{"id":19,"date":"2014-07-16T00:00:14","date_gmt":"2014-07-15T14:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/musaka.me\/?p=19"},"modified":"2016-01-03T13:35:04","modified_gmt":"2016-01-03T02:35:04","slug":"16-jul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musaka.me\/?p=19","title":{"rendered":"16 JUL"},"content":{"rendered":"

KORCE-VOSKOP<\/p>\n

I was the only one awake in the morning, actually Bashkim was already awake and out of the house.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After stepping out onto the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>balcony<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span><\/span>view<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Kor<\/span>\u00e7\u00eb<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>morning<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0light for the first time. I pondered about how unreal this all felt. A mental shock caused by being in Australia the morning before, then waking in Kor<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00e7\u00eb<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Aleks came out of his room rubbing sleep from his eyes and told me were going to have breakfast at\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>hotel<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0next door to his\u00a0<\/span><\/span>apartment<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Bashkim<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0was already there enjoying a coffee and cigarette.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span><\/span>design<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Konti<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0Hotel\u00a0<\/span><\/span>caf\u00e9<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0looked like a set where pair of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Sigurimi<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0Spies would meet to trade information. The tea, eggs & olives on fresh barley bread was fresh & deliscious. Though they had no idea how to make toast. They didn’t even have a toaster. When they were asked to toast the bread they essentially just heated it up – a first world problem if I ever saw one. I gave up trying to explain and just enjoyed my breakfast.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The first port of call for the morning was\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Dion<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0Travel – which is Aleks’ business. He had organized a morning tour with one of his lovely employees named Bruna, a local girl who showed us some amazing sights.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Firstly, the oldest\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>first<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>bank<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/b><\/strong>\u00a0in Kor<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00e7\u00eb<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>The first cinema in Albania –\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Cinema Millennium<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0Kor<\/span>\u00e7\u00eb<\/span>\u00a0library and our lovely tour guide\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>Bruna<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>Guri\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Madhi<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Art gallery<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0– which was unfortunately closed for the day.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Italian<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Bomboniere<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0period\u00a0<\/span><\/span>architecture<\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0First Albanian\u00a0<\/span><\/span>School<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0<\/span><\/span>Anonymous Warrior<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Monument<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0– Partisan.\u00a0Various bazaars,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>shops<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>, cafes,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>apartments<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>houses<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span><\/span>between<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0specific tour sites we were visiting.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One of the highlights of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>our<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0tour was the National\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Museum<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Medieval Art<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>, which housed the largest collection in the world. Bruna was a most interesting guide very knowledgeable about Kor<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00e7\u00eb<\/span>s history. No\u00a0<\/span>photos were allowed inside, so I purchased a small color booklet for $2AU – scammed!\u00a0The Museum was setup\u00a0<\/span><\/span>inside<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>cathedral<\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0The\u00a0<\/span><\/span>steeples<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0are no longer there. Like most\u00a0<\/span><\/span>cathedrals<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0they were destroyed by the Communist Government when religious division was banned.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Parked just next door to the Museum was a pimped out\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Mercedes<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Benz<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Hearse.\u00a0We continued on with the tour, but rather than a ridged itinerary we started to just\u00a0<\/span><\/span>meander<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to our destinations. Sometimes not even getting there, but\u00a0<\/span><\/span>diverging<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to other points of interest.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0headed for the Vangjush\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Mio<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Park<\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0The route there was\u00a0<\/span><\/span>dotted<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0with\u00a0<\/span><\/span>these<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Communist<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>period<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Art<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Deco<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>sculptures<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>. The locals thought they were eye sores. I believed different. You make up your own mind!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Cobble stone<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0roads that lead to public\u00a0<\/span><\/span>monuments<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to Communism were up to 500yo.\u00a0I thought the icon for this\u00a0<\/span><\/span>bank<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0was very reminiscent of the Russian Hammer and Sickle.\u00a0Stopped for Giros, which come with chips inside the cone shape wrapped bread. Well I guess even these\u00a0<\/span><\/span>guys<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0made it in.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tour then headed for the oldest\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Gami<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(<\/span><\/span>Mosque<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>) in Kor\u00e7\u00eb<\/span>. It was being renovated. Christianity and Islamic\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>Albanian<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0lived side by side without religious persecution or violence for many years.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>The tour continued on, we wanted to go\u00a0<\/span><\/span>off road<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0so to speak, to see the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>back<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>streets<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0where\u00a0<\/span><\/span>tourists<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0would normally not\u00a0<\/span><\/span>venture<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to.\u00a0It was with this attitude on this side of the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>city<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0that we\u00a0<\/span><\/span>stumbled<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0upon the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Old<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Bazaar<\/span><\/span><\/a>, which has been in operation for several hundred years. The\u00a0<\/span><\/span>shop<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>stall<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0owners were predominantly Egyptian.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It was time to\u00a0<\/span><\/span>make<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0our way\u00a0<\/span><\/span>back<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to Dion Travel as the time was getting on and we had other stuff to do.\u00a0We said our thanks and goodbyes to Bruna, as well as give her a shining reference to Aleks regarding her knowledge and candor on tour. We were immediately took off to the local\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>Kor<\/span>\u00e7\u00eb<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Brewery<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0<\/span><\/span>lunch<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and meet cousin Serif.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After\u00a0<\/span><\/span>lunch<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0I finally got a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>mobile sim<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0card from\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Albtelecom<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0Eagle. $12AU for unlimited data, unlimited calls to other Alb Eagle phones and 400 minutes to all other carriers. Unfortunately the sim did not roam outside of Albania. Which wasn’t a big deal deal until I ventured into Macedonia later on. Signal reception was reasonable.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Apparently Albtelecom is one of the only mobile networks that international security agencies can’t trace you through. In other words I think maybe the Albanian Mafioso probably have something to do with telling the worlds security agencies to get lost – very Albanian think to do!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After sorting out a sim card Serif offered to drive me to\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Voskop<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0in his new BMW SUV. It was a very exciting moment. Finally after all these years I was\u00a0<\/span><\/span>on-route<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/em>\u00a0to Voskop. Possibly unintentionally, to set the mood, Serif played a CD of traditional Albanian village music as we approached my dads village.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I was quiet & reflective,\u00a0thinking how my dad may have walked this path for first 15 years of his life. Probably with a donkey in toe. Serif was silent, not a word, I think he picked up on my reflective mood. I finally broke the silence by asking him to let me know when the village is in sight. He immediately respond by pointing to the roof tops just peeking out ahead of us a couple kilometers.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We enters the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>outskirts<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of the village, which he described as being much larger and developed than it was even back as early as the 1991’s – the end of Communism.\u00a0We\u00a0<\/span><\/span>crossed<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0a small river and headed into the heart of Voskop. Greeted by a concrete\u00a0<\/span><\/span>pylon<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0which reflected the original history of Voskop during the Communist period.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It was easy to find Gurali’s house as the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>directions<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0referred to the house being next door to the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Gami<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(Mosque).\u00a0It was so warming to be greeted with such love and smiles and hugs from people I have never met or even communicated with in my whole life.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It was also quite odd to be greeted in a room\u00a0<\/span><\/span>full of people<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>, in one little room there was Fezilet, Bora, Mariglen, Stolie, Xhoni, Amirildo, Meco, Ramadan, Milen, Marcella, Gurali and Husen. With Tatjana and (kids)\u00a0Xhildi and Orjada on a Skype session. I am guessing they set up the Skype session to help me settle in as the whole thing was incredibly overwhelming.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We talked and laughed and joked and even brought to tears with the whole affair. Stolie’s daughter Bora was a godsend as she could speak excellent English, which made communication so much easier. Bora became my official Albanian Voskop translator from that point on.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually Gurali suggested we go for a walk to see the house my dad grew up in. The house was apparently the first house in the village. We stopped at the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>back gate<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0first.\u00a0Then walked around to the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>front<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>house<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>. I was quietly excited but, at the same time I was observing how I felt because up until this point in time I had a mental impression of the house for all these years and the real house and impression were about to collide.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Gurali, Bora, Milen, Mariglen and now\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Vjola, Su Ela<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and another young girl had joined us out front whilst I was walking around the yard looking for the almond tree that dad took a cutting from and brought to Australia when he visited c1984. Couldn’t find the actual tree in that yard.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It was time to venture\u00a0<\/span><\/span>inside<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>house<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>. The kids were all silly and playful. It was interesting how they had no connection to what was happening in my reality, this special moment of connecting to the house dad grew up in. To the kids it was just another moment in time, nothing so special about this moment. Where as I was existing in a fusion between old memories of stories and photos from a time long gone and new experiences in the present moment. I was essentially lacing these new experiences with commentary from the past, neatly placing these new memories into predefined compartments that have been prepared over years.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It was getting very dark by now, no street lights, so I couldn’t really see much inside at all. Couldn’t take any\u00a0<\/span><\/span>successful<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>photos<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0if I tried. In fact my phone battery died completely just as I (literally) took my first step into the house!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After walking around a dark house and talking for some time whilst the kids were having fun, it was time to head back to Gurali’s house for dinner.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Rice, chicken, salad, fasule (my favorite) & the yummy dessert sheker pare. The tastes of home were waiting for me. I missed my mum very much at this moment!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I was still overwhelmed for the rest of the evening. And over dinner I was excited and eager to get into the minds of all the amazingly warm souls who were on the dinner table with me. Bora was the key to unlock the oral stories of my dad that some of these people held in waiting.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By the time we left the dinner table it was time for bed. Gurali insisted that I sleep in his bed upstairs whilst he slept on the couch downstairs. I tried my hardest to refuse the offer thinking how wrong it is that a 65+yo man sleeps on the couch whilst I get the lord treatment. But his argument was just too bullet proof, I couldn’t refuse any further and resorted to enjoying his humble offer of a warm comfortable bed to sleep on.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A jam packed day filled with non stop new experiences from the moment I woke to the moment I put my head down on the pillow to sleep.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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KORCE-VOSKOP I was the only one awake in the morning, actually Bashkim was already awake and out of the house.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7,32,53,12,49,42,43,64,48,38,37,58,39,59,41,44,17,45,57,50,54,40,56,36,33,62,55,35,6,46,65,51,63,60,34,47,61,52],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dear-diary","tag-adem","tag-aleks","tag-amirildo","tag-bashkim","tag-bora","tag-bruna","tag-cinema-millennium","tag-fasule","tag-fezilet","tag-gami","tag-giros","tag-gurali","tag-guri-madhi-gallery","tag-husen","tag-italian-fascist-architecture","tag-konti-hotel","tag-korce","tag-korce-brewery","tag-marcella","tag-mariglen","tag-meco","tag-mercedes-benz-hearse","tag-milen","tag-national-museum-of-medieval-art","tag-old-bazaar","tag-orjada","tag-ramadan","tag-resurrection-cathedral","tag-rohan","tag-serif","tag-sheker-pare","tag-stolie","tag-su-ela","tag-tatjana","tag-vangjush-mio-park","tag-voskop","tag-xhildi","tag-xhoni"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musaka.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musaka.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musaka.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musaka.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musaka.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/musaka.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":608,"href":"https:\/\/musaka.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions\/608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musaka.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musaka.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musaka.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musaka.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}