Oral History Interview with Ilir Shkurti

BARBARA DRUMMOND: Alright, this is Shelly Drummond with Ilir--now how do you say your last name?

ILIR SHKURTI: Shkurti.

DRUMMOND: Shkurti? Oh. From Albania. And it is June 29th, and we are in my kitchen in Bowling Green, Kentucky. So, you're hometown where you were born is Elbasan?

SHKURTI: Yeah, that's about 45 kilometers away from the capital of Albania, Tirana. It was a big industrial city. Uh, there was like one of the biggest (indeterminable) plants in Europe--

DRUMMOND: A what plant?

SHKURTI: (indeterminable). You know, metallurgic, you know.

DRUMMOND: Metallurgic, okay.

SHKURTI: Yeah. Uh, one of the biggest one in Europe. It was built during the communism. It started building around '70, '78. My dad worked there for awhile. Thirteen years as an engineer. Yeah uh, actually now it's totally a mess, you 1:00know. It's just a lot of everything, you know. It, it's out of use because it was old technology and...So, then...

DRUMMOND: Then you moved to Terana.

SHKURTI: Yeah, 1994. My dad, you know, after the fall of the communism this, this whole plant was shut down so he had to find another job and so he decided to move to the capital. More opportunity for me and my sister also. For our future.

DRUMMOND: What did he do in Terana?

SHKURTI: Uh, he got hired as an engineer. Construction engineer or civil engineer how they say it in here. Uh, with a good company and they offered him an apartment at the same price as they would sell apartment in the other city, which was big, big deal for us, you know.

DRUMMOND: Mhmm.

SHKURTI: Because the prices in the capital are much higher than the city where we were living.

DRUMMOND: What was your apartment like?

SHKURTI: Well uh, the one that we got, the new one? It was pretty, pretty neat 2:00because everybody had their own room. I had my own room, my sister had her own room. And you know, we could have friends over more. It was a little bit better than the one we had before and we paid the same price for it. And it was positioned in a really good part of the town, so you know, close to the downtown. Which we really enjoyed a lot, you know. We had all kind of entertainment around, you know. Discos, movie theaters, and (laughs) friends.

DRUMMOND: So you went to discos?

SHKURTI: Oh, I went lots. (laughs)

DRUMMOND: I was talking to somebody the other day, and they were talking about how it was hard here because they didn't have discos.

SHKURTI: Yeah, well yeah.

DRUMMOND: Um, describe your room.

SHKURTI: What, my room at home?

DRUMMOND: Yeah. Mhmm.

SHKURTI: Well I can't think. I had a aquarium. I had a few fish that--I like, you know, little animals. Like, I had fish and then uh, I had uh, I had a little bird on my, in a little cage, you know. Canary?

DRUMMOND: Mhmm.

SHKURTI: And uh, you know, I had a very old computer. A 386, you know. (laughs) Sounds ancient now. (laughs) But I loved it. I had all kinds of games, and I had a tv in my room. I borrowed the VCR from my parents room when friends would come over and watch movies. So pretty much it was my own little world, you know. I would spend hours and hours there. And I had a lot of books. I used to read a lot, you know. Right now I'm busy working and everything but uh, at the time I used to read a lot. And that's where I got, you know, most of my background, you know. I read a lot of classic books and, from probably when I was 10 until 14 years old or up to 17, you know. Before I moved (indeterminable) besides school books. So...

DRUMMOND: So what brought you...to Bowling Green?

SHKURTI: To United States? Oh, Bowling Green. Uh, it was more (indeterminable). Uh you know, it was luck. Because I applied to be an exchange student in an 4:00exchange student program back home. And uh, you couldn't choose wherever you're going to go, but it seems like a lot of people came to Kentucky, and you know, Bowling Green, too. Because it's very welcoming community it, you know, I don't regret it at all that I got started in here. I was placed with an American family in Bowling Green, Kentucky. And then I went to high school for one year. I graduated. So it was, kind of got me started really good. It worked out.

DRUMMOND: What about your first day in Bowling Green? Your family met you at the airport?

SHKURTI: Oh it was--yeah they did. I was completely lost. (laughs) I mean, you know, I was afraid of how things going to go and, you know, a lot of new things that I had to deal with. Yeah. I felt a little bit, you know, for a moment it was before even I got here, I was in the airplane in Nashville and I was like, I was already--I had a bad time, you know. New Jersey when I came uh, we almost had an accident because I came from let's say, Terana, Zurich. And from Zurich 5:00we flew to uh, JFK. And from JFK we took a cab to go to La Guardia in New Jersey. So, and then on the way there to La Guardia we almost had an accident, you know. The car got like scratched from a big 18-wheelers and it was a little tiny car, and I was scared, you know. I was like, "Why? (laughs) Let me see at least a little bit of the United States before I get me killed." (laughs)

(00:05:36)

DRUMMOND: (laughs)

SHKURTI: So, and then I stayed in New Jersey airport. I waited for like seven long hours in the middle of the night. Nobody was there in the airport. It was like just the people that were cleaning. And I was like, I felt so lonely, and I was like, "Why did I leave? Why did I leave?" But, I mean you know, I got--and the first week was the most, the worst one because I was like missing my parents so much. And then after one week I was like, well I got to deal with this, you know. And just put it back and, you know, it's not that I don't miss them anymore, but you know, I learned a way to deal with it. They're in my heart, they are with me all the time. So...

DRUMMOND: How about your first day um, at school?

SHKURTI: At school it was good. It was great. I mean, they helped me a lot because everybody was so friendly. Everybody was like trying to get you, you know, in the conversation. Trying to talk to you. Teachers all, everybody. Principals. Other students, you know. I felt, you know, really good. Everybody was really friendly to me, so...Yeah it helped me a lot to get settled.

DRUMMOND: What did you think Kentucky was going to be like?

SHKURTI: (laughs) I didn't even know that Kentucky existed to tell the truth. I mean, even though I consider, you know, I've read a lot and I've studied a lot. But I didn't know that Kentucky was one of the states, you know, before they told me that I was actually going to go to Kentucky. I had, I had heard about University of Kentucky. And I had heard about Kentucky Fried Chicken. But I didn't know, I mean, pardon my ignorance, but I didn't know that Kentucky was a state. (laughs) And then, but then I made the research back home, you know, so I 7:00was reading about bluegrass and, you know, reading about the history. And I checked on Britannica Encyclopedia and was, you know, I was reading everything, you know. What's the big, what's the industry. And then I checked about Bowling Green, you know. Learned about Fruit of the Loom and about Corvette plant, and I was excited, you know. It's going to be cool. So...

DRUMMOND: And what did you think when you got here?

SHKURTI: It was alright. I mean, I was really surprised. All the grass and of this, you know, green trees and everything. It was beautiful. It was, it was about August, you know. Beautiful weather, perfect, just...I liked it. I liked it. It's probably the kind of town I like, you know. Uh...

DRUMMOND: Well tell me about your family members. Your brothers and sisters.

SHKURTI: I got only one sister.

DRUMMOND: Oh, okay.

SHKURTI: Uh, she's 22. She just turned 22 a few months ago. So uh, her name is (indeterminable). And uh, she goes to pre-med school over there. She, she's probably going to transfer to come to school over here, too. We're, yeah, we're 8:00planning, you know, probably me and her can reunite, you know, together and...So uh, I had a very good relationship with my sister. I could talk to her about everything and she could talk to me. Even though she's a little bit older than me. But still, you know, we're very good friends all the time. Yeah...She's one of the persons I miss the most. We write, we write back and forth, though, all the time. So...uh...

DRUMMOND: So, you told me about how your family has won the lottery?

SHKURTI: Yeah, it's a diversity program. I mean, pretty much it's offered to most of the countries in the world, and everybody's free to apply. But it's like, very limited. Very limited number of people who actually succeed to come to the United States. So everybody in my family applied, actually. Me too. And it seems like my dad got it. And then, if he has any children under 21, they 9:00also will get, you know, to come and get the green card, green card, you know. The right to come to United States. And live...

DRUMMOND: And leave?

SHKURTI: And live in United States.

DRUMMOND: Oh, oh and live.

SHKURTI: Yeah, live. Live.

DRUMMOND: And this is for you to...

SHKURTI: Well it, it's just perfect. It's what, just what I wanted, you know. I mean it's not that I don't like my place, I don't like my country. I really love it and I think it's the best place in the world, and I'm like thinking about it the whole time, and you know. And whenever I get on internet, you know, I will check everything about my country. And you know, I get really excited. And when I talk to somebody about it, you know. And there are so many good things. But, there is something, you know, the communism for 50 years, you know, like made the worst of it. And even before that, we've been 500 years of, under Ottoman rule. And you know, like left the country early. You know, even though it was like central, we were more like eastern. So it left it a little bit very underdeveloped. And you know, really poor and...So and then the communism, the 10:00curtain uh, the Iron Curtain and everything, you know. It was so isolated and so it's, there is not a lot of, a whole of opportunity. Maybe one day I'll go back, but for now I see that my future, my near future is here in the United States.

(00:10:46)

DRUMMOND: What do you miss the most? After your family?

SHKURTI: Uh, I don't know. I'd say I miss everything. I miss, I miss my friends for sure. You know, the stuff that you used to do. Even though now I'm pretty much used to the new life in here. But I miss, I miss soccer. I mean, soccer was a big thing. I loved it. I would go every uh, every Sunday to watch the soccer games in the stadium. And we would get crazy, me and my friends. And then we'd go, you know, party after that. And you know, professional soccer over there, you know. And, and then we'd follow, we'd follow our team just about everywhere, 11:00in every city. It's not a big country so it's like a hundred kilometers away to go play a game. And we'd like color ourselves red and everything.

DRUMMOND: (laughs)

SHKURTI: Like the team colors. So it's, it's a lot of--and then, oh, and then we was, when our national team was playing, you know, like other teams from the world, that would be like, best. We'd always buy tickets two months ahead and go over there and just scream the whole time. (laughs) We wouldn't watch the game just scream the whole time. (laughs)

DRUMMOND: (laughs)

SHKURTI: Two hours of screaming there. (laughs) So I miss all that excitement, you know. I wish I could do it again. (laughs)

DRUMMOND: Have, do you play soccer?

SHKURTI: Yeah, I play soccer. Well, I have a little bit ingrown toenails, so I had surgery. So that made me kind of quit, you know.

DRUMMOND: Mhmm.

SHKURTI: I play a little bit, but...I used to, when I was a kid, I played all the time. Played that and I played volleyball, too.

DRUMMOND: Do you ever go to the games here in Bowling Green?

SHKURTI: Soccer games? I went once and it was total disappointment, you know, 12:00total delusion. (laughs) I don't know, it's nothing like that, you know. It's, it's very different. We don't even call it soccer, we call it football. It's football. (laughs) When I think of football, you know...So it's, it's very different, you know. The way they play in here and the whole, you know, scenarios, scenarios, you know whatever. It's, it's very different so it just doesn't really attract me. Yeah, I went to college game. Western has got a pretty good team, you know, compared to other colleges, I've heard. But the whole thing it's not, it's not it.

DRUMMOND: What about the rec team?

SHKURTI: The what?

DRUMMOND: The rec teams? Like the ones that um, Josh plays for, and Samir?

SHKURTI: Oh, I've never been. I've never...

DRUMMOND: To those...

SHKURTI: I don't know. I probably have busy life (laughs) you know. Not much fun around...

DRUMMOND: Well, tell me about your job.

SHKURTI: My job in here in Bowling Green? Well uh, first I started at a daycare, campus childcare. That was my first job. I was in really bad need of money. So I worked in childcare for about three months. And I really liked it. You know, working with kids was something I could do, you know. And I was, you know, really into it. But uh, it needed a lot of time and dedication, you know. Even out of the, actually the classroom where I was working, teaching the kids. And I didn't have much time for myself so when I had an opportunity I started working in the computer lab. And that, and that job was more like what my career was going to be like. You know, oriented. So, and then I had more time for me to study there during working and studying. So it worked out pretty good. It was a bit, a little bit of night hours. Plus I had the other job in the uh, Brickyard 14:00Cafe was where I was working. I started as a dishwasher. But I worked a few months. And it was, it was good. It helped me a lot. I mean, I don't regret doing it. I would do it again, you know, if I had to. So, and then I got promoted to what, salad boy. (laughs) And then making pizzas. And just a little bit of everything. Prepping. Doing everything, you know. Cleaning and stuff. I did everything. I, I enjoyed working for the guys that owned the restaurant. So...

DRUMMOND: What are you going to do when you graduate? Or what is your degree in?

SHKURTI: My degree is in Computer Information Systems. And I have, I mean I don't really, really have any worked out. But mostly I think it's going to be web design or networking or something that, you know, something in between to do. Probably I'm going to have my own business, you know, where I can have 15:00networking services and, and web design services also. Internet service providing, all this stuff related to this. That's what I'm probably going to do.

(00:15:22)

DRUMMOND: How long do you have? In Western?

SHKURTI: Probably three more years. Yeah. Maybe I can do it faster, you know. I don't know.

DRUMMOND: The um--I wanted to talk a little bit about um, your experience just in school, and then go into Western. Being a foreign exchange student.

SHKURTI: You mean high-, from high school to Western?

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

SHKURTI: It was, it was really different. I mean uh, when I came to high school in here, high school over there where I went to, even though it was an American high school, too, in Albania. You know, it was sponsored by an American 16:00foundation. But it's very different from the high school I went here. Because we have, here there is a lot more strict rules, you know. You know, like skipping a class was such a big deal. It was, you know, I ought to, you know...And they have uh, punishment uh, things. You know like uh, I don't know. ALC or, you have to stay after class and do stuff like that. More work, you know. (indeterminable) where I'm from, you know, they don't use punishment forms or anything. You know, it's just more paperwork, you know. If you miss this much school you'll have to--you get like a warning. And then if you miss this much school you're just going to fail. But nobody's just going to try to enforce you to do any stuff, you know. If you're going to skip, that's fine with them. You can skip, you know. Or...disciplinary, you know, forms are very, very different. It's just more liberal over there. So I mean, it was kind of hard to get 17:00adjusted, you know. You have to sign an agenda book. You have to sign a paper to get in the hallway. Or you have to sign a paper to go in the bathroom. Where I was from if you wanted to go in the hallway (laughs) you just went into the hallway. Or if you wanted to go to the bathroom (laughs) you just went there. And you know, you come to college and college is more like high school back home. You know, like you have total freedom, you can do whatever you want, you know. You have to go by the syllabus a little bit but still, it's more liberal than the high school. So I really like that part. Whether about the academic um...I don't, I don't really know. I'm not sure, you know. Maybe I, I'm taking a lot of honors classes which, you know, fulfill my, my goals and, you know, my...But the normal classes seem a little too easy, they seem a little bit too easy. Probably because it's general requirements so far, and you know. But I wish, you know, it's get, it's going to get a little bit better, you know.

DRUMMOND: What do you think the biggest difference between growing up in a 18:00communist country and living in a, in the United States?

SHKURTI: I'd say mostly is the opportunity and freedom. Those two things, you know. Freedom, freedom to express yourself, freedom to be yourself, you know. You don't have to go by what somebody else tells you to do. You know, it just, it just a great, you know, gift from god that we have, you know, being ourselves and...

DRUMMOND: What's an example?

SHKURTI: Freedom. Just freedom--let's say just minimum things. You know, like you're in communism, you don't have the freedom to move. If you're assigned to work in the plant, you know, in Elbasan you couldn't move anywhere. You have to stay there, your family has to stay there.

DRUMMOND: Mhmm.

SHKURTI: Well you know, after communism you have, you can move. You can, you know, do, go wherever you want to go. And nobody tells you what job. You know, somebody to assign you to do this job whether. Whether, you know, in democracy you can choose your own job. You are your own boss, you know. And then you have 19:00the freedom of speech. You, you'd get, you know, for like, stuff--we had this radio was "Voice of America." I don't if you've ever heard. But, "Voice of America" would reach, you know, Albania. The waves and you could--but if you were caught just listening to it, people, you know, you could be sent to prison for like 17 years, you know. All kinds of crazy punishments, you know. Or...if you say something, you know like, "This is not right," one of the thing about communisms is that you couldn't say that, you know. You'd just be sent to prison, you know. So you have to be really careful about what you said. You had to watch out. You know, whether here if somebody doesn't like Bill Clinton, you know, just say it right here, you know. It's freedom. (laughs)

DRUMMOND: You like him?

SHKURTI: Uh yeah. Who, Bill Clinton?

(00:20:00)

DRUMMOND: (laughs) Yeah.

SHKURTI: Oh, he doesn't bother me at all. I mean, uh, he's done a lot for our country, you know. And he's helped us a lot, I guess. You know...Foreign 20:00politics, you know, it's pretty good for--I think. I think, my point of view. So, just doesn't bother me at all. He's a good guy. (laughs)

DRUMMOND: (laughs) Um, what would you change about Bowing Green if you could?

SHKURTI: The big thing is that I'm under 21. And it just, you know, kills me because I cannot do anything that I want to do, you know, or the real way, you know. They have to have more places for people to hang out under 21, you know. And probably, I don't know dance clubs or places where people could hang out, under 21 could hang out more. That's the only thing I'd probably change.

DRUMMOND: Where do you usually go?

SHKURTI: I don't know, we just get together with friends and, you know, stay at somebody's house or...a little bit at Java House and, you know. Or Downing 21:00University Center...(indeterminable) most of the time. And then we just hang out on the weekends we (indeterminable). Me and my roommate go somewhere, you know, just drive somewhere for fun. Go to other city, visit around...

DRUMMOND: Well what's it like working at the Brickyard?

SHKURTI: It takes a lot of my time and you know, it takes a lot of energy. Just makes me real tired, makes me stressed out, and you know, when I go home and don't, you know, I'm so tired I cannot even take a shower just, just fall in bed. And crash, you know. It's, it's hard work, you know, but it has helped me a lot and I'm, you know, thankful to the people who hired me.

DRUMMOND: Mhmm.

SHKURTI: Just gave me a good start. Like everything else, you know. Just worked out pretty good.

DRUMMOND: Well is there anything else that you'd to talk about? That you want to mention?

SHKURTI: I don't know.

DRUMMOND: How about the Albanians--well they're not Albanian, the um, ethnic Albanians.

SHKURTI: They are Albanians.

DRUMMOND: They are Albanians?

SHKURTI: They are Albanians. They're, see uh, we all used to be one country before, under the Ottoman rule, you know.

DRUMMOND: Mhmm.

SHKURTI: It was divided in four. In Turkish it's vilayets. That's how they say it. So it was four of those, but they were all Albanian.

DRUMMOND: Mhmm.

SHKURTI: And uh, one of them extended from, you know, where it's uh, central Albania now, up to uh, you know south and part of northern Greece, you know. It's a little bitty piece, that now it's included in Greece. And then we have big part was included, what now is Macedonia. And now a big part of it which was Kosovo, Montenegro, there is a lot of Albanian territories in Montenegro.

DRUMMOND: Mhmm.

SHKURTI: So there was four of them. And then uh, in 1912 when we declared independence under the Ottoman Empire, you know. Just uh...the Serbs, and then the Greek just cut loose, apart, you know. Not a little, but a big chunk of the 23:00Albanian territories, you know. And they put it under their uh, rule. And the big powers you know, just acknowledged, you know, that that was their territory, you know. How they draw lines. So, I mean Kosovo was the biggest loss because it was about a million--at the time one million people living in there. And one million living in Albania. So it was about like, splitting them in half, you know. It just...that was in 1912. So we were one country. And then, you know, this--how can I call it, the biggest mistake in the history of this country called Yugoslavia was formed where seven different, you know, ethnic backgrounds were just put together artificially by the big powers. And then, you know, ever since, you know, the Albanians--because most of them are Slavs so these are very total different group, you know. Even their religion is Muslim. Little bit 24:00Catholic. So they were always, a little bit, you know, treated inferior-ally. They're...they never had their rights like the others in this union, and they never had--like, those are seven republics and this was considered to be an autonomy, 1974. And then in 1990, when this union fell, you know, and Slovenia got out of it, and then Croatia got out of it uh, Macedonia got out of it. Uh, and then there was the war in Bosnia in--at the same time in 1990 we have--Kosovo won uh, asked for their, you know, independence. And you know, did their own country. At the same time, you know, they took away the autonomy, the Serb government and declared, you know, like this, this is their own territory, you know. This, don't have any rights at all. It just, Serb, you know, Yugoslav 25:00citizens. And you know, just tried--and then started this whole, you know, politic, you know, by taking away their name, their--didn't let them teach anymore Albanian in, Albanian in schools. (00:25:08) And changing the names. That was like a big thing because it's about the culture, you know. Whether you'd see now uh, places called like, in another language whether we have our names for places, you know. Cities and everything. They have dual names. One name is what they have called them, and one name is the real, authentic Albanian name. So, they've always, you know, wanted their independence. For 80 years they fought in like, democratic manners and like, trying to protest and trying to, you know...but it was, the more--it got very worse, and worse, and worse the whole time. So, until 1997 when the Kosovo Liberation Army Movement started, and 26:00then got really violent and, you know, they started Freedom War...But, the Serb government took it on the civilians so there were massacres. And all of these terrible things happened. And now these people are refugees. Actually, most of them are going back. About 50% of the refugees are already going back home. The one that were living in Northern Albania, about 300,000, they went back home. And then some that were living in uh, Macedonia, in a refugee camp are going back. But some of them were like, they came to United States. They were in New Jersey, about 5,000. And so they're like spreading them everywhere, and some of them ended up coming to Bowling Green, Kentucky. So I'm really happy they I can actually help by translating and, you know, by asking them what they need and be like an...interpreter. Or just, just you know, try to comfort them and trying to give them a warm welcome. You know, they seem so happy when somebody can speak their language and knows what's going on. So I work with them a little bit.

DRUMMOND: So you've been working...

SHKURTI: I mean not really working, just volunteering.

DRUMMOND: Yeah.

SHKURTI: You know, just--

DRUMMOND: So you have met them in Bowling Green?

SHKURTI: Oh, yeah.

DRUMMOND: I think the last time we talked the people in Louisville had not come...okay.

SHKURTI: Yeah, yeah. I've worked with them, you know like, not under any structure just on my own.

DRUMMOND: Uh-huh.

SHKURTI: Just going at the Refugee Center and telling them what their needs are and what's up, you know. And then trying to make them more comfortable. Trying to explain them things, you know. (laughs) Just...

DRUMMOND: What do you think would make it easier for people?

SHKURTI: Make easier what?

DRUMMOND: For them to make the transition to come to Bowling Green, and...

SHKURTI: I don't know. It's really hard, it's really hard--my case and their case. Because I grew up, you know, pretty much with two intellectual parents, and then they give me very, very good, you know, start. And you know, they taught me a lot. And then I went to good schools always, you know. My parents, 28:00even though during communism, but they were like better schools than the others. So they always tried to get me the best education. And you know, tried to teach me languages. And so...and then I, I knew a lot about American culture before I came in here. I was, you know, prepared for everything. Well, not for everything, but I was pretty much prepared. I wasn't expecting, you know, for it to be Baywatch or Beverly Hills, you know.

DRUMMOND: Mhmm.

SHKURTI: So, I knew what it was about. It was about hard work and opportunity. Whether these people, first of all they don't come here by choice. You know, it's just, they are just victims of war. And second, there under the, where they lived, they are very, they were very poor. And they were kept in darkness the whole time. Their education is just outrageous. It's like minimal. They have gone to school three years, four years, you know. It's just really, upsets me a lot. I didn't even know myself. I just found this out when I was talking to them. They, they don't have basic education, you know. Just, just read and write, that's all they can do, you know. It's, just breaks my heart to see that and...I, it's really hard for me to see how they're going to succeed in here, 29:00you know. It's going to be really hard for them without an education in there, you know. It just, it's going to be crazy to find a job, you know. They're going to do the worst jobs there is. So...I don't know if they're really, really going to succeed to staying here. Maybe a few of them. But...I think most of them want to go back. They are more used to life over there, you know. Even though United States could be so good. But, it's just not the stuff that will work out for them. I don't think they will.

DRUMMOND: Back to Kosovo? Or back to Albania?

SHKURTI: Yes, back, back to Kosovo. They are going to go back to their home. Even though they have suffered a lot and everything there, but they still, it's still their home and they love it, you know. I've talked to them and they want to go back someday, you know. Whenever they feel ready for it. Maybe a few young people may decide to stay, you know. Maybe. I don't know. They don't speak any English at all, you know. It's a big thing. When I came in here, it's not that I could speak fluently, but I understood everything, you know. It was just 30:00difficult to speak, but I would understand everything that somebody told me. Whether for them it's just starting from nothing. From zero. Just don't know a word. (laughs)

(00:30:14)

DRUMMOND: Is it hard working...in an environment like the Brickyard? If you don't want to answer this, this is okay. Where everybody's from the former Yugoslavia? And different people go in there from Yugo--um, you know, Bosnians and some Serbs.

SHKURTI: Exactly. I mean see, I changed my opinion about that, too. Because when I was back home, you know, we were all taught, ever since we were born, that the Serbs are the enemy. That like, the forever enemy, you know. It just, we've been in war with them forever and, you know, they're evil, you know. And so we've got like a word that's just like a synonym for evil, you know. Serb and evil is the same thing. And then I came in--well not every part of the, you know, former Yugoslavia. I didn't know anything about Bosnia or Croatia or anything. But just 31:00the Serb part. And then I came in here and they're all like--I was meeting people. That was the first time I met somebody who was from Serbia in there so...And then, you know...but he was himself, he was a victim of war. His brother got killed in the war. And he is just here to escape from, you know, whatever wars there is in Bosnia, you know. So he's a victim of war himself. Why, why would I, you know, have you know, anything--he was just a cool guy, was just, you know, normal. And then, you know, the other, the other guy Sasha, you know, we're like buddies. We are very good friends and he is also Serb. So it doesn't, you know, it doesn't bother me at all. It just, I don't think it's the people--I mean, I don't think it's just everybody, you know. There is good people, there is bad people. I'm pretty sure there is good Albanians, there is bad Albanians, there is Kosovo terrorists also that will take (indeterminable) to the Serb children, you know. And that's very wrong. But I don't blame the people, like all together. Not anymore, you know. It's just, I think it's more, 32:00more of the leaders. There is bad leaders, you know. And maybe there is a crowd theory, you know, that follows the leaders sometimes pretty bad. There is a lot of propaganda, and...those parts of the world where we come from it just, people can by influenced really easily, you know, they're not really that open-minded. But I don't, I don't have anything against the people that work, you know, around Brickyard. They're just people like me, just trying to succeed a better life mostly.

DRUMMOND: Mhmm. What would you want people to know...about your life and...and the life of people who have moved here to avoid this war? Your grandchildren, what would you want them to know?

SHKURTI: (laughs) Well I'm 19 right--

DRUMMOND: Actually, hold on one second. Let me...

SHKURTI: Okay.

DRUMMOND: Let me turn over the tape.

SHKURTI: Okay.

(tape cuts out)

SHKURTI: Uh, what would I want my children to know? Grandchildren to know? Right now I'm almost 19, you know. I'm 19 and uh...I just hope they'll make it, you know. Just I'll hope they'll make it in this life, and just try to succeed and be a good, a good person. And...and then, you know, when I grow old one of my dreams is to go back and, you know, do something for my people. Do an investment, you know. Do something for Albania. But this is in the far future, and I hope I'll make it, you know. Do something for them. Probably build a university, that would be--I don't know, it's a dream. But just build a good university over that would be like, accredited everywhere in the world. That's...I don't know. And I hope for my country, you know, the best. Now after 34:00the war, you know--the United States government and most of the Western countries have kind of promised--you know, I don't know how much that will come. They have promised that they will help the economy to go forward. So...I--it really breaks my heart to see that everybody's trying to leave. My friends, everybody's trying to leave, you know. Because who's going to make it, who's going to make Albania a better place? But, I hope that one day I'll be able to go back and do something for it. That's, that's my biggest goal, you know.

DRUMMOND: Well do you have anything else that you'd like to say? Tell about your grandmother, or...

SHKURTI: (laughs) No, it's alright.

DRUMMOND: No. Will you say something in Albanian?

SHKURTI: Like, I don't know, like what?

DRUMMOND: Um...

SHKURTI: Alright. Like, okay. Like for everybody that, you know, may understand like a little bit of Albanian, I would say, (speaks in Albanian).

DRUMMOND: What did you say?

SHKURTI: Well I said that I love my place. I love my home country and then I hope that I'll, one day I'll go back and do something for it.

DRUMMOND: Oh, that's good. Well thank you, Ilir.

SHKURTI: You're welcome. I enjoyed it, too.

DRUMMOND: Okay. (laughs) Alright.

(00:35:30)