In the main city park of Tirana is a WW II memorial to those men, not Albanian and many of them British, who gave their lives fighting the Germans. They helped liberate Albanian soil, but when the Communists came to power, right after the war, the graves of these men were plowed over and forgotten. The Communists basically rewrote history and made themselves the "liberators" of Albania. Everybody else was just forgotten.
One little interesting fact that I recently learned is that when Enver Hoxha's (40 plus years the Communist President of Albania) body was exhumed and his huge tomb ransacked no one knew what should be done with the very large red marble stone which had covered his resting place. It had been cut and shipped from Italy, at great expense. Then it was decided to give these non-Albanian men a proper memorial and the red marble stone was retrieved and used in this new memorial.
From small vegetable and fruit stands to moveable stores, Tirana is loaded with people trying to make a living selling. This fellow has lots of socks for sale.
From left to right is Albi, Denada, Motra Shupe, Eldorado and Alma. Our job description broadens! Eldorado was introduced to the Church by his girlfriend, Alma. He was baptized a few months ago. Alma's family, Albi and Denada and their mother, is not too sure if they like him or not because he is very quiet and they don't know much about him. We decided to ask Albi, who is a cook at a very nice hotel in Tirana, to come over with the family and Eldorado to cook dinner. We had so much fun together and the dinner was delicious. As their mother joined us and we sat around the table to eat, we had such an amiable conversation and short family home evening lesson on the blessing of diversity in people. We talked about the differences in personalities among our own children, showing them the picture of the family in front of the temple, ending on the one thing we all share in common, which is the love of the Gospel and our commitment to live Heavenly Father's commandments. A beautiful discussion followed. We think Alma's mother likes Eldorado better now.
Desert anyone?
In the main city park of Tirana is a WW II memorial to those men, not Albanian and many of them British, who gave their lives fighting the Germans. They helped liberate Albanian soil, but when the Communists came to power, right after the war, the graves of these men were plowed over and forgotten. The Communists basically rewrote history and made themselves the "liberators" of Albania. Everybody else was just forgotten.
One little interesting fact that I recently learned is that when Enver Hoxha's (40 plus years the Communist President of Albania) body was exhumed and his huge tomb ransacked no one knew what should be done with the very large red marble stone which had covered his resting place. It had been cut and shipped from Italy, at great expense. Then it was decided to give these non-Albanian men a proper memorial and the red marble stone was retrieved and used in this new memorial.
From small vegetable and fruit stands to moveable stores, Tirana is loaded with people trying to make a living selling. This fellow has lots of socks for sale.
From left to right is Albi, Denada, Motra Shupe, Eldorado and Alma. Our job description broadens! Eldorado was introduced to the Church by his girlfriend, Alma. He was baptized a few months ago. Alma's family, Albi and Denada and their mother, is not too sure if they like him or not because he is very quiet and they don't know much about him. We decided to ask Albi, who is a cook at a very nice hotel in Tirana, to come over with the family and Eldorado to cook dinner. We had so much fun together and the dinner was delicious. As their mother joined us and we sat around the table to eat, we had such an amiable conversation and short family home evening lesson on the blessing of diversity in people. We talked about the differences in personalities among our own children, showing them the picture of the family in front of the temple, ending on the one thing we all share in common, which is the love of the Gospel and our commitment to live Heavenly Father's commandments. A beautiful discussion followed. We think Alma's mother likes Eldorado better now.
Desert anyone?
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