Daily life in Tirana

Some of my American friends write to me privately that they enjoy my blog and some wish they could experience the way of living in Tirana. I agree with them that it’s a nice, overall break to be away from home for a while, and be able to compare customs of other countries.

Based on my own familiarity also with Italy, where I lived for several years, European daily life in general is very, very different from the one in the USA, and in particular from the one in NYC. Once in Europe, I find great similarities in mentality and customs between Albanians and Italians, especially the ones in the Southern part of booth.

Americans are generally pampered when abroad whether they are traveling for pleasure or business. Their time spent in a foreign country, however, must adapt somehow to the customs of the place, and this may add some drawbacks to the pleasure of experiencing new ways of living. There are also big differences if the traveling and visiting is for pleasure or for business, if the stay is short or long, and if the exposure to new places comes in close contact with the real local life of the visited country.

I feel fortunate that, here in Tirana, where I’ve being traveling frequently to for the past 17 years, I have met quite a diversity of local people for a variety of reasons, have coped with many types of individuals, and, in the process, have made many, wonderful friends, and have become very close to their families. I have seen their children grow up, shared their concerns for them, heard of their aspirations for the future, participated in some of their sorrowful and joyful moments, and continue to enjoy their company and loyalty.

In the past couple of years some Italian friends wanted to experience Albania and came to Tirana for the first time while I was here. They all had a good time visiting the city and its surrounding areas, and vowed to return. Next month, two of my Italian cousins will also come with a friend of theirs, and I hope to bring them down south so we can all enjoy together the area known as the Albanian riviera.

Nothing is lacking in Albania today: from pharmaceutical products to agricultural ones, from brand name clothing to furniture, from locally made stuff to imported one, you name it! In addition to the variety of individually owned and mama and papa stores, six huge shopping malls and parking lots are now fully operational 12 hours daily in the capital’s suburbs and are accessed by the general population also via free bus service from the city center. Some chain stores are open 24 hrs a day, also in the city of Durres, and probably elsewhere. Wherever you go shopping you’re greeted with a smile and, even if you don’t speak a word of Albanian, the servers are eager to please in any way shape or form.

For me the biggest difference in way of living here centers in the work hours, as well as the rest and meal times.

Most business is conducted from 7:30/8am to 3pm with no lunch interruption, especially in state offices. Some people may take an espresso in mid morning or have a quick ‘byrek’ on the go. By 4pm the chaotic traffic of Tirana subsides a bit, because most people are back home to consume their big meal of the day, and then they rest for a couple of hours. The late afternoon stroll is quite fashionable, as it used to be when I was a student in Italy; visiting can take place way into the evening, and the lighter, supper meal can go on even around 10pm.

These schedules can create havoc in someone like me, used to a pretty regular, and different eating plan, difficult to modify after a certain age. I’ve learned, however, to be pretty flexible since the discomfort is compensated at times by pleasant surprises and the networking these disruptions create may turn out to be quite enjoyable.

Perfect example is yesterday afternoon. I was planning to work a bit later since I had a few interruptions earlier, when two friends (husband and wife) dropped by the office and literally forced me to quit! They wanted to drive me to Durres, where they are furnishing a new apartment by the seashore, to experience the sunset from their balconies there. Although brief, this was a lovely and relaxing break!

All my plans for the rest of the day went down the drain, but we ended up not only doing the above, but also loaded the car with some purchases during some leisure shopping in one of the big malls, and, eventually, at 9:30pm had a delicious fish dinner in Durres, and returned to Tirana by 11:30pm.

For me this kind of life may seem disorganized and wasteful at times, but for my friends life is better lived this way with all its unpredictable and unplanned situations. They all work very hard at their own businesses, but they intersperse moments of relaxation as the day goes by. They may not look constantly at the clock and may even arrive late at some meetings, but, this is taken for granted here. They will not try to anticipate unforeseen situations, but will cope with any that may arise, and eventually manage to solve them.

The successful businessmen here will not trade their life with the ones of comparable people in the States, and, some of the ones I know who have also visited the U.S. are adamant in affirming that they would not like to work and play the way we do across the Atlantic.

That’s the beauty in this world: variety is the spice of life, and to each one his own!