FLASH
Shkruar nga Kreshnik Spahiu
There used to be zero cars, zero private apartments. This was not far away, but in 1991. Today we are the first in Europe for cars and private houses.
Every January 1, I used to travel between Tirana and Durrës and not a single car passed on the 36 kilometers of road.
Every January 1, I traveled by car from Tirana to Durrës for 34 years.
It was strange but for some years I was the only car that moved that day and I did not exchange with any other car (zero).
This happened to me several years in a row after the overthrow of communism.
In 1991, I bought one of the first cars in the capital and always traveled from Tirana to Durrës on January 1.
I liked New Year's Eve with my family in Tirana, but on New Year's morning I escaped by the sea.
Once the new year was different and Albania was very poor:
- There was no snow, but the windows were decorated with cotton wool attached to the windows.
- There was no parking, but we secured the car by locking the steering wheel with bars and a padlock.
- There were no fireworks, but everyone threw beer and wine bottles out of the windows for joy, breaking them on the street.
- There was no cleaner and the next day you couldn't escape without the car's tires cracking.
- We didn't have a cell phone, but as a memory we have more printed photos than today that we lose on our phones.
- We still didn't have air conditioning, but we all still had wood stoves at home.
- In Tirana we celebrated a little longer because there were 2 hours of light in the cities and villages.
- 99% of the population didn't have cars, but the train was still running but without windows because our people are obsessed with breaking the windows with stones.
- Not everyone had a refrigerator, but they stored food by cooling it at night with a pot on the window.
- They did not use shrimp and fish, but the turkeys were organic and were not brought from Greece with medicines.
- Big Brother wasn't on TV, but every neighborhood we lived in was a mega Big-Brother when the neighbors did the appeal and food inventory.
- There was no Digitalb and Tring, but we watched foreign channels with antennas on the terrace or with Saç on the balcony.
- We could live 364 days without bread, but we celebrated and enjoyed the new year.
It reminded me of my journey from Tirana-Durrës every January 1st where you couldn't find any cars on the road and I felt a sense of panic that the "masks" wouldn't come out, which surprisingly we forgot.
I remembered this on January 1 when I was traveling to the coast and I read that Albania reached the figure of 1 million cars, which if we remove 20% of the population under 18 years old, it means that every Albanian family has 1 or 2 cars, breaking the European record.
This record comes after another Albanian wonder.
As in no other European country, 94% of Albanians live in their own (not rented) apartments. 50% of families in Europe live in rent and do not own their own homes.
Undoubtedly, Albania still remains a poor country and a weak economy, but when we travel 3 decades later, we realize how much we have changed.
There used to be zero cars, zero private apartments. This was not so long ago, but in 1991.
Today we are the first in Europe for cars and private houses.
Ah sorry I forgot another record.
We are the champion of thousands and thousands of luxury cars that you don't see in such a large number even in the country where those cars are produced.
Surprisingly, today those who used to travel with a donkey complain more, while today with a Range Rover or as it is said in their dialect: "Rengj".
Lini një Përgjigje