Travel to Albania!
The views and weather are always amazing!
The Basics of Albania (Location, Weather, Climate Type, and Two Physical Characteristics)
The weather in Albania is a lot like the Northern parts of America. There is winters and summers, but it rarely goes below 34 degrees and rarely ever gets above 90. The weather is really comfortable!
So what's the climate type? Climate type in Albania is pretty mild. The temperature is mild all year around. The winters are cool, cloudy, and wet. It doesn't get very cold, though! The summers are nice. The temperature stays below 90 degrees, usually, like mentioned above. The summers are warm, and clear. The interior of Albania tends to be slightly cooler and wetter.
The two greatest physical characteristics of Albania are Mount Korab and Dhermi Beach! Mount Korab is about 2,500 m tall. It's the tallest mountain in Albania! Dhermi Beach is the place to go, in Albania. By day you can swim, tan, and look at the beautiful views of the green ranges and mountains. By night, the beach is a hot-spot. There's music, family oriented games, and the breathtaking starry night. The beach usually has giant rocks on land that are fun to play on, and clean water to play in, but don't worry! The weather is never too hot or cold!
Curious how to fit into Albania?
The Language in Albania. In Albania they have a few different languages being spoken. The most spoken language in Albania is Albanian at 98%. The second most used language is Greek at .5% and the other languages take over the rest of the percentage, at 1.5%.
What are some folkways or norms of Albania? Since Albania is so different compared to America, the things they consider normal, aren't exactly normal to us. One of these things is man and women being married. Heterosexual marriages are big. Within that marriage, the man works, the kids go to school, and the women stay home to do house work and take care of the younger children. When the Albanian people are young, but old enough to marry, their marriages are arranged. When they are married, the ceremony is the biggest part. It's a huge festival and everyone is invited. Although women are emancipated, they can still be classified as the man's property. Divorce is a common thing here, though.
Alright, so you know the norms, how about the Taboos of Albania? Albania does have a lot of rules but not very many that are completely illegal. Although one of the big no-no's of the Albanian culture is homosexuality. They don't believe in it and any talk about it will get you into some sort of trouble. If you ever planned to live in Albania, just know it's completely normal to have giant guns and weapons in your house. It's actually qualified as taboo to NOT have huge weapons displayed on your living room wall. While that seems a little odd, the next thing that would confuse an Albanian person is if a married woman was working. Women don't work in Albania and won't unless they really need to. The men take care of the families in Albania, not the women.
The Values of Albania and it's people: It's been said that Albanian people are really nice and they enjoy taking care of others outside of their family. They are very hospitable people. They like to cook for their guests, and make sure they are comfortable. They tend to work really hard, and have no problem with it. Albanian people are hard working and rarely complain. They like to take care of their families and know they are doing all they can, in life. In the Albanian culture they really like to dance! Dancing is one of their favorite things and they feel it really brings everyone closer. So you better pick up those dance moves! Set aside from the fun and tasty foods, Albanian people are very religious. They take their religion very seriously and are very dedicated to it. The top three religions in Albania are Islam, Orthodox, and Catholic. They respect each others religions, while still staying true to their own.
Diggings Deeper into the Albanian culture
Culture Landscape: Albania has a lot of different things they like to do that take place in their culture. They like to play sports, such as Soccer, Volleyball, Kae Kwon Do, Swimming, and Weight Lifting. Their top sport to play is Soccer. Its called Football to them, but for Americans, it's the game of Soccer. Besides sports, one of the things you would notice in Albania is the travel. There isn't much of a choice because there aren't many things to choose from. They have a few buses and trains, but they never really show up when they are said to. There's some waterways that you can travel on with a boat! It's very relaxing with the great views. There are cars in Albania, but the Albanian people are said to be some of the worst drivers around. So you might want to plan to bring a bike!
Evidence of Cultural Diffusion: Albania doesn't have a lot of other cultures in them. They like to make special foods from Turkey and Italy, but other than that, their food tends to stay within their culture and liking. Albanian people travel, like a lot. You'll find more of them outside of Albania than inside of it! They love going around and exploring, so learning new culture from the surrounding country's is a must do for them. Other than travel and food, Albania is known to export and import large amounts of cannabis. They travel to other places to sell it and explore for new things to import. It brings in a significant amount of money!
Evidence of Culture Change: Albania has always kinda been the same. Married young by an arranged marriage, work and take care of your family, no homosexuality, and always have the right to have weapons. Recently, the only large things to happen, are women getting emancipated, and divorce becoming legal and big. Women recently became emancipated and still enjoy staying at home and not working, or living on their own. Women just aren't owned by men like they used to be, so yay! Divorce becoming legal was huge, too. Many arranged marriages fail majorly, so having the option to divorce is a huge difference in the Albanian culture. It goes against some of their religions, but it doesn't really stop them. Since divorce has become big, a handful of marriages end.
Information Found On...
nationmaster.com
cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
http://www.intercultures.ca/cil-cai/ci-ic-eng.asp?iso=al
http://www.anothertravel.com/en/destinations/albania/albanian-culture
https://sites.google.com/site/welcometoalbania/awesome-physical-features