Letter to (North) Macedonia

Hey.... "Mac"

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Welcome to Geography Now! This is the first and only Youtube Channel that actively attempts to cover profiles on every single country of the world. We are going to do them alphabetically so be patient if you are waiting for one that's down the road.

Stay cool Stay tuned and remember, this is Earth, your home. Learn about it.

[GeographyNow]

Hey "Mac...."
(also, For the record I was in charge of the cranberries and green bean casserole this year)

[SturmZebra]

"I remember hearing the horrified screams of four traumatized Minnesota schoolgirls in my basement" - Barbs 2024

[BrightestStar]

A little support from someone who also loves Geography.

[makedonskadrzava]

As a profile that promotes and spreads awareness of our Macedonian identity, history, language and culture, I am pleasantly surprised how you presented us. You NAILED it! A big thank you for your very deep and kind words! 🙏🇲🇰

[hristijancenevski]

Barbs thank you for visiting my country and we will wait for you with open arms to come back again🇲🇰

[Coast-to-Coast]

I lived in Skopje for three months and it was great. I love Macedonia. This video was so fun to watch and recognize so many places and hear someone talk about it so fondly in a way that echoes how I feel.

[jolynekujo]

honestly love these letter style videos, was actually introduced to your videos in year 9 (when i was 14) while we were studying nigeria as a case study for school, i am now going to university to study earth and planetary sciences and your videos were 100% an inspiration for this. I am glad to see that you have found a style of content that you seem to thoroughly enjoy! If you ever come back to europe please come to the United Kingdom and i would be honored to show you around.

[MacedonianBro]

BIG THANK YOU BROTHER!!! for promoting our Macedonian identity, history, language and culture, I am deeply deeply gratefull. Say hello to your mother and stay good. 😃😄🤗❤❤❤

[Otecherend]

I really like the Geography Now channel's new format of actually going to the areas they teach us about!

[gocesamardziev]

Alright, here we go:

As a Macedonian who has lived his whole life here, born and raised, i firstly want to Thank You from the bottom of my heart for representing us in a fair and overall positive light. Not many people come to visit us or even care all that much, so it's great to see some general interest from anyone who is willing to come and see our way of life. So here's my reaction to everything that you said:

1. Don't worry, it's alright to say Macedonia. Virtually no one here really uses the constitutional name outside of political squabbles, and most foreigners don't either. You won't get in trouble if you don't say " North ", in fact you'll gain more respect from the locals by just saying Macedonia.

2. Ok, fair point xD We have WAY too many statues, most of which are statues of famous poets, writers, revolutionaries, soldiers, kings, etc etc. it's just what we're known for.

3. I won't bother delving into the complex political, historical or geographic implications of any of this, since this video is meant to be more positive and uplifting.

4. As for the bulgarian tidbit: marital relationships between Macos and Bulgars are rare if any, and the whole EU citizenship thing can be explained in a very simple manner: Bulgarian passports are very easy to obtain and they're mostly used to emigrate to wealthier ones like Germany. Purely financial reasons instead of any ethnic ones.

5. Ah Ohrid, our little piece of heaven. I mean, IT IS the major tourist spot here. Everything from Свети Јован Канео to Св. Климент Пантелејмон to Музејот на Вода and so on, it's a marble of a place. You made the right choice in going there. (also, thank you for using Macedonian translations as well as English. A nice little touch. )

6. Besides Ohrid, there are SO MANY hidden gems that are waiting to be discovered: Mt. Korab, The National Parks, Smolari Falls, Kuklica, Kokino, Stobi, Heraclea, Matka, Vodno, Trpejca, etc. When we lack in sea access, we make up in green access xD

7. FINAL POINT: Skopje is... interesting, to say the least. Personally, im not a big fan of the city and realistically, the Skopje 2014 project could've been handled better. It was mostly used as a promotional ploy to get tourists to visit. That's it. It has it redeeming qualities, like the old Bazaar, Kale, Roman Aquaduct among others, but it rarely hits everything for me. Also, that ship which you passed was a restaurant xD
Finally: YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TOLD THE GUY AT THE RESTAURANT THAT YOU WERE A TOURIST. Like all balkan hotspots, tourists get scammed with higher prices easily. Just let Dimo and Andrej do the talking, but don't mention that you're a foreigner.

Overall, if i were to summarize Macedonia then it would be: Пиреј, a simple word yet it carries a thousand meanings. It means unmoving, inrooted, unkillable. The Macedonians have struggled so much, having gone through wars, revolutions, conflicts, betrayals, conquests and yet at the end of the day we're still here. A Macedonian's spirit is a marvel: unwavering in the face of impossible odds. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone else like a Maco on this green earth.

Till next time, or as we say in Macedonian: Се гледаме друг пат!

[smaza]

it's so cool that you are doing this trip with your mom

[marym]

Duuuude, it's good and all, but just FYI, we don't get married to get a BG passport. We pay a shady guy around 500 euro and he gets the job done. We get rid of those once we get German/Slovenian/Swedish etc passport. It's literally for business purposes. Nothing personal.
P.S. About why the capital's got so many statues, in so many styles (aside the government spending) it's because Skopje has been many times in history destoyed to the ground and then rebuilt. Even that a&&hole Pikolomini described it as "town more beautiful than Prague" and then burned it.
You've missed some keypoints: we're the main producers of cannabis, wine, rakia, and we've got casinos at every step, especially on the border with Greece near Gevgelija. Greeks are practically swarming that area, and unlike the vice versa, they don't feel unwelcomed. So, we're like Amsterdam on the Balkans.
P.P.S. Those two youngsters accompanying you have skipped classes from school, obviously.
At the end of the day, the Greeks have rebuild Acropolis in the 19-th century. What, you thought it was ancient? Yeah, almost. So, why wouldn't we? Enjoy the food & wine!

[evansmith]

Great video man, thanks for posting this one separately! And you’re spot on about Lake Ohrid, so beautiful!

[Bookworm]

Great video, a small note: "Gazi Baba" only means "stepping on a grandma" in the Macedonian language, but it's one of those words / phrases that have 2 different meanings in 2 different languages. Gazi Baba was the nickname of Ottoman poet Aşık Çelebi. Gazi in Turkish means war veteran and Baba means the same as in Arabic, which is father.

[Fisnikstories]

Hey i live in north Macedonia thanks for visiting it

[matejplejz]

I WAS WAITING FOR THIS VIDEO SINCE THE A LETTER TO THE BALKANS

[borisuzunov]

As a Bulgarian who went to Macedonia this summer, it is incredible how similar my experience going there was. It started with the border police literally asking for a bribe because of some missing document, than a few unforgettable days in Ohrid followed by a trip to Skopje, and oh boy it was one of the most interesting cities I've ever seen. Macedonians are really nice people and the language thing keeps you entertained the whole time! 10/10 strongly recommend

[juanpablosaenz]

I love the fact that you travel with your mom. I traveled with mine to Nicaragua last September and I really enjoyed spending time with her, especially after the loss of my dad. I wish you the best in this new stage of the channel.

[branebiggie]

Was waiting for this for quite some time. For the short time that you were here, you definitely made the most out of it. Happy to see that also a lot of Macedonias follow and support your channel. Until next time 🇲🇰

[animationecho]

Thank you for visiting our country, much love from Macedonia! ❤️🇲🇰