university of nova gorica graduate school contested spaces and ...

iron door situated in the middle of a big cement wall and shouted a greeting. When Lefteria
came to the door she could not hide her surprise to find us there. As my command of the local
Greek was very bad Maria introduced us and asked if she had time for a chat. She looked at us
with distrust. Following the village customs she invited us inside. Hospitality represents an
important part of the people’s customary practices, even though they are nowadays not strictly
followed anymore.
Lefteria invited us into the living room of her old house that used to belong to her father. As
he did not have any male heirs he left it to her, his eldest daughter, who after thirty-six years
of living and working in Tirana returned to Dhërmi/Drimades. We sat down on the old sofa
which was similar to those in other houses. They were all made during the communist period.
Lefteria sat on her bed positioned on the right side of our sofa. Her posture was in accord with
the majority of village ladies of her generation: unnaturally straightened back, legs on the
ground, slightly crossed, arms crossed in her lap. Neatly covered with a black scarf, tightened
in a way typical for Bregu, Lefteria smiled and let us know that she was waiting for our
questions. In proper Greek that sounded more Athenian than Dhërmian/Drimadean Maria
explained my research interests. After five minutes of introduction she asked Lefteria if she
minded us writing down her answers. Lefteria had nothing against and we began with the
interview.
While Lefteria was explaining the reasons for endogamy within the village her husband
returned home. Seeing his facial expression it was obvious that he was not thrilled with our
visit. When he entered the room, Lefteria stood up and invited him to sit on the armchair that
was standing next to the sofa, facing the doorway. When he sat down she went to their newly
furnished kitchen, located in the same room. She offered us some sweets, traditional gliko
(sweet fruits in syrup), and a glass of water. This kind of hospitality called kerasma is typical
for some parts of the South Eastern Europe. Kerasma is always provided by the woman of the
house, who serves the guests with sweets or lokumi (Turkish delight), gliko and drinks on a
special tray decorated with a lace cloth. The drinks are either coffee and water or juice, liquor,
brandy or raki/tsipouro.
This kind of assorted offer always confused me as I never knew what I was supposed to take
first. I was taught by Maria to take the sweets first and than the plate with gliko and finish off
with the glass of water. After she served us, Lefteria sat back on her bed and recapitulated the
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