Going to Albania

I suppose that most of this information will be geared towards persons heading to Albania as missionaries for the LDS church, but it may prove useful for purposes as well. Feel free to steal, take or use this content to put anywhere it might be helpful.

What to Bring

  • Good walking shoes, you won’t be doing much driving
  • A good umbrella- maybe even two good umbrellas
  • Long Underwear (that humidity chills to the bone in the wintertime!)
  • I was told to bring a picture of a girl from home to have handy in case anyone tried to send their daughter home with me- I never really needed it, but it may not be a bad idea…

What to Expect

  • You’ll do a lot of cheek kissing over there- one cheek, then the other. Here’s my tip- go to the left first, then the right- man I wish I would have known that the first time I said goodbye to a brother in my first area…
  • Practice drinking plain yogurt left out for a couple of days, in a couple of years you’ll love the stuff-
  • It’s generally considered polite to take off your shoes when entering a house
  • No they didn’t accidentally add too much sugar to the bakllava- that’s how it’s supposed to taste
  • Don’t look for an elevator- there isn’t one
  • Generally speaking, shaking your head up and down means no, right to left means yes and the head wobble means… I never really figured out exactly what that means…
  • In Albania they say, "Mud is sweeter than honey." It’s their way of saying there is a lot of mud- deal with it.
  • There people who flick mud when they walk and people who don’t- I’m not sure if that’s something you can learn, I sure never did.

Any additional tips or questions for this portion of the site, especially if you’ve been there more recently than I have- any ideas are appreciated!