25 Random Things About Albania

1) President George W. Bush was the first sitting President to visit Albania.

2) The Albanians received him like a rock star.

3) Mother Teresa is Albanian.

4) Albanians love their sugar. It is not unusual for my visitors to ask for 5+ scoops of sugar in their tea or coffee.

5) Albanians eat an abundance of bread with each meal.

6) They do not eat bread with pasta.

7) During the years of Communism, in an attempt to protect the country from its “enemies,” the dictator Enver Hoxha built hundreds of thousands of concrete bunkers all over the country. With the money spent on these bunkers, each Albanian family could have had a house.


8) 90% of the landscape is mountainous.

9) Almost everybody has a cell phone.

10) Almost nobody has a house phone.

11) The alphabet has 36 letters, all phonetic.

12) The new movie “Taken” features the Albanian Mafia.

13) On the label of a popular brand of Albanian water, their slogan has been translated into English as, “Suffled How it Gush From the Source of the Woods of Tepelena.”

14) Jim Belushi is not only Albanian, but was born in the Korce province. He recently came for a visit.

15) There are tons of thousands of unstable explosives buried throughout Albania. Last year, an entire village was blown up in an attempt to disarm the weapons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO15dZIH_f8&feature=related

16) Albanians celebrate a marriage with several weddings, including one that’s only for the bride and another just for the groom.

17) Although predominantly Muslim, Albania has a rich Christian heritage.

18) Most Albanians clean every day like its spring cleaning…and all before 10am.

19) Parents are unaware of their children’s romantic relationships until engagement is announced.

20) The majority of the cars on the road are Mercedes.

21) Most Albanians make their own lamb jerky during the winter and eat it with beans.

22) House hold pets: N/A.

23) Albanians protected their own Jews during the Holocaust while also offering shelter to other Jews who escaped into Albania from Austria, Serbia and Greece.

24) The world knows this country as Albania, but the Albanians know the country Shqiperia, “land of the Eagles.”

25) Albania was among the first countries to support the war on terrorism, with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Okay...I lied, it's going to be 27 things!!

26) Albanian houses are not built with closets or any room for storage.

27) The youngest son is obligated to live with and care for his parents until their deaths. When he marries, his bride moves in with him and his parents!