"In The Land of the Eagles" a Albania Travel Page by illumina

One of the smallest countries in Europe, Albania is also very mountainous and little known to outsiders. Albania is known as Eagle's Country, Shqipėri in Albanian.

I went to Albania in September and October 2002, as a volunteer archaeologist. We were digging at the World Heritage site of Butrint, just south of Sarande.

The steps that can be seen in this postcard actually run down to the shore from the hotel I was staying in, the Sea Eagle in Ksamili.

This is a view out over Lake Butrint from the peninsula, looking towards Diaporit and the Greek border at the top of Mt. Mile.

Diaporit was the area I was working in, excavating a late Roman villa and bathhouse, and the overlying 7th century church.

As well as Sarande, Ksamili and Butrint, I also visited Gjirokastra and the Blue Eye while I was there.

I was lucky enough to be working with some Albanian students amongst the volunteers, and learned a lot about Albanian history and culture from them. I also managed to pick up just enough of the language to get by!

A few Albanian phrases:

(ė is pronouced 'uh')

Po - yes
Jo - no
Faleminderit - Thankyou
Mirėmėngjes - Good Morning
Mirė Dita - Good Day (Don't use after about 5pm or you'll get strange looks and be firmly told 'Mirėm brėma'!)
Mirėm brėma - Good evening
Natėn e mirė - Good night
Tungjatjeta - Hello (but this is very formal, and rarely used. I read somewhere it means 'May you have a long life'. Kosovans apparently use a shortened version 'Tung', but most just say good morning/day/evening.)
Mirupafshim - Goodbye
si jeni - how are you (formal)
C'kemi - how's it going (informal; the c is pronounced half way between ch and sh)
C'ka - more or less ok (in response to above)
poi jo - and you?
Gėzuar - cheers, a toast.
Sa kushton - how much (this is what I was told, but sa e:shte: may also be right)
molla - apple (this was the surname of one of the girls I worked with!)
avash - a turkish loan word, meaning slow down, take it easy! Usually doubled (avash, avash)
ik orė - go away
shqo para - go ahead (this is something I was told, not sure about the spelling)
njė - 1
dy (pronounced du) - 2
tre - 3
katėr - 4
pesė - 5