Bread Quest Albania

Tonight we hosted a wine and cheese reception for a few people we know here in Albania.  With a guest list of approximately forty people but no idea of how many would actually attend, I decided early on in my planning process to keep things simple.  Some of you may recall my blogging about the ordeal that was last year's wine and cheese event.  This year there would be no fancy pairings of wines with corresponding cheeses; instead we would showcase our favorite cheeses that we can readily find in Albania (the selection has improved greatly over the past year) and pair them with our American wines from California and Maryland.   Despite what the invitation says, some people expect more food than cheese so I decided to cook up a spiral cut ham from our freezer (we really need to start using up what we have in there before we move) and to round things out I would also serve bread. Originally I had the idea that I would bake a series of artisan breads myself but once I did a reality check, I decided that buying the bread would be the smartest thing to do.  Simple enough, right?

Of course not.  In Tirana you can find bakeries selling fresh white bread on every corner.  The bread is good and inexpensive but not very imaginative.  I wanted a little something more.  During my planning process I remembered that there was a German style bread bakery in nearby Durres that made real artisan loaves.  Since they have the variety of flavors and styles that bakeries in Tirana lack, I decided this was the way to go.  Last week with the assistance of an Albanian friend I dutifully placed my order and made arrangements to pick my order up at their bakery this afternoon at one o'clock sharp. This would give me enough time to get back home to bake the a fore mentioned ham and finish the other final preparations before our guests arrived.

This is where things started to get really interesting.  When I asked for directions to the bakery I was told that I didn't want to actually drive myself since the bakery was a bit hard to find.  Now if an Albanian tells you some place is hard to locate you know it has to be difficult.  With this in mind I made arrangements for an Albanian driver to bring me on the quick trip.   Albanian streets are notoriously unmarked with building numbers being even less evident.  I don't know if I've ever seen a street address that I would readily recognize.  Knowing all of this I felt as though I had made the right decision in getting a driver to bring me.

Of course it was pouring rain when we set out this afternoon so what should have been a half hour drive ended up taking twice as long.  When I asked the driver if he knew where we were going he said that we would call the bakery when we arrived in Durres and they would guide us to their location.  Close to an hour later we arrived in the city and a telephone call was made.  I only half listened to the Albanian conversation but also didn't really pay attention to our location.  After a few minutes we once again pulled over on the side of the road and another phone call was made.  And then five minutes later this pattern was repeated.  To switch things up a bit the next call was initiated by the bakery.  This continued for several iterations until we made a u-turn and headed back in the direction we had come from.  Keep in mind that the rain was still pouring down at a blinding rate.  Another series of phone calls lead to our pulling over to the side of the road and the driver getting out to ask directions. A series of hand gestures had us turning around again, making a right then pulling over to make yet another phone call.  This time we backed up half a block and made a left turn at what I was assured was our destination.  Following a rutted dirt road we circled what looked like an abandoned building and found ourselves in an abandoned parking lot.  We asked directions from a group of young men loitering in the rainy parking lot but they were unable to offer any assistance to us. We once again back tracked, asked for more directions from by-standers, made another phone call, then headed down another road through several feet of flood water.  Finally, looking to the right I spotted our destination. The sign was so small and obscure that we almost missed it.  Ah, not only was this an Albanian business but it had a real Albanian address.  If you aren't a local it is unlikely that you will be able to find it.  After a quick, two minute transaction our car was loaded with freshly baked bread and we were on way back home through the rain.

Only in Albania would a "quick" trip to the bakery end up being such a production.  But then again, most things in Albania are a production.  I should know this now and realize that nothing is as simple as it should be.  The good news is that in the end, the excursion was totally worth the effort since the bread was delicious and all of our guests loved it.  The bad news is that I would never be able to find the bakery again.

Living In A PSA World

I used to hate watching commercials; they extended what should have been a twenty-two minute television show to a full half hour and inundated me with sales pitches for products I neither had an interest in nor needed.  Our move from Norfolk to Washington resulted in our upgrading our cable television plan and with it came DVR capabilities.  I've never watched a whole lot of television but being able to skip over the commercials was pure heaven (and ironically made my television viewing more efficient).  When we first moved overseas and I was introduced to the commercial free American Forces Network (AFN) I thought it would be pure bliss.  (Because AFN is operated by the Department of Defense, airing any traditional commercials could be construed as a product endorsement and are therefore not allowed).  But then I realized that we didn't really have commercial free television; rather traditional commercials had been replaced with public service announcements which proved to be more annoying than the worst discount furniture advertisement ever was.  Plus, no commercials means no Super Bowl commercials, which in my way of thinking, is the sole reason for watching the biggest football game of the year.

So what does a Department of Defense endorsed public service announcement look like?  They are all about propaganda.  While most of the topics are serious, more often than not, the message is often lost in the bad (intentional? unintentional? I don't know what is worse) acting.  It might be a young women portraying no military spouse I have ever seen and who looks better suited for a sports bar or nail salon spot, espousing the benefits of Exchange shopping or it might be a diverse group of soldiers, sailors, and airmen urging young people to enlist.  Serious messages about domestic violence and suicide prevention are necessary but dark enough to kill the mood of even the funniest comedy.  Sometimes we you can see multi-star Generals and Admirals talking about safety abroad, family values, or command morale.  What Right Looks Like, the latest educational campaign pokes fun at the right and wrong way to approach life.  Video snippets show us how not to talk to co-workers, interact with our host nation nationals, and other etiquette related behavior then demonstrate what proper behavior looks like. Although varied and humorous or serious or inadvertently both, after a while all of these messages begin to sound and look the same.  I never thought I'd find myself longing for an obnoxious salesman yelling at me through the television screen, but I do.

Every once in a while AFN messes up and we do get a glimpse of a real U.S. based commercial.  This usually happens during live programming and the glimpse of American commercialism is a treat for sore eyes. During one particular Sunday evening football game this past fall we saw an entire Subway commercial and half of a Honda one before the screen cut to one of our regular PSA spots. Imagine our brief excitement!  When operating smoothly, however, we can expect to view a slew of PSAs at twenty and fifty after the hour.  I'm realizing that I can discuss SOFAs, the top European travel locations for military (Edelweiss Resort), and the steps we must take to prepare for retirement, but I have no idea what new products Nabisco is selling, the latest American fashion trends, or what movies are opening soon in theaters near you/us.  In conversations with my U.S. based friends many cultural references are simply lost on me.  I am both geographically and mentally separated from American culture.  Some days I miss it while others I don't.  I do, however, know "what right looks like."

A False Sense of Security

Despite living in an ever increasing dangerous world, I feel that so many of us walk around with a false sense of security.  I know that most days I do and it takes a tragic turn of events for me to do a reality check.  I chalk it up to being an American living overseas in a country that for the most part, loves Americans.  While a predominantly Muslim country on paper, we are fortunate that Albania lacks the radical and extremist tendencies that dominate other demographically similar countries.  Albania has also has a long appreciation for the United States dating back to 1919 when President Woodrow Wilson lobbied for the protection of Albanian independence.  After a long period of self imposed isolationism, this appreciation was revived at the end of the last century due to U.S. involvement in the Balkan Wars of the 1990s and it continues today thanks to the support from the United States for Albania's 2009 entrance into N.A.T.O. and our ongoing recognition of Kosovo as an independent nation.  (The population of Kosovo is approximately 93% Albanian and a very nationalistic vibe permeates the entire region).  Throughout the country, and the region, it is common to see the American flag waving alongside Albania's red and black flag.  Because of this level of adoration, it really is easy to get lulled into a false sense of security.  But we must not let this happen.

We see daily reminders that the United States is not revered throughout the world and in many countries being American diplomats can be a very dangerous proposition.  Last Friday's explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey and September's attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, drives this point home.  Although Sana'a, Cairo, and Damascus are in the forefront of our recent memories,  these attacks on American Embassies and American ideals are not something new.  We only have to look to the 1998 coordinated bombings of the Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the 1983 attack in Beirut that killed 63 Embassy employees or even Ben Affleck's 2012 bio-pic Argo which portrayed the 1979 hostage situation  in Tehran.  Clearly, there is a large segment of the world that does not like us.

So how do we keep ourselves safe or is it even possible to do so?  I feel that safety is a relative term with everyone having a different interpretation of what is and isn't safe.  However, I for one, refuse to live in fear of what might happen.  The best part of living overseas is getting out and exploring our surroundings.  To not get out and see the world would mean missing out on many of life's great adventures. And it would also mean letting the "bad guys" win. I for one, refuse to let that happen.  So where do I personally go from here?  Just as I can't assume everything and every place is safe, I can't assume it isn't.  I am reminded that I need to remain alert and aware of my surroundings at all times.  If I do so I can continue to get out and explore my world.