Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Happy New Year!

Tirana is an interesting place to be on New Year's Eve. Until midnight the streets are eerily quiet.... we drove to our friends apartment in the Blok (the center of the city) and at 8 pm the streets were empty and everything was closed up tight. It felt so strange. But precisely at midnight people filled the neighbourhood and the party began. We ran from window to window watching the incredible fireworks exploding everywhere as the demons of 2007 were chased away and the New Year was welcomed with alot of noise.

One of the truly wonderful things about being an expat is the opportunity to make friends with other expats from all over the world, and with many lovely locals. Last night at the party I looked around and smiled at the fabulous group of people who had gathered to toast 2008. There were Albanians, Canadians, Brits, Turks, and Americans and it was beautiful. We heard stories of old Albania, we learned a bit about politics in Turkey, and we shared our love for New York city at Christmastime.

I can't think of a nicer way to have spent New Year's Eve.

May the next 365 days bring you more joy than you ever dreamed of.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Happy New Year dear!

Sounds like you had a blast last night. That's fabulous.

May this new one bring you joy, happiness, and good health.

P.S I spent Christmas in New York this year. Are you a little jealous? :P

Ginnie Hart said...

What a lovely image you have described, Kim! The world getting along together!

Happy New Year to you and Peter!

© DAI - 2004-2014 said...

Glad you had a good year ending in Tirana.

Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2008 to you and your hubby, hoping to see you on my next trip.

Gezuar!