Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Belated Greetings


I know it's a bit late... but let me wish all of you a very joyful 2007 and days filled with art and dreams.


I've not been well these past 3 weeks. For 2 weeks I had a horrible cold and on the day I was going to announce its departure (last Friday) I suddenly came down with the flu in all its various forms. Finally tonight I seem to feel a lot closer to normal and am ready for a nice cup of tea and a cookie.


New Years Eve is the main festival of the Albanian year and I forced myself to get out of bed and make my way to the party. I'm so glad I did- it's an event not to be missed, with fireworks exploding for several hours in every sector of the city. You get quite a buzz from it all. I imagine all you Albanians who have immigrated to Canada and the US must find us terribly boring at this time of year, and I think you must miss this rather wild and crazy atmosphere very, very much. I also loved the Albanian tradition of bringing your whole family to the New Years party dressed in their finest outfits, and letting everyone from 2 years old to 100 loose on the dancefloor. Your dances are delightful and your songs are enchanting. Faleminderit!


For 2007 I resolve to live more artfully and break more rules. (Oh yeah- and to learn Albanian!)

9 comments:

Ll.T. said...

Yes, yes, the freaking Midwest is not the most entertaining area of the world around New Year's day but we managed to get through it :)

Happy 1st Year in Tirana!!!! Here's what I miss about it :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNMUAC5oA0E

ITS said...

Happy New Year, Kim!

tetena said...

Happy new Year and kurajo for albanian language

Adela_Radu said...

Happy New Year and thanks for sharing the atmosphere in Tirana! :)

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year !

Hope you are feeling much better now.

That sounds like a wonderful tradition :)

christina said...

Happy New Year, Kim! Glad to hear you're on the mend.

swissmiss said...

Happy new year and hope you're feeling better. I love the header at the top of this post.

Anonymous said...

Just found your blog via the comment on ViolainVilnius (as I'm writing a review of Kadare's Broken April), and am enjoying reading it, your blog that is. I really like your photos. I was choosing where to comment by which of the photos I liked the best. This one is really great, but what is it? I know Tirana buildings are colourful but can it be a scene from a window?

And Happy New Year (from Oxford at the moment, probably the Balkans again in February).

Ms Mac said...

Happy New Year Kim!

Hope your cold has cleared up by now and you can look forward to a happy and healthy 2007!