[Fier, 5/14/21] By February of 2021, there weren’t just rumors of certain countries reopening soon, but online whispers the entire world might be locked down presently, thus stranding everyone indefinitely wherever. It wasn’t that farfetched. With hardly any flights in or out of most countries, hundreds of thousands of tourists had already been stuck, resulting in loss of jobs, unpaid mortgages and drained wallets, not to mention separation from family. Millions of third-worlders working abroad also couldn’t go home.
There is something almost nostalgic about your doomladen style of anti-communism. I swear the lights in my Moscow apartment seem to dim, and I can almost hear the rumbling thunderclouds gather overhead. I guess it reminds me of life before the plandemic, when it was worth arguing about.
But I still really enjoy your articles (I even donated by paypal because I can't afford all these substack subs) even if I disagree with your anti-communist politics, which by the way, give you away as American educated. The British style is indignant and the Germans gripe, while Americans tend to moralize.
I also found Albania to be a bit of a surprise, albeit a tiny one. I enjoyed Serbia more, but I did give a long ride to an off-duty Albanian cop, a very friendly guy about 30 - nothing like the prickish US police - and he was very adamant that nothing was better under in the EU. (That was the same story I heard from most people I've spoken with throughout Eastern Europe.) But that was in 2015, before the plandemic. It seems like another life. Anyway...
I emigrated to Russia from the US in 2014, and I'd invite you to come to Moscow, (if you can ever get a visa) and I'd be delighted to buy you lunch. But I'll warn you, Russia is full of unrepentant, even proud communists... though I think even you would be hard pressed to find anything wrong with the magnificent, Stalin-era metro system. Cheers!
I spent a month in Tirana myself and enjoyed it as a blissful escape from tyrannous UK.
They have since upped restrictions in Albania (some vax mandates and test needed to enter). However, it's still one of the least vaccinated countries in Europe. I also think enforcement of future tyranny will be less stringent there than in much of Western Europe.
Strangers were very helpful to me too. I got the feeling they were a bit saddened by the poor reputation Albania has all over the world and desperate to try to create a more positive one.
Younger people especially appeared a bit ashamed to be Albanian. Students idolize US/UK and EU membership as progressive. Many did no realise that with their focus on traditional family values and their comparative lack of globohomo influence, they were in a far better state than their 'progressive' neighbours. The things I admired - tradition, culture, family values - many people I spoke to were desperate to get away from. I also got a sense people were very materialistic and money obsessed. But always very pleasant.
There is something almost nostalgic about your doomladen style of anti-communism. I swear the lights in my Moscow apartment seem to dim, and I can almost hear the rumbling thunderclouds gather overhead. I guess it reminds me of life before the plandemic, when it was worth arguing about.
But I still really enjoy your articles (I even donated by paypal because I can't afford all these substack subs) even if I disagree with your anti-communist politics, which by the way, give you away as American educated. The British style is indignant and the Germans gripe, while Americans tend to moralize.
I also found Albania to be a bit of a surprise, albeit a tiny one. I enjoyed Serbia more, but I did give a long ride to an off-duty Albanian cop, a very friendly guy about 30 - nothing like the prickish US police - and he was very adamant that nothing was better under in the EU. (That was the same story I heard from most people I've spoken with throughout Eastern Europe.) But that was in 2015, before the plandemic. It seems like another life. Anyway...
I emigrated to Russia from the US in 2014, and I'd invite you to come to Moscow, (if you can ever get a visa) and I'd be delighted to buy you lunch. But I'll warn you, Russia is full of unrepentant, even proud communists... though I think even you would be hard pressed to find anything wrong with the magnificent, Stalin-era metro system. Cheers!
Excellent read.
I spent a month in Tirana myself and enjoyed it as a blissful escape from tyrannous UK.
They have since upped restrictions in Albania (some vax mandates and test needed to enter). However, it's still one of the least vaccinated countries in Europe. I also think enforcement of future tyranny will be less stringent there than in much of Western Europe.
Strangers were very helpful to me too. I got the feeling they were a bit saddened by the poor reputation Albania has all over the world and desperate to try to create a more positive one.
Younger people especially appeared a bit ashamed to be Albanian. Students idolize US/UK and EU membership as progressive. Many did no realise that with their focus on traditional family values and their comparative lack of globohomo influence, they were in a far better state than their 'progressive' neighbours. The things I admired - tradition, culture, family values - many people I spoke to were desperate to get away from. I also got a sense people were very materialistic and money obsessed. But always very pleasant.