Traveling with a few Albanian men, I was able to ask about certain words, phrases, and traditions. I’m grateful for these friendships as they are deepening my understanding of the country and the culture.

I enjoyed listening to the 3 guys talking in Albanian. I noticed at least in American English that there is a lot more active listening and confirmation. In Albanian, one guy would say something, and no one would respond; that was totally normal to them. In America, I would have been like “did you even hear what I said?”

A few superstitions I learned:

• If a spider crawls up to you, it is bringing you a message.
• If the smoke of the fire goes on you, it means that you are rich.

A few more language things I learned

• Të lumshin duart = Bless your hands (used for graditude for acts of service, such as gathering wood and making food)
• yt = go away (to an animal). Rude to shout at people. Like “scram!”
• Ik andej = go away, in a respectful way

Tiny changes change the meaning

• po të lutem = yes please
• të lutem = please
• po lutem = I’m praying
• të lutem = you’re welcome
• asgjë = you’re welcome, like “it’s nothing” “no problem”
• gjë = something

Greetings and farewells

• shihemi = see you
• pafshim = bye
• mirupafshim = goodbye

I find myself saying “beautiful” quite a lot. I now can say it in Albanian.

• e Bukur = beautiful
• ëndër të bukur = beautiful dream
• vajza të bukura = beautiful girls
• djem të bukur = beautiful boys
• shumë lule të bukura = many beautiful flowers

Gender, amount, and also distance has an affect on the word.
Here’s how it works for distance:

• biçikletë (close) biçikleta (far) = bicycle
• bangë (close) banga (far) = bathroom
• mace (close) macgia (far) = cat
• dashuri (close) dashuria (far) = love
• karrige (close) karriga (far) = chair
• tavolinë (close) tavolina (far) = table

Trying to find meaning and similarities:

• iku = it’s gone (like dolphins)
• humbi = it’s lost (the bag)
• humba = I’m lost
• bosh = it’s empty (the waterbottle)

• kapedan = captain
• kapedane = captain (girl)
• kapedankë = little captian

The “kë” can be added to the end to describe the size but cannot be used on its own:

• kupë = cup
• kupke = little cup
• tavolinë = table
• tavolinkë = little table
• tavolineka = little table far away
• e vogël = is small, is young (another way to say small, more book correct)
• tavolinë e vogël = little table

Ura! (hooray!) we did it. Stay tuned for stories about hitchhiking, visiting old towns, camping, driving, beaches.

I am currently writing this from the beach