What have I learned so far about Albanian culture? Maybe a smidgen. Or an iota. Perhaps not a whole hell of a lot in the mere 6 weeks I’ve been here. And I missed the first 2 weeks, which is the time that the Peace Corps staff gets you well acquainted with the culture which is another reason I know so little. So far this is a little bit about what I have learned:
- Albania is largely agrarian. There are farms everywhere except the cities.
- Family is everything. Number one, always. They are connected not only by blood, but proximity. Here in my village families live in compounds or next to each other. And they rarely leave their place of birth.
- Shaking of the head means yes and nodding means no. (This has understandably caused us all a lot of confusion).
- It’s a coffee culture and a cup of coffee is really an event that can last anywhere from 1 hour to half the day.
- Older people get a lot more respect (hooray!) which has led me to go gray all the way. (Yes, mom. You heard me). I don’t know how long this will last but for now it’s fine.
- When someone tells you a banana costs 300 lek, they really mean 30 lek, because there is a system of new lek in place. When you ask the price you have to ask people “is that in old lek or new lek”?
Now, a bit about gender:
It’s a patriarchal society and men have all the power. There is still a clear distinction between “women’s work” and “men’s work”. In villages women and girls do not “go out” unless accompanied by a male family member or parent (not that there is any place to “go out” to). The younger gals in our Peace Corps group have to be really careful about going anyplace alone. They are told to stay out of bars (coffee bars too) unless it’s designated a “family” place. Most bars are men’s bars and you really don’t want to go there. Surprisingly enough, in order for me to open up a bank account, I had to give them my father’s first name. According to the bank, my designation is now “Joanne Giovanni Luongo”.
I’ll write more on Albanian culture as I come to experience and understand it better.
Amazing Jo. It sounds lovely in many ways. I would really struggle with the female as powerless thing but I understand this is part of the peace corps mission, that we understand each other.
ReplyDeleteBy the time you travel around the country, you'll notice that the differences are not as much between cities and villages, rather between north and south. The people in the north are Ghegs, the same people as in Kosovo. The people in the south are Tosks, the same people as in north-west Greece. It is this cultural difference the source of many internal conflicts in Albania.
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