On Friday, as I walked by Osman’s blacksmith garage I noticed that the entire yard is his now. Shpetim has moved his tile store to the plot of land just north on the road to Kruja. Shpetim was one of the first friends I made here. Most of my friendships have been the result of two men simply making time to talk together. I have been attempting to gather some Albanian shpreje (expressions) as a way of learning more of the language and also more of the culture here.
Shpetim asked me why I haven’t taken an Albanian wife, and I replied “Zoti e di,” (God knows) which is the most politically correct answer in my small quiver of cultural understanding. Shpetim said “Duke pyetur gjindet Stambolli,” (by asking located Istanbul). Any man seeking something diligently will, with the help of others, find it. He then went on to say that if I really wanted a wife, all I had to do was to ask enough people where to find her, and there she would be before me; like the capital of the civilized world.
As the toil of winter gives way to the toil of spring in Albania, wild flowers are sprouting here and there around the fields. One of the hardware purveyors in town has brought in about twenty blue wheel barrows for sale. In the field behind our church building there is a man gathering grass with scythe and pitchfork. Soon he will be forming this grass into a great heap for either his, or someone else’s cattle to eat throughout the year. The solitude of some work is so very calming so as to be irreplaceable.
albaniacalling 