New Year's Eve, Albanian Style

Everyone stocks up on "illegal" fireworks in the days leading up to the 31st. In the markets you can find anything from traditional Roman candles and bottle rockets to what looks like industrial strength grenades and professional incindiary devices. The kind you see on the 4th of July- surrounded by firetrucks.

Starting around 11 p.m. the anticipation brims over and the first bang-bangs begin in the streets. Once the first explosions are heard, no one can help but to light more fuses, and soon the air is thick with gunpowder smoke. Every apartment building is transformed into an impromtu Christmas tree as neighbors ignite fireworks on the balconies and shoot them off the sides, sometimes almost hitting other buildings. Like stars in a Kusturica film some people stupidly shoot guns into the air, which makes a lovely noise but a lousy dot of red in the sky. I prefer sparklers any day. The display rivals the idiotic concert and streamlined fireworks downtown put on by the mayor and his cronies. It seems as though everyone runs out of ammo by midnight, when toasts are drunk and midnight feasts are spread. When all that remains is a big cloud of smoke, people gag their way to bars and clubs to dance the night away.

Every year a number of people are hurt in the merry fracas. My cousin got a piece of burning ash in her eye last year. (It's all right though, her cornea was o.k. in the end). This year the government is cracking down to reduce accidents, possibly in the hopes that the city residents will flood to the center and enjoy the fabulous government-sponsored display of nice legal fireworks. It seems as though they are less worried about the flying bullets.

Posted by Alban in Tirana on 08/Jan/2006