Albania

Albania has a population of 4 million of whom 700,000 live in tirana. Another million live in Greece and nearby countries, where they went to escape the wars and seeking opportunity. Some now trying to return have found their places taken. The US has helped post communist albania but even so the average monthly income is under $100. . Saw the Mausoleum of the Albanian hero Gjergj Kastrioti in the small town of Lexhe, who in the 1440's has led the fight for freedom against the Turks.Also the splendid remains of the Castle of Rozafa, sitting on an impressive promontory (aren't most castles?). First built by the Illyrians (who were also in Kotor, Montenegro, location of my apartment, before making their way to become the Etruscans in Tuscany in Italy) in 4th century b.c.e. The castle has been occupied by Romans, Venetians, Turks, Serbs, Ottomans, and others. . Every country I have visited on this trip in central asia has been the multiple perpetrator and victim of war. One estimate has it that there have been 14,500 wars between 3,500 b.c.e. (origin of the state) and the end of the 20th century. Approximately 3.5 billion lives have been lost in these wars. There have been 300 years of peace in the same time period. That is 5.4% of the time humans are not slaughtering each other. . Unfortunately the National Museum of History was closed for renovation so i lost a prime learning opportunity. I was able, due to the persistence of a new friend/ businessman, Ferdy, to attend a performance of Don Carlos. Unexpectedly, it was a fine performance. The conductor, orchestra, chorus and most of the leads were quite capable- the equal of a Ft. Worth Opera performance. After the opera I got lost. The cab could not find my hotel. I asked to go to the Sheraton where the young man said, "In Albania you will not be lost." He changed the cab and I got home. The simple eloquence of that statement (it was after midnight) was reflected in the way I was treated by others. . The two most famous writers of Albania are Dritero Agolli, and Ismail Kadare. Two of Kadare's works are: The Palace of Dreams, and Three Elegies for Kosovo. He sought political asylum from the communists in France where he still lives. "the writer is the natural enemy of dictatorship." He has been short-listed for the Nobel Prize.(And it was while here that I learned the last of the major Serbians accused of war crimes in Kosovo and Bosnia, Mladic, had been finally arrested after running for 16 years). . And I happened on a ceramic artist, Mira, who told me she had studied under a famous Japanese artist of batik. I am pleased to add two of her pieces to my art, along with pleasant memories of a struggling but proud and friendly people.