Albania, The 51st State

by Davidi

My Albanian barber has two flags in front of his mirror. Both are American.   America is his favorite country, he says. He also says he has never been there.  

Albania may be the most pro-American country in the world.  It may be more pro-American than, well . . .America.  There are American flags everywhere. Gina and I see them in windows and printed on shoes and t-shirts.  The prosecutors I visit usually have a display with three flags on their desks:  Albanian, European Union and American.  (And a recent survey said that 80% of Albanians see the U.S. as very influential here, while 7% see the E.U. as influential). 

Our apartment is near "Woodrow Wilson Square."  His statue stands in the middle. We are only blocks away from "George W. Bush Street," but a little farther from Clinton Square.  On the streets, I frequently pass the "Amerika Bar," the "American Fashions" Store," the American Jewelry" store, and a sign pointing the way to the "American hospital."  ("American University" is on the other side of town). None of these places have any connection to the US, as far as I can tell.  They just want to be associated with American ideas and styles.

Albanians love to tell us about their relatives in the United States. Old men who speak no English will hold up fingers for the number of grandchildren they have in the US, then proudly say "Boston" or "Chicago." One said he had relatives in "Indianapolis, Ohio." We just said we were from close by.

A man at church last weekend asked where I worked.   When I told him Ambasad Amerikan, he gave me a military salute.  He said, "America has helped us at crucial times in our history, and we remember."  He's right.  When a European peace conference was ready to sign a treaty dividing up all Albanian lands between its neighbors, Woodrow Wilson made them give Albanians their own country.  When the Serbs were "eliminating" ethnic Albanians, Clinton got NATO to make them stop. When Kosovo, which is 90% ethnic Albanian, wanted its independence, George Bush recognized them first. They like Obama, too. He got Albania into NATO.  

For Independence Day (American Independence Day, that is), 300 Albanian police officers closed an entire city block in the middle of town. US Embassy employees and their families, as well as 600 high ranking Albanian guests, enjoyed food, music, speeches and fireworks that exploded way too low to the ground. Gina helped me greet and chat with the prosecutors who came.  I brought American flag pins and handed them out.  I told each prosecutor "today, you are American, too." One of them responded, "What about tomorrow?"

Albania is striving for membership in the European Union. We think they might prefer to be the 51st state.