Newsletter Volume 31, Number 1

Calendar

December banquet

Hoiday banquet was a great success with 10 attending.

Happy January Birthdays to:

Nadir Salehomoum on the 15^th
Andrew Chessin on the 18^th
Bill Egan on the 19^th
John Martin on the 24^th

Circe's Mediterranean dispatch #2

Date: Tuesday, October 19, 1999 1:49 PM

Our access to electricity for keeping the computer and cell phone charged s often limited as well as it is uncertain. Stan wrote the following dispatch while I guarded Circe for the day waiting for better sailing weather. For entertainment I watched them unload 1000 tons of cement with very large, very rusty crane. Lots of new construction everywhere, usually next to ruin and rubble. We are stretching our Corfu cell phone connection as we are heading towards northern Albania tomorrow. It may be a few days before we reconnect.
Doug

By Stan
The US State department warns Americans against entering Albania as the political situation is still unstable. The English pilots for yachts warn against pirates off the Albanian coast who will cut your throat for nothing. The Italians say we shouldn't go to Albania, it's too dangerous. The Greeks tell us we should not go to Albania, they say Corfu used to be a safer place before the lowly, thieving Albanians invaded. But what the hell, I'd rather have my throat cut by a lowly, thieving Albanian pirate than be hit by a city bus in downtown LA! Besides, I've doubled the arms onboard Circe; we now have 2 slingshots with a couple hundred rounds of lead shot. Those bloody pirates will have to fight for their booty or die laughing! Auron, an Albanian archeologist, gave us a ride back from the site at Butrint in his 4X4 LandRover and told us his story of his visit to Washington D.C. a few years earlier. Auron tells us there were about 300 Albanians killed during the troubles in '97, most due to ricochet. It's clear, once one puts things in perspective, that our nation's capitol is much more dangerous on a daily basis than Albania was during its brief period of unrest.

Corfu and Albania face each other across a few miles of water but they are worlds apart. After strolling the narrow marble-paved lanes of Corfu lined with countless shops for carefree tourists, the wide, rough, debris-littered streets of Saranda look like the aftermath of some pathetic disaster. The shops in Corfu sell everything from postcards to local honey and leather goods to religious icons but in Saranda one has to search to find a postcard and there is not much to interest the average tourist. This may be one of the reasons there are not many tourists here.

We hitched a couple of rides about 20 kilometers south of Saranda to Butrint, the sight of a Greek theater modified by the Romans with Byzantine, Venetian, Italian, and other influences. The theater is surrounded by Roman baths, a baptismal fount, water wells, and a big church. Towering above all of this is a castle restored by a friend of Mussolini in the late 20's. Apparently everything was well preserved because it was all buried from an earthquake a few hundred years ago and only discovered and uncovered by Mussolini's buddy.

Butrint is a very interesting place. There is an old fortress on the hill flying the red Albanian flag with the black double headed eagle. This is an old Venetian fortress restored in the late 20's by Mussolini's buddy. Albania is the land of the eagle (Shqiperise) and Albanians are the "sons of the eagle" (Shqiptar). In Butrint we spoke with an English archeologist, a Greek archeologist, a Dutch archeologist, and an Albanian archeologist. They let us visit the museum even though it was still not entirely restored from the damage done during the '97 disturbances. There was a good deal of frustration among the archeologists at the unnecessary damage caused by the ignorant masses which invaded the site during the disturbances. The archeologists had to re-find many of their finds under piles of refuse thrown over the wall by the invaders of the site during the unrest. They are brave determined folks that pay much of their own way (in cash) to do what they believe is important. The Greek lady archeologist said she has been trying to do this for fifteen years and she wouldn't try it again but she's determined to see it through now.

This site is mentioned in Virgil's Aeneod (spelling?) and the founders of Rome, Romulus & Remus, have been said to pass by Butrint. If one passes through the "Lion's gate" one passes through an historical place important in the history of the Roman Empire. This is one of the reasons Mussolini took such an interest in it. It is exciting today for western archeologists because it is an especially well preserved site due to being buried by an earthquake and only recently uncovered and even more recently being open to western eyes. There were about a dozen archeologists at the site, some having only just arrived, to put the pieces back together. Literally! This site has been continuously inhabited from 600 BC until the 17th centuryAD controlling access to the interior of Illuriam and was a key port on the Adriatic. It is the most important archeological site on the Balkan Peninsula and the only world heritage site in Albania. In short it is an archeologist's (deleted) dream!

Sally, an English archeologist at the sight, told us she and some friends saw us sail into Saranda Sunday evening. She was excited at the sight of a yacht in Saranda bay and shouted "a yacht!, a yacht!" to her friends. She and Auron told us there hasn't been a yacht here for a year and a half. This was later contradicted by the local police chief who told me that an Italian yacht came through about six months ago (because of bad wheather). So much for us being the adventurous pioneers.

Over dinner with the local police chief, Haki (who looks like James Caan), his assistant, Vangjel (who looks like Ernest Borgnine), and a friendly translator, Eduauard (who doesn't look like anybody I know), we discussed the local situation, the general situation, families, friends, family friends, fiends, friendly situations, unfriendly situations, unfriendly fiends, and all of the things one is likely to discuss over cow brains and beer. I was eating salad and fried local cheese and they were eating fried cows brains and some unidentifiable type of meat but we were all enjoying good, cold Greek beer, fresh french fries, tomato & cucumber salad, and grilled bread topped with olive oil & herbs. The police chief told me he would fix me up with a woman if it weren't so late and asked if my friend Doug would like a woman. I told him Doug was too old for that nonsense and his wife would not approve and it's not that late, is it? We discussed ages and found out James, Ernest, and I were all born within a few months of each other. Edward was the baby of the group being born a year later than the rest of us, they were surprised to find out how old Doug is. It has been a real pleasure to meet these formidable men and share a friendly meal with them. I can't help but wonder what part they had during the '97 disturbances... All things considered, I'm pleased to count them as friends.

Auron seems to be a local celebrity. He's a fair, tall, strong Albanian archaeologist in his early 30's. At first I thought he was Dutch because of his appearance and his command of English combined with his accent. The police chief and his assistant know him and speak well of him, Edward & Ben know him, and the owner of the restaurant with the cow brains calls him a friend. Auron told us he had a good conversation with an Australian, presumably from the Lonely Planet, a year or two ago. He shared with us invaluable information on the coast we are heading for and curious bits of history and folklore that add texture to our adventures. More of this in another message.

Earlier the same evening, I was walking in the center of town (pop. 20,000) and I heard "Hi Stanley", It was Edward with his cute two year old son Christophe (named after his grandfather, Christophe's grandfather). Edward led me to his home up several flights of uneven stairs with rusty iron handrails after climbing a dark uneven gravel road. The inside of his home was surprisingly pleasant and modern. The only thing strange was a couple of electrical interruptions that caused him to reset his cable TV box. These may have been caused by the thunderstorm that was building or maybe they were normal in the course of an evening. I didn't ask. He later helped me with shopping for the ship's stores (mostly beer & potato chips) and let his mother-in-law carry the TV up the stairs by herself.

I had expected Albania to be much like Tunisia with its scamming scum, but instead of the locals trying to take advantage of the "rich Americans" I'm finding it difficult to pay for my own beer! I went to a local bar with Edward, the bar was clean and modern with many bottles of enticing, multi-colored spirits lined up on the mirrored shelves, chic lighting,and Boney M in the background. A couple of fishermen came in and sat with us, they were friends of Edward. Later a couple more fishermen sat with us, beer was drunk toasts were toasted and friends were made. The Albanians

I've met are friendly, self-assured, and not looking for anything they haven't earned. It is sure that when Circe comes through these waters again next summer we'll have old friends to greet and new stories to share. Saranda is growing and some day soon the locals will be cursing the tourists but for now it is OK to be a novelty. We came to Albania with a little apprehension due to the bad press but a certain faith in human nature based on personal experiences and we're leaving with a few dozen new friends and a renewed faith in the human condition. But we've only just arrived.

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