Off to Shkoder

My first time in Tirana was overwhelemed with the energy of NATO acceptance. A very, very big deal here. The road from Tirana to Shkoder is a new one. Unlike the road between Elbasan and Tirana it is flat and relatively wide. It does not wind through the beautiful mountains, nor does it provide exceptional vistas or roadside stands with fresh olive oil but it is fast and easy.


The bus ride should have been smooth. However it wasn’t. About 40 minutes into our ride, the other trainee and I, along with everyone else on the bus heard a sequence of extremely loud screeching noises. Most everyone looked out the window to see a relatively new Mercedes careening off the road into a rock. I don’t know whose fault it was.

Some thought the driver was trying to pass someone in front; I didn’t see it I don’t know. Whatever the reason, the man across the aisle from me was visibly shaken. He started to complain loudly to the ticket collector, who tried to calm him down and then decided that the best course of action was to take himself and his family off the bus. The ticket collector got the driver to stop and the man, his wife and child deboarded in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. A few minutes later, the driver got pulled into a gas station by a police officer. The officer got on the bus, spoke to the driver and then got off the bus with the driver. They chatted. After an acceptable bit of time passed, I started to get a nervous. I thought I too might be stuck in the middle of the road, but unlike the man with the family, I didn’t speak Shqip or know where I was. I started to text my volunteer hosts when the driver appeared and we took off. I should note that after the incident he drove much, much more conservatively and I felt quite safe.


I arrived in Shkoder expecting to see the lake I had heard so much about. I didn’t. I saw a theater and huge empty hole in the center of a roundabout wrapped in white. Later, I was told that’s where the statue of 5 heroes used to be. As I stood there waiting for them, I tried very hard to see the beauty in Shkoder. I couldn’t. Admittedly, I was really disappointed. My hosts picked me up and we walked to their house. It was on that walk that my disappointment literally evaporated and I fell in love with Shkoder. Shkoder is beautiful- believe the hype.

We walked near mosques and churches. Along a restored pedestrian street that seemed lifted from a movie. Down roads with beautiful and diverse architecture which effortlessly melded together.

I put my stuff down in my hosts’ apartment. The married couple I stayed with was extremely hospitable and welcoming. They showed me their fantastic shower- a closed stall- and I thought I had come to the lap of luxury. We chatted for a while. Then Wendy, the wife and technically my hostess, took me on a very detailed tour of the city.




Wendy explained the religious issues, pointed out stores, neighborhoods, spoke about the history of the city and explained her work in Shkoder. We passed a few organizations she was connected with and I got a bit of a feel of the work she does. It was getting dark and as I had started traveling what felt like forever, I and everyone else was ready for dinner.


Before I talk about dinner, I should divulge that Shkoder is known for its Italian food. The entire city has a strong connection to Italy. When communism ended, Italian money flowed in to Shkoder to repair its churches. Many Shkodrans are catholic but more importantly for me, most of the restaurants are Italian. Italian restaurants mean delicious fresh pizza, pasta and fish.


Wendy and Will, her husband, took me to a great new pizzeria down the street. There we met up with another volunteer and her friend. We chatted and I started to get a fuller picture of the work the different volunteers do in one city and the collaborative opportunities that “site mates” create.


After dinner, Wendy took me to Chicago, a beautiful restaurant overlooking the city to meet one of her many counterparts.
Fiona was recovering from a sickness, but it was still great to meet her, though unfortunately, I couldn’t carry on a conversation as well as I would have liked. However, the company was great and the view was fantastic. I could see the entire city glittering from that point and as we sat there, there was a short black-out reminding us that even though Shkoder feels like a modern European city, the infrastructure in Albania is still far from perfect. But then again, so does the infrastructure in the US.