Back to Normal

One year ago yesterday, March 17, 2010, I arrived in Albania. I am in absolute awe that I have been here for a year now. I can still remember events and even small details that happened last April, like it was yesterday. I really feel like the time has flown by. But the fact of the matter is I have lived in Albania for 1 year and have loved ALMOST every minute of it. At first living in Albania was work, now it just feels like home.

My Peace Corps journey has been absolutely nothing like what I had expected. Prior to my departure from the USA I thought about how hard, simple, long, and tiring it was going to be to live in a foreign country for the next 27 months. Is this what my life here in Albania has turned out to be? Absolutely not. Sure, it took a while for me to become comfortable enough with the language to relax and just 'have fun' when conversing with other Albanians, I have had to creatively come up with activities to occupy myself for the first few months in my site (it was summer = no school), and I constantly felt guilty about the lack of change I was accomplishing, but the reality of Peace Corps is completely different. At first everything is hard and a to-do, shall we say, but once you get into the swing of things everything starts to fit into place.

I finally feel like my life is 'normal' again. Actually, life has felt 'normal' for quite some time now. The things that once completely baffled me are now part of my everyday life and they no longer stick out when reflecting back on my day. I now love it when the old men in town say hello just so they can correct me on the mistakes I make when speaking to them, I know it means they care and want me to improve my Shqip. I no longer expect to teach 10th grade without the students acting like animals, and I know that trying to accomplish what I would on a 'normal' day in the US will take more like a week or maybe two in Albania. Nesër, it's always nesër (tomorrow). I am fully aware that these things will happen on a day-to-day basis, but to be completely honest, none of it really bothers me anymore. I no longer see or acknowledge the oddities as I once did. As one of my friends has described it, "I have fallen in step with the Albanian way of life." This lifestyle has become my new 'normal'.

What has been helpful when trying to understand why things the way they are here, in Albania, has been to just not ask why? When asking this question the answer always seems to be: "because it's Albania". Yes, this may sound close-minded or a complete joke (which it has become), but to be truthful it is wicked hard to come up with logical or sensible reasons for why things are the way they are. They just are.

Living here is difficult and there have definitely been lots of ups and downs throughout this first year of service. When Peace Corps says that "It's the hardest job you will ever have" they are 100% right. But life and my Peace Corps service now seems just a little easier because my life is back to 'normal'.

Violent Protest Leads to Political Unrest

Ok, we will have to start with a brief history lesson and synopsis of what has been going on in Albania for the past year. Since the previous election for Prime Minister, there has been a great divide between the Democratic and Socialist Parties here in Albania. Edi Rama, the Mayor of Tirana and the head of the Socialist Party accused the current Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, of rigging the votes in order for him to be re-elected as the Prime Minister of Albania. The direct reaction to this incident was a hunger strike, led by Rama, outside the offices of Berisha and other Ministry officials, which took place last spring. Following the hunger strike, Rama continued to place pressure on Sali Berisha and the Democratic Party.

In January, a videotape was released to the media showing the Vice Prime Minister verbally speaking about and accepting bribes in return for favors. In addition to the exposure of the Vice Prime Minister's participation in corruption, Sali Berisha was also mentioned on this tape. After the release and airing of the tape, the Vice Prime Minister resigned from his position. As a result, Edi Rama and the Socialist Party have since asked Sali Berisha to step down as Prime Minister because of his alleged participation in corruption. Berisha has denied the corruption allegations and has rejected the request to resign as Prime Minister.

On January 21st the Socialist Party gathered outside the Municipality in Tirana and demonstrated their desire for Berisha to resign from his position as Prime Minister. Unfortunately, the rally got out of hand. Cars were lit on fire and many protesters began throwing rocks along with other objects in the direction of the Ministry building (which was surrounded and guarded by the riot police). Members of the Socialist Party were not the only ones who became violent. Many of the demonstrators were beaten by police, taken to jail, and one man was shot dead. It is still not 100% clear what happened or whom the orders came from, but it has been stated that Sali Berisha or someone close to him in the Ministry ordered the gunshot, which resulted in the death of a demonstrator. There were a total of 3 deaths as well as many injured.

Since this violent event took place, there have been protests conducted by the Socialist Party weekly, every Friday. These events have taken place in many large cities around Albania. Luckily, most of the demonstrations have been peaceful. In my personal opinion, the fact that these demonstrations have been peaceful has had a lot to do with the fact that so many Albanians still remember the violent riots and upheaval that Albania experienced in 1997. These actions were caused by the collapse of large pyramid schemes, in which many people lost the majority of their money. Coincidentally, the country's President at that time was Sali Berisha...

As shown in recent history, Albania is a country that could be prone to violent protests and political upheaval. When looking at various other countries in which citizens have risen up and overthrown or tried to overthrow political regimes, they all have a few similarities. Albania, like other countries that have experienced political unrest, has a large unemployment rate, the majority of the population is young, and education is not mandatory after the age of 13. These factors frequently contribute to most political uprisings.

These political demonstrations began around the same time as the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, ect. Looking at those violent demonstrations in comparison to what is going on here in Albania, while keeping in mind the violence of 1994, Albania has come a long way in these few short years.