Summer of 1999 I was in Elbasan. Part of my work included going into the camps run by the Red Crescent and interviewing refugees. I also helped translate between the workers at the bread factory there and the UN troops who were flying in a couple of times a day to pick up bread to take to the Albania/Kosovo border.
Always found it interesting that the Albanians had a hard time understanding the Kosovar Albanians but those of us who learned Albanian as a second language didn’t have any problems with the two dialects. It’s my opinion Kosvarce (Gheg dialect) is the more pure Albanian dialect.
About a year later we were negotiating with the Albanian government to update the water delivery system in Tirana. They wanted to impose a 40% tariff on all supplies the United States brought in (pumps, pipes, etc.) even though those were to be a gift to Albania from the people of the U.S. We eventually had to tell them to take a hike and keep the unsafe water they had.
Interesting. I once had a document translated into Albanian for distribution, and those in southern Albanian knew that it had been translated by a northerner (and were a little grumpy about it).
The 40% tariff attempt doesn’t surprise. I have heard similar stories.
I had friends working with the Church of Christ in Tirane. The other relief agencies, such at the Catholic Relief agency (I forget the exact name) and others eventually left everything in their hands. They handled food distribution in the area, and some of my friends would occasionally make a trip into Kosova to help there.
The State Department issued a statement recommending no travel to Albania at that time, but we mostly felt safe—safer than in some large cities in the U.S.