The Balkans

Giuseppe Massani was an Italian photographer. He strongly supported Italian fαscιsm and became known for photo albums promoting Benito Mussolini and fαsciςt Italy. After Albania was invaded by Italian forces in 1939 and incorporated into Mussolini’s empire, Massani travelled across Albania in 1940, likely with support from the Italian government. He produced highly regarded black-and-white photographs of the country, which were published in the book Albania: testo e foto di Giuseppe Massani.

Source: http://www.albanianphotography.net/

I always thought Yugoslav architecture was so interesting. So many unique designs, especially the spomeniks, and so much imagination, variety etc. It looked good, futuristic and unfortunately now we don't do maintenance on our buildings so they end up looking sad and dystopian.

All photos were taken from the "Once Upon a Time in Yugoslavia" blog. https://igoyugo.tumblr.com/about

Balkan grandparents! You'll see them working all the time, even though they should be resting. They'll go shopping together, take care of the garden. There would always be a radio or TV playing in the background while they worked or spent time with guests or family. They’d sit on chairs in the garden or out on the street and ask any kid that passed, “whose are you.” They’d be taking care of all the kids in the neighborhood. Some of them had a room in the house, the “good living room” used exclusively for guests, weddings, baptisms, any type of serious official event. They’d give you bags of homegrown veggies to take with you and insist you eat well because “you're too skinny.”

Balkan grandparents will take you to school because your parents are working, then come pick you up and help you with homework. They'll be the ones to make you try foods you don't want to eat because they seem gross. They would also probably give you your first taste of alcohol, usually by dipping their fingers in rakija and placing it on your lips when you were about 6.

My grandma used to take me to church with her, and I'd be bored, but I was getting treats from other grandmas, because that's how Balkan hospitality is. And of course, when leaving, like a classic Balkan grandma, she'd “secretly” hand me money “to get some chocolate or a drink.” Her treat.

When I was a kid, my cousins and I went to visit my grandparents in the village for a week and my grandpa used to drive us to the beach on the back of his pickup truck, under the hot sun, listening to the cicadas, our hair drying in the heat, the sea salt on our skin itching us. My grandma would be home, preparing lunch. We’d enter the house and smell freshly cooked köfte, fries, and salad.

And one day, they're gone.

I have already lost most of them.

I fear the day the phone is going to ring and my mom will tell me they passed, and I wouldn't have seen them in ages, because I live far.

We pray for their health and for more moments with them. But what I want to say, what I’d tell my younger self, is this:

Spend more time with them. Sit with them. Listen