NATO entry protocol for Albania & Croatia

From left to right the Ambassadors of Croatia (K. Grabar-Kitarovic) and Albania (Dr. Aleksander Sallabanda) at the signing ceremony by Pres. Bush.

Assorted news selection

After 3 days on Albanian soil I'm still experiencing jet lag, and my meal and sleep hours are not yet straightened out, but I feel fine and comfortable in my apartment, where I've already received several visits from local friends.

Thanks to my ADSL service I've continuous access, through Internet, to all sorts of news, especially when I am awake during ungodly hours. For my American friends, who might be interested, I'm sharing here a variety of current goings-on in his part of the world, ranging from entertainment to business, and even politics.

- from BalkanInsight.com -- a film production is taking place about Byron in Albania;
- from EBDR (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) -- expansion of Albanian shopping mall centers;
- from the Jerusalem Post -- Albania: a new Israeli destination;
- from Defense News -- US Defense Officials Visit the Balkans;
- from Associated Press -- further steps of Albania & Croatia into NATO;
- from BalkanInsight.com -- Albanian Judges sacked for corruption;
- from Washington Post -- different Albanian views on U.S. election.

Travel to Tirana

Left from JFK airport in NY via Lufthansa, which, with its usual efficient service, left the gate in perfect time, but, unfortunately, had to wait for 1 1/2 hr its turn on the tarmac for take off due to the normally congested traffic of this airport.

I was happy to travel on a huge Airbus (A340-600), which allows a bit more leg room than the usually cramped 767s, and we arrived in Munich way ahead of time. The service on board was excellent, but, during the night, I found the on board temperature rather uncomfortably hot for my taste. This did not allow me to sleep at all, but, thanks to the incredible number and variety of programs available at the individual seat monitors, I was able to pass the time watching 3 beautiful documentaries from Discovery Channel, and a funny movie.

While being whisked from one gate to the next one in the immense Munich airport, a heavy morning fog was setting in, and this delayed arrivals and departures for almost 2 hours all over the place.

While at the gate to connect with the flight to Tirana, I had time to observe much more German work efficiency in a variety of ways. First of all the gate was manned full time, continuously, and the staff patiently answered all queries and even handled special situations.

One of them had to do with a disabled elderly woman, on a wheel chair, who spoke only Turkish, and was traveling alone from Atlanta to Ismir. She was left alone by her handler at the Tirana gate, to wait for her connection to Turkey due to depart only 4 hours later from the same spot. While a couple of travelers unsuccessfully tried to talk to her, assuming she spoke Albanian, I managed to communicate with her with gestures and numbers until the desk staff intervened with a translator. They even offered to take her somewhere else for some refreshments, which she kindly refused.

At a point in time there were more than 30 planes in the area waiting for permission to land, and some had to be rerouted instead to Nuremberg. Finally the small craft scheduled for Tirana was able to land and we were speedily whisked to it. I realized how huge this airport is when it took more than 15 minutes of traveling by bus to reach the far away spot where the plane we needed to board had just landed. Quickly the 100 available seats were all filled and in 1 and 1/2 hour we landed in sunny and hot Rinas airport of Tirana.

Met my driver in no time, and after a brief stop at a huge supermarket (Euro-Max) that is on the way into the city, where he suggested I may want to shop for my immediate necessities, we reached my apartment within 1/2 hour. I shopped there many times previously, but, now I almost did not recognize the place. It's located inside an immense shopping mall and it has now doubled in size!

At the apartment, I was happy to find that all utilities functioned properly, and within a few hours here I am also online!

Preparations

Great weather everywhere these days.....it's pretty nippy here in New York where the fall is in full swing, and the city is gearing up to celebrate Halloween.


Meanwhile, I'm finishing up packing for my trip to Tirana, where, I know, midday can still be pretty hot, and some light clothing can be useful.
Albania, here I come!

Potpourri

Although we’re in the midst of a global financial crisis, there is no lack of a variety of all sorts of other worldwide news – some somber and some frivolous, as usual.

Today in New York we’re celebrating Columbus Day with the usual festive, long parade along Fifth Avenue, while closely watching how Wall Street and the other world markets are reacting to the bail out plans decided during this past weekend. While some euphoria seems to explode about a positive turn around on one side, on the other, political tensions are weighing in heavily due to the uncertain outcome of the upcoming presidential elections on Nov. 4th.

Some newspapers seems to recycle again some old and trite subjects, such as the story of Albania’s “sworn virgins” that keeps resurfacing from time to time; just recently it reappeared on the Associated Press, and from there it spread to CBS News, the Washington Post, the NY Times, the Baltimore Sun, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Chicago Sun, MSNBC, National Geographic (video), etc.

Other papers are treating more serious matters, such as the still fragile relationship of Kosovo with some of its neighbors (although Macedonia and Montenegro just added themselves to the number of states recognizing its independence), or the corruption that still reigns in Albania. The Economist of this week, in one page, touches upon both subjects:
-- Kosovo: Getting on with big brother
-- Albania: The Final Mistery

A propos of variety of news, some cover a range of very contrasting subjects, to say the least. While some Italian “ ultra` (right extremists)” rioted, this past weekend, outside a soccer stadium in Bulgaria, singing fascist hymn in the name of “Il Duce”, in Tirana the widow and children of the ex communists dictator, Enver Hoxha, were being interviewed on the anniversary of his 100th birthday.

Online, I also read that in Tirana there are new urban plans that will probably disrupt the already chaotic life there, such as the re-development of the huge Skanderbeg square, while other avenues are re-paved. Among the so called ‘hopeful’ news I cannot help noticing that the giant Real Estate conglomerate of Century 21 has also recently established itself officially in Tirana. This is in addition to the several other similar English agencies that have been already advertising, for quite a while, loads of properties all over Albania. However, beware! it’s not all gold what’s being described.

Among all these news there is also the one about my next trip to Tirana, which will take place next week. Amidst the preparations I’m making sure that my ‘absentee ballot’ vote is properly filed here before departure. I shall resurface again by the middle of next week, if all goes well…. So, keep tuned in!

Wake Albanian style

This week I attended, for the second time in my life, a wake in the Bronx, where Albanians are one of the largest ethnic groups residing in this borough of New York City.

I thought I knew what to expect since I had participated in a similar occurrence in 1996, in the same area. In both instances the departed were distant relatives of mine on the paternal side, whom I met less than a dozen years ago, when I began to collect a large amount of data for my family tree.

Since then, I learned a lot about traditional customs of Albanian life, because I was not exposed to it since I was five years old. Due to WWII I grew up in totally different environments, and I did not discover existing paternal relationships until recent years. Thus, whenever I get involved in large gatherings of Albanians here in the U.S., I never cease to be surprised by new, and very interesting experiences, when I become exposed to, and more familiar with, historical details, especially about my ancestors. Albanians are endowed with extraordinary memory, and are masters in oral history, which they faithfully transmit from one generation to another within their family units!

This week, therefore, when I went to the funeral parlor, I knew I had to express my condolences to the relatives that line up at the entrance, in single file, men first, followed by women (with black head scarves), all positioned according to the level of relationship with the deceased. They sit on chairs, also lined up behind them, and stand up as visitors approach, and are quietly announced by a couple of young family members that stand guard at the door.

I also knew that there would be relatives not from this area. It is customary that for any important family happening, relatives of all sorts travel even long distances to attend whatever function has been planned, whether it's a wedding, a birth, or a funeral. That's why, also in this case, I was able to see again relatives I met overseas, and others that reside in other U.S. cities.

A new experience this time, however, was seeing two people that, in separate sessions,lasting about 15 minutes each, chanted, in rhyme format, and all from memory, dozens of names of living and dead relatives. The woman, who was hired, was prepped for this service by some family members just minutes before the performance, while the man was a relative knowledgeable about the past deaths in the family.

Contrary to what I have seen at other funeral parlors recently, where people usually roam around, chat and visit in a pretty loud voice, this wake was quite structured, and extremely low key, except for the momentarily loud sobbing that the women could not refrain from, during the chanting. Throughout the entire time, the younger women made the rounds, offering glasses of water and paper handkerchiefs.

This is what happened at this wake, in an American funeral parlor. The wake I participated in 1996 instead, took place in a hired hall, 2 months after the actual funeral in Montenegro, obviously to accommodate the very large number of relatives living in the U.S. There I let a family member lead me through the line up of relatives, and I discovered later on that I was the subject of special treatment when it came to sitting down. Men and women were clustered at separate tables, and I, out of deference, was offered a seat between the 2 groups! Then, I was totally surrounded by the younger generations, who, while taking turns to serve everyone with food, raki, and cigarettes, were eager to get to know me, and I.... learned from them how to connect the lines in the enlarged family tree!! It was an extraordinary and unforgettable experience.