Random Thoughts on Albania

August is the June of America. It is around the clock weddings. All of the Albanians who have emigrated to other countries (mostly Italy, Greece, and the US) come home to relax on the beach, visit their family, and get married. There are a couple of Albanian wedding traditions. First, they play music and dance well into the night. They drive through town in decorated cars honking their horns. When I walked to coffee yesterday, I passed two wedding processions and saw four cars being decorated in preparation. Although I love all the joy and happiness, I will not be sad when my town quiets down a bit.

I had parent/teacher conferences at the summer school in Albanian. It actually went pretty well. I had the school director there who can speak some English so if I was missing a word, she could supply it for me.

I saw a bear on the beach. This guy was leading it on a leash. Another friend of mine saw a guy with a big snake so apparently, animals on the beach are quite the Albanian trend.

My parents are coming to Albania on September 1. I couldn’t be more excited… Now I just have to make some exciting plans for them

I saw how roasted sheep entrails are made. I’m not making this up, but my host mother hung the raw entrails on the doorknob and braided them in preparation. As if I needed more reason to avoid this delicacy

I got proposed to. The kid is 13 so it’s unlikely that it is a match made in heaven. I told him he was too short for me so now every day he stands next to me to show me how much he’s grown… it’s so cute.

It’s still pretty hot here, but nothing like it was about a month ago. So it’s definitely bearable.

Thanks to everyone who emails, sends pics, letters, and packages. It is awesome to hear from you all.

Glamor Shot

So what’s the story on this picture. Couple of things. First of all, I fell in to the trap of Albanian glamour photography. All of my Albanian friends love to get dressed up and take pictures of each other. The funny thing is that a lot of times they don’t smile (especially in wedding photos.) So you end up with a lot of pictures of people looking rather sad. Behind me is the Adriatic Sea. It’s the sea that runs up between mainland Europe (Albania) and Italy.

What’s behind me in the sea you ask? Glad you asked. It’s a bunker. Albania was under a communist dictator for about 50 years until 1991. After he broke ties with the two big communist nations (Russia and China), he started to fear being invaded so he had thousands of bunkers built all over the country. They are everywhere especially along the border areas. Some are little, some are big. And no one really knows what to do with them now. They are really expensive to move so they pretty much just sit where they are. I’ve seen a few creative uses for them. They’ve been made into restaurants or parts of restaurants, used as trash cans, painted crazy colors, or even used to keep their animals in.

This particular bunker is about 100 feet out into the sea. I’m not 100% sure why they would put them in the water… unless the water has risen since it was built, but I’m pretty sure I would not like my family to be assigned to this particular bunker. I’m fairly certain that none of the bunkers were ever used as they were intended (to defend Albania from invasion), but don’t quote me on that.

So there you have it glamour photography and a history of Albania. All in one post.

Shkojme ne Party

I went to the local high school’s graduation party which is the equivalent of our prom. It was quite an experience. I mean where else can you dance to traditional Albanian folk music complete with live clarinet, singer, and circle dancing and then next song be dancing to some dirty American rap song. Whenever I hear rap, I’m just happy that very few kids know enough English to understand slang. The songs that they were playing would never have made it to an American prom, but I was probably the only one there who understood why.

Everyone was really dressed up and looked beautiful. The guys all had suits on and the girls were all in super flashy, sparkly dresses. It was great to watch. I was way undressed because I definitely left all my prom dresses at home. I’ll have to get my parents to bring me a better outfit for these types of things.

The party started at 9 o clock and we got served dinner at 12. Then at 2, they served another round of meat. Which was exactly what I was hungry for at 2 in the morning. I stayed until 3:30 and the party was still going strong. I have no idea how late they were out, but this little teacher was tired.

In other news, the heat wave is over. According to the news, it hit 107 in Kavaje. I’m not sure if it was really that hot, but it was pretty miserable here. Especially since electricity is usually out for 6-8 hours a day so no fan. Even at 10 o clock at night outside it was still just sweltering. Thankfully, temps have ulued and it is much more pleasant here this week.