The move to Shkoder
When living in Tirana, upon asking a question about Albania I was always greeted with a question preceding the answer: "Are you asking about Tirana or Albania in general?" Prior observations had already confirmed the answers would be different. Despite the stunning natural beauty of the country as a whole and the outstandingly friendly and helpful people, life outside Tirana is significantly different. Gone are the (relatively) bright lights, late night cafes/clubs, hubbub, bridal shops (yes, there are lots of them), wealth, and energy associated with capital cities. Replaced instead with rural landscapes, more obvious signs of poverty, a lethargy and especially in small, rural towns, a ‘look' of hardship etched on the faces of the inhabitants. Life in many of these small villages I am sure is tough. Trash litters the roadsides and (as in Tirana) to the uninitiated the only two rules of the road are:- Do what you want
- Don't hit anything
There are many things to enjoy about Albania (whether in Tirana or the ‘country'): Fruit and vegetables that are full of colour, taste and not touched by GM engineering; the people - their generosity and friendliness/helpfulness is sincere (such as the time I and a friend were locked outside a hotel in the city of Berat at night a few weeks ago or last week when, ashamed of how muddy my bike was I broke down and took it to a ‘car wash' - the Albanian man scrubbed and rinsed my bike twice by hand, sprayed the tires with his car treatments and made the bike look thoroughly brand new again. However, he would accept no payment); the fact that there are no strict rules of the road - ride anywhere, do not hit anything; the ‘honour' code of conduct - guests in Albania are treated with dignity and respect (see above): there are a few times I could have been ‘swindled' due to misunderstanding if I was being charged in ‘old' Leke or ‘new' Leke, but I have never been taken advantage of (to the best of my knowledge anyway); the rugged, natural beauty of the country;
Information on the development of the YMCA follows in the next update
