When, three years ago, a friend of mine from abroad paid me a visit
after a long absence, in typical euphoria we talked about our joint
memories and time we had spent together in the past. However,
a moment that occurred during the meeting made me feel unusual, almost
uncomfortable.
Walking around in places new for my friend, we paid a visit to a village
in the west of the country, a typical idyllic place, full of peacefulness. In front
of a shop, two men were sitting playing cards. After a while, one of them stood
up and greeted several guests who were entering the nearby restaurant where
he was probably working. The other man greeted us and asked us if we needed
something from his store. My guest noticed that they were speaking different
languages. One of them was Macedonian and the other, Albanian. Probably
that is where he got the inspiration to ask me later how the Macedonians
and the Albanians live in Macedonia. How do they communicate? Is there
friendship everywhere as in that village? I remember that it took me a few seconds
to respond concerning what I thought or what different concerned parties
thought.
At that moment, I felt as if I were standing in front of a treasure chest in
the middle of a street, not knowing what was inside it: I am tempted to open it.
Perhaps it contains something valuable and I should give it back to the one who
lost it, but for a moment I think that something unknown is inside, something
dangerous. The dilemma is that what lies inside may be either pleasant or bad.
I was faced with the same image when I answered the question how do
we, the two nations, live together, how do we communicate. The answer to
this question coming from two different people may reveal two opposite viewpoints,
the optimistic and the pessimistic