I have already – some years ago –
read from somewhere that Muslims in Albania ate pork. But this is too sensitive
for me to say it in our country. It is like telling Javanese that the founder
of the Demak sultanate in the 16th century was in fact a Chinese
(Radin Pateh; a Muslim though).
To me, it was perfect understandable.
Albania was a Communist country, but strangely not a Soviet Union satellite. It
had been a close ally of Maoist China for many years. Religions were swept
largely underground, so even though Albanians are now free to practise Islam,
pork and wine are no longer taboos to them.
Our tour guide Lito was not shy to
disclose the fact that he is a pork-loving Muslim. He claims that pork is eaten
by most Albanians, even though they are Muslim. He said he had to hide this
truth from Muslim tourists though. He was candid enough to share with us a
couple of anecdotes where he found himself totally lacking as a Muslim to his charge.
Tirana, which is the capital of
Albania, still retains the “Soviet-era” ambience. We were quickly shooed away
by a guard when we walked too near to a rather dull building purported that of
the president’s. The monumental building designed by the ex-dictator’s daughter
is still there, but in a state of total neglect. Surprisingly, we were told
that she is now one of the richest individuals in the country!
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| Dictator's pride |
Lito was proud to tell us that the
accommodation that was afforded us was a five-star hotel. Apparently there were
only two hotels with such classification in Tirana. In reality, it didn’t have
much of a class; two of the three lifts were out of service. The lobby smelt of
age. Even though we wanted to support tourism, there was hardly anything that
can qualify as a representative “souvenir” from there.
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| Out of service - at least they tell you |
But Albanians are a hardy lot. They
formed substantial minorities in the adjacent countries. And I believe they are
a very shrewd lot. The tour company that is taking us through the Balkans is actually
owned by Albanians.
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| Can you see "UFO' on the wall of the university? A faculty/school dedicated to that study in Albania? |
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