Even though communist leader Enver Hoxha was already dead and the communist regime was on it’s last legs, they hung Havzi Nela as a last ditched attempt to show their power. They failed.

Tirani ynë

Ka ca ditë e mjaft do kohë
Tirani ynë s’po ndihet mirë,
me miq e shokë sikur rri ftohtë
Dhe kur i shikon i vjen pështirë.

Thonë, asht tretë e asht ligështue
Thonë, asht sëmundë, me kriza nervore
Në shtrat kur bie më shumë rri zgjue
Nji libër të kuq se lëshon prej dore.

Ajo është vepra e xha Stalinit
Jo, kushdo nuk mund ta dijë
Fshehtas doli prej Kremlinit
E nën këmishë erdhi n’Shqipni!

Ajo asht vepra e tiranit trumyk
Gjithë komplote, intriga e dredhi!
Çka përdori ai xhelat pacipë
Për të shtypë e gjakosë popujt sovjetikë.

Tirani ynë gjithë karrierën e tij
Këtë libër nuk e lëshoi prej dore,
E tash vetë ka ba volume të rinj
Plot me krime e vepra çnjerëzore.

Shpesh të dy veprat i merr në dorë
Herë i peshon e herë i krahason
Kërkon të gjejë, cili asht ma mizor,
cili xhelat, xhelatit ia kalon.

Po merr inat sa do të pëlcasë
S’ia ha mendja se e arrin mikun e tij
E mendon të vrasë, sa më shumë të vrasë.
Sa më shumë gjak të shohë me sytë e tij!

Sikurse duket po e ndjen i shkreti
E sheh të afërt dhe fundin e tij
Dhe dëshiron të marrë sa më shumë me vete
Që të krahasohet në skëterrë me kolegun e tij.

I could have gone with him but there’s just no way I can take that much time off work. F was trying to convince me that I could work from there but without ADSL there’s just no way. Can you imagine having to go back to dial-up?

So lets see what kind of mischief I can get up to while he’s away…

They have recently been promoting tourism in Albania with a serious of ads on CNN and now I’ve seen this video. It was clearly made to promote tourism and investment but is interesting nonetheless.

I think F will be heading to Albania in a couple of months (his mother lives there alone) but I can’t bring myself to go. Sitting in his mother’s tiny apartment in a dead city where I don’t speak the language is not my idea of a fun holiday.

Again, I hope he will continue to update it often and won’t lose interest. He could easily get quite a few visitors to his site if he works at it so fingers crossed.

He showed me a video the other day of a guy setting himself on fire which was extremely disturbing. People just stood around watching, it was incredible. I didn’t really want him to blog about that kind of thing but then again that is what goes on in Albania. It’s pretty sad.

Of course there are lots of Albanian music and dancing videos on YouTube as well as videos with photos of the beautiful countryside which I find much more interesting.

This isn’t the first time I’ve created a blog for F so I hope this time he’ll post on a regular basis and maybe even earn a little cash for it.

Some things he wrote include describing Albania as a ‘crumbling commie squalor’ and its people as ‘short and ferret-faced, with the unisex stumpy, slightly bowed legs of shetland ponies’. I can’t criticise the article too much because it is true-ish. It’s just a harsh way to go about describing one of the unluckiest countries in the world. The people don’t deserve that. Maybe the article was supposed to be humourous and some comments he made are but there is really no need to be nasty just to get a laugh.

On that page I talk about the many foreign occupiers of Albania and how this hasn’t changed their way of life, culture, or food. I mention the different dishes which are quite similar to Greek or Turkish but with an Albanian take on it.

If you ever find yourself in the home of an Albanian you can expect them to offer you everything they have. They will immediately offer you a drink, which you must accept, and if you stay for dinner then be sure to eat everything you are given. They seem to be easily offended if you say no, even if you really aren’t hungry. I wouldn’t worry too much though as most of the food is delicious.

I’ve decided to make the content about different aspect of Albanian culture and am including things such as Albanian food, the landscapes, and the people. I have already started by creating little ‘teaser’ descriptions as well as content for the ‘Albania’ section.

I wrote a little bit about the Albanian landscape and its people. One thing I always find amusing is how they nod to say no and shake their heads to say yes. I do remember one instance in Albania when a guy was asking if I wanted to get on his bus. It wasn’t for my destination so I shook my head. He signalled for me to get on so I shook my head again. He kept saying ‘come on’, ‘come on’ and I just shook my head even more. He was starting to get angry when my husband intervened and said I didn’t actually want that bus. I had completely forgotten that I should have been nodding!

He went for 2 weeks and ended up staying 2 months. I knew he’d get stuck there. His family is so demanding, they always need him to do something for them and he always obliges. He spent a lot of time with his cousin who is very sick with cancer. He even escorted him to a hospital in Greece which was very kind but unnecessary. I know he wanted to help but I couldn’t help thinking about the money he was spending, money we don’t have.

During this time I was left alone in my apartment with very little to do. I work as a web developer and I have a few clients in Australia who I still work for but I was only spending about 10 hours a week working. I knew I had to do something else so I decided on internet marketing. It’s the best option for me because I can work from home, the start up costs are very low, and I already have web building skills. This is my new full time job and so far I’ve earned $0. Yeah, it’s going well.