Dora the Explorer

Written this past Saturday...

Today is a relaxed Saturday morning – haven’t had one of those in a very long time! Doing laundry, drinking Nescafé, etc.  It’s been a busy week – and while I was hoping to go to Saranda this weekend, it would have made for a very long, tiring weekend and as it turns out, I’m going to see if I can pull it off next weekend – my last in Albania.  Tomorrow, though, I am planning to take a furgon to Berat – a city about 2 hours south of Tirana – which is known for its mosques, Ottoman citadel, etc.  Everything there appears to be open on Sundays, so I will try to get out of Tirana early and head down there to make the most of the day. My boss has dubbed me "Dora the Explorer"...!

Backtracking to last week – it’s been very busy!  Work particularly so – my boss is leaving for the States on paternity leave for two months, and so has been wrapping things up and getting things ready for his substitute – who will be in Tirana for just a month.  There have been lots of transitions in this department during the summer, and as it turns out, I am, as of yesterday, a “senior employee”.  Juste, my colleague to whom I have referred in earlier posts, is the most senior, but suffice it to say that I am being called on to help bridge the gap until two new staff arrives.  So work has been kind of hectic, but very interesting.  Still working on that report on remittances… hope I can get it done next week!!

My new friend Abby, with whom I went to Durres on Saturday, has been motivated to see as much as possible in the evenings after work, so we have done quite a bit together. On Monday, though, I had different plans – to get together with the relatives of some friends of mine back in the States.  Long story short – Genc and Lorraine, a first-generation Albanian couple, family friends since my dad was Lorraine’s chemistry professor back in the 1970s, have lots of relatives back in Albania.  Lorraine gave me multiple names and phone numbers of aunts and uncles in Tirana and suggested I try to get in touch with them.  So on Monday night I got together at a little café with Merkur and Zyhra, a wonderful elderly couple.  My friend Lola came along as a translator, and it was such a pleasure to get to know these people. They shared much of what they had endured during the Hoxha regime – including 18 years of prison and labor camp.  Apparently their families had been somewhat openly against the regime and suffered the consequences.  They got out of the labor camp only in 1990, and as soon as the regime collapsed in early 1991, they fled the country and have been living in Italy ever since.  They return to Albania each summer.   We will plan a larger get-together with the other relatives soon.

Zyhra, Christina, Merkur

Tuesday – Abby and I had decided that we would do a Tirana “must-see” – that is, take the cable car (called teleferik here) up the side of Mount Dajti (overlooking Tirana) and explore the trails on the mountain.  We changed out of our work clothes at her place – the Sheraton – and called a taxi, the only reasonably quick way to get to the base of the mountain and teleferik station.  The driver quoted us a price of 1000 lek ($10), which sounded pricey, so I got him down to 850, and we set off… only to find the gates at the station to be closed!! L.  As it turned out, the cable car was having mechanical problems (never good when it comes to airborne travel) so we struck out L.  Actually, the one beneficiary of this little excursion was, of course, the driver – he did take pity on us and only charged us 1400 lek for the round trip – back to the Sheraton…  Anyway, we made use of the rest of the evening, walked to Tirana’s extensive City Park, and had a bite to eat at the popular “Juvenilja” restaurant.  We got there at about 7:00pm; the restaurant was deserted.  By the time we left at 8:30, it was hopping – just another indication of Tirana’s active night life due to the excessive heat during the day. 

On Wednesday, we decided to tackle the mountain again!  This time we had better luck – my boss called one of his guards, who moonlights as a taxi driver in his spanking new, crème brulée-colored Mercedes. Although he didn’t want to accept payment, we forced 800 lek on him and jumped out of the car at the teleferik station… 500 lek got us each a round-trip ticket on the Swiss-designed cable car (had it been Albanian-designed, I might have been more hesitant), and we were whisked out of the station to dizzying heights above residential areas, pastures, a lake, and up the side of the craggy mountain to the resort area at the top, where we found restaurants, hotels, and paths to explore.  Much of the area was rather run down and it was clear that its heyday was during the Communist era.  A dilapidated and abandoned Pioneer youth camp, visitors’ center, restaurants and old bunkers that had been defiantly painted in lively pinks, greens and blues.  It was kind of sad to explore this area that had fallen from its former glory; at the youth camp, I heard faint echoes of children’s shouts and laughter as they spent idyllic summers in the clean, fresh air exploring the woods, berry picking,  and being indoctrinated with Hoxha’s Communist propaganda.

View of the receding teleferik station

On Thursday (I told you it was a busy week!! My social life in Albania is far more active than it ever was in Virginia – grad school doesn’t help, of course…), our goal was to climb the Tirana clock tower, which is only open on Thursday evenings – until 6:00.  Getting out of work late, I made a beeline to the tower and met up with Abby at 5:45.  I had expected her to beat me there and had told her to go up without me, since I’ll have other opportunities to visit.  Still, I found Abby sitting on a nearby bench – not surprisingly, the clock tower was closed!  I’ve found many people to give a qualifier to many explanations about life here:  “After all, this is Albania…”  Yes, not much in Albania can be counted on with certainty – even the well-known English expression about “death and taxes” wouldn’t work here – tax evasion is a common practice J.  Undeterred, Abby and I decided to visit Tirana’s principal mosque, right next to the clock tower.  Surprisingly, “infidels” are welcome (as I have mentioned earlier, Albanian Christians and Moslems are, for the most part, very nominal and are very tolerant toward each other.  There are no tensions along religious lines).  Abby has quite a bit of experience in the Middle East, so she had brought along a shawl to cover her head.  I had forgotten mine at home, so the cardigan in my bag was an acceptable substitute.  We removed our sandals at the door, and entered the main entrance area; Abby’s long pants were acceptable but my knee-length skirt was not, so a man helpfully handed me a sarong-type shawl, which I wrapped around my waist.  I’m sure I was quite a sight in my head gear and make-shift ankle length skirt!! As people were sitting reading the Koran or kneeling in prayer, we walked carefully into the main worship area and were invited by a beckoning old man to go up the winding stone stair case to the balcony area.  This afforded a wonderful view of the intricately painted walls and domed ceiling, as well as the beautiful “lacy” windows.  Abby crouched down in order to take some photos unobserved, but the old man downstairs looked up at us and motioned in internationally-accepted sign language that photos were permitted J.   So we accepted his invitation and snapped many pictures (without flash).

This wraps up the week; last night (Friday), I met up with my friends, the Spieckers, and went to a mini Bible study at a church close to the Embassy.  Followed by a quiet remainder of the evening back at home, where I caught an episode of “Law and Order” (with Albanian subtitles).  Other American shows that appear to be popular here are “Ugly Betty,” “Mad Men,” “24,”and “House.”



Going away lunch for my boss (center)