БАЛКАН

Macedonia is nice and diverse. It's got Gypsies,

Muslims,

Orthodox monks

and tourists

Being at the heart of the Blakans, it's a mishmash of languages. Besides Macedonian one may hear Vlach, Albanian, Turkish and Romani. Not too long ago, Ladino and Hebrew were spoken here too. But the entire community of 7000 was carted off in 1943 by the Germans to Treblinka in northern Poland and massacered. The only Hebrew left is to be found on broken tombstones in the ancient city of Bitola.

The one thing that unites all of these groups can only be defined as Balkanness. It's in the mildness of manner, in the jug of kefir served with dinner. It's in the painful memory of wars, the ruggedness and simplicity of day to day life, the apple tree in the yard and the beat up post-communist state of most things. Today's little gallery is dedicated to this unique quality. Enjoy.