The Oddities

Being visitors in a foreign land, we are somewhat of an oddity. Full of curiosity and with little shame, the Albanians ask us questions all the time. I’ve decided to share with you some of my favorites!

1) Where are you from?
2) What are you doing in Albania? Okay…I know these top two aren’t interesting, but keep reading, they’ll get better, I promise!
3) How is your family? This is always followed by more family questions…Family is SOOO important in this culture! I LOVE this and really enjoy telling about each member of my family!
4) Which place is better, Albania or America? This is a TOUGH one to answer, because the truth is America is my home and first in my heart. But the Albanians seems to love hearing great things about their little land, so usually I answer by saying that I love the hospitality and kindness of the Albanian people, as well saying how beautiful the country is.
5) Why don’t you have a car? Answer: we can’t afford one. They usually don’t believe us, (because aren’t ALL Americans rich) and proceed to ask…
6) Why don’t you ask your parents to buy you a car?
7) Can you find me an American husband? I was even offered a dog in exchange for a man!
8) Next time you go to the States, can you bring me _________? Fill in the blank with any of the following…peanut butter, medicine, digital cameras, diaper rash cream, underwear and my favorite...a Hummer! In this case, it was a salesman whom we met when we were furniture shopping. He was really pushy and made both of us feel incredibly uncomfortable. Every time we passed his shop, he asked us to go for coffee. It got to the point that we’d even start walking different roads to avoid him! Well, on a whim, one day we accepted his invite for coffee, and found out why he’d been so insistent…he wanted us to arrange buying and shipping a Hummer from the States!
9) How much money do you make? I hate this question! Usually I avoid it by saying something generic like, “it’s different every month.” But I’ve just recently started responding, “It’s personal.”
10) Did you fall in love or was your marriage arranged? Answer: LOVE!!