Keishera Aldonza
Culture Partners: The Interview with the Albanian
I first met Enea almost by accident. It was the night of the first fire alarm at Roberts Hall. The steam pipes had burst and the basement became overwhelmed with steam, forcing Enea upstairs and into my common area. He was alone and I felt particularly sociable that night. He introduced himself as Alec, which I learned later was his “Americanized” name, and I introduced myself and my friends. Our friendship stuck and he even introduced me to the man who is currently my boyfriend. There was no doubt in my mind
Anthropologists use ethnography as a method of studying cultures based insight given on a first hand interaction. I am not an anthropologist by specialty, however; I will give an ethnographic description of Albania from the perspective of a man named Enea Osmann. Enea is a 22 year old junior studying computer engineering at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He was born and raised in Albania's capital, Tirana, moving to the United States at the age of 14. Having spent just under a third of his life living in the States, he has sufficient …show more content…
Albania forcibly became an atheistic state when mosques and churches were closed and religious observance was banned in 1967. This was law until 1990 when the prohibition of religion was abolished. While public practice of religion was banned, it became increasingly difficult to outlaw private practice of religion. For example, a Muslim in the time period (Albanian was 70% Muslim before communism) would not suddenly eat pork since it is haram and ingrained into their culture and personal identity. In the aftermath of the disintegration of the Iron Curtain, Albania has embraced religious tolerance; however, many Albanians state that religion is not a major component of their lives, likely as a result of state atheism during the communist
Culture Partners: The Interview with the Albanian
I first met Enea almost by accident. It was the night of the first fire alarm at Roberts Hall. The steam pipes had burst and the basement became overwhelmed with steam, forcing Enea upstairs and into my common area. He was alone and I felt particularly sociable that night. He introduced himself as Alec, which I learned later was his “Americanized” name, and I introduced myself and my friends. Our friendship stuck and he even introduced me to the man who is currently my boyfriend. There was no doubt in my mind
Anthropologists use ethnography as a method of studying cultures based insight given on a first hand interaction. I am not an anthropologist by specialty, however; I will give an ethnographic description of Albania from the perspective of a man named Enea Osmann. Enea is a 22 year old junior studying computer engineering at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He was born and raised in Albania's capital, Tirana, moving to the United States at the age of 14. Having spent just under a third of his life living in the States, he has sufficient …show more content…
Albania forcibly became an atheistic state when mosques and churches were closed and religious observance was banned in 1967. This was law until 1990 when the prohibition of religion was abolished. While public practice of religion was banned, it became increasingly difficult to outlaw private practice of religion. For example, a Muslim in the time period (Albanian was 70% Muslim before communism) would not suddenly eat pork since it is haram and ingrained into their culture and personal identity. In the aftermath of the disintegration of the Iron Curtain, Albania has embraced religious tolerance; however, many Albanians state that religion is not a major component of their lives, likely as a result of state atheism during the communist