Dritan and I have been together for...seven years now (Wow, I can hardly believe that every time I say it). In that time, I've learned a lot about his culture, and this trip really solidified all the things I had learned over the years. I feel closer to his family now, like I understand them better, like I want to be a part of their traditions and cultural understandings. Sometimes I think I have Albanian envy. :)
Maybe our third year together, Dritan went away over Christmas/New Years without me for some reason (I dont remember why or where, though, I have a terrible, terrible memory!) and I ended up spending New Years with his family by myself at his Uncle Gazi's house. It felt a little odd, but I certainly felt welcome. It was actually a very similar experience to my family's Thanksgiving tradition - about 25 of us cramed around a table, stuffing ourselves and having a good time. Culturaly and festively, New Years is the Albanian equivalent of American Thanksgiving and/or Christmas, I believe. There's always a ton of food, a ton of people, and a ton of toasts, and it's really, really important to be there to wish everyone a Happy New Year.*
We ate, we retired to the living room for a few presents and chatter, and then slowly we made our way back into the kitchen for dessert. Earlier there had been lots of translation, but by this time everyone was solely speaking Albanian, and I was doing my "pretending to be engaged" thing. What happened next though, didnt need any translation. At one point the table fell silent, and I looked around, trying to understand why. Then, someone started singing - slowly and softly at first, faltering on a few lines here or there. A few more people joined, and a few others made exclamations about the song. The chorus got louder as more people remembered the song. Someone leaned over to me "It's and old patriotic song, we learned it under communism. Every school child knew this song." Before long, the entire table was singing robustly in a sort of nostalgic, yet slightly sarcastic, voice. One song after another, the entire table continued to sing.
As the fourth or fifth song came to an end, someone went into the living room and started a CD with some very upbeat, but traditional Albanian music. Lindita grabbed Dritan's grandmother and began dancing around the living room. One by one, people joined in the dancing and singing, and before I knew it, we were fifteen people in this small living room singing and dancing our hearts out. I looked around at their faces and was kind of amazed - it was like nothing I had experienced before.
***
One of the last nights we were in Albania I had the opportunity to experience a similar phenomenon. We were at someone's house for dinner, about to sit down to eat, when the hostess suddenly turned the music up and grabbed my hand. You could tell she loved to sing and dance, and was quite taken with the song. What followed was 45 minutes of revelry that rivaled the New Year's celebration.
I think you need quick time player (not windows media player) to view these.
This one is my *favorite* Go Dritan!
Personally, I think it's really cool to be a part of a culture that is so expressive, and takes every opportunity to celebrate life and the good things in it. I myself cant imagine just bursting into song at dinner or getting up to have a dance at dinner. Or being so happy with that dancing and camaraderie that you delay dinner for an hour, just to listen to the songs and dance with your family and friends. But it seems like this is pretty normal behavior for my Albanian side, so just beware if you come to dinner at my house in the future... :)
*Gezuar Vitin e Ri = Happy New Year!
*Per shume vjet = And 100 more/long life!
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