My condolences to those in California affected by the mass shooting. Clearly a very disturbed individual, who reacted to a difficult system in a tragic way. I wonder where his parents were in all of this, but that is neither here nor there at this point. For those affected, know that you are in my prayers.
We had a hot day today and I'm now thoroughly toasted, but as the saying goes TIA (this is Albania). Now, as promised some Albanian words. Albanian is a strange language that has some remaining hints of Latin, Greek, and Slavic dialects, but it is wholly independent on the Romance language tree.
mirë (mear)- good. The most important word in the language it seems, as they use it to describe every situation and every quality of every thing.
ç'kemi (skemi)- what's up? Mornings usually begin with this question being asked and the responding
mirë.
natëme mirë (nautem mear)- good night
mirupafshim (mear pafshem)- good bye
mire mënjes (mear menjes)- good morning
falemnderit/rrofsh (fall men derit/ rrofsh)- thank you
mire mbrëma- good evening
raki- the Albanian traditional drink. Made with grapes by the locals. Everyone has their own method of making the drink and there's no unified or commonly sold recipe, but rather different strengths depending on who makes it. It was ranked number 6 on Times 'Top 10 Ridiculous Drinks.' http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2031497_2031504_2031461,00.html
cos- a watered down version of yogurt (it can be poured) typically served at breakfast
byrek (bu rek)- our lunch everyday. Filo dough filled with cheese, spinach or onion
kari (pronounced car), peach, rrote kar- these are not polite terms and were taught to me by the Albanian workers, often without me being aware of what they were teaching me. They get a laugh out of it, it builds camaraderie, and it doesn't hurt for me to be aware so as not to stumble upon them. I'll let you google them if you're interested.
Dinner tonight was stew with potatoes and chicken.
I'm wondering about the attitude of the local Albanians regarding the discoveries at Butrint. Do they have any appreciation of the site or has life there been so challenging (former Communist country) that they really can't see much use for the project? Also, what's the potential for this to become a major tourist attraction; it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site after all.
ReplyDeleteThe locals are mostly unemployed, and it's tough to judge their attitude toward us. The local bartender estimates that 80% of women are unemployed and 60% of men, so for the time being this is a source of money in tourism and workman wages. It's a beautiful site, and is little known, but it definitely has the potential to become a huge tourist destination. The issue is that it's difficult to reach, and there aren't many accommodations in the area, but it would be a good stop over for two or three days (one day at the site, one at the beautiful beaches).
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