The end of the Gheg profession
A tribe of ice cream men exits the scene.
A Muslim man sells candies in Ottoman Prizren. Photo: Auguste Léon, Musée Albert-Kahn.
Just as Yugoslav cities had their Pelivans, almost every town in Albania had its Gegas.
Sade Danjolli rides through Tirana on his ice cream cart. Photo: Family archive of Artur Danjolli.
'Nasrudin, why are you giving ice cream to the donkey?'
“Cuca,” Sade and Ziqo, some of Tirana’s Gegas. Photo: Family archive of Artur Danjolli.
'No, you can’t sell pastries like that!'
A wedding party in Shishtavec in summer 2022. The red dresses mean the woman is married, white unmarried. Photo: Altin Raxhimi.
From left: Sade Danjolli, Ziqo Kamberi, Xheladin Hoxha, Nuredin Ramadani. Hoxha worked in street food, but his brother was the imam who conducted prayers at the funeral of Albania’s King Zog in Paris. Ramadani was the Gega who brought the halva-cutting machine from Romania. Photo: Family archive of Artur Danjolli.
Altin Raxhimi
Altin Raxhimi is a freelance writer based in Montreal, Canada.
This story was originally written in English.