My oh my where has the time gone? Hard to believe we celebrated One Year in Albania last week! Over the weekend several PCVs gathered in Elbasan (our training site will always hold a special place in our hearts) to give a toast to the wonderful friendships and experiences gained during our time so far, to bask in the glory of our endurance (hey by this time last year the previous group had lost 12 people, whereas we’ve only lost two, and gained 7!), and to greet the newbies! G12 arrived in Elbasan on Wednesday, spending the first few days locked up at Hotel universe on the edge of town-- getting acclimated to their new group, time zone, foods, and PC staff. We were originally inspired to welcome them, square them up, and try to alleviate their anxieties through cheap beer, however, our plans were foiled by PC staff. Instead, we took cover from the pouring rain at Beer Gramelli, where a mug sets you back 60 leke (ie 60 cents)—think about that next time you hit the bars in Scottsdale. :)
Earlier in the day Chris and I took a bus up north with Allan (Gjiro), Meghan (Ksamil), and two French couchsurfers. I’m pretty excited to hear about their trip because they are going to Istanbul to purchase bicycles and from there traveling to Astana, Kazakhstan. We’re pretty excited about potentially COSing next June and pedaling our way from Turkey to Tunisia, specifically because we have heard from countless travelers how much more you can see/do/learn when you take the slower, more eco-friendly route, and also because I’ve been itching to do a long-distance bike trip for a few years now.
Our time in Elbasan was short but sweet, from there we caught a furgon to the lovely little village of Thane (and by lovely village I mean muddy street dotted with houses) to visit our host family. They adopted a new set of volunteers, and this was the couples’ first night. I had been worried about visiting on the same day that they arrived—I texted everyone first to make sure that would be kosher and there would be plenty of room for us. I just wasn’t sure if we would taint their whole experience. On the other hand I recall that first weekend being the most horribly awkward time, when we couldn’t speak a single word of shqip besides ‘faleminderit’, and our new “family” was still just a bunch of strangers whose names we couldn’t pronounce. Luckily everyone was able to breathe easier with us there, translating to the best of our abilities and giving cultural advice to our new friends, from here on out referred to by name: James and Jen. [On a side note, James commented on my blog a few weeks ago, and he also has a blogspot page: http://jamespeacecorpsalbania.blogspot.com/]
After saying our goodbyes to the family, our very-American foursome walked into town (Cerrik) to meet Karen for lunch at our old time favorite restaurant, the one next to the mental hospital where we used to sit outside during our training, getting covered in a snowy downpour of fluffy white tree pollen. Unfortunately it was still too chilly to eat outside, so we huddled in the small side room with a propane heater. Chris and James were almost immediately rounded up by a table full of gents next door, invited to sit down for a few shots of raki, however, they didn’t stay long because I was instructed to come drag them away. I think the motherly owner was afraid they would be corrupted-- if only she knew…
Once stuffed with salad and ‘fresh village eggs’, we caught a Fier-bound bus with Karen to stay the night visiting our friend Stephanie. Steph, who is a community-development volunteer, lives in a tall sparkling new pallati (apartment) with her adorable puppy, Jack. We had a pretty calm night, toasted savory grilled cheese sandwiches (Fier has many European import stores so cheese, though expensive, is widely available) and fresh tomato soup, then departed for Berat all together in the morning. Chris was gifted a bunch of Arabic language books from Andrew, a G10 volunteer in Fier who happens to have studied at ASU, so we passed time in the furgon going over the Arabic alphabet and trying to pick out letters in the various forms. If we do end up going to Tunisia after our service Chris hopes to be refreshed and has been trying to convince me to learn with him. While I’m totally content with my Shqip-speaking ability at this point, and would be happy to focus on something else, I’m not sure I can learn from a book— do te shihemi.
Upon arrival in Berat we found Lauren in full birthday celebration swing, drinking cheap champagne and eating scones & cheese on her balcony with Marissa. The sheer site of them-- bundled up in scarves and sunglasses, sprawled out on beach lounge chairs and guarded by her 3-legged dog, Clara, absolutely cracks me up. Its soooo PCV Albania, and I hope I remember it always.
So it was Lauren’s 26th birthday! What to do? Well, as Lauren is the PCV queen of care-package Betty Crocker mixes, we of course baked a cake-- yellow with chocolate frosting. We got to spend almost the whole day with her, hanging out around her shpie, enjoying the comforts of her glorious wooden stove… Lauren’s house is always full of entertaining materials, magazines of all sorts, a roomful of odd treasures left behind by the volunteer before her, funny music playlists (she has been known to have midnight dance parties featuring Meatloaf), and somehow kicking back with friends as they knit and chat and draw makes the time fly by. Eventually we made our way across town to a cute little traditional restaurant, where we ate dinner upstairs on the covered balcony with a view overlooking the river. Chris wolfed down a steak that was wrapped in cheese and then deep-fried, and some french fries. I simply don’t know how his heart can handle that stuff. For awhile we were keeping a food journal to reflect on our dietary habits and see if we were really practicing what we preach to the kids at the Red Cross, when we taught them about the food pyramid. I bound a little book made from a recycled food container and hand-made paper, and each night we were diligently recording our meals and snacks. It’s interesting to see what one honestly eats, since we all believe we are healthy but might be shocked by reality. Like always, Chris reports more-than recommended amounts of fatty foods, whereas I OD on sugar…
And *speaking* of sugar, our cake was waiting for us back at Lauren’s house, along with some Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies she was kind enough to share. :)
Chris and I took off early the next morning, catching an 8 am bus straight to Gjiro. During our "pilaf stop" I had my first encounter with a bear! Actually, it was a big cub, and locked up in a cage. Supposedly there are many bears around Shqiperia, in Berat's castle for example, but I've never seen one. [Rumor has is there's an owl in Shkoder, and I've seen peacocks in Tepelene] There were also cages full of wolves, an eagle, and about 2 dozen wild dogs untethered on guard.
We had wanted to catch up with Monica and her visiting friend’s from LA, but since they changed their plans to come a day earlier we could only meet for a quick coffee before they took off. There trip here was short but Monica seemed to beam with glee
so I think it was well worth their effort.
Then of course the week began: meetings, talking, coffees, talking, translating, talking… you get the idea. I was super excited to move past talking and finally get to teach my plastic bag lesson in school. Aida (from Red Cross) and I got permission from the Director of Education to go to Naim Frasheri, the city’s model 9-year school up in the Old Town, and talk to the kids about the effects of plastic in our environment and oceans, and to introduce the concept of reusing bags/using cloth alternatives. I showed them some environmental PSA’s from YouTube before and after the lesson, for fun and to get their attention. At the end the teacher’s decided they would help collect t-shirts to be sewn into shopping bags [ very easy: simply sew the bottom straight across, and cut off the sleeves—voila! ] and if I can copy the lesson onto a DVD they would teach the lesson in other classes. Small victory, hope it takes off!
Another wonderful accomplishment at the school was my approaching some classes to survey student interest in joining our Outdoor Ambassadors club. This is a country-wide network of PC-led groups who focus on environmental education and preservation, with an emphasis on outdoor excursions like hiking, camping, picnics, etc. [This is a project we are all trying to get going in Gjirokastёr, and for which we went to the conference in Tiranё a few weekends ago] About half of the kids at this school are learning English, and undoubtedly would like the opportunity to practice their skills, but to be fair we’re opening this for everyone. We had tried to start the group in one of the high schools a few months ago and it received mild interest from a handful of kids, but nothing lasting. However this time the kids were literally falling out of their chairs trying to get my attention to call on them and accept them to come. We’ll have to go back with applications. That’s a very good sign!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Viroi
Here's the lake I've been running around every afternoon with Hajri!
Its about 3 km outside of town, and we run around and back to complete 3.5 circuits of 3 km each-- or 10 km total. Nothing compared to marathon training but its nice to get out and MOVE!
Oh yes, and there are dogs there but they are stuck on the other side of the water and can't get to us. :)
Its about 3 km outside of town, and we run around and back to complete 3.5 circuits of 3 km each-- or 10 km total. Nothing compared to marathon training but its nice to get out and MOVE!
Oh yes, and there are dogs there but they are stuck on the other side of the water and can't get to us. :)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Chris is now a PLAKU!
Plaku is the shqip term for ‘old man’. Plaka is ‘old woman’, but I have many more years before he can call me that. We celebrated Chris’ 26th birthday in Delvine, a small hidden town about 1.5 hours south of us, in the company of our friends Monica (Del), Alexi (Del), Allan (Gjiro), Greg (Gjiro), and Meghan (Ksamil). Monica put together a delicious Mexican-Albanian style feast of beans, salad, spit roasted chicken, fruits, and to top it all off: Betty Crocker’s very own Funfetti cake. Ahhhh cake in a box. America.
On Saturday afternoon we went walking out of town (not far) to an old mosque that has been kept up very well. There is a nice woman who lives adjacent to it and owns a cafe next door. She maintains the mosque and surrounding grounds and opened it up to our posse, happy and excited to meet a group of shqip-speaking Americans. Especially Monica-- I've decided its her dimples Albanian women seem to fall in love with, or perhaps the way she's mastered the sideways head bob to indicate 'oh yes of course I agree'... ;)
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View from the outside
Monica and Alexi are participating in the Model UN conference with a group of students from their high school, which will take place next weekend. Their group was chosen to represent Vietnam, and will be debating their resolutions with other Albanian students regarding Climate Change, Anti-Trafficking, and Deforestation. Because of their newfound interest in Vietnam, Monica asked Chris and me to give a presentation based on our trip there. We ended up showing them some photos, a small peek into modern culture and geography, which seemed to open their eyes to a larger world beyond the policy decisions they have researched for months on the internet. The next day we went back and actually stood in as 'expert witnesses' in order to allow them to practice debating and prepare for outside questions, which was a lot of fun and hopefully helps them in Tirane!
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This is from Day 1 practice session, there are actually 13 kids in the group. But you get the idea.
Ahh well the trip was short but fun, its nice to get out of Gjirokaster every once in awhile. We took a 7 am bus back over the mountain on Monday morning, arriving just in time to march into the office. I am a little 'merzit' in my office, having "communication" problems with my counterpart. I can't spill the beans publicly but oh man sometimes its hard not to spontaneously combust... We're working on a sexual health seminar with the university students and well.. I just can't even explain why its so frustrating to try and get people to think outside the box. 'Nuf said.
Oh yes, and Monday morning the guys in Chris' office organized a party in his honor-- complete with a breakfast shot of raki! [this is the traditional Albanian moonshine]
And later that night Hajri hosted his own party
This is Chris, Hajri, Adrien (waiter and friend), Allan, and Greg
Now its back to the grindstone.. I'm more interested in working on environmental awareness projects and March is here! Now how can I get the ball rolling....?
On Saturday afternoon we went walking out of town (not far) to an old mosque that has been kept up very well. There is a nice woman who lives adjacent to it and owns a cafe next door. She maintains the mosque and surrounding grounds and opened it up to our posse, happy and excited to meet a group of shqip-speaking Americans. Especially Monica-- I've decided its her dimples Albanian women seem to fall in love with, or perhaps the way she's mastered the sideways head bob to indicate 'oh yes of course I agree'... ;)
.jpg)
View from the outside
Monica and Alexi are participating in the Model UN conference with a group of students from their high school, which will take place next weekend. Their group was chosen to represent Vietnam, and will be debating their resolutions with other Albanian students regarding Climate Change, Anti-Trafficking, and Deforestation. Because of their newfound interest in Vietnam, Monica asked Chris and me to give a presentation based on our trip there. We ended up showing them some photos, a small peek into modern culture and geography, which seemed to open their eyes to a larger world beyond the policy decisions they have researched for months on the internet. The next day we went back and actually stood in as 'expert witnesses' in order to allow them to practice debating and prepare for outside questions, which was a lot of fun and hopefully helps them in Tirane!
.jpg)
This is from Day 1 practice session, there are actually 13 kids in the group. But you get the idea.
Ahh well the trip was short but fun, its nice to get out of Gjirokaster every once in awhile. We took a 7 am bus back over the mountain on Monday morning, arriving just in time to march into the office. I am a little 'merzit' in my office, having "communication" problems with my counterpart. I can't spill the beans publicly but oh man sometimes its hard not to spontaneously combust... We're working on a sexual health seminar with the university students and well.. I just can't even explain why its so frustrating to try and get people to think outside the box. 'Nuf said.
Oh yes, and Monday morning the guys in Chris' office organized a party in his honor-- complete with a breakfast shot of raki! [this is the traditional Albanian moonshine]
And later that night Hajri hosted his own party
This is Chris, Hajri, Adrien (waiter and friend), Allan, and Greg
Now its back to the grindstone.. I'm more interested in working on environmental awareness projects and March is here! Now how can I get the ball rolling....?
Some ways winter in Albania has changed me:
I crave shredded red cabbage with lemon juice for lunch, every day, and boiled beets for breakfast.
My splotchy red hands have sausage-fingers. [I thought this was a medical reaction to extreme salt intake or something, but after conferring with other volunteers it turns out this is a freaky winter phenomenon in which fingers swell due to the inescapability of super cold weather. Or possibly there are invisible bugs that bite our joints at night. We’re not sure.]
I cannot get out of bed before 7 am. Its too cold and I don’t want to move!
The increased presence of stray dogs keeps me on guard 24/7.
Having a wood burning stove seems like a much better idea, despite the obvious deforestation it promotes.
My blow drier has become my best friend.
Smelly people no longer bother me. That's probably because I might be one of them.
My hair is actually starting to dread itself.
Romantic candle dinners are no longer a choice.
My splotchy red hands have sausage-fingers. [I thought this was a medical reaction to extreme salt intake or something, but after conferring with other volunteers it turns out this is a freaky winter phenomenon in which fingers swell due to the inescapability of super cold weather. Or possibly there are invisible bugs that bite our joints at night. We’re not sure.]
I cannot get out of bed before 7 am. Its too cold and I don’t want to move!
The increased presence of stray dogs keeps me on guard 24/7.
Having a wood burning stove seems like a much better idea, despite the obvious deforestation it promotes.
My blow drier has become my best friend.
Smelly people no longer bother me. That's probably because I might be one of them.
My hair is actually starting to dread itself.
Romantic candle dinners are no longer a choice.
Bore?
So I woke up last week and lifted the shades to our living room— it had been an especially cold day and night so I insisted we sleep in the slightly warmer TV/kitchen room. I was surprised to reveal a yard covered in SNOW! In February?? I thought we were passed this! Well, it’s back, and stronger than ever.
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I insisted to my friend Alissa, who came from Shkoder to stay with us during her country-wide tour , that the sky is falling—a heavy downpour of thick white puffs, like sheets of dandruff. The snow fell for two days—nothing like our peaceful Christmas layer—then finally the rain washed it out.
The snow did finally melt, but ice-covered cobblestones proved dangerous! I slipped on my way to the bus station with Alissa— imagine a cartoon character who slides on a banana peel, feet shooting straight out in front. I semi-braced my fall by landing hard on my palms, which later swelled and turned purple. Sadly, my computer also landed hard on the ground, though at this point it seems to be in working order still… (teeth grinding)
______________________________________________________________
I insisted to my friend Alissa, who came from Shkoder to stay with us during her country-wide tour , that the sky is falling—a heavy downpour of thick white puffs, like sheets of dandruff. The snow fell for two days—nothing like our peaceful Christmas layer—then finally the rain washed it out.
The snow did finally melt, but ice-covered cobblestones proved dangerous! I slipped on my way to the bus station with Alissa— imagine a cartoon character who slides on a banana peel, feet shooting straight out in front. I semi-braced my fall by landing hard on my palms, which later swelled and turned purple. Sadly, my computer also landed hard on the ground, though at this point it seems to be in working order still… (teeth grinding)
Monday, February 23, 2009
Obama Rolls
I just found these sushi creations from http://www.geekologie.com/-- so cool!
I don't know who this guy is, but he has uber vlere!
I don't know who this guy is, but he has uber vlere!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Mardi Gras, Poker Night, Valentine's, and Birthdays
Do we really need an excuse to party? If so, this weekend we had at least 4. Not only did we have double and triple shared b-days, but on Valentine’s night a bunch of volunteers got decked out in Mardi Gras apparel (well, sort of, it was 40 degrees after all), put their dancin’ shoes on, and played Texas Holdem’.
Chris and I caught a direct furgon from Gjiro to Berat on Friday afternoon— joining up with Monica, Alexi, and Meghan who started out from Sarande. The twisted and bumpy road seemed humorously similar to a Disneyland ride—forcing me to sit upright, gripping the seat handle in front and peering quizzically over the edge. I was half wondering if and when we would go teetering over the edge; however, after so many months here I’ve given up the anxiety of impending death on the roads.
We’ve spent the weekend crashing at Lauren’s lovely apartment, which is on the third floor of a pallati [post-communist style concrete apartment] with a body-building gym underneath. Its really quite spacious, with two parallel bathrooms [labeled SEAT UP and SEAT DOWN] and several storage rooms. In the summer she puts a kiddie pool on the roof and sunbathes—I plan to come back a lot more for that!
There is quite a large crew of us here left in the wake of the party, 13? Last night most people crashed at the party (Corrine’s apartment) though we left around 1 am or so, after a series of unfortunate events involving out-of-town futbol players who couldn’t seem to keep their hands off the girls. Today has been a pretty subdued day, allowing hangovers to lift, and by 3 we were all our chipper selves again, ready to go out for coffee and crepes, and then begin a string of goodbyes while friends dispersed back to their hometowns.
For now we’re relaxing near the wood burning stove; various volunteers are reading, cooking, playing with Clara (Lauren’s 3-legged dog). Tonight’s menu includes homemade spinach pasta with garlic tomato sauce and salad, veggie delight! I think we’re gonna take off tomorrow and brave the road at 9:30, giving us enough time to get to work in the afternoon if we want. It’s been a nice break from G-town, too short. I realize how much I miss the other volunteers, and luckily we’re having a new group arrive next month! So there will be several meetings throughout their training (ahhh.. training! Has it been a full year already?) --luckily we will see each other again soon, when we come to meet them in Elbasan and share stories.
Chris and I caught a direct furgon from Gjiro to Berat on Friday afternoon— joining up with Monica, Alexi, and Meghan who started out from Sarande. The twisted and bumpy road seemed humorously similar to a Disneyland ride—forcing me to sit upright, gripping the seat handle in front and peering quizzically over the edge. I was half wondering if and when we would go teetering over the edge; however, after so many months here I’ve given up the anxiety of impending death on the roads.
We’ve spent the weekend crashing at Lauren’s lovely apartment, which is on the third floor of a pallati [post-communist style concrete apartment] with a body-building gym underneath. Its really quite spacious, with two parallel bathrooms [labeled SEAT UP and SEAT DOWN] and several storage rooms. In the summer she puts a kiddie pool on the roof and sunbathes—I plan to come back a lot more for that!
There is quite a large crew of us here left in the wake of the party, 13? Last night most people crashed at the party (Corrine’s apartment) though we left around 1 am or so, after a series of unfortunate events involving out-of-town futbol players who couldn’t seem to keep their hands off the girls. Today has been a pretty subdued day, allowing hangovers to lift, and by 3 we were all our chipper selves again, ready to go out for coffee and crepes, and then begin a string of goodbyes while friends dispersed back to their hometowns.
For now we’re relaxing near the wood burning stove; various volunteers are reading, cooking, playing with Clara (Lauren’s 3-legged dog). Tonight’s menu includes homemade spinach pasta with garlic tomato sauce and salad, veggie delight! I think we’re gonna take off tomorrow and brave the road at 9:30, giving us enough time to get to work in the afternoon if we want. It’s been a nice break from G-town, too short. I realize how much I miss the other volunteers, and luckily we’re having a new group arrive next month! So there will be several meetings throughout their training (ahhh.. training! Has it been a full year already?) --luckily we will see each other again soon, when we come to meet them in Elbasan and share stories.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Adventures in Permet
Last weekend the guys and I took a day-trip with Hajri and his wife, Lori, on what turned out to be an unexpectedly worthwhile adventure. Hajri, who has become our newest closest Albanian friend, owns the lokale in the Old Town, under Chris’ office. He speaks a little English (learned from working in Greece for a few years), and is absolutely in love with all things American-- like most Albanians I know.
The six of us piled into Hajri’s station wagon at 8 in the morning and drove to Permet, which is a small town about 1.5 hours on the opposite side of the Lunxheri mountain range. Along the way we stopped for tea at a beautiful restaurant set over a spring with many cascading waterfalls surrounding. For now it’s still cold and dreary but in the spring/summer this area is breathtaking—I can hardly wait for the flowers to bloom and the bright sunshine to return!
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Once in Permet we took a ‘xhiro’ [promenade] straight through town and ended up climbing a steep path to visit an old church. I’m not the biggest fan of churches but this one I will admit is beautiful—completely covered in Byzantine-style icons and frescos, delicately fading in color… Unfortunately most of the icons have been defaced, with words/ marks etched across the sacred motifs, and with their eyes completely scratched out…
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After our church visit Hajri drove us about 10 km out of town and then down a desolate, unpaved and unmarked road to a hot spring! The spring is located alongside a small river, with an old Ottoman stone bridge crossing overhead. The churning pool of water is a milky blue-white, with a very faint sulfur smell, and absolutely no trash! [this is a rarity here!] We only dipped our hands in the warm water, vowing to come back for a longer picnic or even a camping trip—there are even nearby caves in which we could pop some tents.
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From there we headed back to a big restaurant near the main road. I think its cute how there are so many glorious restaurants scattered in the middle of nowhere-- literally-- which seems like terrible business sense. In America all about location, right? But here these big isolated cafés cater to a surprisingly steady stream of customers, which has led me to conclude that for Albanians who cannot leave the country (due to visa restrictions and lack of money) they provide a fun road trip for people who want to kill an afternoon with their families or lovers. Like us! We went for a weekend jaunt and ended up there for lunch. :)
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In fact that lunch turned out to be a Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner rolled into one—so much food! Typical Albanian fare: salad, cheese, bread, salse kosi (thick, garlicky yogurt), grilled and pickled veggies… and meat. This place specialized in leper [rabbit], so they brought out a kilo of charred bits, followed by a kilo each of baby pig, baby sheep, and village chicken stuffed with walnuts and breadcrumbs! Between the guys, at least 4 carafes of red wine were also consumed, thus we had an excitingly loud meal followed by a quiet, sleepy car ride. Overall, the amount of food was sickeningly gluttonous, but a lot of fun. I don’t understand why guys haven’t gained weight here?
The six of us piled into Hajri’s station wagon at 8 in the morning and drove to Permet, which is a small town about 1.5 hours on the opposite side of the Lunxheri mountain range. Along the way we stopped for tea at a beautiful restaurant set over a spring with many cascading waterfalls surrounding. For now it’s still cold and dreary but in the spring/summer this area is breathtaking—I can hardly wait for the flowers to bloom and the bright sunshine to return!
.jpg)
Once in Permet we took a ‘xhiro’ [promenade] straight through town and ended up climbing a steep path to visit an old church. I’m not the biggest fan of churches but this one I will admit is beautiful—completely covered in Byzantine-style icons and frescos, delicately fading in color… Unfortunately most of the icons have been defaced, with words/ marks etched across the sacred motifs, and with their eyes completely scratched out…
.jpg)
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After our church visit Hajri drove us about 10 km out of town and then down a desolate, unpaved and unmarked road to a hot spring! The spring is located alongside a small river, with an old Ottoman stone bridge crossing overhead. The churning pool of water is a milky blue-white, with a very faint sulfur smell, and absolutely no trash! [this is a rarity here!] We only dipped our hands in the warm water, vowing to come back for a longer picnic or even a camping trip—there are even nearby caves in which we could pop some tents.
.jpg)
From there we headed back to a big restaurant near the main road. I think its cute how there are so many glorious restaurants scattered in the middle of nowhere-- literally-- which seems like terrible business sense. In America all about location, right? But here these big isolated cafés cater to a surprisingly steady stream of customers, which has led me to conclude that for Albanians who cannot leave the country (due to visa restrictions and lack of money) they provide a fun road trip for people who want to kill an afternoon with their families or lovers. Like us! We went for a weekend jaunt and ended up there for lunch. :)
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In fact that lunch turned out to be a Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner rolled into one—so much food! Typical Albanian fare: salad, cheese, bread, salse kosi (thick, garlicky yogurt), grilled and pickled veggies… and meat. This place specialized in leper [rabbit], so they brought out a kilo of charred bits, followed by a kilo each of baby pig, baby sheep, and village chicken stuffed with walnuts and breadcrumbs! Between the guys, at least 4 carafes of red wine were also consumed, thus we had an excitingly loud meal followed by a quiet, sleepy car ride. Overall, the amount of food was sickeningly gluttonous, but a lot of fun. I don’t understand why guys haven’t gained weight here?
Friday, January 2, 2009
Gёzuar Krishlindjet dhe Vitin I Ri!
[That’s Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!]
Wow what a month! Throughout December we were kept pretty busy—at work I was eagerly encouraging my counterparts to continue help arranging an HIV/AIDS contest between high school students (postponed until January) and spent my afternoons at the new Red Cross youth center. I also continued English lessons with the local police, began exploring possibilities for a women’s co-op to sell local Gjirokastrian yarn/wool, and started meeting with high school students (along with Chris, Allan, and Greg) in effort to create multi-functioning “English” clubs. We’re hoping to help kids practice their English by becoming involved in various projects such as radio shows, photography, and Outdoor Ambassadors (this is a new nationwide PC club with an environmental focus).
Everything took a stand still from Dec 9- 15 when Chris and I and all the other PCVs grouped in Elbasan (where we did training) for a week long language refresher and technical training. Usually these are two separate conferences for only 3 days each, allowing volunteers to have a break from their lives and refresh, which is surprisingly helpful. When together we share oodles of information, support and ideas for projects, and even teach each other interesting language skills—in addition to an energy boost. It’s always so nice to see friends, especially when we’re put up in a hotel with heat and hot showers! However, due to worldwide PC budget cuts we combined these into one longer conference, which was unfortunately tiring near the end... que sera~
After returning from the conference it was time to prepare for Christmas festivities! Granted Albania, which for several hundred years was occupied by the Ottoman Empire, carries the façade of a Muslim country. There are some (empty) mosques that can be heard calling prayer throughout the day, teqars (temples for Sufi worship), crumbling tombs of once-thriving Bektashi cults, and close to half of the population has a Muslim surname. However, as virtually every Albanian will readily explain, Shqiperia was never really interested in Islam, and anyway communism strictly forbid any form of religion except worship of the State, so today no one knows anything about the Muslim doctrine or Islamic culture (or thus, collectively they have “forgotten”). Rather, it seems that Sufism spread politically through the region centuries ago, blending an acceptable Turkish Islam with animistic beliefs, and creating a religious culture-club of power holders. This jihad probably didn’t completely dominate and transform local cultural as it has almost everywhere else in the world (take Indonesia for example) because of Sufism’s somewhat “soft-core” attitude. But in addition, it’s important to understand national boundaries as imaginary; ‘Albania’ didn’t exist then, it was actually a collection of Shqip-speaking regions that included much of northern Greece, Kosovo, and the edge of Macedonia, and whose cultures greatly overlapped the customs of what is now considered Greek, Serbian, and Macedonian. So the south of Albania is composed of many Greeks—those who strongly resisted Turkish control and refused to change their Christian surnames-- that have left a legacy of Christian and orthodox family lines. They “practice” to the extent that people celebrate their “name days” and perhaps have a decorative picture of a saint in their house. Except for a few specific regions, communism was successful at wiping out any remaining beliefs or rituals. Anyway, back to the point: Albania has a plethora of religious influences: Christian orthodox (Greece), Catholic (Italy), Islam (Turkey), Atheist (communism), and several other more recent missionaries, but essentially has developed an extremely tolerant system of recognizing all faiths through public holidays while at the same time completely ignoring them. The one holiday that everyone does celebrate (this was encouraged during communism) is New Year’s—families come together to give gifts and share a meal on the 31st and then at midnight the sky is filled with fireworks.
However, now that so many Albanians have emigrated to America (and similarly Albanians as a whole are head-over-heels in *love* with America!) Christmas celebrations have been adopted, though they are transposed onto New Year’s festivities—for example, decorative plastic New Year’s pine trees and Santa Clause (called Babagjyshi, “Father Grandfather”) who comes on the 31st to give presents, etc.
~Well!~ (pause, take a breath)
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They arrive!
As for us, we got to celebrate with some of our favorite people, Cam and Donna! [That’s my daja- mother’s brother- and nuse e dajes- wife of mother’s brother] Luckily, the snow storms in the NW paused briefly enough for them to escape Seattle and catch a flight out to Athens, then up to northern Greece. Chris and I met them in Ioannina, a beautiful city with a lake and castle of Ali Pasha (he was Albanian, from nearby city of Tepelenё), and then returned to Gjiro by bus. Although our time bashkё [together] is always too short, we did manage to squish in quite a lot of activities, including several outings to the cafes (I think they especially loved the 50 cent macchiatos), a city/ castle/ historic home tour, a children’s holiday concert at the Red Cross center, a party with the GCDO (Allan’s office) complete with circle-dance lessons, and some spontaneous visits to friends’ houses where they could experience wonderful Albanian hospitality. Cam and Donna stayed in our house’s guestroom—it’s a beautifully refurbished room with traditional wood carvings and antique fixings. Hedho and Fatos (our homeowners and semi- host family) were so welcoming to Donna and Cam; I loved watching each pair exchange the few words they knew of each others' languages to symbolize all of their mutual respect and kind wishes for the other. In our side of the house several PCVs camped out on the couches, which might have felt a bit crowded had we not desperately needed the extra bodies for warmth!
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Coffee and hot chocolate, yum. ;)
Of course, most of our time revolved around preparing meals, particularly the big Christmas dinner feast. There were about 10 of us, and together we bombarded the downtown outdoor market, gathering fresh fruits and vegetables; I’m so glad to show off one of my favorite parts of our town. Markets are especially beautiful to me, and now that I’ve gotten to know some of the vendors it feels like my home (though occasionally I yearn to shop anonymously at Trader Joe’s or Sunflower!)
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Preparing meals requires teamwork~
I’ve overheard my aunt Susie joking that our family goes from one meal to another, which is especially true around the holidays, but oven more exaggerated with PCVs. It might be Albanian culture rubbing onto us, but it seems the topic of conversation never sways too far from food, or maybe that’s just our crutch to life’s pleasures while we’re in service…
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Christmas Night with friends and family!
One of the most surprising and prominent events occurred on the 27th; we woke up to a city blanketed in snow and still more pouring down! Everyone was shocked (me most of all) because several Albanians had told us that no, it hasn’t snowed in the city for over 10 years… I think C and D brought the snow with them, just as I always seemed to bring heat waves with me to Bainbridge during my summertime visits. :)
Albania tested Donna's limits to cold weather... ;)
Beyond inescapable freezing temperatures, the snow brought another challenge to us: how to move up and down the steep cobble streets without sliding or falling flat on our faces. I will admit it is eerily beautiful to look out at the frozen, white-topped mountains and stone houses, but oh man I am still adjusting to such weather! Having grown up in ConcreteVille, Arizona, I consider snow a dangerous and foreign entity—I would have been miserable if it weren’t for the lighthearted snowball fights and impromptu snowmen (complete with a real corncob pipe and buttons, which Allan conveniently found nearby). And luckily Donna brought necessities like super wool socks and leopard-printed galoshes to keep me warm(er) and dry, among many other wonderful Christmas goodies they had packed in their suitcases!
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Plak Prej Bore: Old Man from Snow
View from the Zakata house
Unfortunately, D and C had to leave. :( I’m so glad they could visit and take a peek into our PC lives. I love that they could experience and learn first-hand what Albanian life and culture is like… ;)
___________________________________________
For New Years, Chris and I shared a holiday meal with the Hedho, Fatos, Ermal, and Alma. We dined on Russian salad, Turkish stuffed peppers, roasted chicken, and fried potatoes, followed with baklava and a plethora of fruits and nuts. And homemade wine. ;) Hedho told me she heard in the TV that a glass of red wine each day is healthy for the heart, that’s public health promotion right? Then at midnight the sky was lit with fireworks and explosions from virtually every house and balcony—like war! Now I can imagine what it was like during the German invasion!
[Chris got a 4 minute video of the festivities, I'll let you know when it makes it to YouTube]
Around 1 am we decided to partake in the local “cultural activities” and go to a café with our friend, Eni—standard New Years fare. This turned out to be a little too much for my liking: a smoky bar jam-packed with people… and music so loud I couldn’t even hear myself think. Not my cup of tea. But at least people weren’t there binge drinking like they would in the States--- in fact people were only really having maybe one drink or a Red Bull. But in any case my eardrums were about to burst so we politely excused ourselves around 2:30. So much for cultural integration.
Well now here we are in 2009. Sounds funny. The new year always sounds funny to me until at least June, and by then I think ‘don’t get used to it, it’s almost out!’
Jan 1st and 2nd are official pushims here, so every store and office is closed. Chris and I have taken to sleeping late (it’s simply too cold to move) and we are living in our sleeping bags. Our electric heater does little to nothing to make the kitchen warm, so we’ve pretty much given up on that, except just before going to sleep we put it on the bed to warm up the sheets….
view from the castle, Dec 27, 2008. I'll leave you with that!
Wow what a month! Throughout December we were kept pretty busy—at work I was eagerly encouraging my counterparts to continue help arranging an HIV/AIDS contest between high school students (postponed until January) and spent my afternoons at the new Red Cross youth center. I also continued English lessons with the local police, began exploring possibilities for a women’s co-op to sell local Gjirokastrian yarn/wool, and started meeting with high school students (along with Chris, Allan, and Greg) in effort to create multi-functioning “English” clubs. We’re hoping to help kids practice their English by becoming involved in various projects such as radio shows, photography, and Outdoor Ambassadors (this is a new nationwide PC club with an environmental focus).
Everything took a stand still from Dec 9- 15 when Chris and I and all the other PCVs grouped in Elbasan (where we did training) for a week long language refresher and technical training. Usually these are two separate conferences for only 3 days each, allowing volunteers to have a break from their lives and refresh, which is surprisingly helpful. When together we share oodles of information, support and ideas for projects, and even teach each other interesting language skills—in addition to an energy boost. It’s always so nice to see friends, especially when we’re put up in a hotel with heat and hot showers! However, due to worldwide PC budget cuts we combined these into one longer conference, which was unfortunately tiring near the end... que sera~
After returning from the conference it was time to prepare for Christmas festivities! Granted Albania, which for several hundred years was occupied by the Ottoman Empire, carries the façade of a Muslim country. There are some (empty) mosques that can be heard calling prayer throughout the day, teqars (temples for Sufi worship), crumbling tombs of once-thriving Bektashi cults, and close to half of the population has a Muslim surname. However, as virtually every Albanian will readily explain, Shqiperia was never really interested in Islam, and anyway communism strictly forbid any form of religion except worship of the State, so today no one knows anything about the Muslim doctrine or Islamic culture (or thus, collectively they have “forgotten”). Rather, it seems that Sufism spread politically through the region centuries ago, blending an acceptable Turkish Islam with animistic beliefs, and creating a religious culture-club of power holders. This jihad probably didn’t completely dominate and transform local cultural as it has almost everywhere else in the world (take Indonesia for example) because of Sufism’s somewhat “soft-core” attitude. But in addition, it’s important to understand national boundaries as imaginary; ‘Albania’ didn’t exist then, it was actually a collection of Shqip-speaking regions that included much of northern Greece, Kosovo, and the edge of Macedonia, and whose cultures greatly overlapped the customs of what is now considered Greek, Serbian, and Macedonian. So the south of Albania is composed of many Greeks—those who strongly resisted Turkish control and refused to change their Christian surnames-- that have left a legacy of Christian and orthodox family lines. They “practice” to the extent that people celebrate their “name days” and perhaps have a decorative picture of a saint in their house. Except for a few specific regions, communism was successful at wiping out any remaining beliefs or rituals. Anyway, back to the point: Albania has a plethora of religious influences: Christian orthodox (Greece), Catholic (Italy), Islam (Turkey), Atheist (communism), and several other more recent missionaries, but essentially has developed an extremely tolerant system of recognizing all faiths through public holidays while at the same time completely ignoring them. The one holiday that everyone does celebrate (this was encouraged during communism) is New Year’s—families come together to give gifts and share a meal on the 31st and then at midnight the sky is filled with fireworks.
However, now that so many Albanians have emigrated to America (and similarly Albanians as a whole are head-over-heels in *love* with America!) Christmas celebrations have been adopted, though they are transposed onto New Year’s festivities—for example, decorative plastic New Year’s pine trees and Santa Clause (called Babagjyshi, “Father Grandfather”) who comes on the 31st to give presents, etc.
~Well!~ (pause, take a breath)
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They arrive!
As for us, we got to celebrate with some of our favorite people, Cam and Donna! [That’s my daja- mother’s brother- and nuse e dajes- wife of mother’s brother] Luckily, the snow storms in the NW paused briefly enough for them to escape Seattle and catch a flight out to Athens, then up to northern Greece. Chris and I met them in Ioannina, a beautiful city with a lake and castle of Ali Pasha (he was Albanian, from nearby city of Tepelenё), and then returned to Gjiro by bus. Although our time bashkё [together] is always too short, we did manage to squish in quite a lot of activities, including several outings to the cafes (I think they especially loved the 50 cent macchiatos), a city/ castle/ historic home tour, a children’s holiday concert at the Red Cross center, a party with the GCDO (Allan’s office) complete with circle-dance lessons, and some spontaneous visits to friends’ houses where they could experience wonderful Albanian hospitality. Cam and Donna stayed in our house’s guestroom—it’s a beautifully refurbished room with traditional wood carvings and antique fixings. Hedho and Fatos (our homeowners and semi- host family) were so welcoming to Donna and Cam; I loved watching each pair exchange the few words they knew of each others' languages to symbolize all of their mutual respect and kind wishes for the other. In our side of the house several PCVs camped out on the couches, which might have felt a bit crowded had we not desperately needed the extra bodies for warmth!
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Coffee and hot chocolate, yum. ;)
Of course, most of our time revolved around preparing meals, particularly the big Christmas dinner feast. There were about 10 of us, and together we bombarded the downtown outdoor market, gathering fresh fruits and vegetables; I’m so glad to show off one of my favorite parts of our town. Markets are especially beautiful to me, and now that I’ve gotten to know some of the vendors it feels like my home (though occasionally I yearn to shop anonymously at Trader Joe’s or Sunflower!)
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Preparing meals requires teamwork~
I’ve overheard my aunt Susie joking that our family goes from one meal to another, which is especially true around the holidays, but oven more exaggerated with PCVs. It might be Albanian culture rubbing onto us, but it seems the topic of conversation never sways too far from food, or maybe that’s just our crutch to life’s pleasures while we’re in service…
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Christmas Night with friends and family!
One of the most surprising and prominent events occurred on the 27th; we woke up to a city blanketed in snow and still more pouring down! Everyone was shocked (me most of all) because several Albanians had told us that no, it hasn’t snowed in the city for over 10 years… I think C and D brought the snow with them, just as I always seemed to bring heat waves with me to Bainbridge during my summertime visits. :)
Albania tested Donna's limits to cold weather... ;)
Beyond inescapable freezing temperatures, the snow brought another challenge to us: how to move up and down the steep cobble streets without sliding or falling flat on our faces. I will admit it is eerily beautiful to look out at the frozen, white-topped mountains and stone houses, but oh man I am still adjusting to such weather! Having grown up in ConcreteVille, Arizona, I consider snow a dangerous and foreign entity—I would have been miserable if it weren’t for the lighthearted snowball fights and impromptu snowmen (complete with a real corncob pipe and buttons, which Allan conveniently found nearby). And luckily Donna brought necessities like super wool socks and leopard-printed galoshes to keep me warm(er) and dry, among many other wonderful Christmas goodies they had packed in their suitcases!
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Plak Prej Bore: Old Man from Snow
View from the Zakata house
Unfortunately, D and C had to leave. :( I’m so glad they could visit and take a peek into our PC lives. I love that they could experience and learn first-hand what Albanian life and culture is like… ;)
___________________________________________
For New Years, Chris and I shared a holiday meal with the Hedho, Fatos, Ermal, and Alma. We dined on Russian salad, Turkish stuffed peppers, roasted chicken, and fried potatoes, followed with baklava and a plethora of fruits and nuts. And homemade wine. ;) Hedho told me she heard in the TV that a glass of red wine each day is healthy for the heart, that’s public health promotion right? Then at midnight the sky was lit with fireworks and explosions from virtually every house and balcony—like war! Now I can imagine what it was like during the German invasion!
[Chris got a 4 minute video of the festivities, I'll let you know when it makes it to YouTube]
Around 1 am we decided to partake in the local “cultural activities” and go to a café with our friend, Eni—standard New Years fare. This turned out to be a little too much for my liking: a smoky bar jam-packed with people… and music so loud I couldn’t even hear myself think. Not my cup of tea. But at least people weren’t there binge drinking like they would in the States--- in fact people were only really having maybe one drink or a Red Bull. But in any case my eardrums were about to burst so we politely excused ourselves around 2:30. So much for cultural integration.
Well now here we are in 2009. Sounds funny. The new year always sounds funny to me until at least June, and by then I think ‘don’t get used to it, it’s almost out!’
Jan 1st and 2nd are official pushims here, so every store and office is closed. Chris and I have taken to sleeping late (it’s simply too cold to move) and we are living in our sleeping bags. Our electric heater does little to nothing to make the kitchen warm, so we’ve pretty much given up on that, except just before going to sleep we put it on the bed to warm up the sheets….
view from the castle, Dec 27, 2008. I'll leave you with that!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Turkey Day and Lentil Loaf (thanks Tauschia)
Thanksgiving has come and gone, the first of two we will celebrate during our service. My burri and I had a great time up in the capitol city, sharing an elaborate meal with some other PCVs at Jan’s house (our program manager) and two Albanian staff members.
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I actually took the bus to Tiranё a few days early, unfortunately skipping out on one of the HIV/AIDS lessons we’ve been doing in the schools. Although the Albanians I’m working with are fully capable of doing the lessons on their own, (and thankfully improving each time) I still felt bad for breaking the promise to be there like so many Albanians have done to me. But I had a good reason! Actually, on Sunday morning I went for a run out toward the villages, just like I had done every other day for several months before the marathon, however on this day there was a pack of angry stray dogs out in the fields. As I passed the first village (too small to have a name) five of these dogs came barreling out, bearing their teeth, and went straight after me. I had no time to do anything but scream; two of them didn’t hesitate to grab me, one by the leg and another by the thumb. I’m pretty lucky they didn’t do more damage. Fortunately either my screaming scared them or the people emerging from their houses scared them, but they finally backed off a little, subsiding to only barking fiercely. I literally limped away, broke into a sob, and was immediately taken into the nearest family’s home to drink coffee and be nursed. My shqip skills were at a complete loss, I felt terrible for inconveniencing them, embarrassed for crying in public, and in a fair amount of pain.
Luckily, as a health volunteer I happen to have the best contacts for such a situation. I called Chris and quickly asked that he call my counterpart (also a surgeon), who swiftly picked me up and took me to the hospital. He cleaned and bandaged me, then gave me two shots in the butt. I’m only pointing out that location because everyone has been asking if I got them in the stomach, which I certainly did not. I later called the PC doctor who asked me to come to Tiranё asap so he could look at the wounds and make sure I had the proper meds—thus I ended up going a few days early. ;)
The next morning I did attend our scheduled HIV lesson before catching an early afternoon bus heading north. Gjirokastёr is a good 6.5 hours from the capitol, assuming they don’t stop for any extended breaks, so I arrived well after the sun disappeared (not too hard this time of year). After meeting with the doctor, who took one look at me and assured me that I would live, I stayed the night with one of the staff members and her husband, two RPCVs who served together in Macedonia. They are both vegetarians, so we ate delicious veggie chili with home-baked cornbread muffins. Ahh does it get rougher than that? (!)
I killed a day wandering around the city and the office, then a bunch of other PCVs flooded in for dinner and a career fair at the embassy. Peace Corps arranged for us to meet with various people from the State department, NGOs, and various international organizations, during which they described their jobs, how they got there, and let us play 20 questions with them. I learned a bit more about options for my future, but mostly took away with me those that I absolutely do not want and don’t even have to worry about, which is surprisingly satisfying.
-2.jpg)
Finally Thanksgiving! A whole crew of us camped out at Jan’s house the night before, eating pizza and staying awake well into the morning engrossed in a Grey’s Anatomy marathon. Everyone contributed to the meal, cooking their own family’s traditional fare to compliment our American-grown turkey (+ stuffing+ canned cranberry). That turkey really did get shipped from America—somehow our country director got roped into driving to Macedonia to pick up a shipment of like 86 frozen turkeys that were supplied to all federal workers. Can you imagine?! Albania’s streets are flooded with those ugly birds and yet the expats still import them from the US. Maybe they don’t know how to cook them without the complimentary thermometer that *pops*!
The next day Chris and I were going to accompany a bunch of friends going north, to Pukё, in order to celebrate Monica’s birthday. Unfortunately, we missed the bus and weren’t able to go, so instead we spent the night out with other volunteers at an amusement park (imagine those fairs that appear in grocery store parking lots)
-1.jpg)
followed by blue-light bowling. Actually, it turned out to be a pretty good night. I learned that I am in fact a terrible bowler.
The next day Chris and I made the journey south to Thanё, to celebrate our host-sister’s 21st birthday. We stayed two nights, reminiscing about village life, and having two large dinner parties with our extended family. We made brownies from a box—something that amazed and delighted our sister, who absolutely loves the brownies and home baked cookies we introduced her to. You know, because we put actual sugar in them, a new concept. There is a big difference between a chewy oatmeal raisin cookie and a packaged, hard, cardboard-like biscuit.
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(chris and our gjyshja, with serxhio in back)
Eventually we made it back home. It was much warmer up north, a nice break, and now we’re back in the cold, rainy south. Its not so bad-- kind of miserably funny. Every day we have rain storms—sometimes I feel like I’m in the Truman Show, where someone beyond my world is flicking a switch and turning the storms on and off at will… For dinner one night we shared a box of TJ’s Indian food, wearing gloves and laughing at our foggy breath between bites.
Our HIV/AIDS project seems to be falling apart this week. My counterparts made no progress during the week I was gone, and the directors of the schools previously failed to mention that the students are busy this Friday, when our contest was panned for. So… we’ll see what happens. It will likely get pushed back to January. But that’s better than never!
This week the kids from our high school group put on some plays in the old theater (in general every Albanian city has an old theater, but they are virtually never used). The students were all divided by language class and performed fairy tales in various languages, including Greek, French, and English. The English students did Rumpelstiltskin, with sort of a poetic edge. Chris, Greg, Allan, and I sat through the entire dress rehearsal on Wednesday-- yet another peek into the cultural differences between Albanian and American schools.
For one, the director never lowered his voice below a thundering shout, though its very hard to tell if he was actually mad because Albanians typically speak to each other by screaming. But also the students are notoriously rowdy. No matter what the teachers does or how loud they yell the students really do rule the school; its very much an Eastern European version of Dangerous Minds. Albanian boys are hilariously homogeneous, every single one of them dresses in the same fighter jacket, gels their hair the same, and emulates a James Dean demeanor as best they can. Girls express a little more variation; though the typical female is currently wearing the uniform of tight jeans tucked into high boots with a fur-lined jacket, some of the girls in our group actually have knock-off Converse and slightly alternative black eyeshadow. I see a revolution coming.
Anyway, successful week, busy yet I'm not. Made it to the youth center and did math activities with the kids; police English lesson; English medical terminology lesson with the nurses; co-translated/edited a grant for an orphan center in Tepelena; went to Delvine to attend Alexi's HIV/AIDS contest-- what a production! Next week: Elbasan for Inter Service and Language Training. At least a nice break from the cold. ;)
.jpg)
I actually took the bus to Tiranё a few days early, unfortunately skipping out on one of the HIV/AIDS lessons we’ve been doing in the schools. Although the Albanians I’m working with are fully capable of doing the lessons on their own, (and thankfully improving each time) I still felt bad for breaking the promise to be there like so many Albanians have done to me. But I had a good reason! Actually, on Sunday morning I went for a run out toward the villages, just like I had done every other day for several months before the marathon, however on this day there was a pack of angry stray dogs out in the fields. As I passed the first village (too small to have a name) five of these dogs came barreling out, bearing their teeth, and went straight after me. I had no time to do anything but scream; two of them didn’t hesitate to grab me, one by the leg and another by the thumb. I’m pretty lucky they didn’t do more damage. Fortunately either my screaming scared them or the people emerging from their houses scared them, but they finally backed off a little, subsiding to only barking fiercely. I literally limped away, broke into a sob, and was immediately taken into the nearest family’s home to drink coffee and be nursed. My shqip skills were at a complete loss, I felt terrible for inconveniencing them, embarrassed for crying in public, and in a fair amount of pain.
Luckily, as a health volunteer I happen to have the best contacts for such a situation. I called Chris and quickly asked that he call my counterpart (also a surgeon), who swiftly picked me up and took me to the hospital. He cleaned and bandaged me, then gave me two shots in the butt. I’m only pointing out that location because everyone has been asking if I got them in the stomach, which I certainly did not. I later called the PC doctor who asked me to come to Tiranё asap so he could look at the wounds and make sure I had the proper meds—thus I ended up going a few days early. ;)
The next morning I did attend our scheduled HIV lesson before catching an early afternoon bus heading north. Gjirokastёr is a good 6.5 hours from the capitol, assuming they don’t stop for any extended breaks, so I arrived well after the sun disappeared (not too hard this time of year). After meeting with the doctor, who took one look at me and assured me that I would live, I stayed the night with one of the staff members and her husband, two RPCVs who served together in Macedonia. They are both vegetarians, so we ate delicious veggie chili with home-baked cornbread muffins. Ahh does it get rougher than that? (!)
I killed a day wandering around the city and the office, then a bunch of other PCVs flooded in for dinner and a career fair at the embassy. Peace Corps arranged for us to meet with various people from the State department, NGOs, and various international organizations, during which they described their jobs, how they got there, and let us play 20 questions with them. I learned a bit more about options for my future, but mostly took away with me those that I absolutely do not want and don’t even have to worry about, which is surprisingly satisfying.
-2.jpg)
Finally Thanksgiving! A whole crew of us camped out at Jan’s house the night before, eating pizza and staying awake well into the morning engrossed in a Grey’s Anatomy marathon. Everyone contributed to the meal, cooking their own family’s traditional fare to compliment our American-grown turkey (+ stuffing+ canned cranberry). That turkey really did get shipped from America—somehow our country director got roped into driving to Macedonia to pick up a shipment of like 86 frozen turkeys that were supplied to all federal workers. Can you imagine?! Albania’s streets are flooded with those ugly birds and yet the expats still import them from the US. Maybe they don’t know how to cook them without the complimentary thermometer that *pops*!
The next day Chris and I were going to accompany a bunch of friends going north, to Pukё, in order to celebrate Monica’s birthday. Unfortunately, we missed the bus and weren’t able to go, so instead we spent the night out with other volunteers at an amusement park (imagine those fairs that appear in grocery store parking lots)
-1.jpg)
followed by blue-light bowling. Actually, it turned out to be a pretty good night. I learned that I am in fact a terrible bowler.
The next day Chris and I made the journey south to Thanё, to celebrate our host-sister’s 21st birthday. We stayed two nights, reminiscing about village life, and having two large dinner parties with our extended family. We made brownies from a box—something that amazed and delighted our sister, who absolutely loves the brownies and home baked cookies we introduced her to. You know, because we put actual sugar in them, a new concept. There is a big difference between a chewy oatmeal raisin cookie and a packaged, hard, cardboard-like biscuit.
.jpg)
(chris and our gjyshja, with serxhio in back)
Eventually we made it back home. It was much warmer up north, a nice break, and now we’re back in the cold, rainy south. Its not so bad-- kind of miserably funny. Every day we have rain storms—sometimes I feel like I’m in the Truman Show, where someone beyond my world is flicking a switch and turning the storms on and off at will… For dinner one night we shared a box of TJ’s Indian food, wearing gloves and laughing at our foggy breath between bites.
Our HIV/AIDS project seems to be falling apart this week. My counterparts made no progress during the week I was gone, and the directors of the schools previously failed to mention that the students are busy this Friday, when our contest was panned for. So… we’ll see what happens. It will likely get pushed back to January. But that’s better than never!
This week the kids from our high school group put on some plays in the old theater (in general every Albanian city has an old theater, but they are virtually never used). The students were all divided by language class and performed fairy tales in various languages, including Greek, French, and English. The English students did Rumpelstiltskin, with sort of a poetic edge. Chris, Greg, Allan, and I sat through the entire dress rehearsal on Wednesday-- yet another peek into the cultural differences between Albanian and American schools.
For one, the director never lowered his voice below a thundering shout, though its very hard to tell if he was actually mad because Albanians typically speak to each other by screaming. But also the students are notoriously rowdy. No matter what the teachers does or how loud they yell the students really do rule the school; its very much an Eastern European version of Dangerous Minds. Albanian boys are hilariously homogeneous, every single one of them dresses in the same fighter jacket, gels their hair the same, and emulates a James Dean demeanor as best they can. Girls express a little more variation; though the typical female is currently wearing the uniform of tight jeans tucked into high boots with a fur-lined jacket, some of the girls in our group actually have knock-off Converse and slightly alternative black eyeshadow. I see a revolution coming.
Anyway, successful week, busy yet I'm not. Made it to the youth center and did math activities with the kids; police English lesson; English medical terminology lesson with the nurses; co-translated/edited a grant for an orphan center in Tepelena; went to Delvine to attend Alexi's HIV/AIDS contest-- what a production! Next week: Elbasan for Inter Service and Language Training. At least a nice break from the cold. ;)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
4:29:16
Here's a panoramic view from the Acropolis!
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On Sunday I completed the Original Marathon in Athens, Greece! It took a grueling 4.5 hours and turned out to be the most challenging, painful, exhausting, exhilarating, I’m-actually-going-to-die experience of my life, but I survived! Thanks to everyone who followed along and wished me well, and thanks for reading, too!
Last week Chris, Bethany (our PCV friend who lives in the north of Albania), and I took an overnight bus to Athens, arriving in the crowded capitol around 7 a.m. Greek-time, and began exploring the city via metro. A metro, really! After 8 months in Albania it was a surreal experience to be thrown forward in time to modern transport… ;) We arranged to meet a couchsurfer host whose floor we could crash on; he is a university exchange student from Lithuania, and a metal-head. The first day and night we went to the National Archaeology Museum, full of the oldest pottery, metalwork, and statues from Greece and its many islands (except the Cycladic, which is another culture and museum altogether), wandered around the touristy but beautiful Plaka district (which is full of expensive restaurants and endless shops of kitsch), and even dined on sushi!
Despite Athens’ urban sprawl and inner-city feeling, I fell in love right away upon noticing that on every single street corner sits a giant green recycle bin for paper/aluminum/plastic/glass, in addition to several larger machines that pay back for household waste and even batteries!! Oh if only Albania will look to Greece for inspiration…. ;)
The following morning Greg, Monica, and Amanda arrived on the bus and after settling them into another couchsurfer’s home (two volunteers from Budapest, very nice slightly Bohemian girls) we set off for the Acropolis and general wandering of the city. Sitting on the top of the hill we took in a 360° view of Athens, which stretched out far beyond our eyes could see; an unavoidable yet frightening display of rampant urban-sprawl. Virtually every square foot has been overrun by development, mostly in the form of enormous concrete apartment blocks squeezed together, giving the appearance of modern Los Angeles blended with Cairo’s density. The few areas of green space left now are the ruins surrounding the Acropolis, the Church on the Hill (opposite), and the National Gardens.
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After wandering through the beautifully lush National Gardens, which is deceptively moderate in size, but seems much larger because of the many twisting pathways encircling numerous fountains, gazebos, an outdoor zoo, a café, etc., we found our way to the Byzantine Museum. We decided not to go into the museum because no one wanted to pay full price for the entrance fee (yeah! Peace Crops Albania!), but instead toured the “special exhibit” housed across the courtyard. It was a total bust—titled “Un-Built” but really just an excuse as to why the building was under construction. The pieces of “art” downstairs were disappointing to say the least, sa keq.
Otherwise, we hung out mostly around Syntagma Square, a central and lively open space at the foot of the Greek parliament building and at the head of the shopping district. Surrounding the square is a large, fancy hotel (where we sought haven and toilets, and conveniently found a secluded downstairs lobby with plush couches to play cards on), a McDonald’s (I won’t name names but there were McFlurries afoot), and an awesome 4-story electronic/music/book store called Public. We took several mental-health breaks to sit and browse the literature and art books (oh I miss Borders/ Barnes and Noble).
One of the best things about Greece is the food! Granted, Greek food is pretty similar to Albanian food in terms of suflaçё/suflaki, byrek/spanikopita, and salad, but at least here in the capitol there are zillions of bakeries with fresh pastries, sweets, breads, and best of all: baklava! We do have baklava in Gjirokastёr, but it’s only considered a Christmastime treat so you have to buy it from a package in the grocery store. In Athens it sits proudly displayed in the shop windows; crispy layers smothered in thick honey and nuts, and formed in at least a dozen shapes and sizes. My mouth waters every time I pass by a display, but for the week before the marathon I restricted all sweets so I could only vicariously enjoy them through Chris and Bethany. [Though they promised they would have a post-run baklava party with me too! ] Another fabulous food here is the fresh sesame pretzel ring, sold by street vendors on every other block. While pretty much just a cheap ring of bread, during my pre-run carbo-loading phase they really hit the spot.
And now for the marathon run:
We had moved to a different couchsurfer’s home-- a young, female DJ studying to be a sound technician at the university, also into an alternative music scene and our first Greek friend. Chris and Bethany went out for dinner and drinks with Touf (our hostess) while I went to bed early; I woke at 5:30 to double check my belongings, cram down a bowl of cereal, and run out to the metro in order to meet Monica and Greg at Syntagma. Along with thousands of other eager runners we boarded the shuttle bus taking us to the starting line, 42 km away in Marathonas. Our nervousness grew as we realized how steep the hills were that we would have to climb. Gathering at the start were thousands of people, some in normal clothing but most in chic athletic wear, brightly colored running shoes, Powerade belts… Several teams wore matching shirts and jackets, one man wore a blue spandex/ red cape “Marathon Man” outfit, one woman wore a toga with a tiara of olive branches…
At 9 we were off! All runners were issued a chip for our shoes to record our times as we stepped across the floor markers. It took me 2 minutes just to get to the starting line. Monica, Greg, and I pinned bright red and black Albanian flags on our backs, proudly showing our support for Shqipariё. We started out really slow, being carried by the thick crowd, and were aided by water stations every 2 km. Every other station doled out Powerade, which I tried hard not to guzzle but desperately needed the caloric help to keep my legs going. [Our trio split up right away and I wouldn’t see the others again until well after the finish line.] The route seemed much longer than anything I prepared for, which I chalk up to the fact that I did not train for hills and there were many steep inclines we had to crawl over. There was one very sheer downhill drop that I put all my concentration into not tripping and quickly flew down, whizzing by a few hundred runners and giving me an adrenalin rush. The day was pretty hot—I usually run at 6 am, but the afternoon heat was bearing down here—so I kept my hat on most of the time (thanks Cam and Donna!).
For the first hour or two I was listening to a fast music mix. Sometimes Brandon’s band (The Munchausens) would come up and I would think of him and all the people who I knew would be so proud of me. Eventually I switched it to Democracy Now! and Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me! podcasts, catching up on the post-election news and thankfully distracting attention away from my exhaustion.
At km 30, which didn’t come fast enough, Chris, Bethany, and Amanda were waiting on the sidelines to cheer us along. I stopped briefly to say hi and throw some bars and gels into their hands, treats I had gathered from the water stations but couldn’t eat without fear of throwing them up right away. [I’ll try to post the short video of our rendez-vous on youtube] There were bystanders in clumps along the entire route, clapping and cheering for everyone, but it was so uplifting to finally have my own team there-- though by that point I was so delirious I could hardly think.
From km 30-38 my entire body went numb; I could hardly feel the pain, just concentrate on climbing each progressively larger hill. At this point we were back in the city, running up the highway. Unfortunately, during this period a man directly in front of me fell face forward and I witnessed him suffer a heart attack. A group of us stopped to try and help him, but we couldn’t do anything except get the paramedics to him as soon as possible (medics were stationed every quarter mile or so)—scary!!
The last 4 km were the absolute worst. I felt so sick and tired I couldn’t think straight. Just one foot and then another. I think I was almost in tears because I wanted it all to end so badly. But eventually the crowds and buildings became denser and I saw signs pointing toward the stadium. I steadily carried on, pushing through the barricaded path up into the arena, crossing the finish line at exactly 4 hours, 29 minutes, and 16 seconds. Every runner was awarded a medal, a gold emergency blanket (I thought this was a decorative congratulations cape! Ha!), and a recovery bag with Powerade and bars.
Monica and Greg came in a few minutes after me--- I don’t know when I passed them but I was just as thrilled to greet them at the finish line. I had been ok after the run-- stretched for a bit and caught my breath, but as soon as we sat down I became nauseas and couldn’t stand up or eat/ drink anything. In retrospect, I probably should have forced a few bites of something during the run, because for the next 3 days my stomach retched in pain and I couldn’t eat all those tasty sinful foods (like baklava) that I had been excited for. I’ll have to check up on marathon sites to seek advice on how to prevent this if I ever run again…
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So there we were! Our trio completed the run in less than 5 hours, and spent the rest of the day recouping. Chris, Bethany, and I went out for a late night dinner with Touf at The Food Company, enjoying some of the most delicious food we’ve had since leaving America. On Monday we took the metro to the sea side—the port of Piraeus where dozens of cruise ships dock. It was dirty and kind of bland, so we came back and hung out at Touf’s for awhile before rushing off to the bus station.
And then we flew back in time. Literally. Albania is one hour behind Greece, so we gained a little more sleep before another day as a PCV. But we also, once again, said goodbye to advanced technology, international trade and ideology, racial diversity, and generally a more global and open mentality. We had a really good vacation, and are a little more inspired to help bring Albania closer to its neighbor.
Hope you all had a great weekend! I posted photos from the trip on my web album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cjallo9/AthensMarathon08#
Paçe!
** These were ripped right from the marathon-photos.com website:
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Oh the leaves are turning....!
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This was a drawing Chris made during PST
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Life in Gjirokaster is changing with the season--- officially we've said our goodbyes to the long, hot summer days and we're adjusting to life bundled up indoors in the cold. Although we're actually having a warmer and drier week, a thick layer of intimidating fog usually hovers across the city and blanketing the valley (where I run the the mornings, creating a bizarre and alt. reality) until mid-day...
Even more so, social life has shifted now that one of our sitemates ETed and was swiftly replaced by a PCV from Georgia, one of 8 who was evacuated a few weeks ago. His name is Allan, he's from Brooklyn, and he works with an NGO in the Old Town. Now Chris, Greg,and Allan work closely together, coordinating development projects, playing ambassadors between their offices who simply refuse to communicate (despite their similar goals), and generally brainstorming ways to improve tourism in the city. In the evenings they've come with me down to the new Red Cross Community Center to help paint pretty pictures on the walls, transforming the former disco into a place for disadvantaged youth and elders to congregate. They recently installed a few computers and couches, and when they open (tentatively scheduled for the end of October) I'm going to begin life skills and computer courses, and Greg may chip in some english classes.
I also completed the longest run yet--- 24 miles! I did it Saturday morning/afternoon (it took me 4.5 hours) and now I feel totally prepared for the big day in Athens... We were going to go hiking over the mountains to Delvine the next day, but (fortunately for me) the weather was cloudy and we didn't venture on the 16 mile jaunt uphill...! My legs were happy to rest. :)
We did celebrate a going-away party at Kujtim's, a veggie-option restaurant in the Old Town, in honor of our Austrian friend and long-time Gjirokaster resident who is moving up to Shkoder. Now both OSCE staff members are gone (Carla left last month), though he did get a replacement with whom we will hopefully bond. Its just unfortunate because these two people have worked here for quite awhile and were still in the process of introducing us to influential people and friends, now we're on our own.
On Monday we had an official pushim [holiday] so after I went running I hopped on a furgon to Delvine (closer to the coast, about 1.15 hours) to hang out and stay the night with Monica and Alexi. We made the traditional visit to their friend's house, where we were served plates of pomegranate-banana-apple-honey (great combo!) and a syrupy orange peel concoction. My landlady also makes these fruit syrups, hers with plums, though I've also seen watermelon peels, eggplant, and lemon. Pretty much anything can become syrup I suppose, and I presume these deserts are common throughout the region.
I'm going back this weekend, along with Megan, a PCV further south, to have an all-girl's party. I'm super excited! In the works are a Mexican feast, chocolate cake bakeout, endless conversation about how much we can't stand Sarah Palin (or McCaine), and a movie marathon.
So now the highlights I am looking forward to are: Girls' weekend in Delvine; Halloween bash in Elbasan (any costume ideas?); 2 a.m. election party on the 5th; and finally, running the marathon in Athens!!!
Never a dull moment. ;)
So on that note, I'd like to end this blog post with a call out for anyone who wants to help support me during my trip to Athens, and thus mental and physical health while serving my time as a volunteer here. ;) I approximate that with the registration fee (90 euro), bus (40 euro), and per diem (??euro), its going to be about $300 total. If you would like to send out an early Christmas gift or just because you love me, I would *greatly* appreciate donations made to my paypal account: cjallo9@gmail.com
Thank you thank you and also thanks for reading! :)
Saturday, October 4, 2008
23 miles… check!
I did it! This morning I accomplished the previously unthinkable —I completed a 23 mile run and feel totally prepared to tackle the marathon next month. I’m so happy!
This time the run felt much easier and smoother than a few weeks ago when I did 20 mi; no terrible stomach cramps, no extreme exhaustion, no “ runner’s wall” (where one thinks they are running when in fact they are barely moving forward). I think because I didn’t let myself get as nervous and worked up-- just jumped into it-- and also I took 2 Ibuprofen before I set off, which probably prevented the cramps. I also ate and drank less, so I didn’t have all the liquid and solid weight sloshing around my stomach like it did last time, too.
Today’s weather was pretty funky, providing a whole new set of challenges than I’ve experienced. Early on the sky was partly cloudy with some intense bouts of sun (reminding me of Arizona), then, all of the sudden a dark cloud rolled over the mountain ridge, bringing with it a heavy downpour and a blanket of fog. Luckily, I was wearing a baseball cap (donated by Cam and Donna—thank you, thank you!) which happens to be waterproof, so I stuffed my Ipod shuffle into the top and was able to keep it (and my head and face) dry throughout. Of course, the rest of my body and clothes got completely soaked, causing passersby to freak out and demand that I go inside, my presence utterly dumbfounding to them. The rain lasted between miles 14- 16, dying down and then Whoosh! the sky cleared and the bright and shiny sun came back!
I was surprised to feel as energized as I was. At mile 14 I nursed a blueberry-pomegranate gel pack, and wasn’t hungry until mile 19, when I ate half of a Cliff bar. Otherwise, I chewed gum the whole way and drank only .5 liters of electrolyte water throughout.
Right around mile 19 the wind picked up; I somewhat bitterly contemplated its unpleasant timing, but consciously decided to toughen up and throw all my strength into the final stretch. As for body pains, when I run my legs are only sore from the knees down, especially around the ankles, and my feet go completely numb as they slam against the asphalt. When I got home I stretched and promptly applied ice while elevating my legs. Now I can look forward to an easy week, then one final push of 25 miles before “tapering down”.
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In other news: Albania’s Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, came to Gjiro today, so the streets were absolutely flooded with police officers, blowing whistles and waving little stop signs in effort to direct traffic and display their authority.
I’ve recently noticed a surge in city projects around Gjirokastёr: the infamously disgusting public restrooms near the castle have been renovated (though still not open so I can’t verify), the New Town’s main road was re-asphalted, and this morning there were workers out along that road, filling in the meridian with soil and planting young saplings. What is this? I wondered. Lo and behold my Albanian sources tell me that elections are coming up soon, and it is tradition that the ruthless and corrupt mayor will carry out one string of visible projects near the end of his term, winning over popular votes and securing his seat in office. I’m disgusted because Gjiro’s mayor is particularly corrupt and already I’ve learned of several occasions when he has not only stolen money outright from international organizations that was meant to develop and improve the city, but also situations when he bribed (or tried to bribe) local organizations for the benefit and profit of his friends. Ugh I’ve been so wound up in political talk and debate in America from NPR and Democracy Now! podcasts that the absolute inescapability of corruption and evildoing just seems overwhelming, even from this tiny corner of the world. Are people everywhere evil, ignorant, and greedy? I feel so despaired.
Well, I don’t really want to leave you on that note, so I’ll just mention one interesting little side quip. Did you know that over 36,000 people around the world are aged over 100 years old? (According to BBC GlobalNews, see I told you I’m addicted to podcasts!) Well, Albania has an expression that is always said to wish someone a happy birthday: U Bёfsh Njё Qind Vjeç! [ May you live to be 100 years!] I’m thinking that pretty soon they will have to modify their language to wish people a much longer lifespan..!
This time the run felt much easier and smoother than a few weeks ago when I did 20 mi; no terrible stomach cramps, no extreme exhaustion, no “ runner’s wall” (where one thinks they are running when in fact they are barely moving forward). I think because I didn’t let myself get as nervous and worked up-- just jumped into it-- and also I took 2 Ibuprofen before I set off, which probably prevented the cramps. I also ate and drank less, so I didn’t have all the liquid and solid weight sloshing around my stomach like it did last time, too.
Today’s weather was pretty funky, providing a whole new set of challenges than I’ve experienced. Early on the sky was partly cloudy with some intense bouts of sun (reminding me of Arizona), then, all of the sudden a dark cloud rolled over the mountain ridge, bringing with it a heavy downpour and a blanket of fog. Luckily, I was wearing a baseball cap (donated by Cam and Donna—thank you, thank you!) which happens to be waterproof, so I stuffed my Ipod shuffle into the top and was able to keep it (and my head and face) dry throughout. Of course, the rest of my body and clothes got completely soaked, causing passersby to freak out and demand that I go inside, my presence utterly dumbfounding to them. The rain lasted between miles 14- 16, dying down and then Whoosh! the sky cleared and the bright and shiny sun came back!
I was surprised to feel as energized as I was. At mile 14 I nursed a blueberry-pomegranate gel pack, and wasn’t hungry until mile 19, when I ate half of a Cliff bar. Otherwise, I chewed gum the whole way and drank only .5 liters of electrolyte water throughout.
Right around mile 19 the wind picked up; I somewhat bitterly contemplated its unpleasant timing, but consciously decided to toughen up and throw all my strength into the final stretch. As for body pains, when I run my legs are only sore from the knees down, especially around the ankles, and my feet go completely numb as they slam against the asphalt. When I got home I stretched and promptly applied ice while elevating my legs. Now I can look forward to an easy week, then one final push of 25 miles before “tapering down”.
--------------------------------------------------
In other news: Albania’s Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, came to Gjiro today, so the streets were absolutely flooded with police officers, blowing whistles and waving little stop signs in effort to direct traffic and display their authority.
I’ve recently noticed a surge in city projects around Gjirokastёr: the infamously disgusting public restrooms near the castle have been renovated (though still not open so I can’t verify), the New Town’s main road was re-asphalted, and this morning there were workers out along that road, filling in the meridian with soil and planting young saplings. What is this? I wondered. Lo and behold my Albanian sources tell me that elections are coming up soon, and it is tradition that the ruthless and corrupt mayor will carry out one string of visible projects near the end of his term, winning over popular votes and securing his seat in office. I’m disgusted because Gjiro’s mayor is particularly corrupt and already I’ve learned of several occasions when he has not only stolen money outright from international organizations that was meant to develop and improve the city, but also situations when he bribed (or tried to bribe) local organizations for the benefit and profit of his friends. Ugh I’ve been so wound up in political talk and debate in America from NPR and Democracy Now! podcasts that the absolute inescapability of corruption and evildoing just seems overwhelming, even from this tiny corner of the world. Are people everywhere evil, ignorant, and greedy? I feel so despaired.
Well, I don’t really want to leave you on that note, so I’ll just mention one interesting little side quip. Did you know that over 36,000 people around the world are aged over 100 years old? (According to BBC GlobalNews, see I told you I’m addicted to podcasts!) Well, Albania has an expression that is always said to wish someone a happy birthday: U Bёfsh Njё Qind Vjeç! [ May you live to be 100 years!] I’m thinking that pretty soon they will have to modify their language to wish people a much longer lifespan..!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
FESTIVALS ABOUND
OK its been a few weeks since I’ve gotten my act together and scripted an update of Albanian life, but much has happened so I’ll try to lay it all out as best I can remember---
First and foremost, summer has ended! We woke up one fine Sunday morning in Berat to a cloudy, rainy sky, and haven’t seen then sun since! In the mornings fog hovers across the city, hugging the castle and completely obscuring the enormous Lunxhёri mountain range we face across the valley. When I get up to go running I have to wear gloves and sometimes a jacket, pumping along a dark road, amazed at the dramatically altered landscape… I successfully finished a 20 mile run, now I’m shooting for one 22 and one 24 before the marathon in November—wish me luck!
Well, the second weekend of September marked Çobo’s annual wine festival (this is a beautiful winery in Berat that we visited with Arlene), where I participated by dressing up in traditional costume with a bunch of young girls and guys and dancing through the grape vines, then stomping grapes in the barrel, à la I Love Lucy…! There were tons of people from different international and local organizations, news crews, friends and family members, and of course PCVs. I was nervous to stomp the grapes—a friend told me that it was painful to step on the stems for 2 hours—but it ended up being a blast, feeling the squishy soft balls pop under my toes…
Pre-festival I was in Vlore, celebrating the birthday of a PCV friend; we had a pre-party gathering with a bunch of people, cooking a communal meal and hanging out at her ranch-style house that is surrounded by grape vines and guarded by several recently born puppies. She later went to Athens via bus (14 hours) to visit her grandparents, just in time for our out-of-country leave to open.
After the wine festival that weekend Chris and I hitchhiked back to Gjiro, welcoming the beginning of the school year. Not only did the weather flip 180°, but the streets are full of young students, flooding the New Town road by my office, and we’re eagerly anticipating the new winter vegetable crops available, like pumpkins, leeks, and supposedly spinach.
Later that week I was invited to join the G10 mid-service conference in Korçe to take part in the first Gender and Development committee meeting. We were put up in a hotel at the very top of a hill overlooking the city-- quite a hike-- and packed full of volunteers. At night we went out to various restaurants nearby, mostly Italian (volunteers never ever go for Albanian food if we can avoid it). After dinner some of us went to a super chic localё with a sparkling faux star ceiling and tasty hot chocolate, which I’ve decided will brighten the long winter season (the chocolate, not the stars!). I stayed another day in Korçe, hanging out with another PCV couple whom I really like, then took the 6 am bus home on Sunday.
I was only back in the office one day before notifying them I’d leave for Tiranё, where I’d be at a PC-sponsored HIV/AIDS conference with a counterpart. I took a Gjirokastrian doctor from the blood clinic, hoping to help educate and motivate him to develop future HIV awareness campaigns. Once again, I took the night bus, which unfortunately blasted music and lights all night and kept me from catching a wink of sleep. So, I arrived, groggy at 4:30 am at Skanderbeg Square, utterly lost in my search for the hotel. Luckily I’m female and still young enough to elicit immediate help from police, who escorted me there. I was able to crawl inside and drop off for an hour of shut eye before the conference began.
The conference lasted 3 days, set in the basement of our very nice jungle-themed hotel, and included almost all of the health volunteers + counterparts in addition to some TEFL PCVs. We were let free around 5 pm; the first night a large group of us went out to a nice restaurant near The Block, where the foreigners live. We had Mexican food, or at least an Albanian rendition thereof. Another girl and I had a great time the second night out with a couple we had met (at the wine festival) who work in the consulate office. One kick of being a PCV is getting to know lots of embassy and international organization professionals, and asking all sorts of career questions. Afterward we joined a going-away party for a friend of ours leaving her office at the OSCE, bound for America, during which many volunteers took advantage of the free drink tickets and then moved on to a karaoke bar. I had to cut out at that point—screaming drunken Albanian girls in a smoky, dark room is not my idea of fun. Whatever floats your boat I guess.
After the conference ended, most PCVs stayed in town one more night, and several more came in town to attend a picnic I had helped arrange to welcome the new Georgia volunteers. We are all excited to take on an additional 8 PCVs who were evacuated from Georgia last month; they have been living in Tiranё while taking an expedited Shqip language and Albanian culture course (3 months crammed into 5 weeks). Most of them will be dispersed to the south, and we are über-excited to be getting a new person in Gjirokastёr to replace Tara, who was the first of our group to ET (Early Terminate) last month.
So, several PCVs and I cooked up a bunch of food and we had an afternoon party (intended to be a picnic if it were not raining) at the PC office with G11, the Georgia crew, and various staff members. Another girl even coordinated people to knit scarves of red, black, and white yarn (red + black = Albanian; white + red = Georgian) as a gift for the newbies; someone gave a welcome speech and I swear we almost Kum Ba Ya-ed. Outside the party we did get a lot of time to hang out with them as well, hearing about their experiences of evacuation, a month holed up in Armenia, and now finally their impressions of Albania… Such a fun-filled weekend!
Now, I’m back here in Gjiro, trying to pick back up on this month’s work schedule. The Albanian health calendar dictates October as Healthy Foods Month, along with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so I’m really hoping to get my counterparts to carry out the projects we’ve discussed, such as seminars with nurses from surrounding villages, and distributing a healthy Albanian cookbook around the market. It’s challenging here.
Today I gave my first English lesson to some of the nurses. It could have gone worse. We’ll see how much they retain.
And finally, this week we have been surprised with endless music festivals from various organizations! In the morning there was an artisan festival with several artists from around the country, along with a parade and cannons, and later fireworks in the night. We were shocked that despite so little assurance or planning, various groups had coordinated traditional dancers and musicians, as well as a collection of international classical music ensembles, to perform at several venues. Some were set up in the stadium behind the mosque, others up in the castle, and still more downhill in the crowded New Town. None of the festivals are related, in fact I think they probably detracted the number of audience members by competing for time, but maybe they’ll keep that in mind next year.
That’s it for now—Ja Kalofshni Mire! [ lit; Pass the time well!]
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Camping in Puke
So I haven’t updated on the last excursion we took, 2 weekends ago. Chris and I boarded a night bus bound for Tiranё, arriving around 6 am (and promptly crashing on a park bench until the city woke up), then made our way north into the mountains once again to Pukё. Our gracious hostesses—Karen, Patricia, and Jenny—welcomed us once again to their tiny little town, this time with the intention of a larger party of people camping out in the woods. Now, when one tells an Albanian that they are going to, or returning from Pukё, their reaction is always the same: “oh bo bo! Pukё?!” (insert sound of head slapping), which is sort of like saying that you’ve come all the way to America to visit Leakesville, Mississippi, or some other unknown po-dunk place. But in fact, this is a deceptive prejudice because the northern region and the people there are quite lovely, the air is fresh, and the scenery is beautiful! And despite Pukё’s small size (2 streets long, lined by pallatit, or apartments) the three girls get along so well with the community and seem to know (and be loved by) everyone.
So, a large group of us volunteers gathered in the square to make our trek into the woods, after a slightly laborious climb far from the city and up to a plateau, we set up tents and lit a roaring fire. Karen, our guzhinarё- extraordinaire, had ingeniously prepared a feast of chicken and/ or veggie packets to roast on the fire, a delicious Mediterranean orzo salad, and a pasta salad, plus people stocked up on drinks and we even roasted s’mores! It was spectacular.
This weekend, after one weekend of rest (which was somehow sinfully delightful to laze around doing absolutely nothing, without any obligations) we invited volunteers to travel south, and make a day trip to the spring of Syri i Kalter (The Blue Eye). [that is the beautiful, crystal clear pool of freezing water we took Arlene to] We semi-picnicked with a small group (10 or so) and then all stayed the night in Delvina, crashing in the apartments of two girls from that town. Chris and I hitchhiked back in the morning, catching a lift with one man who is a professional polyphonic singer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtone_singing) who gave a us a DVD of his Shqiptare ensemble, and hopefully we’ll see his group perform at the traditional music festival at the castle in the end of September…
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I’ve been thinking lately that I haven’t really posted much on my marathon training. But, since it’s such a big part of my life and daily routine right now I ought to! I’m still preparing to run the Athens-Marathon (yes, the original, to Marathon, Greece) in November. I’ve only got a few weeks of solid training left, as I need to make 3 or 4 of the longest runs before tapering down at the end of October. My routine has been to go straight out of the New Town and run to the villages near our great mountain, Lunxhёrri. Two weeks ago I capped at 17.4 miles, my longest run yet, and this week I hope to stretch to 18 or 19. After my runs in the morning (waking at 5 am before the sunrise, that way I can get home by 8 or 8:30 and prepare for work), I stretch, shower, eat muesli, and ice my knees. Maybe I need to lose a few pounds and it will lessen the burden on my knees, because they have gotten really sore and creaky. I don’t want to screw them up permanently, and I really hope the pain doesn’t last. I’ll write again later to let you know how excruciating the 20 mile run goes… ;)
And, as a final note, I would like to remind any and all readers here that if they have any desire to send a care package our way that would be greatly appreciated!!
Some goodies that might be thrown in are:
*Packets of sauces from all those restaurants you hit up: soy sauce, hot sauce, splenda, whatever strikes your fancy and can be dropped into your purse or pockets—these aren’t desperately desired but its fun to get them in an envelope, like a bonus
*Gum, mints, and other fun treats
*Organic/ whole grain bars
Really anything…
Our postal code is:
Chris Hassler
Zyre e Koordinimit
Pazar i Vjeter
Gjirokastёr, Albania
Thanks and look for more pictures soon to come!
So, a large group of us volunteers gathered in the square to make our trek into the woods, after a slightly laborious climb far from the city and up to a plateau, we set up tents and lit a roaring fire. Karen, our guzhinarё- extraordinaire, had ingeniously prepared a feast of chicken and/ or veggie packets to roast on the fire, a delicious Mediterranean orzo salad, and a pasta salad, plus people stocked up on drinks and we even roasted s’mores! It was spectacular.
This weekend, after one weekend of rest (which was somehow sinfully delightful to laze around doing absolutely nothing, without any obligations) we invited volunteers to travel south, and make a day trip to the spring of Syri i Kalter (The Blue Eye). [that is the beautiful, crystal clear pool of freezing water we took Arlene to] We semi-picnicked with a small group (10 or so) and then all stayed the night in Delvina, crashing in the apartments of two girls from that town. Chris and I hitchhiked back in the morning, catching a lift with one man who is a professional polyphonic singer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtone_singing) who gave a us a DVD of his Shqiptare ensemble, and hopefully we’ll see his group perform at the traditional music festival at the castle in the end of September…
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I’ve been thinking lately that I haven’t really posted much on my marathon training. But, since it’s such a big part of my life and daily routine right now I ought to! I’m still preparing to run the Athens-Marathon (yes, the original, to Marathon, Greece) in November. I’ve only got a few weeks of solid training left, as I need to make 3 or 4 of the longest runs before tapering down at the end of October. My routine has been to go straight out of the New Town and run to the villages near our great mountain, Lunxhёrri. Two weeks ago I capped at 17.4 miles, my longest run yet, and this week I hope to stretch to 18 or 19. After my runs in the morning (waking at 5 am before the sunrise, that way I can get home by 8 or 8:30 and prepare for work), I stretch, shower, eat muesli, and ice my knees. Maybe I need to lose a few pounds and it will lessen the burden on my knees, because they have gotten really sore and creaky. I don’t want to screw them up permanently, and I really hope the pain doesn’t last. I’ll write again later to let you know how excruciating the 20 mile run goes… ;)
And, as a final note, I would like to remind any and all readers here that if they have any desire to send a care package our way that would be greatly appreciated!!
Some goodies that might be thrown in are:
*Packets of sauces from all those restaurants you hit up: soy sauce, hot sauce, splenda, whatever strikes your fancy and can be dropped into your purse or pockets—these aren’t desperately desired but its fun to get them in an envelope, like a bonus
*Gum, mints, and other fun treats
*Organic/ whole grain bars
Really anything…
Our postal code is:
Chris Hassler
Zyre e Koordinimit
Pazar i Vjeter
Gjirokastёr, Albania
Thanks and look for more pictures soon to come!
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