Lillian > Recent Status Updates

Ch. 22- The Point is To Change It: Albanian dads love hitting their daughters with “what do you know about ____?”

Guys Im shocked tho- “I travelled to Italy on a boat that sailed over thousands of drowned bodies, bodies that once carried souls more hopeful than mine, but who met fates less fortunate. I never returned.” What a sharp way to end a narrative about Albania!

Ch. 21- 1997: you think the dictatorship was bad then u get the government regime change and thats bad and then u get the pyramid schemes and anarchy of 1997 and youre like woah! the worst of times.

Ch. 20- Like The Rest of Europe: ironic how a chapter with this title ends in the Albanian civil war.

Ch. 19- Dont Cry: Appreciate the nuance here within the dad being against the former communist dictator regime but having cried when the World Bank told him to fire the Roma port employees for “economic efficiency.”

Ch. 17- the Crocodile: WESTERN MAN OVERWHELMED BY ALBANIAN CULTURE WHAT DOESNT KILL U MAKES U STRONGER MY GUY what he experienced (hated) in his 40s was me when i was 11 visiting for the first time

The real chapter 16- “its all part of civil society”: really cool reading about how frivolous and exploitative civil society seems from western intervention in a dif country

Ch. 16- I Always Carried a Knife: Lovedddd observing the sexist gender dichotomy between her parents. Her father, the philosophical feminist who refused to do domestic labor, and her mother, who refused solidarity with other women and never saw herself as a victim of patriarchy when she really was, as two complicit pieces. Albanian distrust in institutions disempowered women from collectivization. Wow.

Ch. 14- Competitive Games: the discussion of this chapter with my family led me to know that my family is split between democratic dissidents on my maternal grandparents’ side and staunch communists on my paternal grandparents’ side. unraveling my heritage is what i sought to do w this book so im happy

Ch. 13- Everyone Wants to Leave: Asylum law excluded Albanian immigrants because the regime change apparently meant people were “fine,” but the transition from state econ to private econ led to even more unemployment and extreme poverty. The world looked @ Albs as victims during communism but as animals while refugees. There is no value in the right to exit Albania when there is no right to enter another.

Ch 12- A Letter From Athens: new perspective unlocked by landowners who lost their property in Albania pre-communism and have lives that represent all they lost.

Ch. 11- Grey Socks: “Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayek replaced Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels almost overnight”

Ch 10: The End of History- I remember when the SMU honors program made us read “Educated” by Tara Westover and thinking Tara’s educational development was just like my parents’ after the dictatorship ended. My mom read “Educated” and agreed. Reading this chapter confirmed exactly that idea I had 5 years ago. Albania really was the North Korea of Europe.

Ch 9: Ahmet Got His Degree- yeah Im confused!!! Why does a cousin getting a degree and job mean Lea’s dad got transferred? What DOES university stand for?!

Ch. 8: Brigatisita- “In my family, everyone had a favorite revolution, just as everyone had a favorite summer fruit.” Cute!

Ch 7: They Smell of Sun Cream- love how a child associates the smell of sunscreen with affluence that’s only held by tourists. Lea demonstrates her active hatred of capitalism as a school aged girl and all the criticisms are super valid and tbh accurate. Probs my favorite chapter in the book thus far.

Ch. 6: Comrade Mamuazel- childhood misogyny & why does she speak french!

Ch 5: Coca Cola Cans- you know the economy of communist era albania was bad when imperial coca cola cans were used as home decor as a sign of wealth. also, a child screaming that her parents are against the communist regime could get her family killed!

Ch 4: Unc Enver Has Left Us- suppressed socialist wife!!! conflation of god with communist party!! why albania doesnt gaf about religion!! voodoo garlic like my grandmother! potench jojo rabbiting of Lea by her parents!

Ch 3: A Brief Bio- loved witnessing political nuance in this ch about anti-intellectualism during the commie regime and how under socialism women are the proletarian’s (man) proletarian. cool learning abt how albanians were assigned “college degrees” and jobs just like my parents were. also relatable how stoicism was used to justify enduring physical ailments. very black mirror “Nosedive” episode.

Chap 2- The Other Ypi: really cool seeing Ypi in her ‘leaving Plato’s cave’ moment. For the first time in her life, she identifies nuance in the pros/cons of the fascist Italian occupation and the lack of political pluralism under the Albanian communist dictatorship.

Ch 1- Stalin: super cool witnessing thru Ypi’s narrative how loyal people were to the Albanian communist dictatorship. As a little girl, she details society calling Enver Hoxha “uncle,” how she got in trouble for taking more than one bread ration, and how indoctrinated she and her teacher were in grade school. She corroborates my parents’ stories well.

just as I finally found myself starting to like the narrator, she says she dislikes Linger by The Cranberries. let it linger, girl!

super creative but i find the narrator insufferable. some cool inquisitive thoughts but overall feel like this reeks “pick me”