Wednesday means Albanian class- did you know that in the Albanian language the word “the” is not used but rather, an ending is put onto a word… For example:
Une kam top. (I have a ball)
Une kam topi. (I have the ball)
Although figuring out which ending goes with which word is difficult, it’s a lot less writing :)
Today was a very important day at SEE-U. The Prime Minister of Albania came for a visit! Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha is a well liked leader and is very popular. Today was his official visit to Macedonia, and one of his stops was SEE-U. Now unfortunately I am only a few weeks into my Albanian lessons, so I was not able to understand much of what he said, however I could tell he was a very charismatic speaker. There were so many people that wanted to see him, and hear him speak, people were squeezing 3 -4 extra people into each row of seats in the Lecture Hall. There was a group that waited outside to see him come in and watch him leave that did not fit into the lecture hall. When he walked in people were cheering so loud, pictures were being snapped everywhere… it was a really inspiring moment!
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| The welcome sign at the gate of the university |
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| greeting people |
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| speaking |
For a bit of background information, South East European University is a primarily Albanian University within Macedonia. It was created to bring equal opportunities to ethnic Albanians. Although both Albanians, Macedonians and internationals work at SEE-U, most of the students are ethnic Albanians from Macedonia and Kosovo. There are also students from Turkey at the university. Tetovo is a diverse community where both ethnic groups are living. That is just one reason why Tetovo is such a unique and special place.
Lesson: Although language is a key in fully communicating, much can be taken from the actions and mannerisms of people.
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