A je lodhë?
The answer to that question? A little bit.
That is the most common greeting in Kosovo by far. It’s the equivalent to the American-English, “How are ya?”, “How ya doin’?”, “How’s it going?”, etc. It directly translates to, “Are you tired?”, and you’re never really expected to answer yes or no. In more formal or polite settings people will typically say, “Përshëndetje” which just means, “Hello”. People here automatically assume that I’m from Albania, and one of the signs that I think they work off of is that I use stereotypical Albanian greetings like, “Si kalove?”, or “Si ke qene?”, which means, “How are you doing?”, and, “How have you been?” respectively. At least in greetings, Albanians from Albania are more similar to Americans than Kosovars. But with just about everything else, Kosovars are more similar to Americans than Albanian. Kosovars know more about American culture than Albanians from Albania. I chalk it up to not being as restricted under Yugoslavia, most Kosovars will know American cultural icons because they were allowed to watch American movies and listen to American music. It’s also very common for Kosovars to know decent English, I’d say their English skills are better than most Albanians, although you’ll find that Albanians know Italian very well.
One of the interesting things about cities, towns, and villages in Kosovo is that the quality of life is all about the same. Obviously if you live in the capital city, then yes, you’ll have more nightlife and more amenities, but for things such as road quality, running water, electricity, Pristina isn’t significantly farther ahead. It’s like how in the United States, if you live in a rural area, your bases are covered just like if you were to live in a large city. I think this stems from the Yugoslavian development philosophy. Comparatively in Albania, the capital is significantly ahead of even the large cities in the country. It’s quite bizarre. And if you live in a village, then in regard to development, you’re very far behind. Since I have family living from all over, I experienced all types of living situations, from modern to not even having running water and needing to wash myself with a bucket. Although Kosovo’s economy is smaller, the quality of life between cities, towns, and villages is much more equal. And that living standard is quite good.
Another culture shock for most Americans will be that there are children everywhere and the population here is relatively young (or maybe all the older people are hiding). The children here are pretty much free spirits, they also seem to be out and about more than American children. I may need to take a census and see how many children have gaming consoles at home since they seem to prefer playing outside instead of staying indoors.
In every neighborhood everyone seems to know each other. I feel like I’m living in the pre-smartphone and pre-online shopping era. It’s quite nostalgic really. I’ve also noticed that everyone is kind of on the same page, in the sense that there aren’t stark political divides like in the United States. The only type of political extremism that exists here is some Islamic fundamentalists, but even then, they’re a minority among the majority Muslim population. Legally speaking, there has been some efforts by more radical Islamic groups to steer Kosovo away from secularism by using its own laws against them. I don’t really see that happening anytime soon, Kosovars seem to view religion as a personal and private matter and don’t feel like imposing their religious beliefs on anyone.
Speaking of Islam, it’s interesting, I probably see more women wearing traditional Islamic clothes in Kosovo compared to Albania, but I think the women here that dress in more Western style clothes, dress way more fashionably and modern than just about anywhere I’ve been. I’ve also noticed that street wear is very common among men especially, but also women too. It’s like every young person here knows a secret thrift shop where they can buy sweet clothes to look fresh. If I wasn’t traveling back to the US, I would’ve stocked up. But alas, I only got one luggage case.