A COUNTRY A WEEK: ALBANIA

The Republic of Albania which is the official name of the country is located in Southeastern Europe.

-       -  The Lynx looks a lot like a domestic cat but a little larger and patterns of a cheetah. This animal has long pointed ears and although has been extinct in many parts of the world, it still survives in Albania.

-       -  More than two thirds of the population is Islam. Other religions are Albanian Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic. This country is known for the harmony between the religions to the extent that inter-religion marriages are not only popular but a rule in some parts of the country.

-  The Et'hem Beu Mosque in Tirana (shown) was built from 1794 and completed in 1821 by Mulla Beu. A magnificent architectural design, it is one of the most significant monuments in Albania

A COUNTRY A WEEK: AFGHANISTAN

Photographer Steve McCurry shot one of the most enduring photos ever in 1994, the “Afghan Girl.” Sharbat Gula, a Pashtun refugee who had escaped the Russian invasion of her country to Pakistan was noticed because of her electrifying eyes. Shepherded by her grandmother (her parents killed by air raids) she and her three sisters and brother hiked a week through mountains covered with snow to get to the camp. The photo appears as the June 1985 cover of National Geographic. Recently, at age 28, 29, or 30 she was found 17 hard-lived years later—a married mother of three (a fourth child had died)… a survivor in Afghanistan. Invasion. Resistance. Invasion. A quarter century of war, 1.5 million killed, 3.5 million refugees. She barely looked at McCurry for the reunion photo and certainly wouldn’t smile, since that bit of intimacy is reserved for her husband.