Will Tirana Be Consumed by Western Consumerism?
In one year, the city has already changed. Here are my initial, incomplete, and highly biased impressions.
Returning to Tirana a year later feels like one of those “what’s different and what’s the same” worksheets I did as a kid instead of math. In my first 24 hours back, here’s what I’ve noticed:
The construction continues. So much construction. EVEN MORE CONSTRUCTION.
The Airbnb I stayed at last year remains a place rented by a person, not a developer. Mostly, it’s the same. Same art. Same duvet cover. Same massage chair in the lovely green space with plants.
A few changes:
The bedroom has an A/C unit instead of a fan to accommodate tourists (I noticed complaints in reviews, but not me, my friend).
The F******* Monday and F****** Friday mugs are gone! Sob. Inspired by the mugs, I title all my journal posts while traveling through Albania this way, adding F****** Saturday and F****** Sunday because when you’re traveling, you can forget what day it is.
The price of the Airbnb went up, but not terribly. Again, the owner had to pay for an A/C unit for the bedroom because a fan isn’t enough for Westerners. A luxury condo in the fanciest neighborhood of the city remains less than a random Days Inn off an interstate.
Prices at the grocery are up, but nothing compared to US inflation.
Speaking of value, 100 Lek is roughly one U.S. Dollar. Roughly. Last year, $1.00 bought me $1.20. This year, $1.00 buys me $.80. My trip last year felt less expensive than daily living in Ohio. This year, I find myself having to budget.
More Americans. That’s my impression. I can hear us a mile away. HAY Y’ALL. I don’t have the data for 2024 or 2025, but in 2023, the Pew Research Center ranked Albania 4th globally for the largest percentage increase in international tourist arrivals, recording a growth of 56% in 2019.
This bougie coffee I ordered was 300 Lek, considered coffee highway robbery here.
People still smoke. Ah, the smell of my 70s childhood.
The school on my street of Sami Frashëri has been torn down, but at least they are building a new school. I miss the sound of kids playing. Most of the businesses remain the same, but a few have changed. More bougie clothing shops. The old byrek (a savory pasty) stand in the basement level, gone. But at least byrek spinici remains 100 Lek at a local chain, Someg.
I see more restaurants with bland titles and menus in English.
Albanian teenagers still wear white and black to exclusion. Any other color will clearly result in excommunication from the tribe.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses still stand in the same place near the mosque, and they’ve branched out to a second location.
A friend I hiked the Albanian Alps with last year texted to ask if the building near the Skanderbeg statue remains under construction. That answer would be yes:
People still like cash, but you see more waiters coming by with a portable credit card machine.
Albanian parking remains unique, and only if you drive a Mercedes.
American music still means 80s pop music. Hey, Dexy.
If you google an item (I recently learned you uppercase the “g” in “Google” as a proper noun, but lowercase as a verb, i.e., “to google”), Amazon still doesn’t come up first, because Amazon doesn’t exist here. Yet. I can’t help but fear that when it comes (inevitable, right?), all the wonderful niche businesses will disappear.
Thankfully, amidst the hubbub of nails and hammers and HAY Y’ALLs, The Dog of Albania remains as omnipresent and chill as ever.
