The Balkan Trail written by
Frederick Moore in 1906.
On the surface, Mr. Moores book on his experiences
in Macedonia at the turn of the 20 century do not
seem to favor the Macedonian identity as being a
distinct and separate identity. Moore, an American
news correspondent who entered Macedonia(at the
time under Turkish rule) through Bulgaria, at first
seems to favor the notion that Macedonians were
Bulgarians.
th

However, Moores favoring of the Bulgarian claim on

the Macedonians is likely attributed to three reasons.
First, he was influenced by Bulgarian officials
perspectives from the beginning of the trip: he entered

Macedonia through Bulgaria and on several occasions

he met with Bulgarian intellectuals and government
officials before entering Macedonia, which gave the
Bulgarians plenty of time to enlighten him to their
views on the Macedonian problem. The second
reason, however, may be due to something he
professed in the book: he stated he was more
sympathetic to the claim that Macedonians are
Bulgarians rather than Serbs or Greeks because those
Macedonians associated with the Bulgarian Orthodox
Church were the only ones really putting up an
organized revolution against the Turks. Finally,
Bulgarian propaganda was very active in certain parts
of Macedonia, and several Macedonians called
themselves Bulgarian based on their church affiliation
or school attendance, which Moore noted.
Still, as Moore finds himself further on the Balkan
Trail into the heart of Macedonia, he makes claims
that dispute his own references that Macedonians are
Bulgarians, and he acknowledges that Macedonians
are one race divided by politics and religion. Here are
some passages he wrote that appear to demonstrate
this:

The peasants were all the same people; the same

blood coursed through their veins, and they spoke the
same language [] but some were Greeks, and some
were Bulgarians. Page 155
The rivalry between the racial parties they cannot be
defined as races works death and disaster among the
Macedonian peasants. [] The Bulgarian, Greek,
Servian, and Rumanian schools [are] tolerated by the
Government because they divide the Macedonians[.]
Page 155

On another occasion we received a visit from a more

enlightened Macedonian. He, too, was a Bulgarian, so
he said; and in the same breath told us that he had two
brothers, one of whom was a Serbian and the other a
Greek. This peculiar phenomenon, prevalent in many
parts of Macedonia, here came to my notice for the

Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald? Contact us at
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Page | 4

The League of Macedonian-Americans

Volume 1, Issue 9
6/21/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

first time. I was puzzled, and asked how such a thing

was possible. The Macedonian smiled, an explained
that his was a prominent family, and, for the influence
their conversion would mean, the Servians had given
one of his brothers several liras to become a Serbian,
while the Greeks had outbid all the other Churches
for the other brother. Page 147
The Greeks, therefore, support the Turks, until such
time as Macedonia becomes Hellenic. They have
been at work for a century converting the country[.]
Page 157

The differences between the Servians and the

Bulgarians of Macedonia are almost entirely a matter
of education. []Their language, here where the two
races blend, can be spoken as one. They have
duplicate religions, similar ideas, identical customs.
The peasants dress alike, and only the partisans and
propagandists are distinguishable by their attire. Pages
185, 186
[It is worthwhile to mention that, in this last quote,
Moore notes that it is in Macedonia where the two
races (Bulgarian and Serbian) blend to form one same
race. This means that the Serbians and Bulgarians
of Macedonia are the same people, and that they are
closer related to one another than they are to Serbs in
Serbia or Bulgars in Bulgaria].
In the end, it seems that Moore tends to revert to
calling the Macedonians Macedonian and only
Bulgarian, Serbian or Greek depending on their
religious affiliation, school attendance, or political
association. He acknowledges that the Macedonians
are one people and that they were being divided by
their neighbors and their rulers for the selfishness of
those nations.
Aside from the issue of Macedonian identity, the heart
of this book paints a picture of the conditions of
Macedonia during and after the General Uprising
(Ilinden). After all, Moore was a news correspondent

and he did his best to record observations of

Macedonian culture, military battles, and interactions
with government and military officials. We learn some
very interesting things about Macedonians and
Macedonia throughout this book. Here are some
intriguing quotes:

The natives of Macedonia bathe as they marry, only

once or twice in a lifetime. A child is not washed when
it is born for fear of its catching cold, nor when it is
baptized, for oil is used at this ceremony. [] The
priest defended the use of oil on that score that, as a
result of oiled christening, the Macedonian peasants,
though they never wash, carry with them no foul odor,
as do peasants baptized with water. Page 58
Tourists do not come to Macedonia, but if they did
they would find a show that no other part of Europe
can produce. Page 88
It is difficult for the Macedonian to see why men give
up comfortable homes in happy countries to come out
and live in a land like theirs. Page 147
These soldiers of fortune had become indifferent to
everything but revolution. They did not care how they
looked or what they did, and a worse gang of beggars I
never saw. Pride had flown. Work! Not they. They are
hunters of men. Page 292
It hurts me to be cheated; and even if it suits you to
throw away money, I would have you refrain from
lavishing it upon Greeks, who do not appreciate it, and
puff themselves up with pride at having successfully
swindled me! (A Jew in Macedonia) Page 17
I find this last passage very comical and relevant
regarding the recent Greek economic crisis. Over 100
years ago, this man observed and stereotyped the
Greeks for not appreciating money and for taking
pride in swindling people. Perhaps the Greek of then
represents the Greece of today and the Jew of then
represents the EU today

Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald? Contact us at
leagueofmacedonians@yahoo.com and visit our website at www.leagueofmacedonians.com.

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The League of Macedonian-Americans

Volume 1, Issue 9
6/21/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

I recommend this book for all of those who are

interested in gaining an American perspective of the
Macedonian revolution during the early 1900s. In
general, Mr. Moore remains objective and curious,
which makes the book a compelling work and a
satisfying read.

Have you read this book? Do you want to read it? Do

you have an opinion about our review or want to
comment on the book yourself? Let us know! Also, if
you have a book you want to review, write a review
and send it to us.

Book Club
We want Macedonian-Americans to start book
clubs in their communities. There are thousands
of book clubs throughout the United States and
the world that explore a variety of topics and
genres. However, there are not many, if any,
book clubs dedicated to books about Macedonia
and Macedonians, or books written by
Macedonian authors in any language. This is
unfortunate for many reasons, but particularly
because there is much knowledge and insight
we can gain from these books.
There are thousands of books written about
modern Macedonia and ancient Macedonia in
the English language. Many of these older books
can be found for free online (for example, in
Google Books section) or at libraries. Others can
be bought at book stores or at a variety of
websites, such as www.Pollitecon.com, which is
a site that specifically publishes only
Macedonian-related books. This is a good way
for Macedonians not proficient in reading the
Macedonian language to gain an understanding
of Macedonian historical and cultural issues, to
discuss different points of views with fellow

Macedonians, and to connect socially with

Macedonians who may have similar interests.
Furthermore, there may be many nonMacedonians who are interested in learning
about Macedonia, or who are knowledgeable
about Macedonia, and want to join such
discussions.
However, for those who can read Macedonian
or who are learning to read Macedonian
exploring Macedonian language books can be an
enriching experience. Through differences in
structure, flow and vocabulary, books in the
Macedonian language expose the native English
speaker to different perspectives, reasoning,
feelings and sayings that cannot be wholly
consumed when translated into English. A book
club focusing on Macedonian language books
will both allow Macedonia-Americans to
explore these difference while also having a
support system to better grasp the Macedonian
language.
Books in the Macedonian language are surely
harder to find in the United States, especially if
youre trying to find several copies of a
particular book. But as with other books on
Macedonia, there are options. Several websites
(such as Amazon and Google Books) have books
in the Macedonian language available. Another
source could be parents, relatives and friends
who certainly will have some books in the
Macedonian language on their bookshelves at
home. You could even pick up some books on
your next trip to Macedonia.
We really hope that Macedonian-Americans can
start book clubs in their community. It is a great
way to gain knowledge about our culture,
history and identity; connect to other

Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald? Contact us at
leagueofmacedonians@yahoo.com and visit our website at www.leagueofmacedonians.com.

Page | 6

The League of Macedonian-Americans

Volume 1, Issue 9
6/21/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Macedonians;
and
to
keep
ourselves
intellectually stimulated. Further, getting a book
club started is easy. You just need another
Macedonian who is interested; a list of books to
read; and a place to meet. You could ask your
local Macedonian church or cultural center if
they can help accommodate you on a particular
day each month and to help promote the book
clubs, or you could explore meeting at libraries,
homes, restaurants and cafs the options are
unlimited. So gather some of your friends and
start a book club today!

Weekly Satire
LOMAs Top Five Reasons to Visit
Macedonia This Summer
1. You will have the opportunity to donate
money and/or goods to Macedonian
customs and border officials.
2. You will understand what if must feel
like to live in Albania when walking around
Tetovo.
3. You can experience the best of
Macedonian television by choosing between
Turkish soap operas and American movies.
4. You can soak in the finest Serbian music
at an Ohrid caf of your liking.
5. You will get to lounge around in a village
that your parents didnt want to live in but
cant stop talking about.

Quotes about Macedonia

Brethren, the sanguinary drama is beginning. Our
country is ablaze. The duty of all of us is to rally
around the Macedonian flag and shed our blood for
the emancipation of our home. Macedonians,
remember the greatest gory of Macedonia, the
conqueror of the world, Alexander the Great.
Remember the Emperor Samuele, and Marko
Kraljevies, the pan-Slavist heroes. Genuine
Macedonian blood flowed in the veins of those great
men of our country. From Heaven above they now
bless the work we have begun.
Brethren, only consider the free Balkan
peoples that surround us, and you will find that their
liberty was purchased at the cost of streams of blood.
Let us follow their example. Freedom is not bestowed
as a gift. It must be conquered. Macedonians abroad,
the hour has come. The battle has begun. Therefore all
of you return to your homes to take part in the
liberation of the fighting serfs. The moment is at hand
when you must forget all personal interests and all
differences, and hasten to the assistance of your
Fatherland. Shame upon you if you turn a deaf ear to
the cry for help. M. Jankoff, The Times,
October 11, 1902

News from Macedonia

Reports claim that ISIS (from the Middle East)
have called on supporters to carry out attacks in
Macedonia and Kosovo.
---------Macedonian President Ivanov declined to do an
interview with EuroNews because they refer to
Macedonia as FYROM.
---------Macedonian lawmakers passed a law giving the
thousands of migrants, who are traveling
through Macedonia in order to get to the EU, up
to 72 hours to seek asylum or leave Macedonia.
*News generated from a Google news search

Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald? Contact us at
leagueofmacedonians@yahoo.com and visit our website at www.leagueofmacedonians.com.

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