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My body was sore all over from days of hiking up mountains so I decided to loaf all day here.
The one thing worth mentioning at this point is that we don't often hear in the US about secular muslim states, yet Kosovo and Albania clearly are such. There are fewer scarves and birkas here than in San Francisco, and more short skirts on the streets of any Albania city than in Hollywood. There doesn't seem to be much capitalist buzz, however. Life is at a slow pace and hanging out in cafes is the main recreation for men of all ages. There is some construction going on but you don't get the impression that there is much 'industry' hereabouts. Making money is, of course, on people's minds but this seems to amount, mostly, to opening a shop selling cellphones or tourist trinkets.
Albania has been bounced around so often in the past century it's a wonder there is any Albania identity left. Turkish occupation till 1912, brief democracy, a king for twenty years or so, invasion by Mussolini, occupation by Hitler, then the Commies. Enver Hoxha's dictatorship of the proletariat was as rigorous as any on the planet. He found Mao insufficiently socialist and cast the chinese out in the 70's. Then, finally, this soporific democracy that they have now.
I get the impression that most Albanians would like to incorporate Kosovo within Albania. But in Kosovo I heard only pride about independence. So Kosovo's independence seems genuinely tentative with the Serbs on one side and the Albanians on the other, both coveting their territory.
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