Finances and the importance of early education
In early September 2012, I realized that I needed to become a better manager of funds. The fact is that I’ve never excelled at financial management, which has been a weak point most of my life. Even during my MBA studies the hardest course I took was “accounting & finance”. However many things have changed [...]
Teaching youth on how to utilize social media for change
This past week I had the privilege and honor to be one of the small session trainers for the annual National Youth Conference which is organized by World Vision. There were about 250 youths from all over Albania and Kosovo full of energy and curiosity. For me, the real challenge was not the topic (how [...]
Should Albanians learn Chinese?
During Albania’s budy-budy relations with China, the country’s ruling communist regime was very friendly and open to everything from the Chinese culture and language. Though it was not required in schools, there were those who committed themselves to learning the language, but that phase lasted for about ten years until relations broke in 1967. Today, [...]
Youth and drugs in Tirana’s high-schools
High school is either a time period in our lives that we have forgotten because there was not much of value to remember about it or just a vague collection of memories for which there is now diminishing reasons to cherish as just childhood stuff. But then, we tend not to give up all of [...]
Splurge of universities in Albania and the region
Thanks to a hint from a friend, I got to read a very interesting article pointing out the splurge of private universities in the region and in Albania in particular. The author counted some 10 public and over 30 private universities, which beats the rest of the Balkan countries. As someone who aspires toward a [...]
Sorry, I can’t hear you, I’m deaf and I stink – of smoke!
Well, though that is not true for me, it can be so if you hang around Tirana’s pubs and bars, especially around the Block area at night time. Elevated levels of music noise and smoke-filled rooms are an all-year-round problem which gets worse in the colder seasons of the year. Meanwhile, music noise levels are [...]
Cabriole Mercedes – seen only in Albania!
May be you may have seen some crazy pictures from China or Cambodia of people carrying about 2000 empty bottles of water on their bicycle or stacking a bunch of chickens on their motorcycle, or even of the horse riding in the back of the car. You know the web is full of those pictures. [...]
What will happen economically with Albania in 2013?
This past weekend I meet with a close friend of mine to talk about stuff. It started out as a casual chat over a cool beer, but it got serious once we started considering how the country would fare economically this upcoming elections year. He was reasonably concerned over the economic stability of the country [...]