Julio Castrell’oacute;n: That’s quite a unique name, could you tell me where that’s from?
Mirsa Sanxhaku: I’m from Albania.
Castrell’oacute;n: You personally?
Sanxhaku: Yeah. I was born there.
Castrell’oacute;n: And when did you come over?
Sanxhaku: Um, 10 years ago.
Castrell’oacute;n: You have a great accent. I mean compared to Schwarzenegger. He’s been here for like 50 years and he still sounds horrible.
Sanxhaku: (Laughs)
Castrell’oacute;n: And what brought you over here?
Sanxhaku: It’s a long story.
Castrell’oacute;n: I got five minutes.
Sanxhaku: (Laughs) I won the lottery. Well, my parents won the lottery.
Castrell’oacute;n: Really? Just, like, the typical lottery? You go pay $1 or whatever?
Sanxhaku: It’s more complicated. You send in documentation. Anyway, we got a visa, and we moved over here.
Castrell’oacute;n: Aw, awesome. And you came straight over here to Houston?
Sanxhaku: Yeah. I’ve lived here for 11 years.
Castrell’oacute;n: Do you feel this campus is friendly in general? Have you made a lot of friends here?
Sanxhaku: Yeah. I think everyone is friendly. They say hi and don’t look mean or anything when they pass by.
Castrell’oacute;n: (Laughs) And what are you majoring in?
Sanxhaku: Philosophy.
Castrell’oacute;n: What interested you in that?
Sanxhaku: I was a business major, and that wasn’t cutting it for me. Like the spiritual level I guess. So philosophy . . . gives you a lot of answers. Well, not a lot of answers, but it helps you wonder.
Sanxhaku: I did, I did (laughs).
Castrell’oacute;n: Tell me a little something interesting about yourself.
Sanxhaku: I paint on canvas. I feed the squirrels now and then. That sounds kind of weird.
Castrell’oacute;n: And what do they like best?
Sanxhaku: I feed them almonds. And it’s actually really interesting. Like, me and my friend sat down here today actually, and people would come by we’d give them almonds because they’ve never fed the squirrels before. They have now, and they liked it. I hope you don’t put that in the paper. I’m probably going to sound like the weird squirrel lady. … We named one of them Leyla. OK, that’s enough about squirrels.
Castrell’oacute;n: Do they come and sit next to you?
Sanxhaku: No, they do not.
