From euroguy666 at yahoo.com Mon Oct 2 08:24:31 2006 From: euroguy666 at yahoo.com (KL3V1S) Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 05:24:31 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [NYC-L] Wild Albania: Coming in from the cold Message-ID: <20061002122431.11482.qmail@web56913.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Ignore the forbidding reputation. This beautiful country, scarred by history, begs to be explored, says Alex Wade 02 October 2006 Albania's forbidding reputation was recently given an endorsement by A A Gill. Writing in a Sunday newspaper, Gill described Albania as "the Asda of mayhem", a place "of vendetta and vengeance" which is, apparently, the hub of both the European sex trade and illegal arms dealing. Gill's visit to the country its inhabitants call Shqiperi (the land of eagles) was, it seems, inspirational only for a series of cheap shots. I read Gill's piece with dismay, turning to astonishment. I have visited Albania four times, and, yes, it is a country scarred by a remarkable history. But is it "a tragic place", deserving of little more than contempt? No. Albania is a beautiful, vibrant country, only half the size of Scotland, with wild mountains inland and pristine beaches washed by the Ionian and Adriatic seas. What's more, it has a rapidly developing tourism infrastructure, one which comes naturally owing to the centuries-old tradition of hospitality embedded in the Albanian psyche. Nowhere is its appeal better illustrated than in the south, where the resort town of Sarande lies within an hour's drive of the spectacular Lunxheria mountains. Arriving on the daily ferry from Corfu, I was struck by its mellow charm. A neat promenade, flanked by palm trees, stretched along the seafront. Nearby was the Hotel Butrinti, a modern five-star hotel set among prickly pears, oleanders and hydrangeas. Children scampered around as elderly men sat in the shade, talking and drinking coffee. Given that Sarande is favoured by more than 290 sunny days a year, with summer temperatures at a near-constant 30C, the town's sense of unhurried pleasure is easy to understand. I had arranged to meet a guide, Gjoni Marko. A thick-set, fluent English-speaker, Gjoni whisked me off to a restaurant at the top of a hill, overlooking the straits of Corfu. The views were wonderful, but Gjoni dropped in a sinister slice of history. "It's a two-and-a-half-mile swim," he told me. "In the Hoxha days, Albanians used to swim it to escape. Not everyone made it." Communist dictator Enver Hoxha, a devotee of Stalin, ruled Albania for 40 years from 1945. He banned Albanians from going abroad, stopped everyone else from visiting and abolished private property. When he died in 1985, handpicked successor, Ramiz Alia, did his best to fend off the tide of reform sweeping eastern Europe, but was deposed in 1992. The demise of Communism brought chaos. Many Albanians went on a rampage - destroying almost any physical remnant of the old regime. Things went from bad to worse in 1997, with a pyramid-selling fraud that left thousands out of pocket. Riots ensued in many parts of the country, but in the past five years things have begun to settle down. The courts may be tied up with land ownership disputes dating from the Hoxha era, but at least Albania now has a developed legal system and a Ministry of Justice. Visitors will be struck by how westernised it has become, as politicians bid for European Union membership. Last June Albania signed the European Union Association Agreement, which gives a framework for co-operation between EU and non-EU countries. Albania hopes to join the European Union between 2010 and 2015, along with other countries from the Western Balkans. Gjoni was optimistic: "There is so much here that is positive, so much that can be done," he said. The most rewarding trip in the area is to Butrint, one of the great classical sites of the Mediterranean. The Greco-Roman-Illyrian settlement is on a wooded peninsula and is home to turtles, frogs and water snakes as well as perfectly preserved mosaics and Byzantine remains. Visitors can walk among the sites of a small theatre, baptistery, basilica and a nymphaeum dating from the second century, as well as baths and villas, one of which has inscriptions bearing the name of the Roman orator Cicero. There are also the remains of a medieval tower and a small fortress built by the 18th-century ruler Ali Pasha of Tepelene, to protect shipping lanes in the Ionian sea from the French fleet. Since Albania abandoned Communism - the last European country to do so - Butrint has become increasingly popular, particularly with British visitors, thanks largely to the Butrint Foundation, set up to preserve the site by Lords Sainsbury and Rothschild. Some 30 miles away is Gjirokaster, a slate and stone town dating from Ottoman times. Gjirokaster is the birthplace of both Hoxha and Albania's most celebrated writer, Ismail Kadare. Kadare's Broken April tells the story of Georg, a young man from the mountains who, in accordance with the Kanun - the code of the blood feud that dominated ancient Albania - has to set out on a mission to avenge his brother's death. As I reflect on various trips to Albania, I recall sitting on a veranda in Gjirokaster, sipping a glass of raki, watching the sun set on the Lunxheria mountains. I think of swimming in the glistening Ionian sea, drinking coffee in Tirana, wandering among the exquisite ruins of Butrint. I remember all the instances of friendliness from Albanians, and I think of Byron's words: "[The Albanians] are brave, rigidly honest, and faithful ... perhaps the most beautiful race ... in the world." And it seems to me that A A Gill has done Albania a grave disservice. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- HTML attachment scrubbed and removed From shqip_events at yahoo.com Sun Oct 8 02:37:01 2006 From: shqip_events at yahoo.com (shqip_events) Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2006 23:37:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [NYC-L] Muzike Shqiptare ne Manhattan - Simaku & Rob ***TUES Oct.10th*** Message-ID: <20061008063701.82397.qmail@web35908.mail.mud.yahoo.com> You are invited to: Simaku & Rob Live Acoustic Music Tuesday, Oct. 10th (8pm-til) at Bar on A . 170 Avenue A (at 11th St.) in Manhattan 212-353-8231 (no cover charge) BUY Echoes from Iliria CD www.simaku.com/live.htm (for flyer) www.myspace.com/simaku www.simaku.com Echoes from Iliria by Simaku is distributed by Sony/BMG Entertainment, New York, NY. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2?/min or less. -------------- next part -------------- HTML attachment scrubbed and removed From eb246 at columbia.edu Fri Oct 20 06:06:01 2006 From: eb246 at columbia.edu (Erkanda) Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 12:06:01 +0200 Subject: [NYC-L] GRANT- 2007-2008 Short-Term Travel Grant ( STG) IREX Fellowships Message-ID: <45389F89.102@columbia.edu> FYI--distribute to Albanians who are interested. GRANT- 2007-2008 Short-Term Travel Grant (STG) IREX Fellowships Posted by: Nicole Mechem IREX is pleased to announce the 2007-2008 competition of the Short-Term Travel Grants (STG) Program. The STG Program provides fellowships for up to eight weeks to US postdoctoral scholars and other graduate degree holders for independent or collaborative research projects in Europe and Eurasia. Countries Eligible for Research are: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan STG Program information and application materials are now available on the IREX website at http://www.irex.org/programs/stg/index.asp The application deadline is February 1, 2007. Please contact STG at irex.org or call (202) 628-8188 with any questions. You may find a list of all IREX International Fellowship opportunities on the website: http://www.irex.org/programs/grants.asp _______________________________________________ Central-Eurasia-L mailing list Central-Eurasia-L at lists.fas.harvard.edu http://lists.fas.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/central-eurasia-l From ak2480 at columbia.edu Fri Oct 20 19:24:26 2006 From: ak2480 at columbia.edu (ak2480 at columbia.edu) Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 19:24:26 -0400 Subject: [NYC-L] Documentary Screening: Kosovo--Does Anyone Have a Plan? Message-ID: <1161386666.45395aaa13127@cubmail.cc.columbia.edu> I thought some of you may be interested in attending the event below. Best, Antigona Monday, October 23 Harriman Institute Documentary Screening and Panel Discussion: Kosovo--Does Anyone Have a Plan? Presenter: Gordana Igric, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network. 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm International Affairs Building, Columbia University Room 1219 From vxharra at hotmail.com Fri Oct 20 15:50:44 2006 From: vxharra at hotmail.com (Valon Xharra) Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 19:50:44 +0000 Subject: [NYC-L] Dokumentar mbi Kosoven ne Columbia University Message-ID: Te henen ne Columbia University shfaqet dokumentari Kosovo: Does Anyone Have a Plan? Te bashkangjitur e keni edhe nje vleresim te dokumentarit nga Tim Judah. Dokumentari eshte i hapur per te gjithe. Nese keni interesim ejani apo me kontaktoni per me shume detale. Te gjitha te mirat Valoni Kosovo: Does Anyone Have a Plan? Documentary screening and panel discussion Monday, 23 October 2006, 6:30pm Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs 118th Street and Amsterdam, New York 1212 International Affairs Building _________________________________________________________________ Get FREE company branded e-mail accounts and business Web site from Microsoft Office Live http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/mcrssaub0050001411mrt/direct/01/ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: TimJudah-Review_albanian.doc Type: application/msword Size: 77824 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/nyc-l/attachments/20061020/e932d422/attachment.doc From SimonVukel at aol.com Sun Oct 22 16:31:17 2006 From: SimonVukel at aol.com (SimonVukel at aol.com) Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2006 16:31:17 EDT Subject: [NYC-L] Documentary Screening: Kosovo--Does Anyone Have a Plan? Message-ID: You can read more about this documentary here, including part of the script I think: _http://www.birn.eu.com/kosovodoc/_ (http://www.birn.eu.com/kosovodoc/) -------------- next part -------------- HTML attachment scrubbed and removed From shqip_events at yahoo.com Sun Oct 22 16:39:20 2006 From: shqip_events at yahoo.com (shqip_events) Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2006 13:39:20 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [NYC-L] Simaku & Rob Live "Forbidden Apple"- TUES Oct 24th in NYC Message-ID: <20061022203920.52610.qmail@web35903.mail.mud.yahoo.com> You are invited to: Simaku & Rob ?Forbidden Apple? Live Acoustic Music Tuesday, Oct. 24th (8pm-til) at Bar on A .in Manhattan 170 Avenue A (at 11th St.) 212-353-8231 (no cover charge) BUY CD www.simaku.com/live.htm (for flyer) www.myspace.com/simaku www.simaku.com Echoes from Iliria by Simaku is distributed by Sony/BMG Entertainment. --------------------------------- How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger?s low PC-to-Phone call rates. -------------- next part -------------- HTML attachment scrubbed and removed From ceo at logicplus.org Sun Oct 22 17:42:01 2006 From: ceo at logicplus.org (Besnik Limaj) Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2006 23:42:01 +0200 Subject: [NYC-L] Documentary Screening: Kosovo--Does Anyone Have a Plan? References: Message-ID: <001301c6f622$e8859f70$6902ff0a@DG4ZHW1J> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/travel/story/0,,1928279,00.html What a jerk! B. -------------- next part -------------- HTML attachment scrubbed and removed From il_bello80 at hotmail.com Sun Oct 22 17:52:39 2006 From: il_bello80 at hotmail.com (Anthony Valente) Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2006 21:52:39 +0000 Subject: [NYC-L] Documentary Screening: Kosovo--Does Anyone Have a Plan? Message-ID: why is a jerk for saying the truth about albania and albanians?? That's albania full of corrupt politicians and cars that in the US no one can afford unless in a salary of over 150K a year. From: ceo at logicplus.orgTo: nyc-l at alb-net.comDate: Sun, 22 Oct 2006 23:42:01 +0200Subject: Re: [NYC-L] Documentary Screening: Kosovo--Does Anyone Have a Plan? http://observer.guardian.co.uk/travel/story/0,,1928279,00.html What a jerk! B. _________________________________________________________________ Check out some new online services at Windows Live Ideas?so new they haven?t even been officially released yet. http://ideas.live.com -------------- next part -------------- HTML attachment scrubbed and removed From hakaj at un.org Mon Oct 23 09:33:15 2006 From: hakaj at un.org (Aferdita Hakaj) Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:33:15 -0400 Subject: [NYC-L] Documentary Screening: Kosovo--Does Anyone Have a Plan? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: SimonVukel at aol.com Sent by: nyc-l-bounces at alb-net.com 22/10/2006 04:31 PM Please respond to "Albanians in New York City Discussion Forum \(New York City, USA\)" To nyc-l at alb-net.com cc Subject Re: [NYC-L] Documentary Screening: Kosovo--Does Anyone Have a Plan? === NYC-L: New York City Discussion Forum === You can read more about this documentary here, including part of the script I think: http://www.birn.eu.com/kosovodoc/ ____________________________________________________ NYC-L: A discussion and information list of the Albanian community in the New York City Metro Area. To post to the list: NYC-L at alb-net.com For more information: http://www.alb-net.com/mailman/listinfo/nyc-l -------------- next part -------------- HTML attachment scrubbed and removed