Setting
The interview took place in a basement apartment in Staten Island, where the Marke family lives. It's a two bedroom apartment decorated in a simple and beautiful manner. The building they lived in is owned by one of Rahim’s cousins. Rahim is the superintendent of the building and gets to live there for free. The apartment was on the side of the building and it had access to a front yard and a back yard. You can see the Marke family was more into the traditional side by the way they painted, furnished, and decorated the apartment. They used common colors such as, soft shades of brown, beige and white. These colors are mostly used in traditional Albanian families, especially the ones from the town of Diber, where the Marke family comes from. The mother of the family, Merita, was a seamstress and she had made these beautiful beaded curtains for her apartment…show more content… She also made these beautiful beaded tablecloths for the coffee table and dining room table. On the right wall there are three oval pictures, each frame holding a picture of one of the three children when they were younger; the oldest daughter wearing religious Muslim clothing and praying, and the middle and youngest child wearing traditional Albanian clothing. There are a lot of family pictures around the living and dining room areas of the Marke daughters on their wedding days, their son, and the 4 nephews and 1 niece this family has. Although small, the apartment was very clean, almost spotless. As Merita explains, living in a clean, spotless, environment is an Albanian value and a very important part of the culture. For Albanians, or at least for the ones that come from the town of Diber, it is a big shame if people or guests show up and the house is not
