We travelled from Athens to Shkoder in north Albania over 2 days via bus, as per Eleni's recommendation. We were surprised to see how genuinely friendly the Albanian people were when we arrived, stopping us in the street to ask us for help, giving us directions. In Morocco any help from locals is followed by a request for money, not in Albania!
Our first night was in a hostel where we met Truman, a Taiwanese guy who's making his way to Taiwan... OVER LAND! Go on, have a look at a map right now. Albania to Taiwan is well far. He asked us loads of questions about Asian culture which we tried our best to answer. I'm usually the one asking all the questions, but as Truman has few south Asian friends it gave us the opportunity to give him some cultural insight. He has such a great smile - I wish we had a picture of us together.
From the 2nd night onwards we arranged to stay with a child psychologist and music therapist called Martine as she lives in the mountains. Our first contact with her over the phone was surreal... amidst the poor line and the strong french accent I heard a voice say, "YOU VILL STAY VITH VEEGHAPEESHA WIFE OF PASHKO. HERE IS HER NUMBER. YOU VILL RING HER AFTER SREE. SHE WILL MEET YOU SREE AND HALF. SHE IS ZE WIFE OF PASHKO. PASHKO IS VITH ME IN MOUNTAIN BUILDING HOUSE. HE IS OK FOR YOU STAY WITH VEEGHA."
Martine:
Veera:
Pashko:
So until sree and half me and Mandeep were completely clueless about what was actually going on. We met up with Veera who was really lovely, offering us use of her shower and making us lavender tea, but that was about the limit of her English. She said Martine is coming in 2 and a half hours, so we sat and waited in Veera's living room, allowing our imaginations to predict what was going to happen - were we going to the mountain to build with Pashko, were we eventually going to Martine's house and just waiting for her at Veera's?
When Martine and Pashko turned up at about 8pm things started to become clearer... sort of. Martine is a child psychologist by profession who worked in Kosovo during and immediately after the war. She came over to Albania to work with children with psychological issues. Realising the importance of cultural factors in therapeutic treatments, she began studying anthropology, all her professional interests coming together in the discipline of ethnopsychology. Veera, Pashko and their 3 kids have become like family to Martine, they live and work together and are currently building a house in the Mountain community Pashko grew up in (the village of Theth).
Over the last 5 years Martine has completely assimilated with the Albanian people. She has learnt their language and studied their customs, particularly the mountain people. Her anthropological work is intimately tied to her personal desire to help the people - it is very clearly more than just a profession. Such an interesting character, I was excited at the prospect of learning from her except that I found her personality difficult to click with. She talks a lot and seems to have an insensitivity to what we say (ironic as she's s psychotherapist). It's all just a bit full on, yet at the same time she has really strived to show us round town, introduced us to people, helped us find information etc. And while reading her thesis I was struck by her sensitivity to the local people and her mission to preserve their culture amidst the onslaught of aggressive globalisation. She has obviously lived some remarkable experiences, but our incompatibility as communicators left me frustrated - so close to a wealth of knowledge yet left waiting at the door. I found her company increasingly tiresome until it all came together last night. As we have integrated into the family, we have become exposed to the family life - warts n all. During a dispute between Martine and Pashko i realised that Martine has sensitivity, that certain things hurt her feelings and she has love for her friends. Somehow, in that moment, all my frustration with her, with my inability to derive knowledge from her left and I was overcome with a contented acceptance. She is how she is, i am how i am and she has a good heart, this is what matters. We must learn to love each other! Everything came together and I felt I learnt an important lesson.
It is difficult to explain
It may sound mundane
But profound character change
May come through events, seemingly plain.
For every step is important
Every moment is gleaming
Where the fool finds insignificance
The wise find meaning.
our route to albania:
Glad you got to Albania safely, you are meeting such interesting people! Mandeep, I have been telling Dr Nair (my current) consultant about your travels over coffee this morning. he is very jealous (and remembers you a lot) x
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