(...) Since I was a child, I have been involved in and written a lot about Albanians. I was also exceptionally lucky to spend my teenage and early young adult years in the neighborhood of Lioumi, in Aigaleo, where many elderly Albanian speakers lived. At least the older ones. The name Lioumi is Albanian. In the common language, Lioumi refers to the Apsos River. This name became a family name and subsequently a place name. So there, in Lioumi, I began my "preparatory" studies in Albanian, which I cultivated when a wonderful elderly couple from Mandra stayed in my home for two years. The husband, a warrior of the illustrious General Kontulis, was an Albanian speaker and a defender of the Arvanitic "dialect." (...)