If you had told me, a little over five months ago that I would have just been on Albanian television talking about my blog, my writing, and my love for this country- I would have said that you were crazy. But here I am, buzzing with excitement and adrenaline, having just been on Miremengjes Shqiperi, and I cannot help but think how surreal this all is.
I have touched on my story with Albania a little but I feel it deserves a little more elaboration and explanation. When I arrived her a little over five months ago, I had a return ticket and was intending on staying for just three short days. Within hours of arriving I had decided I wanted to live here because apart from thinking it was an amazing place, I just felt like I fitted in.
As someone who has spent the last 11 years being a guest and a foreigner in other countries, “fitting in” is a rather elusive concept. In Malta I made my way- set up a successful business, and succeeded in pissing off at least half of the population on a weekly basis through my social and political opinion piece, but after 10 years it was time to move on. In Cyprus I felt stunted and whilst it is a beautiful country full of wonderful people, I always felt like an outsider and my otherwise sunny disposition drastically diminished.
I find Tirana a beautiful place- whilst some may disagree, I love the combination of communist architecture, brightly coloured buildings, street art, Ottoman leftovers, and quirky bars, cafes and shops that line every street. To me, the city is constantly alive with a noisy, bohemian vibrancy running through its veins and everywhere you look there is colour, sounds, and interesting people and faces- this is not a city that is every dull and this is why I love it.
After setting up this blog a little over 10 days ago and surpassing 12k hits, I received a lot of feedback- mainly positive, but some were quick to point out that life in Albania is far from a bed of roses and that from my privileged position I am not giving an accurate depiction of the realities. I disagree. I am a realist but I also try to see the positive in everything that I experience and whilst I am conscious of the issues this country has with the economy, politics, and crime, I felt it was important that we are reminded of the good things as well. I find Albanian people resourceful, resilient and inspiring and whilst the country may be struggling with its socio-political foundations and a lack of money, Albanian people are mostly, looking on the bright side.
Whilst I will be covering issues such as feminism, crime, LGBTIQ rights, and other forms of activism, I believe that this blog should be a place where I explore the wonderful, creative, and positive aspects of Albanian culture. If you want to read depressing stories and fill your soul full of negativity, then feel free to read a newspaper and wallow in your misery, but you must appreciate the fact that there are people who wish to show that every cloud has a silver lining.
I love Albania, I love Tirana, and I love all of the wonderful people I have met so far. I have some wonderful plans for this blog and I am excited to share my discoveries with anyone that takes the time to read it. If you are reading this and you have a story to share, an idea, or someone, something, or someplace that I should write about, please contact me.
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Your attitude is to be comended, likely more than half of albanians barely know their own country and culture, not really. As for foreigners, they always start from a negative pre conception about the cointry, there is no shortage of haters out there. You are making a difference, aa others did before you. Të lumtë