Expat interview with Laura Payne
The experiences of a Dutch woman who decided to change her busy life in the Netherlands for the warmth and opportunities of Albania.
Name: Laura Payne
Age: 31
Home country: the Netherlands
In Albania since: 6 years
What brought you to Albania?
“Some years ago a good friend of mine and I decided to inter-rail for the summer. She told me about a paragliding course in Albania and she asked me to come with her. We took the course together, and in the moment that we were supposed to take our final glide the wind was not good enough. We waited on the beach for the right wind for 5 days, until somebody came up to us and told us he knew someone who worked in northern Italy as a kayak instructor. She said that he would probably be able to provide us a free place to stay, so we decided to travel to Italy and meet him. The kayak instructor is now my boyfriend, who I happily live with in Tirana.”
So you came to Albania for the love
“Well, yes I came here for him but he is not the only reason that I decided to move here. The other reason is that you can find so many opportunities in Albania, there is something fizzing in the air here, some kind of energy.”
Do you speak Albanian?
“When I came here the first time almost no-one spoke English. The only ways to communicate were in Albanian or Italian, two languages that I both knew nothing of. I love to talk, to have little chats with the my neighbor or the women who sells plants in the streets, so after 2 years of going crazy I decided to take a course. I took lessons for 1 year, 5 days in the week every morning. After making loads of homework and loads of practice my Albanian is good now.”
How do you make your living?
“We have our own company, called Outdoor Albania. It is a specialized travel agency located in Tirana, which organizes Trips in the Albanian nature and culture and outdoor activities such as rafting, hiking, snowshoeing and (sea) kayaking
What was the most challenging thing you had to get used to living in Albania?
“That is the perception of time of the Albanians. On one of the first lunch appointments I had when I had just arrived here, we agreed to meet at “lunch time”. I was there at 12, but he only showed up at 3 o’clock, three hours later! And he is not the only Albanian who has this different perception of time. Now when we make an appointment we say if it will be Dutch time or Albanian timeŠAfter all these years in Albania I got used to the different perception of time, and I even started to be late sometimes myself. Another thing I really had to get used to is “saying yes but doing no”. This means that if I make an appointment with someone to install the internet the next day, he will probably not show up.”
What is one of the big differences between your lifestyle here and your lifestyle in Holland?
“In the Netherlands I was always busy. I had thousands of appointments and I had to plan everything. Once I tried not to plan anything anymore which eventually turned out in me sitting on the couch alone at home because I did not make any appointments up front, so that did not work. Here you just call someone in the moment that you want to do something, I love it!”
What was the best experience you had in Albania so far?
“That was the first time that I went to Osumi Canyon, I really got caught by nature there. It is such a beautiful place, it almost looks unreal.”
Some friends from Holland come over for holidays, what should they absolutely see and do?
“I would take them rafting 10 kilometers in the Canyon Osumi river (to book at www.outdooralbania.com), which is an amazing experience. They should also make a boat trip in Lake Fierze and explore the Valbona valley.
Now you have been living here for 6 years, what do you think about the Albanians and their culture?
“It took me a long time to understand the culture, but after these years I know it is a very pleasant culture, with very warm people. Even though everyone has to work hard there is always time for a coffee, which also makes a chaos of my planning, but ok. I think the weather is great, and I have a warm family here that is always there for me.”
The only thing which sometimes hurts me to see is that, even though Albanians are very warm and hospitable, they sometimes do not trust once and other. Which I guess is a leftover from communist times. I hope this will get better in time.
