Every local I’ve met has said something along the lines of “Ah Tirana, it’s beautiful, yes?” After which I’ve quickly responded “yes!” and immediately felt guilt from deliberately lying to their face.
The beautiful city of Tirana: where trash lines the streets, tap water isn’t drinkable, and AC is a rare find.
I’m confused. Do they think the caved in sidewalks are beautiful? What about the broken down buildings? The stray dogs roaming the streets? My short time in Tirana would not vote it in the top 20 or even 100 of the most beautiful places to see. But… there have been beautiful moments looking above and beyond the city to the subtle mountain range in the distance or looking closely at the bounty of fruit trees and flowers growing at random.
So my curiosity comes in to wonder, “Do they see Tirana from the big picture of mountains or small picture to the flowers growing in the alleys?
Well maybe it’s neither.
One of my teammates snapped a photo of our bedroom: a small room with seven mattresses perfectly lining the floor. She laughed as she showed the rest of us the original picture followed by the same picture with a filter applied to it. Her filter of choice made our sleeping scenario look high class.
Same picture, different filter.
So it has me thinking… maybe the locals aren’t just looking at the big picture or just the small picture. Maybe they are just looking at the same average picture with a different perspective.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.
Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 ESV
