Instant Coffee
in Albania

The owner of my guesthouse in the Accursed Mountains told me some villagers welcome travelers into their homes for coffee. The next day, a woman working in the field saw me walking alone and started a conversation. Problem was, I didn’t speak Albanian, and she didn’t know English. After a minute of her talking and me nodding as if I understood, she excitedly made a drinking gesture and motioned to follow her up a path to her house. So I did, not knowing what to expect. Inside her home, she fixed a place for me to sit, started a fire and made instant coffee over a propane burner. She also showed me photos of what I assumed was her family. After all that, she even took me back outside to show me her white horse.

I don’t know her name or story, but boy was she kind, proud and generous. I think about her to this day.

An elderly woman with gray hair, wearing a red headscarf, a brown knitted vest, a striped shirt, and a dark skirt, stands in front of a rustic wooden door with white stone walls around her. She is smiling and has her left hand on her hip.
An elderly woman with gray hair, wearing a red headscarf, a dark jacket, a sweater, and a striped shirt, standing outdoors near a wooden fence in a rural area with mountains and green trees in the background.
A woman walking along a dirt path in a rural area surrounded by lush green foliage and mountains, carrying a bucket and dressed in a black quilted jacket with a red headscarf.
A dog standing at an open doorway of a rustic stone house with a red tiled roof, two small barred windows, and some greenery in front.
An elderly woman wearing a headscarf points to a collage of old photographs in wooden frames on a beige wall inside a rustic home, with a glimpse of a bedroom in the background.
An elderly woman in a headscarf sits on a bed in a rustic room, heating water on a small portable stove, with a table beside her holding a cup, jar, and personal items, while sunlight streams through a window.
An elderly woman with a red headscarf, smiling, sitting indoors beside a wall with bags hanging on it, holding a framed black-and-white photo of two men and a woman, with a colorful blanket in the background.
View through a rustic, open doorway into a dimly lit interior with exposed brick and plaster walls, showing coats hanging on the wall and various household items.
An elderly person is heating coffee on a small portable stove, holding a cup in one hand and using a spoon to stir. On the ground, there is a gallon water container. The scene appears to be indoors with a wooden floor and a patterned rug, with part o
A person with a red headscarf and black jacket walking through a lush, green garden with wooden fences and grapevines, carrying a blue basket.
A stone church with a wooden roof and bell tower set in a green field, with trees, mountains, and a blue sky in the background.
An elderly woman with a red headscarf smiling standing next to a white horse in a green outdoor landscape with mountains in the background.