MIXED VALUES IN THE SPIRAL

This last Friday I was given my site assignment for the next two years. I have been assigned to a university in Shkodër,  Albania. I will be leaving Librazhd in a week and will move into my own apartment after seven weeks with the family Ruppli.  When I announced my future location the family congratulated me on such a beautiful city in a beautiful region, and I also noticed an edge of sadness that I would be so far away.

I have experienced the traditional family values in Albania. Families here demonstrate openly the deep connection we all have to our childhood relationships with close family – our source of warmth, food and protection.  Those relationships are not usurped easily, as they often are in the US, by the urge for independence and identification with peer groups outside the family. The Aqif Ruppli family has culturally embraced me into their family in the last seven weeks and they are feeling a loss at my impending departure.   I, on the other hand, am anxious for my own apartment in Shkoder and the new work relationships I will make with the faculty at the university.  In my immediate experience the values of traditional culture meet the values of modern culture.

Within a short walking distance of this modest home I pass the homes of two brothers, a cherished mother and uncountable cousins.

You can see the unfinished home above for son

On the hill beside this home there is a partially completed structure which will be the future home of the eldest son. As I continue my walk, I notice that virtually every home has gardens occupying all available surrounding ground, and lines of pots where vegetables will emerge soon, grace of the frequent spring rain and coming warmth. Roses and other flowering plants find their place in the botanical arrangements. It is not unusual to see chickens scratching around the edges.

 

Entrance to my home

At the moment there are eight of us in this small living room, eating in turns at the coffee table with the vinyl table cloth that is cleaned fastidiously between each sitting.  The group includes the immediate family, and two cousins and a grandmother spending the week-end from a nearby town.

Family is life in Albania.  They are constantly asking me about mine.

There is laughter and arguing from moment to moment and pleasant smiles as they see me struggling to understand the meaning of these mild outbursts.

Soon I will go to my own apartment in Shkoder and meet my new colleagues and I will choose my own food and  I will drink my chai mal in solitude by an electric heater. I will begin to plan my classes and the other professional contributions I will make. I am happy as I anticipate this freedom from family responsibility and I am aware of the pride I feel in the strength of my independent self-identity.

My journey here is to support the emerging transition into a market economy and consequently the social values that go with modernity. I am glad for the benefits that I have gained with my modern American values of independence, achievement, equality and progress. My experience in Librazhd has made me aware of the values I have given up.

But I have hope as I continue my spiral journey.  This transition from Librazhd to Shkoder has reinforced my belief that, even as I move into my final decades, there are other destinations, more in mind than place, where my values will integrate in new and satisfying blends.

More news of Shkoder to follow.  Check in out on Wikipedia. I am happy with my site.