A little about Albania (and what I've been doing for the past month)

I've spent the past month working at a hostel in Berat, Albania. Berat is an ancient town, with two 2000-year-old fortresses and very interesting Ottoman architecture (pictured above).


Lately it's been very quiet at the hostel (Berat Backpackers), which has its advantages and disadvantages. Basically I just need to stick around the hostel for about half the day, and have only about an hour of work (or less) spread out over 8 hours (which is a good deal for all the food I'm consuming, for sure). I enjoyed a lot of the socializing with guests, meeting people, etc.

 My most important duty: restocking the beer fridge

I also cook some dinners for the staff and guests. Here, frying chicken

The country is very strange. It was isolated for 50 years under a dictatorship. The garbage gets thrown in the river. There's a restaurant 5 minutes away run by a dude who used to traffic humans (apparently this used to be the only way to make enough money to start a legitimate business). There are loads of alcoholics. Girls hardly ever leave the house at night. You can tell the young people want to change things but are kind of limited. For instance--dudes will get really dressed up western-style to go out and hopefully meet some girls. But they have to go out to coffeeshop/bars (there are no bars in our style), where there might be five guys for every girl. And then they all go home at 9. There is a 24-hour pool hall/casino in town, which i've been out late at before, but it's filled with old drunks and such (which can be quite fun). There are also the sports books, where young dudes go out to bet on soccer. One of the other workers here is Irish and loves his football, so we've gone to watch a few games in town.

The people are extremely friendly to foreigners, and the scenery is incredible: mountains on 4 sides, with landscape and vegetation that I think can be best described as the Texas Hill country, without the spiky plants, add in olive and pomegranate trees, and various deciduous trees changing to oranges and reds and yellows. All in all, I'm glad I spent a month here. Talking to Albanians and seeing how business is done, I've gotten to see a bit of how another culture functions. Worth it.

On Friday, I'm going to Thessaloniki, Greece, before heading to Istanbul, and I'm planning to couchsurf in both. My flight home is December 7th. 

Knowledge bombs from London to Albania

My brother, a great writer, has a habit of whipping out his iphone and making a note whenever something pops into his head. I've done the same a few times in the past 6 weeks, and this post is a collection of some of these little observations. So these aren't really "knowledge" bombs at all, more "random observation" dollops. But knowledge bombs sounds cooler. Here goes, in chronological order, starting in London.

Camera phone flashes

It's funny to watch people take pictures with their camera phones in broad daylight. The tiny little light turns on, far, far exceeded by the power of the sun. Some might see something about futility and impotence. I just think it's kind of funny.

The London Air

I'm walking through London as the sun sets on a warm august day, and the air is that perfect temperature where you are completely comfortable. But not just that-- there are those small bubbles of air that are just a degree or two different, but still pleasant. So as you walk you're hit with waves of warmth then cool then warmth then cool again.

London and Austin

Walking through London (and other cities) makes me really appreciate what I had in Austin. Yesterday I saw an open-air food market, a nice walk along the Thames with street performers, beautiful parks. So many of the things I relish here were always available in america. Now we just need to get buckingham palace.

Train to Milan

Unfortunately, my train car from cinque terre to Milan has two of the stinkiest human beings on the planet. Two large, fat Italian men. (note: they were later thrown off the train for not having a ticket)

Sophia.

Very interesting place. Love the old soviet feel. The people are pretty friendly. I wonder what takes more courage- the people from poorer countries going to west Europe, or rich ones going east. (note: I later decided, going from the east to the west is scarier)

Music Classics

Listening to old music is always refreshing, but there is often the reminder that it's just not the same--you enjoy it, but not as much as when your whole brain tingled and lit up on every successive listen until your love for it dwindles to mere respect and fond memories.

Different lives

It's interesting seeing people in other countries and wondering about what kind of person they would be if they grew up in America. Goth? Hippy? Engineer? Example: met a family of people running a manufacturing/machine shop in their barn in this tiny village. They spoke English. They made tiny little parts to be used for a variety of machines and furniture and whatnot. Amazing. What if they were wealthy in America? What would they accomplish then?

(somehow, this reminded me of a time, during freshman orientation, when I went to a restaurant in Austin and saw an entire family of goths. Mom, Dad, and three kids, all dressed in all black. How do those kids rebel? Going to the gap (thanks south park))

Long way from home

Just saw a guy in a donkey-pulled cart in a left turn lane 200m from the central train station in the capital of Bulgaria, an EU nation capital. I need to go to India.

The triumphant return of music videos

Well, it's 530 am and I'm waiting on a minibus to take me to Berat, to work at the hostel there. But don't worry! I have Albanian/Turkish music videos to entertain me. I'm not sure what it is that makes the videos so entertaining--the closeups on horn solos, the super shiny shirts, the male lead singers who are inevitably a bit pudgy. Maybe it's the saxophone solo done by the Jonah hill Albanian twin. Or maybe it's the George bush look alike singer who's fond of pleated pants and tie clips. But really, how much more ridiculous is it than American singers in denim vests and suspenders? Oh, and yes the videos do feature cuties dancing.

BUMP BUMP

I don't like routine--I like rhythm, the music of life humming to the beat of weekly events, yes, even tv shows. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday bump bump bump bump bump tsts Tcha. Dinners with friends, weekly lunches, fish wrap Fridays, twofer Tuesdays.

The upside of a hangover

Being hungover isn't pleasant--but I still like it sometimes, or at least find some small positive morsel in it. You can be so aware of what's right in front of you, because you actually can't physically take your eyes off of whatever it is--your hands, the blanket, the ceiling. I swear I’ve stared at my hands for 15 minutes before. Really, there’s a lot to see.