Facilities

It took a few days to get everything in working order in my Albanian apartment since arriving in Tirana. The place, unused for a few months, was plenty dusty, as expected, but the water system had to be activated, the boilers and the fridge turned on, the lights checked, the cell phone recharged, the TV and Internet connection checked, etc.

Not surprisingly, a lot of these things were not functioning, but, little by little, I was able to solve the small nuisances, while the TV repairman that promptly responded to my call had to change a part in the satellite dish so that I can get most of my news, at least in Italian and English. I have almost 460 channels at my disposal, but, interestingly enough, no access yet to the Albanian state and private channels, which require an additional antenna on the roof and special wiring, which I choose for now not to bother with. My apartment is so quiet that without a TV or radio it feels like a tomb! I also asked an electrician to come and change some outlets in the kitchen, which have been defective all along. This shall be done by tomorrow.

Another annoyance that actually impairs and greatly slows down my work is the dial up connection to Internet. The Albanian telephone lines are quite poor, and, it is extremely frustrating to work this way, when time is of the essence. Although I have heard from friends that even a costly, high speed, dedicated line is not the best here, I have placed an order for it, but it’s not so easy to get the installation in a timely manner. Everything takes time here, but, if one persists, it eventually gets done, and it is usually accompanied by a good natured, and very friendly smile. During my previous trip I succeeded in getting the satellite service installed, and this time, hopefully, I may get the speedier connection taken care of.

Thank goodness the weather has warmed up a bit and the daylight hours are beautiful, but as soon as the sun goes down, the heating facilities must be turned on, at least for me, and we have been fortunate enough, so far, not to suffer any real power cuts as in the past.