Relocation brings challenges that appear in the most unexpected places. One of them happens to me at the local gym I found right near my house, where I join various workouts. This place quickly became my anchor and made me feel like a local here, because fitness has always been an inseparable part of my life. But when I lie there on the mat, in a Pilates class facing an instructor who speaks fluent Albanian, I suddenly realize how hard it is to simply breathe in a foreign lan

We have been here for two and a half months now. We settled in a new and modern building in the heart of Tirana, in a vibrant area that always keeps us in the center of things. Since we arrived, we take advantage of the weekends on Saturday and Sunday whenever possible to go out and explore. Albania offers diverse nature with a special combination of formidable mountain ranges, giant canyons, lively turquoise rivers, and pristine beaches. Out of all this beauty, the thing tha

From my previous posts, you probably got the impression that Albania feels a bit behind sometimes. I told you about quite a few situations that take us back to the Israel of the seventies and eighties. But this week, when our son Nimrod came to visit, we experienced something else. We went out to absorb some of the local nightlife, and we discovered that Albania is completely a cocktail of contrasts.

כאמא לשני ילדים שנולדו בתחילת שנות האלפיים, בפעם הראשונה שראיתי את שני הפנקסים האלה שבתמונה, הייתי בטוחה שאלו פנקסי טיפת חלב. לקח לי רגע להבין שהפנקסים הקטנים והמיושנים האלה משמשים אותנו, בשנת 2026, כדי לשלם את חשבונות המים והחשמל של הדירה שלנו. התחושה הזו, להחזיק נייר כזה ביד, מרגישה ממש כמו להיכנס אל מכונת זמן באלבניה.

Tucked away on our street corner is a small time capsule in the form of a local "grocery stall". it is not a neat, well-lit store, but rather a small niche in a wall whose produce simply spills out onto the sidewalk. After 30 years as a graphic designer, my eyes instantly capture the color palette, the cluttered crates, and the textures of the fruit in the afternoon sun. It is a sight impossible to miss, especially since there are countless other bazaars in Tirana.