NOTE: Christmas is a busy time for all, and reading a blog is probably not a priority for many. SO, I will not be adding new pieces until the end of next week when I do want to mention Albanian turkey-wrangling, tho, as it is an important part of the culture... In the meantime--Merry Christmas to all!


Today Nancy and I went to Elbasan, a town about 30 miles over the mountains south of Tirana. From the capital you can go west fifteen miles to the Adriatic coast and then south or north and the road is level for a while. Any other direction means driving over narrow roads that wind through and over mountains—experiences that are both beautiful and harrowing.

In Elbasan while Nancy led a seminar at the University I wandered the nearby streets taking photos. As time passed I realized I was creating a montage of the life of ordinary people in Albania. The picture was interesting to me. It may be to you.

First transportation. In the United States this mean cars, but in Albania while Mercedes crowd the streets, they are not alone. I also saw:

Bicycles…

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Bus

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Three wheeled carry-alls…

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Horse drawn carts…

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Motorcycles…


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Three-wheeled bicycles…


Among the people on the streets I saw:

Friends walking arm in arm—a common custom among all ages and both sexes.



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Widows. You can tell who they are because a woman will dress in black from the time her husband (or young child) dies until she herself dies.

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People using cell phones—this is a nation of cell phones and text-messaging.


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And a few people using the public phones.

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I passed street sellers, probably Roma who move their sales from town to town.


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And the meat merchant.

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Down several streets were the apartments the people live in. Old apartments built during communist days. The day was cold and overcast, but the laundry was hanging out to dry.


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Coffee in means coffee out. A Turkish style toilet.

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And back to where I started—the University.

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A couple hours strolling. A couple hours looking. A couple hours getting to know the people who make up the country of Albania--some of the people for whom Christ came to earth that Christmas day long ago...