| This is a rare inside look on the current cultural, | | | | Mustafa. The toilets are sunken into the ground for |
| ethnic, historical, religious, social, and linguistic | | | | squatting of both man and woman, as common in |
| dimensions of Albania, Europe's sole Muslim nation, | | | | older Turkey. Though in post-war academia the |
| complete with photos from my 2007 vacation. It also | | | | Albanians are cited as being entirely a unique race of |
| investigates the role of Islam in Europe. | | | | no common link, they are probably a Slavic ethnic |
| Albania -- Shqiperia | | | | group with a bizarre and unique language that |
| English name: Albania | | | | developed out of isolation and foreign influence. |
| Local name: Shqiperia (Sh-keep-aeria) | | | | Without common links to the local Byzantines, |
| Population: 3,600,523 | | | | Bulgarians, Serbs, Germans, or other Slavs so far |
| Religion: officially Muslim 70%, Albanian Orthodox | | | | away, it is logical that these various tribes of the |
| 20%, Roman Catholic 10% | | | | mountains and hills of Albania developed an isolate |
| Language: Albanian (Shqip) with Greek and Italian | | | | group from a common Slavic racial origin. This |
| commercial resident minority | | | | uniqueness of culture and heritage (not ethnicity) is a |
| Ethnic groups: officially Albanian 95%, Greek 3%, | | | | source of extreme pride and nationalism for Albanians |
| other 2% (Vlach, Roma (Gypsy), Serb, Macedonian, | | | | then and now. Oddly, homosexuality seems relatively |
| Bulgarian) | | | | common here unlike in the rest of Europe. Men and |
| Note that "Albanian" depicts the native nationals, and | | | | women hold hands in public, as I saw several times |
| not a homogeneous ethnicity | | | | throughout the day, a trait I have seen only in the |
| Average fertility/woman: 2.03 per woman | | | | United States so commonly. When I went into an |
| Migration rate: -4.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population | | | | Albanian slum in Athens, many Albanian girls and men |
| [Albanians are leaving] | | | | there performed the same trait. One source of |
| Per capita average income: $5,700 | | | | racism used by Europeans of Albanians is their alleged |
| Unemployment: officially 13.8%; in reality, employment | | | | liberal sexuality. This may or may not be unjust or |
| problems may exceed 60% | | | | false. |
| Population below poverty line: officially 25%; in reality, | | | | Further inspection of Albania made it clear that |
| well over 60% | | | | Albania is a total mess. The roads are unpaved dirt. |
| Extant populations elsewhere of Albanians: Italy, | | | | Dust pounds against cars and visitors' pants. Ledges |
| Greece, Macedonia, USA | | | | to deep pits are not cordoned off at all; at night, one |
| Source: CIA World Factbook | | | | could easily slip off a uniform ledge to fractures or |
| Albania is one of the two poorest nations in Europe, | | | | even death with only the prestigious Albanian doctors |
| second only to Moldova, and is akin to walking | | | | to trust. Trash and sewers are dumped into the |
| through a surly slum in Central America or Mexico | | | | streets. Potholes in the street are covered in dirt and |
| outside of its capital of Tiranë. It is also the sole | | | | plastic wrap. It is virtual feudalism. Pickpockets and |
| Islamic nation of Europe, although Bosnia-Herzegovina | | | | thieves are everywhere. Local children rob visitors, |
| bears a roughly 40% Muslim Bosniak population. It | | | | many ordered by their own families to do so. Gypsies |
| emerged from nearly five decades of autarkic | | | | and Turks perform the same. The locals are very |
| communist dictatorial rule under Enver Hoxha (Hod-ja) | | | | simply clothed with white tank-tops, sandals, some |
| into a struggling and corrupt democratic state by | | | | torn clothes, some no shirts at all. Women wear high |
| 1992. This drastic transition of this relatively young | | | | heels and short tops. The older women wear |
| geographically-European nation is apparent in its | | | | headscarves. Men are seldom shaven, which may |
| depressing and deep poverty. It and its ethnic group | | | | simply be a relic of Turkish Muslim rule instead of |
| (Albanians) are seemingly hated all across Europe as | | | | uncleanliness. Virtually every building is abandoned it |
| backward criminals who settle in other nations to | | | | seems. Ancient sites even crucial to Albanian heritage |
| receive their social benefits. Their identity as Muslims | | | | (like that of Turkish Muslim rule or the defense |
| also fuels this clash, as Albania was the only state of | | | | against the Jihad) were demolished for quarry for the |
| Europe to fully submit to the Jihad of the Turks | | | | desperately poor citizens. Mats are laid in the middle |
| during 400 years of foreign rule (not including the | | | | of the street with old fruits, clothes, and wares to |
| thousands outside who were forced to do so). | | | | be sold; Albania's economy seems largely informal. |
| Tourism to Albania is thus brand new -- our cruise | | | | Geos, Fiats, Yugos, and Renaults seem to be all that |
| was among the first to travel there commercially. We | | | | are available or purchased here, each some 20 years |
| landed at Sarandë, a growing coastal "resort | | | | old, each with paint peeling or scratches all over the |
| city" among Albania's largest. | | | | vehicles. At the same time, Audis and Mercedes roll |
| Upon arrival, the city is relatively innocuous and plain. | | | | through the city with "I", "DE", and "GR" proudly |
| The backdrop is filled with hills and relatively arid | | | | adhered to their rears. These are the work force and |
| grounds. Fishermen adorn the coastline. All buildings | | | | entrepreneurial business owners of Albania -- the |
| appear the same hue of tan or beige, mostly | | | | Italian, Germans, and Greek minority. They own |
| two-storied with a great deal of construction all | | | | nearly all of the businesses and have virtually all of |
| throughout the city on the coast. No massive flagpole | | | | the wealth. The Albanians recognize this, which is a |
| standards, no huge cathedrals or churches. Only a | | | | source of mutual racism and social conflict. Grafitti in |
| relatively tall mosque with a very plain blue-and-white | | | | the city often reads "F*ck Italia" or other terms |
| minaret in the center of town. This was the first | | | | rejecting Greece, Germany, the EU, or Russia, all of |
| mosque I had seen. But instead of hearing the call to | | | | which are aiding their sluggish economy that the |
| prayer throughout the day, church bells greeted the | | | | Albanians consider imperialists instead. There is little |
| coming ship. Was this secular, or an attempt to | | | | grafitti however, thus rejecting the notion that men |
| welcome the majority-Christian/European visitors? | | | | who have little to do resort to bad behavior. This can |
| The city has no harbor, but rather a small dock to | | | | also be because of the lack of television and |
| which the ship's passengers were ferried via tender. | | | | connection to American street culture during the |
| Inside the city, it is apparent that this country is in a | | | | isolationist Communist period. Almost no English is |
| depressing mess. A good 90% of buildings are under | | | | spoken. Greek is spoken commonly to interface with |
| "construction". By no means does this imply that | | | | the business and bank owners. The Leke, the |
| Albania is undergoing expansive growth; rather, the | | | | currency of Albania, is virtually worthless, and is |
| buildings are half-finished, most with holes in the walls | | | | adorned with some of Albania's newer statesmen. |
| or no doors or roofs at all. The buildings dispose of | | | | Outside of the city proper, however, Albania is quite |
| their trash around their homes, a house can be | | | | beautiful and unique. The hills and mountains are |
| entered by nearly anyone due to the lack of doors | | | | covered in yellow grain fields and subsistence crops. |
| or walls, and atop each first story of a home is | | | | Military bunkers and pillboxes cover virtually every |
| another layer of the building with only the | | | | few meters of the distance. During the period of |
| foundations. The reason for this is that other than | | | | Hoxha's leadership, thousands and thousands of small |
| their horrific poverty, most Albanians have no work | | | | "family" pillboxes were built in order to rally military |
| opportunity in their own economy, so they build a | | | | defense against perceived invaders, theoretically the |
| portion of their home, then emigrate to a wealthier | | | | Jugoslav state of Jozip Broz Tito after World War II. |
| European nation like Italy or Greece (where they are | | | | The pillboxes oddly do not face the coastal approach; |
| hated almost universally, and generally do little work | | | | they point inland towards the other Balkan states of |
| there either) to expand their homes. This takes many | | | | the Jugoslav federation. Nearly one pillbox was built |
| phases, so homes are constructed over long-term | | | | per square mile. During the late 1990s, most pillboxes |
| periods. Nearly every home has a scarecrow made | | | | were covered in spraypaint and other mediums to |
| of a doll or other toy out of both fun and to keep | | | | promote "art" by local artists, but ends up looking like |
| the birds from their homes; the tactic fails. Albania is | | | | a few orange marks on the concrete. Cows, sheep, |
| almost universally dependent upon foreign labor | | | | donkeys, and goats walk through the street with |
| elsewhere, subsistence agriculture, and the desperate | | | | right-of-way to the next farm crop along the dirt |
| hope for growing tourism. | | | | roads. Some 30 minutes outside the city up a long |
| Though Albania herself has little history, it takes pride | | | | mountain road, the beauty of Albania is fully present. |
| in other ancient monuments of other cultures. The | | | | The world-renowned "Blue Eye" pool is reached via a |
| region of Albania's (or Illyria to the Romans) history | | | | winding dirt road for full-size bus tours who virtually |
| by majority consists of a number of warring tribes | | | | drive over the edge due to the lack of security. The |
| (the Tosks and Ghegs primarily) warring against local | | | | main attraction in Albania, the Blue Eye, is in the |
| authorities like the Serbs, Bulgarians, and Byzantines, | | | | middle of a lovely and bizarre forest with hollowed |
| until unifying as a Christian state under the warrior | | | | trees and tall grasses and bushes. A flowing river (to |
| hero Gjergj Skanderbeg to fight against the coming | | | | which waste and sewage are freely disposed) meets |
| Turkish Islamic Jihad. They failed, and were ruled by | | | | its source deep within the earth in a bright-blue |
| the armies of Islam for some 400 years until being | | | | glowing water hole. A deep and cool water source is |
| liberated by their Balkan Christian Slavic neighbors | | | | so rich in minerals that it is virtually iridescent, and has |
| (Bulgaria and Serbia dispute the successor). But | | | | such a powerful current that any size rock thrown |
| Albania is ripe with foreign ancient monuments, | | | | into the source will return to the surface. A diving |
| including an ancient Jewish synagogue built near the | | | | attempt was foiled because the divers could not |
| 3rd century before being obliterated and burnt by | | | | reach the bottom. After the experience, a strong |
| the pre-Orthodox Slavic invaders from the 5th | | | | and huge local beer (Kaon) can be enjoyed along with |
| century onward. Today, it is merely a series of ruins | | | | traditional Islamic Albanian music at a bar. Albania has |
| in a deep sandy bed within 50 meters of the city's | | | | its share of beautiful sights. |
| mosque. Near the city's hinterlands, there are dozens | | | | The role of criminals, pickpockets, or terrorists is a |
| and dozens of Roman and Greek ruins, from a | | | | frightening and bizarre one many visitors experience. |
| Christian baptistery to ancient pre-Christian temples. | | | | Not only do children and adults alike rob many of the |
| The many churches of Albania were all burnt by the | | | | visitors, but many young men seem to drive around |
| Muslim Turks upon invasion to ensure the triumph of | | | | together in cars staring at parts of the city or at the |
| Islam. Future Christian churches were all leveled by | | | | tourists. Cars filled with 3-5 men all staring in one |
| the Communists in the so-called "first truly atheist | | | | direction -- often not at the locals even, confused |
| state" of Hoxha. | | | | many of the ship's passengers as to their intentions. |
| The influence of the Turkish Muslims is blatant after | | | | After about 10 minutes, the many cars returned |
| nearly four centuries of foreign conquest, making | | | | again to perform the same act. Many interpreted this |
| "Albanian" culture very conflicting and marred in its | | | | behavior as a search for lone visitors to rob or even |
| identity. Is an Albanian to be proud of his bizarre and | | | | rape, whilst others (also disturbed by the sighting of |
| exclusive language and proud defense against the | | | | full Taliban-esque burqas in the city nearby) were |
| Jihad under Skanderbeg, or is one to be proud of an | | | | struck by fear of terrorism plots against them, the |
| ethnic group whose culture is a blend of Communist | | | | ship, the buses, or even local Albanian buildings. This |
| rebellion, Islam, isolation, and desperate subsistence | | | | made everyone a bit uncomfortable, as ethnic |
| for the family? Is an Albanian a white European | | | | Albanians are a source of the majority of crime by |
| Christian like every other nation of Europe, or is he a | | | | proportion wherever they tend to settle, including |
| unique vanguard of Islam in a continent that rejects | | | | Greece, Macedonia, and Serbia (especially in Kosovo). |
| it? Firstly, subtle elements are present that are | | | | They are also a source of global Islamic terrorism, as |
| borrowed from the Islamic rulers. Albanians generally | | | | was one of the reasons for Jugoslavija's massacre of |
| shake the head vertically to signify "no", and | | | | ethnic Albanian Islamic rebels who fought against the |
| horizontally to signify "yes". In Europe and North | | | | government and civilian Slavic Christians for |
| America, the head is nodded to affirm, and shaken | | | | independence, which led to the US-NATO destruction |
| left to right to reject. The Albanian method is | | | | of their state and the support for the same Albanian |
| present in both Turkey and, in part, in Bulgaria, which | | | | Kosovo that is viewed by the locals as terrorists. |
| also felt the brutality of the Islamic Jihad. Albanian | | | | Despite today's portrayal by the liberal West of |
| Muslim is so Islamic- and Turkish-influenced it is even | | | | Communist dictator Enver Hoxha as a brutal and |
| difficult to distinguish between the two. Zitars, drums, | | | | corrupt dictator, he is still mythified as a heroic figure |
| chants, and the familiar throat-bellowing of women | | | | in Albanian culture who unified the Albanians so ripe |
| can be heard in many songs. Albania, however, is | | | | to foreign rule (including that of Stalin's USSR, Tito's |
| easily the most liberal of Islamic peoples. The veil is | | | | Jugoslavija, Hitler's Germany, Axis Horthy's Hungary, |
| seldom worn due to their distancing from Turkey as | | | | or Axis Antonescu's Romania) into an upright united |
| well as their history of atheistic Communist rule. | | | | state with food in every mouth and on every table, |
| However, many older women can be seen in the | | | | all defended by a well-defended nation built |
| streets with full veils and, occasionally, a full Afghani | | | | collectively by the people. His regime today is disliked |
| Taliban-style blue burqa. Men do not dress | | | | for its placement of power in the hands of few, but |
| conservatively, and the younger Albanians tend to | | | | is praised for its power of a state which historically |
| dress promiscuously even. Islam bears quite a nominal | | | | had almost no importance in European history ever. |
| rule after the Communist period, as the call to prayer | | | | Equally so, the success of Communism on poverty |
| that greeted the city at noon during our visit had | | | | and starvation problems (or success by their |
| virtually no reaction from the locals. But upon carefully | | | | interpretation that is) encourages the desperately |
| gazing into a mosque, I could see that the mosque | | | | poor Albanians to appeal to the left. Albanians' |
| was full, with some 30 pairs of shoes outside the | | | | greatest cultural hero, Skanderbeg, who unified |
| door. The inhabitants by majority appeared of | | | | Albanian tribes in war against Islam's Jihad, is |
| Turkish race rather than Slavic or "Illyric". Albania's | | | | mythified in the same fashion as the founder of |
| ethnic distribution, officially cited as being | | | | Albania's proud statehood. |
| homogeneously Albanian, is actually quite diverse as I | | | | It was fascinating to experience such a unique and |
| came to find obvious. Their ethnic heritage is a | | | | wickedly poor part of the world, as well as to |
| source of debate as per whether they are Slavic, | | | | investigate the strange language and ethnic origins of |
| Greek, Turkic, Thracian, or a mix thereof. They are | | | | a people caught between their European Christian |
| probably Slavic since the Slavic migration period, | | | | heritage and the wake of the mighty Jihad of the |
| having developed a separate language and culture | | | | Ottomans. Today, Muslim Albania, whose people are |
| due to isolation and the Turkish Jihad's affect on the | | | | such a source of conflict with the local European |
| local population. Their culture is a syncretism of the | | | | states, is already approaching membership in the EU, |
| native Slavic tribes Tosk and Gheg, blended with the | | | | whilst equally non-European Turkey's membership is |
| Turkish conquest as well as early Greek influences. | | | | such a source of dispute between the East and |
| Virtually most of Albanians have Turkish, Arab, or | | | | West. It is popularly deemed a drain on Europe that |
| "Muslim" names, including Muhammad, Ali, Rashid, and | | | | will open the gates to more Albanian immigrants. |