I find this fascinating. I felt this when I crossed the border from Croatia/Montenegro to Albania. I was passing by car, and right when I crossed the border to Albania there was a degree of desperation and sadness by beggars. I noticed a lot of the people tended to keep to themselves, whereas in Croatia people were pretty outspoken and friendly.

Over the trip when we got in the city people tended to be more friendly and outgoing, it was just a huge shock after being in Croatia for long, how different the people are right when you cross the border.