A dead tradition or just a changed one?

 

A dead tradition or just a changed one?

 

Oda, a spacious room of a traditional Albanian home. A place where the host usually hosted and entertained visitors. A tradition that by time seems to be disappearing or at least changing.

 Meshine, Kamenice (photo taken by me)

I had the chance to visit an Oda. There I had a lot of fun. It felt as if I was home, cozy and warm. Not to lie I felt a bit uncomfortable because I was the only girl there and the same way I left my comfort zone, my social skills left me.

I met people of different ages but not of different genders. The thing is that women do not typically prefer Oda and it can be said that it is a place made for men only. It is an only men place because at the time men didn’t want to be bothered by children, loud noises or even women while they were discussing important matters like reconciliation of bloods (people), arranged marriages, they even held marriages there or even just played games.

My dad and his friends (photo taken by my dad)

I was lucky to witness a gathering of my dad’s friends. They were all there for a reason, to play games with cards and there’s me uninvited taking pictures of them. The fact that they were screaming while playing (either from joy or jealousy) made me feel so alive. Everyone would hype his teammate and try to absolutely crush their enemy's self-esteem. Furthermore, Oda was filled with laughter, and it looked like everyone including me was enjoying this gathering.

The people there stayed up until late, they sang songs, discussed some of their issues and tried to pick a date for their next meeting. I realized that there weren’t any kids and I talked with my family members about it, they said that ‘Young boys whose age was below sixteen weren’t allowed to enter the room until recently, now they are allowed but they just aren’t interested’.

The accessories of the room were of the Albanian tradition. The owner of the Oda hang up the Albanian flag, an embroided picture, an empty weapon and the cifteli which they then used to make traditional music and sing while they were waiting for their turn to play .

People playing cifteli for entertainment (photo taken by my dad)

During my stay there, I also realized that a lot of people smoked cigarettes. The smog made it hard to breathe and see others' faces. I then asked my dad about this matter, and he told me that ‘It’s a form of kindness and respect when someone gives you a cigarette and you must accept it especially when it comes from elderly men, they can hold grudge it you don’t accept the cigarette’.

So, to put it in a nutshell, I had a great time during this visit, and I learned a lot of things that even I as an Albanian didn’t know. Yes, this tradition still exists and it probably will for a long time, but some changes have been made over time. The room is not as extra as it was before, and people don’t stay there as much as they did. Only people that live in villages tend to have Oda nowadays.

Something that still hasn’t changed is the way that men there still sit on the ground, they are friendly to one another, and that Oda still is a place for men and men only.

                                                         Our tradition doesn’t die.

 

                          Belkiza Gubavci

And credits to my dad for helping me:

Sahit Gubavci