Ejona/Tirana Albania/ Week 1
It had been 5 years since last time that i was in Albania. I lived here for 16 years. I missed Albania everyday that I lived in USA. I started my trip with two other Albanian girls. The fight went smoothly. From Detroit-Charlotte-Frankfurt and Tirana, Albania as our final destination. Since we got on the plane in Frankfurt we already felt home. Almost everyone was Albanian. The flight attendants were serving us "Albanian Sandwiches". The nice warm crunchy bread and the organic vegetables give everything an exceptionally good flavor.
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| "Albanian Sandwiches" with my friend Enxhi on the plane Frankfurt-Tirana |
The sky was really clear and we got to see the amazing mountains and rivers in the Balkan area and Albania.
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| Mountains |
When we landed it was very emotional. I got to meet my family and friends. I spent the first three days in Tirana where my mom's side of the family lives. I got to see all my family there and see how everyone had changed after 5 years.
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| Tirana plaza- Behind the building on the left it is our office |
Than I traveled to Korca,where my dad's side of the family lives. There is where I grew up. I missed the city, the neighborhood, the people. Everything had changed. I got to visit my house too. My grandmothers tried to cook delicious Albanian food. We, Albanians, love the food. The Albanian food is delicious. I got to eat byrek ne sac and other really delicious food. I didn't get to see much of the city because I spent a lot of time with the family and since they live in the periphery of the cities, they don't have access to internet yet. For me, as someone who is used to use internet all the time, it has been really difficult to stay away from social networks and not surfing the net for so long, but on the other hand you get to enjoy everything much more when you are not distracted by internet.
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| Greek salad |
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| Bread |
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| Gjelle-Soup |
Ejona,
ReplyDeleteWow! I am so happy that you have the opportunity to return to Albania and visit your family. I can't even imagine how emotional that is for you. I totally understand staying with family for the first week or so instead of traveling. It's important to get that time in! I would really like to know more about what has changed? The actual city? The politics?
What is byrek ne sac? Is it a dinner or a dessert? Being removed from social networks and the Internet in general has to be a big shock. We are so reliant on it; we don't realize it until it is taken away. I'm glad that you now have Internet access to post? I really enjoyed the pictures.
Are you going somewhere else to start your internship? What is your job like?
Best,
Tammy
I am planning to visit Korca and Tirana soon. I have to see everything that has changed. As or now I have not had the chance because I have been really busy with work and family, but in the future weekends I will be traveling everywhere in Albania hopefully. So many things have changed. Byrek ne sac is Albanian Pie. It is salty and usually you put stuff inside for example a mixture of eggs and yogurt; or tomato, peppers and anion; or spinach and yogurt etc.etc. It is amazing! Usually you will bake it in the oven, but the best way is to use the sac. It is this metallic object that is put above the fire, wait to get hot and than you put the pie on the fire and place the metallic part above the pie. The high temperature therefore bakes the pie and it gives it a very specific exceptional taste.
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