A long one, you've been warned.

I'm a woman in my early twenties and I made a mistake of signing a one year lease agreement before getting my residency in Albania (im a digital nomad from outside of EU). When I understood that I wont be able to get my residency, I told my landlord a month before (as stated in the contract) that I'm leaving at the end of next month, I paid deposit and last month's rent when I was renting the apartment. Since I'm leaving earlier than agreed, he's keeping my deposit, which is okay, this is according to the contract.

Now this is where it gets weird, first of all, I made a mistake of telling my landlord that I'm not in Albania rn, I'm in my home country. My landlord said that he has to inform the rental agency and they need to come to the apt to take pictures for new tenants, that's why he has to go into the apt right now. I told him im not comfortable with that because I have my personal stuff there. Now this landlord texts me and says that it's okay if im worried about stuff in my apartment that i use for myself for my pleasure (he clearly already entered my apt and is referring to my vibrator 🙃) says that this is Europe, everyone has sex???? Wht the actual fuck! So he doesnt have my permission, and he clearly already entered my apartment, since his "examples" are oddly specific. Then he sends a cleaning company, even though I told him he can just wait for me to arrive, because technically Im still paying until the end of Sept, so thats my apartment, and I'll clean it myself. He tells me no. Then he tells me that actually I HAVE to pay for the cleaning company because he paid like 100 euros or smth and that the apartment was in a bad state??? So what? Isnt that what cleaning companies are for? And i didnt ask you to send a damn cleaning company.

After that I'm told that I cannot stay in the apartment actually, that they even packed my stuff, and that he'll give me part of my last rent, and for further questions I need to contact the rental agency. Rental agency tells me that I need to pay for the revocation of the contract in the notary (is this REALLY a thing?) and that my landlord will calculate the "damages" I did to the apartment, so he can deduct those from last month's rent and he'll give the rsat to me. WTF! Mind you, I only lived 2 months in that apartment, what damages are we talking about? Also, I told him isn't deposit for the "damages" you do to the apartment? He says no, that covers the fact that youre leaving earlier than 1 year.

Then randomly this landlord says that I damaged the TV too, and that there's a Dead pixel in the tv, which I noticed yes, but that was right before I left for my home country, hes now blaming me for not informing him "on time" and that I have to pay the entire cost of the TV now 🤡 And im telling "my guy dont you have warranty?" i literally wasnt home for the past 1 month, the TV wasnt turned on (if he didnt enter my apt ofc), so how does me informing you now make a difference? You can still do it through warranty.

Basically now, he's not letting me enter my apartment, hes not only not giving me my last months rent, he's also telling me to pay for the TV's original cost, bc I must've thrown smth at the TV to cause that. Because of this I haven't bought my tickets yet, because I have no idea if I'll be able to stay in the apt at least for a couple of days while I pack my stuff. Also the entire time he's making up random costs too, that I need to pay 250 euros for revocation of the contract 😆 that I need to pay 50 euros because the old iron he put in the apartment is apparently not working. Basically scamming AT ITS BEST.

Is this much scamming normal? Or they're doing it bc im a foreigner and a woman? This whole experience tinted all my good experiences in Albania and I'm truly so confused about what to do.

Is Balkan fertility rate returning to replacing levels?

hey so i’m a half English half Macedonian dude and im going to visit Belgrade for a week with a couple of friends of mine, but im kinda concerned about my appearance. i have a more alternative style and have bright red hair, facial piercings (bridge, nose and eyebrow) and massive earrings, and i was wondering if the Serbian public have a general dislike or distaste towards people who dress/look different. i’m only worried as ive had people spit on me/throw drinks at me etc in different places around Europe and despite being treated fairly in my village in Macedonia, i’m concerned that behaviour like this is gonna affect my friends’ experience too. pls let me know if anyone has an answer for me/any anecdotes that might be relevant, фала многу

I did a lot of research at home (USA) and everything told me safety would be fine as a solo traveler, just to be smart in the city, especially Tirana.

I’m in Kosovo and the 3 people I’ve talked to for a long time all warned me not to go there, and definitely not alone. Two of them basically said in Tirana and maybe Himare, I will be “taken” by men, my purse snatched, I need to wear very long dresses and skirts for safety, I can’t go out after dark, police will not help me if something happens. They also said my Airbnb in Blloku was like a death wish. They joked that I will not come back to the US and warned me to not go.

Should I not go…? I paid for everything already. Are they mostly being prejudiced? I’m worried.

I love reading about the beliefs and weird and interesting practices of folk around the world; especially in this weird corner of the world we come from.

I’d love to hear about some lesser known and interesting practices that yall know about, as well as books that explore them if you have a recommendation.

I’ll start off with one from Vojvodina in Serbia (obv it might appear in other places too). It’s called “salivanje strave”. Basically, its a ritual to remove bad energy/fears (strava being fear). The person performing the ritual will warm up lead/iron above the person who is being ridden of fears, until the metal turns to liquid, and then pour it into a pot of water. Then the shape that the metal takes is studied and discussed; and its believed that the fears have entered the metal. Some say to then take the metal and leave it at a crossroad, some say to hide it somewhere only you know.

It’s not practiced as much today, but you can still find an old lady in every village who can do it, and I’ve heard of people, even younger ones, having had it done to them.

Some good OUR music.

Darko rudnek, gordan krajišnjik, and oter i listen to as of rn.

More recomendations(Manley YUGO) greek and hungary is aceptable

Just no🇧🇬

Cheers all,

was wondering about how does your city fight mosquitos?

I continue painting busts dedicated to the Greek War of Independence. This time, it’s Papaflessas, one of the most remarkable figures of the Revolution of 1821.

A priest, revolutionary and fighter, he became one of the most memorable personalities of the struggle for Greek independence.

This is my 200 mm painted bust of Papaflessas.

Hope you enjoy my interpretation of him.

It's like this all over Macedonia and I wonder if we'll ever go back to decent housing standards

I usually get asked if I’m from the Mediterranean/Balkan region. I am curious as to what classification my phenotype I fall under.

How strong is the identification people have with your local city, the local patriotism?

And i don't mean in a sense of "i'm from the city and you're not" kinda way, but more like, a strong identification and knowledge of the city's history, it's symbols etc...

The pioneer in Southeastern Europe for me is Dubrovnik. You can very much feel that they have been a small maritime state for so long, the city and its history is really present, from the name of the local bus company "Libertas" to Radio Dubrovnik airing a daily 5min show about what happened during the era of the Republic of Ragusa that exact day.

I don’t know if there are differences between Chr. and Musl. Balkan families, but generally speaking, among Musl. Balkan families, the eldest son is the primary heir and is raised more strictly; the youngest has more leeway and is totally spoiled, though he is still expected to show respect to the older brother (though that often isn't the case these days). Unfortunately, family values ​​are eroding; everything is being imported from Western Europe. They call it "modern"—but is it good? We’ll see in the future.

Asking as a Turk, I know very well that we are known as bad guys around the world, especially in Balkans and of course I have different thoughts about these 3 topics -thoughts that most of you wouldnt like to hear-

So, If we could have an agreement about these 3 matters, would this be enough to satisfy you

Im not claiming that Bosnians are Serbs and Croats nowadays! I am just asking myself, how influential was the Bosnian Church, because the common narrative nowadays is that the members of this Church identified back then as Bosnians, even though they were not islamized yet. So how realistic is that? Please anwser honestly and not from a subjective viewpoint.

Glad we know whose side Meta is on.

https://www.politico.eu/article/meta-blocks-accounts-politicians-journalists-and-activists-protesting-jared-kushner-linked-albania-resort/

I am assuming most of you guys know Albin Kurti.