"Wag the Dog" Had it Wrong
Back in the 90s, there was a great satirical movie called "Wag the Dog" about getting a U.S. President's affair out of the news by starting a war with a random country. The country was Albania and Kirsten Dunst plays the actress brought in to play a refugee, complete with a shmata for her head and a facial expression that suggested she might be shelled at any moment.
Tragically, although the movie is hysterical, its depiction of Albania does the country a great disservice. Tirana is a legitimate, affluent urban center (although its sources remain unknown...) Filled with a variety of homes and apartment buildings painted in various bright, pastel patterns on narrow, tree-lined streets, the Blloku neighbhorhood, formerly home to the communist intellegentsia (including the now despited dictator, Enver Hoxha), is now Tirana's trendiest neighborhood. While there are many communist structures still standing, an art movement to rehabiliate the buidings and emrbrace Albanian culture involved encouraging local artist to use their imagination and rehabilitate the old gray, concrete apartment buildings. The result is a startling combination of centuries old mosques, massive (untouched), communist government buildings and multiple story structures that resemble lego creations or a set from a Tim Burton movie.
I arrived at 5am after a 11 hour ride from Kosovo, which was relatively painless despite the Albanian pop videos of girls lip synching and doing some variation of the white-girl dance (i.e. not moving their feet). Oddly, they all shared an expression that suggested, "I know something you don't know." Apparently, since the music was terrible and their gyrations confusing. Luckily, I was so exhausted that I slept through virtually the entire trip.
We arrived in Tirana just as the sun was coming up and the city came alive quickly -- restaurant and cafe staff pulling chairs and umbrellas onto the sidewalk in preparation for their day. People's appearance is more mediterranean and ranges from the standard, haggard Slavic look (for men, this means track suits with leather shoes, for women, this generally means stilettos, red hair, tight jeans or skirts) to ostentatious designer ensembles. Expensive cars line the streets, which reminds me of an anecdote that is supposedly told to Western Europeans when they visit. It goes, "don't worry about transportation, your car is already here." Tirana really isn't so different from my land of potato-heads to the northeast, except for the palm trees.
Although the country is 70% moslem, few people seem to practice with any regularity and I am slowly learning that although Albanians are moslem and Serbs orthodox, the ethnic differences are more important than the religious ones. Albanian culture and history is closely tied with Islam, but the national hero, Sheshi Skenderberg, was responsible for defeating the Ottomans back in the 15th century and preventing further spread of Islam. Albanians trace their ethnic/linguisitc heritage to the ancient Illyrian tribe, making Albanian one of few the languages in the world that escaped Roman and Slavic influences.
On a culinary note, Italian cusine seems to be much more popular than Albanian dishes. I learned from the receptionist at my hostel, that Albania receives many Italian tv channels, so for many, that is the preferred second language, and presumably, a more easily adopted culture. And anyway, who doesn't like pizza?
Tonight, I actually get to sleep in a real bed, but tomorrow morning I head to Montenegro, just a few hours north by bus. I am looking forward to lying on the beach and doing a whole lot of nothing for a bit, before I resume my insane travel schedule.
More soon.
Tragically, although the movie is hysterical, its depiction of Albania does the country a great disservice. Tirana is a legitimate, affluent urban center (although its sources remain unknown...) Filled with a variety of homes and apartment buildings painted in various bright, pastel patterns on narrow, tree-lined streets, the Blloku neighbhorhood, formerly home to the communist intellegentsia (including the now despited dictator, Enver Hoxha), is now Tirana's trendiest neighborhood. While there are many communist structures still standing, an art movement to rehabiliate the buidings and emrbrace Albanian culture involved encouraging local artist to use their imagination and rehabilitate the old gray, concrete apartment buildings. The result is a startling combination of centuries old mosques, massive (untouched), communist government buildings and multiple story structures that resemble lego creations or a set from a Tim Burton movie.
I arrived at 5am after a 11 hour ride from Kosovo, which was relatively painless despite the Albanian pop videos of girls lip synching and doing some variation of the white-girl dance (i.e. not moving their feet). Oddly, they all shared an expression that suggested, "I know something you don't know." Apparently, since the music was terrible and their gyrations confusing. Luckily, I was so exhausted that I slept through virtually the entire trip.
We arrived in Tirana just as the sun was coming up and the city came alive quickly -- restaurant and cafe staff pulling chairs and umbrellas onto the sidewalk in preparation for their day. People's appearance is more mediterranean and ranges from the standard, haggard Slavic look (for men, this means track suits with leather shoes, for women, this generally means stilettos, red hair, tight jeans or skirts) to ostentatious designer ensembles. Expensive cars line the streets, which reminds me of an anecdote that is supposedly told to Western Europeans when they visit. It goes, "don't worry about transportation, your car is already here." Tirana really isn't so different from my land of potato-heads to the northeast, except for the palm trees.
Although the country is 70% moslem, few people seem to practice with any regularity and I am slowly learning that although Albanians are moslem and Serbs orthodox, the ethnic differences are more important than the religious ones. Albanian culture and history is closely tied with Islam, but the national hero, Sheshi Skenderberg, was responsible for defeating the Ottomans back in the 15th century and preventing further spread of Islam. Albanians trace their ethnic/linguisitc heritage to the ancient Illyrian tribe, making Albanian one of few the languages in the world that escaped Roman and Slavic influences.
On a culinary note, Italian cusine seems to be much more popular than Albanian dishes. I learned from the receptionist at my hostel, that Albania receives many Italian tv channels, so for many, that is the preferred second language, and presumably, a more easily adopted culture. And anyway, who doesn't like pizza?
Tonight, I actually get to sleep in a real bed, but tomorrow morning I head to Montenegro, just a few hours north by bus. I am looking forward to lying on the beach and doing a whole lot of nothing for a bit, before I resume my insane travel schedule.
More soon.
posted by RedSonja at
5:11 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home