Field trip to Elbasan and more about Albanian life
Trip Start
Aug 25, 2007
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44
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Trip End
Mar 25, 2008
Elbasan,
Albania
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Don't get me wrong, Albania was not all sunshine and smiles. Just that Albanians' kindness made up for the faults of the country. There are plenty of negatives. There is rubbish strewn all over the street and rest stops. It doesn't seem to be in their consciousness to pick up after themselves. Vasil finished a coke and threw the can on the street. I picked it up and said I will throw it in the trash. He says he'll do it. Later he throws it directly into the river without a second glance. Just one can of many. Ghassi must have thrown 30 cigarette nubs on the castle grounds while we were walking around. I was discussing why this may be the case with some Albanians and a few attribute it to their history of communism back when they did not own any land. They did not cherish their environment since none of it was theirs. Now that they own their house, housewives clean and polish until everything's immaculate
Elbasan alleyway
. Public roads are a different story. Even in Tirana, the capitol of Albania, we had daily blackouts. The electricity cut out at random times, though I was told there is a formal schedule. Just that no one knows when it happens. People are so accustomed to these blackouts that when the stereo system shut off in a restaurant, the employee automatically turned on a battery-operated radio for us. Most of the businesses have generators outside.
And lastly Albanians driving is like Gizmos getting a dose of water or eat after midnight. All of them are Gremlins. The roads are in horrible condition so I am not sure if the swerving is due to the driving, the lack of stoplights (from blackouts) or the huge potholes in every road. They turn into monsters who drive with their other hand on the horn. Honk left and right. It's even worse than L.A. traffic. Quite a nightmare. It was so noisy in Tirana that I had to move forward to Berati. Maybe if I had a supernatural ability to sleep despite concert-level noises...
The buses were all privately owned, which means they were old English tourbuses from the 70's and fixed repeated to just barely run. I thanked my lucky stars each time I arrive at a destination safely. Even if the buses are an hour late (which they usually are), at least I made it. Someitmes the schedules change without the local people being aware of it. Which makes it even more difficult for tourists, esp I who wake up at 4am to find that my scheduled bus to Korca did not exist. Furgonas, those minibuses that people pack in for certain destinations were also ancient. Depending on their destination, they depart from different locations around the city
gargoyle on Orthodox church
. Occasionally they change from week to week so even taxi drivers are unaware of their location. People just magically appear from all sides to take it. I am usually lucky but others had to wait up to 2 hours until it's filled to leave. Speaking of noise, Albanian music rocks. Better than (gasp) LA's music scene. More stations pumping out reggaeton, salsa, hip-hop, dance, and techno (sorry, still not a big fan of this). I have a private chuckle every time the buses pull up with a busload of 60 to 70 year-olds near some rustic village. People are in their traditional head-to-toe black shawl and music's blaring out regaetton, boom boom boom. There are hundreds of Albanian artists (probably a must because they are the only ones who understand this difficult language) but they also have music from U.S, France, Turkey, Italy, Spain, and Greece. The mixes are great. One night, we were duped to enter a dance club that was pumping out classic hip-hop tunes. Once we got on the dance floor, the music changed to traditional Albanian and Greek. Nothing stands out more than a hodgepodge of American, French, and Welsh people dancing hip-hop while other partygoers form their traditional dance circle.
For the first time in a journey full of monotonous risotto and seafood and kebabs, I ate flavorful foods. Not sure if it's the Turkish influence but there are actually spices
Hamman Turkish bathhuose/teahouse at Elbasan
. I was also thankful for the variety of foods.Albanians do a lot of "recycling." Not in the usual sense because definitely they are not concerned about their environment. But I've seen all models of Mercedes and BMWs here from 1970's to the newest 2006. I've seen our family car, a 1985 Mercedes 500 SEL cruising around a few times. Sometimes the drivers have a difficult time starting the engine (you see a lot of people help push to get them going) but once started, they run like maniacs. Someone told me once they are "contraband" and mostly stolen from Germany. I have no doubt. People in the cities drove cars from the 90's while people in the villages drove the 70's model. All cars are equipped with spanking new stereo systems. Sat in a taxi once that had the newest Kenwood DVD video player attached. While the drive was probably not the safest, the taxi driver and I watched a video of Italian pop. Though I feel quite removed from technology and retail industry at this point of my travels, I can't help but feel wowed by Albanians' resourcefulness, if you can call it that. Cars are not the only thing Albanians recycle. Strolling through the market is like a bargainer's wonderland in a junkyard. There was a day market next to the train station selling fruits and shoes (not in the same stall). Shoes were hung ceremoniously from their laces around the stall. You are in luck if the ones hanging are your size because they probably have only one in that style. I saw all types of shoes, many Asics, Pumas, Nikes, Reeboks. Many had gumsole, a fad I estimate from the 80's. Great for badminton and other racket sports. I also saw hiking shoes, from the same exact model as the one I have on currently to the ones I had back in the 90's. Some must have been resoled because they look like new and yet, I am sure the model year was before I graduated from college. Going through the market was an experience in itself.
