Day 10 of trip, Day 1 Albania

We made it!

Our flight last night was easy. No lines, no problems, no waits. We arrived at the airport in Albania at 8:45pm, and were at the youth hostel (Backpack Hostel) an hour later, no baggage lost. The youth hostel was very cozy (in a good way, not meaning small). It had an outdoor garden area with a tiny pond filled with goldfish. The kids also enjoyed the cat & the turtle. The people staying & working there were both nice & interesting. We had a room all to ourselves, so it worked out well. Tonight a band will be staying in that room, so it's not available. We actually switched to the other Backpacker Hostel today (the 2 are related), because it's a lot closer to the street where Genci's mother lives. This hostel used to be a preschool, so it has fun murals on some walls. It has a friendly dog named Josephina. The weather is overcast, but kind of warm. I should have worn a short-sleeved shirt today.

We walked around a bit, the kids drove some little cars around for 5 minutes, then the kids & Genci headed to his mother's house for a visit. Since she does not want to see me, I get to have some free time to wander and take photos. It's interesting - this is my 7th time here. I feel very comfortable here, compared to England. Everything is familiar, and I recognize people from previous visits. I have said hi to a few.

I feel myself starting to get into the street-picture taking mindset. I haven't really been sneaking any photos yet. I'm mostly just getting my eyes used to seeing - seeing relationships between people, noticing stances, interesting juxtapositions of things. I'm taking some photos with my camera, but mostly I'm just taking them in my head. It takes a lot of courage to take pictures of people before asking them. You have to quickly guess if they'll notice, and if they'll mind. People wonder why you are taking a picture of them or their store - I don't want anyone to feel like I think of them as so unusual that they're worthy of a photo, and not only would it be hard to explain that they represent a certain something that I think of as unique to Albania (and explain that in Albanian), by the time I explain it, whatever it was is not there anymore. So I am getting my eye used to seeing, and soon my reflexes or courage will follow.

It's interesting to walk around while looking at people & places with an eye for photographs. It makes me wonder about the relationships between people. I wonder what they're talking about, or arguing about. I wonder if they're just friends or if they're lovers. I wonder how the older people feel about all the changes going on around them.

This morning the cleaning lady at that hostel saw my kids sitting on the tile floor (playing a computer game on my laptop), and she freaked out. She started talking about how the cold floor was going to make their stomachs sick. She signed/demonstrated them vomiting and an IV in their arm. She insisted that we put a pillow underneath them, so they wouldn't be in contact with the cold floor. I found it so amusing - "Now I know I'm in Albania!", I thought. The cold floor will kill you syndrome. That's why I humored her. I knew she wouldn't be able to get the thought of me killing my kids out of her mind if I didn't succumb to her wishes. And this was just the cleaning lady. No wonder I go through this with family members. I tried to share a laugh with Genci about it (later), and he didn't think it was funny at all. He still kind of believes in all the superstitions, so it just put fear into him.

Which reminds me, Genci is so ready to go home already. He said so yesterday before coming here, after getting here, and this morning. I think this is pretty stressful for him. I'm letting him deal with his mother how ever he wants. He wanted to spend the first night with us, which was fine/good. This morning he didn't seem to be in a hurry to go there, but it was on his mind. When he did call his mother, she was mad at him for not calling last night. Said she was up all night waiting for him. (We had said we would be coming Fri or Sat. Today is Saturday.) Ahhh. That's when he mentioned he just wants to go home. I hope their visit is going well.