Its Official!

We are now official Peace Corps volunteers! This morning all the PCTs, host families, PC staff/ teachers, members of our host communities, local mayors/ ministers, and the American ambassador met in Elbasan, at Skampa Theatre, where we sat through a lot of very rigid speeches before raising our rights hands and repeating the oath of inaugeration. "I do solemly swear to uphold...."



And, to top it off Greg, one of my future site-mates, and I stood at the podium and gave our own Thank You speech, completely in Shqip! I was semi-nervous; less than I thought I would be, but happy because I felt confident while speaking and didn't fudge it up... I had practiced reading aloud many times the day before and on the bus ride into town in the morning, so I felt pretty well prepared.

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Part One of the Speech Video:


Afterwards we had a "cocktail party" of cookies, soda, and slightly stale crackers in the hall outside, said our goodbyes and then fizzled out in small groups to grab lunch. Even though it is June, every few days here we seem to have spring-esque downpours, and today was one of those days. I went with a group of girls to Maggie's house (she is one of the 4 PCVs who will stay here in Elbasan), where she hosted us like a proper Albanian woman by serving us coffee, tea, and chocolate, and then we grabbed our umbrellas and raincoats to go find some pizza and soufflace. I can't believe training is over! Now there will be no more schedules, classes, superiors to answer to, etc., and thus we are having a final celebration here tonight.

Chris and I will return tomorrow to Cerrik, and spend one last evening with the Cepa family, then on Sunday we'll make the 6+ hour journey back down to Gjirokaster. And that's it--- we're home!

I am posting the videos from the speech on You Tube-- which can be found by searching for Swearing-in Speech, Peace Corps Speech, Courtney Albania Shqip, etc. For now I only have 1 of the 3 videos here because the connection is too slow and it times-out, but please do take a look if you have the time! [ www.youtube.com ]

Goodbye for now, next time I post will be from Gjirokaster~~~ :)

PST University Week

After returning from our respective future site placements, we spent this week regrouping and gossiping about our experiences, killing time in Elbasan by attending optional language courses and fun PST University sessions. The classes of PST University were created and voted on by the volunteers- whoever could offer a skill or topic that enough people were interested in got a 75 minute time slot; with topics that varied from grant writing to knitting to networking skills to cooking Albanian foods. A lot of the time people were lounging in the office training room on their computers, or reading Newsweek (as gov’t workers we each get a complimentary subscription), socializing, or preparing for the language exam. On Friday I took mine—messing up completely the first time out of sheer nervousness—but luckily we were all allowed to retake the test if we felt bad about our scores. I was so shocked I cried! It was ridiculous because the test is really not a big deal, as long as we get above the very basics and can say simple strings of words, but I worked myself up and knew that I could do much better than it turned out. However the second time I calmed down and performed fantastically, so I’m very happy.

Thursday night was particularly fun because we had a History Club film series after class, and since the furgons stop running after 7 pm or so, we were all allowed to spend the night in Elbasan together. About half of the PCTs showed up to class with backpacks and blankets, and in the evening there was a lengthy pushimi i birrёs (beer break) before the marathon began. We watched 5 of the 6 DVD episodes of ‘The Death of Yugoslavia’, which is extremely well produced and significant knowledge for us as we live so near the region and need to understand more about the Kosovo-Serbia issue. Just before midnight, Chris and I went with a small group to sleep in the comfortable beds at Agim’s house, which is around the corner from the office, and in the morning I walked around the city with my Ipod to kill the time we saved in transit.

Now, our last weekend in Cerrik, I think we will hang out with the family on Saturday (they don’t really seem to leave the house much, and as far as I can tell they don’t have any hobbies except Serxhio, who plays chess incessantly) and then on Sunday maybe having a final PCT rendez-vous in Cerrik. I am both sad to leave all the PCVs, even though we will all see each other again, but only once every few months, as well as leaving my family. I feel like we’ve become part of the Çepa’s lives, so I will miss coming home and trying to translate the day’s events for them...

Viva la Gjirokastra!

Finally the end of PST is near—thus PC hosted the annual Counterpart Conference, which took place in Hotel Universe (where we stayed for Orientation upon arrival in Elbasan some 2 months ago) and we were able to meet our future co-workers, a slightly awkward but altogether positive experience. Everyone who came from Gjirokaster speaks English, but most of the Albanians who came do not, so we were all prepped to have an introduction and description of ourselves ready. The counterparts spent day one at the hotel attending sessions about the Peace Corps’ goals, methods, cultural awareness, etc., while the PCTs boarded a Tiranё-bound bus and took a tour of the PC office and city. Day two we stayed in the hotel together, doing session activities such as discussing our hopes, expectations, and fears. Each satellite site also shared a PPT presentation about our recent community projects, sort of to show off that we have tried to be productive, and immediately afterwards Chris, Greg, and I began the long, bumpy ride to the south.

We drove in two cars with Chris and Greg’s counterparts, and several of their friends who were returning from a conference in Tiranё, arriving in GJ in the evening. Traveling this route is amazingly frustrating—the 127 mile journey takes over 6.5 hours of driving (plus rest stops), especially since the road remains flat and only passes through a few mountains toward the end. However, rumor has it that over 23 construction companies were hired to build the “road”, which is why sometimes it is a long, wide, perfect stretch of asphalt that stops short into a loose-gravel, pitching path full of holes for a few miles, then followed by another decently paved stretch perhaps with many or only a few irritating potholes and jagged chunks of missing ground, etc. It’s a cycle, over and over. Apparently everyone had an uncle in the business with favors to call…

Regardless, the opportunity to live in Gjirokaster is priceless, and we are stoked to call this our new “home”! The city is built into the hillside, extending down from the enormous castle that dominates the mountain, and is surrounded by an array of gargantuan mountains and forests and scattered villages. The old quarter is the most beautiful, with a few hundred large stone houses nestled into the steep, twisting cobblestone roads, and is brimming with shady grape vines and fig trees. Chris and I are reminded of the silver city we visited in Mexico, called Taxco, which also had winding, sheer streets and cobblestone roads, as it was developed on and around the mines that have now made it very wealthy, though I prefer it here because the food is better.  Its so odd that this medieval site is not yet swarming with tourists-- although there are a few now and again who are so obvious and fun to pick out—but the tourism office just opened last year and is only just now (with Chris’ help) creating a plan to advertise, make the city accessible, develop necessities such as a collective hotel/ restaurant guide, and generally improve tourist-minded initiatives to draw in traffic through Greece and/ or Italy.

Chris’ counterpart, from here on Luis, has spoiled us by giving a private tour of the city, treating us to many meals and kafé breaks, introducing us to numerous awesome people, and generally making sure we are absolutely comfortable in every way. He is really great—in fact, so are all of Chris’ counterparts! He is working in the Office of Administration and Tourism Development, which is located in the old quarter, and they have presented him a private desk with a computer, internet, printer/scanner access, and they even remodeled and installed red carpet for his arrival! Luis, who is also a tour-guide in the nearby seaside resort town of Saranda, took us around different neighborhoods of the old and new quarters, into the castle, and to several historic buildings such as Enver Hoxa’s childhood home (which has been turned into the ethnography museum) and the former residence of Ismael Kadare, Albania’s famed author.



Greg, who is also a talented artist, has been assigned to work in the fine arts school; and, together he and Chris are already conspiring to collaborate on an endless list of projects that can be mutually beneficial, for example, having the high school artists work on a traditional Albanian mosaic that can be used to beautify some of the public walls.

I will be working down in the new town, within the Directory of Public Health, where (I think) I will be doing health promotion. The office consists of 3 persons, including myself, and although the man who came to the CP conference can speak English words, I often do not understand the meaning of his messages, so I hope to use Shqip mostly.

We have a 4th site mate, Tara, who arrived late last night, and with whose counterparts we were invited to go on a long hike through mountains. Our group set off at 8:30 this morning, intending to walk to an archaeological site Tara will working at, called Antigone. The ruins date back to the 3rd century B.C. and were built by “King Ptolemy of Egypt”, who we are inferring to be the Greek Ptolemy who had an affair with the Egyptian queen… The city, which is situated in what was then Greek soil, was apparently a large and prominent center, named in honor of Ptolemy’s niece. Our journey into the mountains became more than I expected—literally scaling mountains farther than our eyes could see! We stopped a few times in the shade, where my skin would suddenly wretch out buckets of sweat, but thankfully we were high enough to catch a breeze that dried me off. Once at the site, I was surprised to find furgons arriving with school children, and then several cars full of “important city people” and computer/speaker equipment to set up the makings of a pagan festival! At noon we watched young kids perform traditional games and dances, then took off once again into the mountains and back to the city. The return trip should have been easier, mostly downhill, and faster, however we didn’t have a guide this time so we became somewhat *utterly* lost and trailed over and around several different mountain paths that sometimes led us astray… Eventually we did make it back, stopping for a rest and drink in the town center, before being dropped off back home to shower and rest.

And that’s where I am now, typing on our balcony that overlooks the city of Gjirokaster. From here I can see the length of the castle, endless speckled stone rooftops, the lower modern city, and beyond that an enormous wall of green and bluish-grey mountains. Tomorrow morning we will board the bus back to Elbasan, and we have 10 final days with our host families before returning for good. Gezuar!

The end is almost here…

And we’ve only just begun!

Monday of this week marked the final day of class in Cёrrik, which felt like senior year all over again. Here it is hot during the day and we are all daydreaming of our future sights and lives and the events shortly to come, which involve moving out of our host-families’ houses and saying our goodbyes to each other. And, in addition to the heat, after so many weeks of pounding Shqip into our heads we’re all just tired! So we weren’t too upset when the PC staff invaded our classroom to confiscate the chairs and blackboard they had supplied for the lessons, but tried *almost* sincerely to feign sadness that we had to close up shop mid-sentence. Goodbye school! Goodbye Cёrrik! Afterward we celebrated our final lunch in town together by feasting on pizza from the big, fancy hotel near the internet café.

The weekend was also very exciting and busy because we completed our final community projects—in Cёrrik we hosted an art festival. Our squad of PCTs has been meeting with school directors, the bashkia, students, and store owners to talk about the festival, trying to encourage submissions of art work from all age groups and in each of the categories. We have 5 schools in Cёrrik, and we got submissions from almost all of them ranging from “littles” (or, nxeneset, which explicitly refers to pupils in the lowest grades, and people get wildly distressed if you call them studentes ), “middles”, and the gymnaz (which sounds like gymnasium, but actually means high school, and no they don’t have a gymnasium anyway). The submissions included drawings, watercolors, beadwork, embroidery, sculpture, and poetry, which we displayed in the town cinema for the event. The bashkia allowed us to use the kinema, as well as donating some prizes for the winners. Other prizes were donated by the dyqan (shop) owners, and Chris drew fabulous certificates to award each of the participants. I think all of us were nervous that at any moment the whole thing would fall through—but luckily we received a ton of art work and a very large crowd of students who were eager to get their awards and see what this art fest was all about. We were fortunate to have a surprise interpreter, the daughter of the urban planning director from the bashkia, who speaks wonderful English and was kind enough to stand on stage and translate our speeches and call out the unfamiliar names for awards. We definitely got lucky, but maybe that’s just how it always works…



After the art festival we jumped into a furgon and joined the massive crowd of PCTs and staff members in the nearby village of Shalёs, in order to watch and support their project, which was an all-girls’ volleyball tournament. This was introduced as a past time for the girls, who very obviously lack recreational spaces, faculties, and opportunities, and who otherwise sit around the house all afternoon because they are not allowed in the internet cafes, or to go out without a specific errand (and a partner). Not that the villages or towns are dangerous—there is simply nothing to do, especially for girls.

The PCTs had been practicing for several weeks with the vajze in the 5th-8th grades in order to teach them how to play, as well as eliciting a group of mother’s to knit the net by hand in effort to promote sustainability. It was a fabulous success- we got to help by selling (and buying) deserts to make back the money on the cost of the balls, and it felt more like a huge party with all of the PC staff, music blasting, and tons of children crowded around the asphalt court, cheering and screaming as the girls battled it out. Perhaps none of the girls will grow up to be superstar volleyball pros, but they certainly had a lot of fun these last few weeks and will hopefully continue to play, or even create other outlets in such a male-privileged atmosphere.

Chris and I walked home from Shalёs, through Cёrrik and around the koder (hill) to Thanё (our village) that evening. We wandered through the fields, stopping along the way to pick wild chamomile and to talk with the shepherds and farmers. With a stop in Cёrrik’s crowded park to buy a bag of fresh popcorn (needed to refuel), the entire journey lasted almost 2 hours. And of course our family slapped their heads and moaned when we explained that we had walked so far—completely unheard of for anyone who does not absolutely need to…

And finally, on Sunday we celebrated several PCTs’ birthdays by having a party in Cёrrik, which started out as a large gathering for lunch (at the outdoor restaurant we frequent, which we foresee becoming very grand once Albanian tourism picks up). The tables were smooshed together and everyone ate family style—the usual Albanian fare of tomato-cucumber-salty cheese-salad, yogurt, meat, french fries, and bread; then some gals revealed the birthday cakes, which were dark chocolate and covered with white frosting and cherries, yummm… ;)



Afterward the real excitement came, where we took over the Turkish college’s soccer field and played our first ever round of PCV kick ball. Although the weather was intensely hot, we lathered ourselves in sun screen and played, becoming quite a spectacle for the guys hanging out the dorm windows! Vilma, our language teacher who also celebrated her birthday, joined the game, despite the fact that she was dressed in typical Albanian female-wear. Which means that she sported clothing we might wear to a night club—a slinky half-shirt, sparkly jewelry, and spiky high heels (which we forced her to trade for tennis shoes not being used). Eventually, as the players disappeared under the shade of the trees, a small soccer match formed, and then just a few of the die-hard players with too much energy were left to bat the ball around until even we became too tired.

I’m always surprised to talk with current PCVs from groups 10 and 9, who always seem to agree that no, they never did such PCT activities. They hardly ever grouped together—no parties, no gatherings for lunch or ice cream or to kill an afternoon, nothing really. I think that for Albania, our group is unique in its cohesiveness, optimism, and creativity; and, because of these I hope we will be more successful than the groups before us who seem jaded and/or indifferent to their experience living here. I know Chris and I are excited—we’re going to live in Gjirokaster! We have many personal goals--which are encouraged by the PC in order to stay happy and busy—and, even though life as a PCV can sometimes be ‘uncomfortable’ (i.e. no water, no electricity, no heat, dirty spaces, etc.) I think we will find joy in little pleasures that outweigh the negative aspects.
At least I hope, check back in two years!!

Elabasan Pazar

I haven’t yet written a spiel on the wonders of the Elbasan pazar, where one can buy all fruits, vegetables, fresh dairy products, meats, grains, and extensive varieties of mysterious canned/ packaged foods unfamiliar to the America eye.
To begin, the market is largely outdoors; most of the fruits and vegetables are piled into tall stacks under a great ramada, just off the main road, near the furgon and bus stops. Surrounding this first area are many densely filled shops brimming with bags of grains, various salts, kitchen utensils, candies, meats, specialties, and whatever else they can fit in the modest spaces. Then, around the back an additional ramada full of vegetables emerges, stocked with another round of similar goods. Along with the many shops there are dozens of unofficial vendors, each crouched on their heels with bags of home-picked produce in front, usually of salad, spinach, weeds, fig leaves, and other foliage. And, despite having seen numerous markets of late, I still cannot decipher how to know which vendor to buy from, when they all have the same price and clearly provide foods from the same sources (hence same quality)?



The great thing about our markets here in Albania, which only strike me as special because they weren’t present in any of the markets in Asia, are the mass dairy centers. In Elbasan there is a building in the pazar full of giant clumps of yellow and white cheesewheels, as well as plastic buckets of gjalpё (butter), kos (yogurt), gjiz (semi-cottage cheese), Fanta bottles filled with qumestё (milk) and various other degrees of homemade dairy products. The smell of the building alone can knock you off your feet, it’s intense!

During our recent trip to the market I snapped some photos of the bountiful cherries (just came in season—they are the “expensive” ones at 200 lek per kilo, which equates to less than $1 per pound!), assorted piles of olives sold by origin, some cheese vendors happily posing for us silly American folk (who also lovingly like to ‘shoot the shyet with’), and hopefully in the background you can pick out the completely old-school scales, whereby the vendors chuck weights into one bucket while increasing or decreasing the amount of produce on the other side until they balance. I think they must be decades old, and every once in awhile I come across someone with a real antique—wonder if they could sell to a dealer in the US and buy a digital one with the profits?

Another funny thing about the market (and all shops) in Albania is that everything is quoted in “old lek” prices; so when they answer “dy mi e gjashtё qind e pesё” (two-thousand six hundred and fifty), we have to first convert to English, then remember to drop a zero. It becomes especially confusing when the occasional vendor quotes in new lek, knowing that as foreigners we probably don’t know the system, and in turn causing us to think they are giving us a fantastic deal! However, in general, we are all very confused as to why they changed the system of money and bills, and refuse to speak with the correct numbers, considering they adapted the currency over 35 years ago… S’ka problemё (not a problem) but it just goes to show how stubborn their mindset is when adjusting to new ideas…

(Please stay tuned for future pics!)

Hipuam kodra

This weekend about 25 of us volunteers gathered our sleeping bags, stuffed snacks, water, and beverages into our backpacks, and had an all-night rendez-vous at the top of the plateau in Belёsh, where sheep herders regularly take their “dela” to graze. From the top of the “koder” it is possible to see endless green layers of farms, lakes, tiny villages, and even Elbasan in the distance, which is “shumё i bukur”! [ie: very beautiful] Some people brought speakers and ipods, one gal actually lugged her acoustic guitar up the steep slope, and together we sat around the bonfire drinking and laughing until the wee hours of the morning. No surprises here! It was a lot of fun—and luckily the weather was warm and without wind or rain. Around 2 a.m. everyone slowly crashed on top of a giant plastic tarp purchased in Elbasan; the sun was kind enough to rouse us groggily from our shut-eye at 6:15, and we spent a long morning getting refreshed, recovering lost articles that somehow were strewn down
the mountainside, and chatting once again around the (morning) campfire.



Eventually we gathered our belongings and cleared the area of signs of a party, then walked back down to the town and had brunch in a restaurant overlooking the central lake. From here many people were exhausted and caught furgons to go back home, while Chris and I joined a small handful of people to participate in the first meeting our PCV History Club. We went to the house of another married couple and watched part of a DVD relaying the history of Yugoslavia’s break-up, followed by a short (due to our own exhaustion) discussion. Next week we’ll be taking a historical tour of Elbasan, and I imagine there will be plenty of opportunities in the next two years to visit sites and really get to know Albanian and/or Balkan history. I really appreciate the PC’s encouraging of these various clubs with which we can really enjoy our time here and develop our experience here in multiple ways.

Once back home, Chris and I were pretty useless for the day. We lounged upstairs for most of the afternoon, where it was sunny and warm, and we could read books and catnap to make up for lost hours the night before. Sunday is our only day off here, so we usually plan trips to other villages or random PCT get-togethers, but sometimes it’s good to just relax and turn off the socializing and language practice!

Practicum begins!

This week we started out with our first health practicums in Gjergjan! I took the bus in the early morning and joined the other PCT group for language classes, and then afterward we went into the classrooms to perform our lessons.

Monday morning my group taught germ theory to the kindergarten students, while Wednesday I was part of the anti-tobacco campaign in the 7th grade, and in the early evening we had a young women’s sexual health meeting. Overall the lessons went quite well—except for perhaps the sexual health meeting in which the “surprise guests” (older women and mothers of the community) showed up and wouldn’t stop laughing or talking and shuddered away in terror at the site of a cucumber with a condom on it. However, the kindergarteners all sang our ‘Row Row Row your Boat’ rendition of ‘Wash Wash Wash your Hands’ and the 7th graders successfully interacted with the anti-smoking station posters we created. There were so many unexpected twists and down-right annoyances but all in all it was worth being thrown into pit and having to get in front of a classroom full of kids who speak a language I don’t understand. In my future site I will be working more closely with the nurses and teachers before doing any lessons (if I choose to work in the schools at all) so I hope it will be slightly easier, though I am sure there will always be certain cultural beliefs that impede learning about such topics. I digress!

So otherwise, the week was pretty slow but on Sunday we celebrated Cinqo de Mayo in one of the villages near Elbasan. Monica’s host-parents, who own a locale in Haydara, let us cook a bunch of food in their closet-kitchen, and all of the volunteers took a bus up the hill to feast on “Mexican-Albanian” food. I stayed overnight in Elbasan with a few other girls in order to make tortillas at one of the current volunteer’s houses; though, unfortunately the “corn flour” here turned out to be more like powder with some corn bits mixed in and the dough wouldn’t stick together enough to cook… So instead of tacos we made chicken salad, mashed potatoes, Mexican-seasoned rice, and rice pudding.



The party itself was a lot of fun—we broke a piñata in the shape of a gomar (donkey) and did the limbo, while rocking out to a Latin American- themed playlist. (That is, until the Albanian sisters turned up the volume of the TV’s music videos to full blast in hopes of inspiring us to dance, which that did not.)

Tomorrow is our hub day for the week—another Friday recap in Elbasan with all of the volunteers. It’s also a chance for us to stock up on supplies needed for the camping trip on Saturday. We’re all meeting in Belesh, where we will hike to the top of a plateau and probably drink ourselves silly. From what I hear there is a lot of sheep poo at the top, so I think we need to go buy some heavy sheets of plastic to lay down under our sleeping bags…. But I’m sure I will be fun regardless of comfort. ;)

Culture Day in Elbasan!

Saturday was Culture Day in Elbasan! Chris and I caught a furgon around 9 and met with all the volunteers at Skampa Theatre, near the old castle. There the PC had set up “culture stations” for us to learn (and have fun) with Albanian culture. They also arranged for a dance/performance troupe of young kids to present Albanian songs and dances in their traditional costumes, which was adorable and reminded me of the little figures from Disneyland’s It’s a Small World. PC also had a station for ushime e Shiperisё , or Albanian foods. Even more popular were the Turkish food tables, serving baklava and Turkish coffee. In case I haven’t already stated, there is a lot of Turkish influence here beyond the Ottoman mosques, which aren’t actually widely used. For example, many Albanian words are borrowed from Turkey, as well as squat toilets—called “Turkish toilets” since Turkey introduced them to the region. We learned a bit about Albanian literature, folklore, superstitions, and religions, as well as more circle dancing and watching videos of traditional singing in costume. I really appreciate how the PC tries to have fun and educate us, and to be as creative as possible.

*On a side note, I’ve recently gotten word from Anne that she has flown to DC for staging before her Guatemala departure, and I know she must be having an equally exciting time! I can’t wait to hear about her own cultural lessons and adjustments….!
After “Culture Day”, we had some errands to run in Elbasan, such as buying ingredients for making a cake. We wanted something to present for Karen and my birthday party the next afternoon (Sunday). Becca and I tried to be creative with this cake, but with such limited ingredients we decided to make a simple white cake with a layer of lemon custard in the middle. Becca came home with Chris and me, and we cooked it from scratch—even beating the eggs until stiff by hand . No appliances here—only the richest people can afford things from the Elektro Shtёpiake (“Electric Housewife” store). Unfortunately, and for reasons we haven’t yet worked out, the cake failed to rise, so we ended up making two giant pancakes with a layer of custard smooshed between. Even the frosting failed miserably, because we couldn’t find any powdered sugar and we didn’t foresee the disasters of substituting regular white sugar in its place… ;(



You can see in the pictures. But the party was a blast none the less! Almost all of the volunteers caught furgons here to Cerrik, and we gathered in the internet café for drinks, cake, and extra goodies that people gifted us with. We’re so lucky to have a nice big place in Cerrik that can accommodate so many of us—and we’ve agreed that we’re still having a cultural exchange with the Albanians because they all watch us and see how we Americans interact {— what? that girl is drinking beer! And she’s talking with a guy! And look how they hug each other hello/ goodbye instead of kissing each other’s cheeks!} . I am going to really miss having these impromptu gatherings with all of the PCTs—from what I hear after we leave for our sites we’ll only see everyone at once 3 or 4 times each year. I am on the PC Party Planning Committee, so I hope to at least coordinate frequent get-togethers in the southern region though…

As for this week, our technical practicums began, which means that the health volunteers are teaching lessons to the kindergarten kids, and next week we’ll do one with the 8th grade, as well as a community group (for us in Gjёrgjan we will be having a session about reproductive health with girls 16-22). I joined the language class in Gjёrgjan yesterday and afterwards we watched the first group teach a dental health lesson, which didn’t necessarily fail but also didn’t occur as planned. I guess there will always be some unforeseeable barrier in our jobs, but we simply cannot know until we try. In the afternoon we hitched a lift in the PC car to Elbasan, where I spent two hours at the post office trying to pick up my packages—successful in the end, however tired—and then did some internet research for our sexual health and anti-tobacco classes next week. I got home pretty late and busied myself with language homework until dinner was served—peppers stuffed with rice—at 9:30. Every day I am growing one step closer to requesting to eat earlier, even if I do have to eat alone, because I hate to wait so long between lunch (at 1 or 2) and dinner (usually between 9:30- 10:30), and also eating so close to sleeping. Maybe tonight.

For now, we’re making posters to advertise our Art Fest that we will be having later this month. Then I’m off for Shtёrmen, to watch another group’s health presentation…! Mirupafshim!

Birthday in Albania!

Wednesday (E Markuan) I celebrated my golden birthday, turning 23 on the 23rd of April.
The day carried on as normal—Sqhip classes in the morning and projects/ assignments in the afternoon—but random Albanian family and friends excitedly wished me “Edhe nje qind vjet”, which means “May you live to be 100 years old”. If you want a peek into my life, I made a bunch of short video clips of the day and posted them on YouTube:

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Oh yes and the other exciting thing about my birthday was getting to bake cookies with my host family—my sisters had never tasted homemade chocolate chip cookies before, which is a shock to me, and although it took a lot of convincing to get our 7 year old brother to try one, even he admitted they were good. They asked later if we can bake again sometime before we leave, which made me glad because I was afraid they wouldn’t like these “crazy American foods”. I brought some of the cookies to class and gave some to friends in town, also a big hit. For lunch, my teacher’s mother baked us a special Albanian patёllxhan (eggplant) dish, since I told him how much I love eggplant, and we all ate together in a localё after class.

When Chris and I got home from school in the evening our host aunt and uncle came to visit, and as a gift they gave me a bright red bra and underwear set! I couldn’t help but laugh because it was such a suprise, but also i know that such a gift is pretty expensive by Shqiptare standards, so I actually do appreciate it. She also gave me a cell phone dangle that has mickey mouse beads and a light-up doohickey, as well as a long necklace. Very Albanian. I expect to need to some serious designer readjustment lessons when I return to the States.

This week we progressed much further in language—for awhile we were caught up on learning the cases. Shqip changes the nouns depending on location and the verbs that modify them, whereas English only uses Nominative (subject of the sentence) and Genitive (property of owner—ex. Chris’ shoes). They are difficult to understand, memorize, and use, so we really haven’t grasped them yet, but hopefully it will come will time. However, this week we also learned a new set of verb conjugations that we can use to say the Imperfect/ Past-Continuous/ and Past Simple tenses, which is very useful now that I can go home and tell my family what I learned in school and that I ate lunch, instead of “today I learn cases” and “for lunch I eat byrek”. Its one step further, very exciting believe me.

Today was another long day—this week our afternoons are free to work on our technical practicums that start next week. I will be co-teaching a kindergarten class, 8th grade class, and community group on 3 different health topics. I’m working with the other volunteers in the nearby village of Gjergjen, so we get together to create our lesson plans and activities, then later we will translate into Shqip with our teacher’s help. I am nervous, but thankful that I get to work in a group.

Its been raining pretty hard, Chris and I got stuck in a terrible storm and had to walk home in the pouring rain. I think pretty soon it will be hot and I will wish for the cold weather again, but for now I'm eagerly anticipating the heat....!

Excitement in Elbasan!

Much excitement has been occurring here with our PC group—on Friday afternoon (the day we had been anticipating for weeks) we found out our site placements for the next two years!
Although each of us desperately wanted to know our fate (because of course we all want a beautiful beach-side town with mountains and all the amenities) at the same time ignorance is bliss… To be told we would spend the next two years of our lives stranded somewhere uncomfortable is heartbreaking. However, when the time came and we were handed our packets, the most important thing turned out to be which other volunteer(s) we would be close to.
Chris and I totally lucked out and got assigned to a town in the south, called Gjirokaster. Its supposedly a beautiful place nestled in the mountains, near to the border of Greece, and because it has been deemed a UNESCO World heritage site it will be a great location for Chris to work on tourism development. The thing I like most about this town is that it is extremely hilly—similar to the silver mining town of Taxco, Mexico, and so it should be full of steep, winding streets with a new view on each level!
Here are some sites to give an idea:
http://albaland.netfirms.com/gjirokastra/
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/569
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gjirokastra

We also have two site mates—one of whom is an excellent artist and will no doubt team up with Chris to create some amazing animations (his animations have part of some international film festivals) and who knows what…
I will be working in the Public Health Department—and word on the street is that I have my work cut out for me—I’ll keep you posted! Not sure what I’ll be doing exactly (we’re not given assignments per sé, but are matched up with counterparts and instructed to assess the community needs) so hopefully the practicum training I am doing now will give me more concrete skills to implement something useful.
After learning our sites there were a lot of emotions—knowing where we would be/ not be placed, who we would be living with/ without, and what situations we’d be facing caused a lot of stress! As you can expect, almost everyone went to Castle Bar to kick back (and for some, drink away their anxiety), which is an outdoor localё next to the historic castle ruins. Our crew from Cerrik were the last to leave, and only just too late so that we missed the last furgons going back home! No more busses, and the taxis are 5 times the price, so we tried to get a hold of my babai, who drives a furgon himself. Of course we couldn’t understand each other on the phone, but I think somehow he got a hold of his buddy who happens to work for the PC because the driver pulled up out of nowhere to save us! We did make it home safely, if only a little embarrassed…
Today is Saturday (E Stunё) and feels like 3 days in one! In the early morning all the PCTs met back in Elbasan to perform “simulation stations”, which was a fun way to test us on our language skills. We divided into small groups and went out to 7 different “stations” around town, with the task of interacting using Shqip while our teacher silently observed and graded each of us. We went to the clothing market and semi-spontaneously created questions such as “How much does this pair of socks cost?”, “Do you have this in purple?”, “Do you have it in a larger size?”. Next our group went to the food market and pretended to buy all the ingredients for a four-person birthday dinner, within a budget of 2000 lekё. We had to ask for directions, speak with the priest in the Orthodox Church (which was built back in the 1400’s!), question some furgon drivers about journeys to Tiranё, answer questions about our families in America and Shqiperiё, talk with students in the high school about our daily routine and finally explain the 5 W’s of Peace Corps service…! Shumё e veshtirё!!
Afterward the PC staff rewarded us with cookies and snacks in the PST office.  We met with our teachers individually to discuss what we did well/ what to work on, then Chris and I took off to catch a furgon to the nearby village called Kyqan, where our host-cousin was hosting her wedding.
So an Albanian wedding! What can I say?—it was interesting (not terribly different from any other party: lots of food, dancing, terribly loud music) but a little nerve-racking because all 200 guests wanted to talk or see the Americans who showed up, and so we did a lot of smiling, nodding, and trying to decipher some of the things people were asking us. And of course, circle-dancing! Chris and I were corralled to the neighbor’s house on Thursday night to participate in the pre-wedding dancing celebrations, so that we could practice for the Big Day. We’ve done it a few times and I’m still not getting the steps, but I think it’s acceptable that Americans have two left feet. Also, the bride is marrying a man from Greece, so there was also a bit of Greek dancing and music, though I can’t yet tell the difference beyond the Greek dances which include slowly bending down to slap the floor.
My head is still ringing from the music—I’m sure I broke an ear drum. I had to go stand outside a few times because it was so loud I was getting nauseous. Also I didn’t partake in most of the food, which consisted of 3 different courses of sausage, biftek, chicken, kabobs, veal, pork chops, and several “mystery meats”. Chris and I both turned to each other and synchronously shouted “How many animals died for this feast??” as we burst into laughter; it was border-line jaw-dropping.
Finally! The family got lodhur [ pronounced lothure: tired] and we squished into our uncle’s makine [ car, actually a green station wagon] to make the journey back home. The rest of the evening is ours, so I’ve been doing Pilates and soon I will go downstairs for dinner. Hopefully we’ll get bean soup. Then who knows… perhaps an early nights’ sleep? Natёn!

Unё jam nё’nё!

I am busy! This week has been chaotic—Chris and I returned from the volunteer visit late on Tuesday evening, and spent the rest of the night trying to relay our adventure to our host family. The next morning we had language classes as usual and then hopped on a furgon in order to meet with all the other PCTs in Elbasan for an afternoon of PC training. Today (Thursday) we ventured out early in the morning to attend meetings with various school directors around Cerrik. Our community project is going to be hosting an art festival /contest at the end of May, so we’re trying to coordinate with the schools to encourage kids and young adults to enter. Since we didn’t have a translator with us, we were forced to test all of our primitive Shqip skills in order to convey our proposal. Everyone seems to love the idea—and there are plenty of great young artists around town so the kids all got pretty excited. So now, as long as the mayor agrees to give us the deserted cinema as a venue we’ll be all set…

Alas, after spending time with all the directors, we were exhausted even before language class began! Luckily we had one of our favorite teachers, Oriola, and we successfully completed another complex grammar issue (we’ve been discussing cases lately (they use all 5 in Shqip, whereas English only uses 2), and now we’re modifying our definite and indefinite nouns to be both gender-- and case-sensitive, as well as identifying singular vs plural in each form) before begging to be let free around 4:30. We all still have plenty of work to do—tomorrow all the PCTs have to turn in several mid-term assessment papers, our technical group assignments, a presentation on our community project proposal, and to prepare for our oral assessments. Of course we went to our favorite spot in town—the posh internet café, with its comfy couches and friendly staff-- to do our work, though I can’t imagine how PC expects us to be able to complete all of this in such a short work-week!

And, ironically, when Chris and I got home, we had a few minutes to chat with our family when all of the sudden they whipped out some gjellё (soup) and told us to “hani bukё!” (ie “eat food/ bread!”) so that we could go dancing! Wasn’t expecting that one, and there’s no way to turn them down—our entire family had gathered down the street in preparation for the wedding of one of our host-cousins (big day this Saturday). She is marrying a man from Greece, who will take her away and she will likely never return. So the evening turned into a night of dancing—which means that Chris and I got to go meet another 50 or so people, sit for several rounds of café and be smothered by kisses from the gyshes (grandmothers), hold hands and circle-dance for a few hours to the sound of piercing Albanian music, and try desperately to be as polite as possible while everyone is talking about us in a language we can’t understand… Exhausting!

Tomorrow we’ll be back in Elbasan, a long day of technical training. We’ll also return on Saturday to do language simulations (we get to go buy foods in the market, ask strangers for directions, etc. while our teacher grades us on our grammar and comprehension), then in the afternoon Chris and I will rush off to join in on the last half of the wedding. I’m excited to attend a wedding here—should be fun and I like to take part in the activities—however, it’s terribly stressful to be attentive and try so hard to communicate with everyone around. From what I saw at the volunteer visit (and confirmed by all the others) is that everyone gets pretty comfortable with the language later on, it only takes time… So here’s to a shot of raki, and I’ll let you know how it goes….!

Volunteer Visits!

This weekend Chris and I ventured north of Elbasan, taking an early-morning furgon with a small group of other trainees and stopping off to wander around Tirane before heading even further to the mountainous town of Rreshen. Its not really mountainous, but it is technically amidst the mountains, and slightly cooler than even Elbasan. We all joke about how the PC sends you to every place you don't want to be-- my only request is that I go someplace warm so I laughed and thought "Gee, of course" when we got our placements. *but* It was only for 2 days so I didn't have any problem, and it was a lot of fun.

The two volunteers in Rreshen are doing Community Development and TEFL, and they have amazing projects going. The counterparts they work with turned out to be fantastic-- ambitious, hard-working, and really wanting to improve their own lives, so it was really helpful to see how they guys are able to facilitate success.

We joyously made tacos for dinner the first night-- quite a change from the seasonless Albanian fare we often consume, and its already getting to the point where tiny little things from "back home" are utterly cherished. Looking back, I think we had it easy while traveling through SE Asia because we could move on when we wanted to get away from a particular town, and the food changed frequently from region to region. However, once we get on our own and have our own kitchen I am sure we will find plenty of satisfactory dishes-- Albania has plenty of produce and once I discover where I can obtain whole wheat flour I will be set. :)

One of the very cultural activities we did was properly go "do gyro", which means that we wandered up and down the town's main drag (which in the summertime is closed to all traffic). Walk walk walk. Albanians do this, along with visiting each other's homes for kafe and chocolates, just to meet and greet friends, neighbors, etc. Its a very sociable country.

We also played basketball with some of our volunteer host's friends, which would have been America vs Albania, except that if we did that we Americans would have had a dramatic 2-foot height advantage... I was proud to be the only girl playing in the swarm of guys (setting examples for gender roles), though I think the scariest thing was actually just slipping on the loose gravel of the unpaved asphalt! Talk about danger, I almost ate rocks several times just in the half-court!

Oh yes, and their apartment had wireless internet (sometimes, when the signal and power were both working in sync), and I've been pondering since then about the actual situation I am living. As Dan says (he's the volunteer whose been here one year, our host) "This ain't yer daddy's Peace Corps!"
We jokingly call it Posh-Corps because we have cell phones, occasional internet, and all sorts of gadgets/ apparel (ahem, North Face anyone?) to make our lives easier. When I signed up I expected to go into the jungle or desert, far away from anything western. However, there is just enough influence here from Italy and the rest of Europe to make the landscape, food, and dress seem like a cheap knock-off of our western world. More European than American for sure, but not enough to really feel comfortable. I am still deciding whether this makes me sad and disappointed to be missing out on true hardships (although please don't take this to mean adjusting to Albanian life, culture, rules, limitations, etc. is easy), or if I should revel in the so-called progressiveness of this society.
OK my time is up, more later!

E He’nё

April 7, 2008

Monday ( E He’nё), a brand new week begins. This is the third week and I’m beginning to see what the previous volunteers meant when they said training is long and tiresome! I’m still having a wonderful time and haven’t yet slipped into depression or homesickness, but when I go to bed each night I am exhausted and despite the fact that we do have free time on Saturday afternoons and Sundays, I feel like every moment must still be useful.

Last night I got some phone calls from Cam and Donna and Arlene! Such excitement! It’s funny though because there is so much I’d like to tell everyone and express all the experiences and emotions we are going through, but I feel caught up on the telephone and suddenly dumbstruck…

This morning we had class bright and early, in our chilly little classroom on the second floor of the town’s slightly-decrepit elementary school. When our pocket of volunteers arrive it feel like we’re celebrities on the red carpet because a few hundred school children stop their chattering to gawk at us (some brave ones yell out “hello!” and “who are you!”)—look the amerikans are coming! They have been opening our classroom door to peer in on us less frequently this week, so maybe soon they will get used to us. After class we went to the souflaçe shop, where we ended up meeting with the crew from the nearby village of Shalёs, then soon ran into the volunteers from Gjergjen and Shtermen . Rendez-vous in Cerrik!! Our town happens to be the center point for a few of the PCT sites, and we have the posh internet café, so every once in awhile we all get together here which is truly wonderful to have so many friends. Especially since after this three months is over we will all be completely alone (well, except for the married couples of course).

So we flooded the café and ice cream shop—the owners love us because we bring so many customers—and slowly people faded away, scurrying off to catch furgons back home. Chris and I got picked up by our baba and mama who were at a host-family meeting with the PC reps, then they took us to Belёsh to visit some family members.

The house we drove out to is in the middle of a beautiful valley of farms, near Belёsh’s town lake. The town itself is stunning—cute little homes and cafes dotted around the lake rim and surrounding mountains, walkways lined with grape-vines, donkeys pulling carts, etc. Chris and I also came out yesterday for the first time, with a bunch of PCTs to hang out on our day off.

So we spent some time doing the usual—greet the entire family outside, then go inside and re-do all of the same greetings, sit for an hour or so while they exclaim in rambling Shqip that we can’t possibly follow (every once in awhile we caught on that they were speaking to us, everyone would turn and look expectantly for our remark which of course we had no idea what to say).

Before we left I got to hold some of the baby ducklings in their backyard (then quietly repeated the mantra reminding myself not to touch my face until I got home to a sink...), and they gave me eggs as a parting gift! I think my parents had been talking about how they don't know what to feed me, and that I am always so excited when I get an egg for breakfast...

Tomorrow we find out where we'll go for our two-night site/ volunteer visit! And it's a hub day, which is always so exciting...! :)

Ç’Kemi!

FORGOT TO POST!!

FROM

3/31/08

Today is Sunday [e diel], and we have officially been in our PST towns for one week! Its hard to believe all that we have seen and learned in such a short time, yet it feels like forever since we got here. Chris and I live in the outskirts of Cerrik (we call it the ‘burbs since we’re a half an hour walk from the town center where we take Shqip classes with three other PCTs) and I will need to ride a furgon to the next fshat [village] in order to meet up with the other health volunteers and do our practicum. In a few weeks I will be pairing up with another trainee and coordinating with the biology teacher, nurses, and English teachers of the local school in order to teach a kindergarten class, a 9^th grade class, and a community group on some health topic of our choice. In Shqip! Such pressure….!

Sunday is our day off-- I spent my afternoon visiting different volunteers and their families before walking to the next fshat , called Shtёrmen, where we met more volunteers and their families. I love how so many people have large gardens surrounding their homes, which provide the main staples of their diets. So far I have noticed a bountiful array of cherry, pear, orange, olive, lemon, fig, and apple trees, as well as loads of eggplant, onion, garlic, peppers, beans , lettuce, grapes, etc. I can’t wait until everything blooms in May!

After the rounds of visits a few volunteers and I went up into the hills to see the lake, then climbed up a steep path to their old church, where we could see out all around to the villages, including Cerriku. Becca and I took a furgon back to town to save time, since the sun was begin to set and we didn’t want to get stuck out in the dark away from home. Plus, I would have to walk an additional 30 minutes in the muddy ditch by myself, avoiding cars as they sped past. It doesn’t really feel dangerous but we are told there are many drunk drivers and since there is no sidewalk or lights it can be a hassle.

For now, I’m sitting on a couch in the family room surrounded by my host family, aunts, uncles, and gjёushja [grandmother], who are speaking rapidly and loudly in Shqip, or so it seems to me. Life here is very family-oriented and no evening is complete without stopping in to drink kafe with one’s relatives, neighbors, and friends. I think that’s why we eat so late here—usually around 10 pm, because we need the evening to socialize…

Tomorrow [nesёr] Chris and I are catching a furgon to Elbasan, for training with all the PCTs. The US ambassador will be there to meet us, and another week of language classes, trainee activities, Elbasan meetings, and practicum preparations will ensue… Hopefully in a few minutes we will get to eat some dinner [darkё], which will be byrek, the spinach pie I watched our host mom prepare this morning. They were shocked to learn that I make bread in America, and wonder why I am so curious to watch them make yogurt [kos], cheese [djathe], and gather eggs from the chicken yard. Now back to the books!

Natёn e mirё!

Week 2 begins….

This week we had an early Monday morning start in Elbasan, which means that all the volunteers caught furgons heading toward the city in order to meet at the PC office by 8:30. For Chris and me this was a chance to actually sleep a few precious moments longer, since all we have to do is walk out front to the main road and flag down a passing van, rather than walk 30 minutes into Cerriku.

Sort of an odd schedule today, rearranged because the US ambassador was visiting in the afternoon. So we took language class in the morning, followed by some routine PC health and safety trainings, then after lunch we had an hour or so to speak with the ambassador. Very formal—we were told to dress up, stand when he enters/ leaves, and to address him as “Mr. Ambassador”. Not all too thrilling but I guess it’s a necessary gesture…

Hub days are a lot of fun—actually I think every day is a lot of fun. I must be one of the more positive people in the group because I am loving the experience so far. Even when I’m uncomfortable-- like in the cold, when its rainy, when people stare at us, when my host mom serves me French fries and potato soup for dinner at 10 pm, etc.—I still enjoy getting up for class, visiting Elbasan, hanging out at the posh internet café, grabbing lunch with the other PCTs. Maybe this is more like the day-time college social life I never had? Or maybe I’m content because I don’t think about where I will sleep at night or fret about money like I did while backpacking SE Asia? However it happens, I got the impression that other people are not adjusting as well to the set up here quite yet.

And on that note—I’ve got a nasty cold! My throat is sore and itchy, I’m producing enough phlegm to compete with the Ghostbusters 3 river of slime, and sometimes my voice runs out completely mid sentence. But it’s alright—I’ve got plenty of medicine in my kit and I think it will pass in a day or two. Maybe I should read more Harry Potter because despite all of the vitamins I take I don’t understand why my white blood cells haven’t mastered the defense against the dark arts.

I learned some imperative commands today: ‘hayde’ [hi- duh] = “come here”; ‘dil’ [deel] = “go out”; ‘hap’ = “open”; ‘mbyll’ [muh-bull] = “close”.

Oh yes and I don’t think I’ve described what the housing is like around here—there are tons of large half-finished homes scattered around the landscape. Most towns just pop up alongside the “main road” heading south from Elbasan. Restaurants and homes all looks the same—large, 2 or 3- story concrete structures usually painted soft colors. Inside they are all pretty similar: the doorway opens to the family room/ kitchen where the wood burning stove is. Everyone hangs out here because it’s the only warm place and they sure like their family-time! Homework is done while the TV blasts racey Shqiperi music videos and relatives shout loudly as they sip kafé and raki. I assume in the summer time (we’ve been told is blisteringly hot here because absolutely no one has A/C) it must be nicer to be in a concrete room, especially at our house where the upstairs has full window panels that we can open to get a breeze. Chris and I have the whole upstairs, which is another family room with TV and computer, a bedroom, a bathroom, and balcony. In the morning I walk outside and stretch myself awake as I peek out at the neighbors, fields, animals, and distant factories.

So that is my life so far in Albania! I’m sure there are tons of details I’ve forgotten because they have become so natural to me already, but I will try to post pictures and maybe that will help you envision it….!

Mirёmbrёma!