Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Final BIZNESS in the fshat.

Everywhere between my lovely village of Bishqem and Sofie’s Pajove, the Albanian’s have houses full of family photos. While you be thinking to yourself something along the lines of “So what? I have photos all over my house too!,” I must warn you that these photos are different. These photos plastered amongst our host family houses are pictures with neon backdrops of the ocean and awkward poses. Most Albanian’s fail to smile in their pictures as well, making the overall attitude of the picture completely oxymoronic.

In honor of our swearing- in, Sofie & I decided to go for our very own personal photo shoot. The man agreed to give us 2 photos for $2.00- so we picked a tropical background and stood in our favorite pose. We did however make such an impression on the photographer that he took many photos, couldn’t decide which were the best, and printed all of them for us- even did some editing with sepia tones. And now, for your personal enjoyment, I hope you love them as much as I do….

Normal Picture.

Playing with angles apparently... And here's the classic pose... how bout that background?!

Monday, June 29, 2009

Welp, It's Official...

On Thursday, May 28, 2009, thirty-three Americans were sworn in as OFFICIAL PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS in ALBANIA in the Skampi Theater of Elbasan. Now that you know the end result, let us rewind in true Quentin Tarentino style so you know how much work it took to get there…

As previously mentioned, the host family party took place the night before Swear-In. In light of the fact that we were all together Wednesday night, we re-iterated with the host families that we had to be in Elbasan at 9am fiks (SHARP!) Thursday morning.

Planning accordingly, I wake up at 7am and was ready to go at 7:45. It is then that I notice something is not right: my host family is still in their pajamas, cleaning the house and doing other completely irrelevant tasks. My host dad is also missing, and my family tells me he will be back at 9 to take us to Elbasan (45 minutes away). Additionally, PC only allowed me 3 guests, so someone had to get the ax: as my host brother headed off to school, I assumed they chose my host sister for the party. This is of course until I come to find out that she would not get dressed until she had the approval of my host dad. They argued about picking up my brother from school because he is a boy and more important, but I won in the end to try and move the process along. Conveniently, I had no minutes on my cell phone and had to run to Carrie Ann’s to call my host dad and ask when he was coming home from COFFEE WITH FRIENDS so we could leave. While I am FREAKING OUT about being late and desperately trying to round everyone up- they repeatedly tell me “mos u merzit” or “don’t worry.” By some stroke of luck, we were all in the car at 9:10, and I thought I was in the clear until my Training Manager called and told me I was late. Bummer to get in trouble for something I had no control over. By some other stroke of fate, the U.S. Ambassador was also running late so the ceremony didn’t actually start until 11.

As a punishment for being late, I had to sit in the front row during the Swear- In Ceremony, and there were only about 17 video cameras there to record my every move. The ceremony was short and sweet because of the late start and followed by millions and millions of photographs. Immediately following the Swear-In, my host family left, and I stayed around with the crew. I was able to meet the Ambassador and say goodbye to all of the training staff. The rest of the day was spent hanging around Elbasan one last time with the entire crew at our favorite bar- and might I mention favorite because it has the most fantastic waitress in the world. She is always scowling and accusing us of not paying, and is sort of like a ray of sunshine in your pocket. The night ended in Bishqem, kicking it at our favorite hang out with our favorite locals… but this time as OFFICIAL PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS =)

Taking our oath at Swear-In
Our new bling: America.Albania.Peace Corps.
With the host family at the Ceremony Suzana & I with the American Ambassador! The Bishqem 4 and our lovely teachers!
Me & Luli- Rockin my shades again.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Bishqem Farewells.

At week 10, I am feeling a mix of emotions, but primarily I am scared to leave my family and friends in my training site Bishqem. I know I am not saying goodbye forever and I am excited to move to my new home in Berat, but I must admit that above all, I was treated like a member of the community there and I am forever grateful. The most gratifying part is that most everyone I know is reciprocating the sentiment, and the last couple of weeks spent in Bishqem were filled with countless feasts in my honor. Upon my return from Elbasan each day, I spent countless hours in the houses and lokali’s around the community socializing and saying goodbye.

To thank our families for everything, the 4 Bishqem trainees decided to have a dinner for everyone at our favorite local restaurant the night before our swearing in ceremony. Because we are on such a tight budget, we asked for the meza plate without meat- meat costs an arm and a leg here. The feast started at 9:00pm, and almost immediately after being served our plates, the host dads made a small scene. They explained that we could NOT have a “fest” without meat and beer- and after explaining the lack of money, the host dads shelled out the leke for the whole feast- NOT AT ALL AS PLANNED- and insisted that it was not a big deal, and we should enjoy the rest of our night. Things wrapped up pretty late, but I have to say it was a wonderful farewell to all of our families before moving to our sites.

My host mom & I
Neighbors/Extended Family
Dinner with the local bar owner & his wife
Daryoush, Tyler, & I at the family party
Our host family dinner party at Bujari's

Camping in Belsh

In celebration of completing PST U and our Language Interviews, Group 12 finally thought it was time for a little R&R together. In true tradition, our group went on the annual camping trip to Belsh, a small community 1 hour from Elbasan. After eating a late lunch in town, we began the “20 minute walk” to our campsite, which actually turned, into an hour hike UP the mountain. At the top, we had a covered pavilion completely covered with sheep poop, a fire pit, a beautiful view, and an even lovelier sunset to watch. We went to work sweeping out the pavilion, getting firewood delivered, and starting the bonfire. The rest of the night flew by and before I knew it we were snuggling up in sleeping bags on a comfy slab of concrete, only to wake in the morning with immense back pain and everyone desperately ready to be home again. We also awoke with 3 Albanians sitting outside the pavilion staring at us and herding at least 100 turkeys- what a nice surprise.

That morning, we began the hour decent and then searched the town for a furgon to take the 11 of us back to Bishqem & Pajove via shortcut instead of going back through Elbasan and having to transfer buses. We found a man driving a beat up orange tin can for a furgon who gladly accepted our business and seemed to be bragging to the townspeople shouting “11 AMERICANS!” and “PAJOVE!” After arriving in Pajove we found out why he was so happy, he wanted to charge us 500 Leke for a 200 Leke ride home since 1) we were American and 2) he took “bad back road that was hard on his furgon,” yes, the one that was already about to fall apart with the simple knock of a fist. After arguing in Albanian, we solved the issue, and headed to lunch. When we finished, the heat was sweltering and we were dreading the 40-minute walk to our town, but fortunately I found Luli wandering around and flagged him down for a ride home after a long night of camping before the last week of training.


G12 hanging out at the camp site
Our home for the night & the serious cleaning going on
The SUNSET!

The 11 eating lunch in Pajove after the furgon ordeal

Two Weeks...

Some of the gang hanging out on our final days in Elbasan
Sofie, Kristine, & I at one of our favorites spots in Elbasan
We’re finally in the homestretch… of training that is! The last two weeks are spent in Elbasan every day, having wrap-up sessions on every aspect of training as well as sessions to prep us for our future in Albania for the next two years. We also had something called PST University (PST U), where both current volunteers and trainees in my group give classes on their areas of expertise. My favorite class was a self defense class taught by two boys in my group, just in case I ever run into a bad situation I feel adequately equipped with some pretty sweet skills to take care of business.

Another part of our final weeks includes a Language Interview (LPI), which is a one-on-one interview with tape recorder included. (If only they had put me in a dark room with a bright light shining in my face I feel that I could have destroyed the test!) Haha- it went as expected though, and needless to say I passed my interview with a high enough level to be sworn-in. =) The language is still hard, but I think I have done really well for myself after 8 weeks of classes!

Traveling fotos

Yes, the dance party: switching things up to the "dance ridiculously by yourself" mode
Our Country Director speaking at the Counterpart Conference
Sofie & I getting ready to meet our counterparts for the first time (with fresh breath of course)
Ecotourism hike with high school students in Berat during Site Visit
The beautiful view of Mount Tomori and a taste of my future home

Sunday, June 14, 2009

A traveling we will go

Week 8 brought a serious change of pace to the Peace Corps Training Schedule- things are getting extremely busy! The whole group met at 8am on May 11th in Elbasan to set out for the capital city of Tirana and the upcoming COUNTERPART CONFERENCE and SITE VISIT. To the non-peace corps volunteers out there, I’ll break down the lingo, so prit pak (wait a little)…

 

COUNTERPART CONFERENCE: The group spent 2 days in the capital at the lovely Hotel Chateau Linza. We started the trip off with a tour of Tirana- all 33 of us were divided into groups based on region (SOUTH CENTRAL!) and given tours by current Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV’s). The PCV’s took us around the city, let us in on their favorite lunch spots, showed us the bus stations to get to our region, and then dropped us at the Peace Corps Office where we met with the PC Staff for some meetings. Upon our return to the hotel, the real fun began. We had 20 minutes to put on our Sunday best, meet in the conference room, and anxiously await the arrival of our future counterpart. Each volunteer is paired with one primary counterpart in our sites, and this is the person we will primarily work with over the next two years… NO PRESSURE. As expected, the room reeked of awkwardness, especially when we all had to introduce our counterparts in Albanian after 5 minutes of conversation with them. Lucky for me, my CP speaks English- her name is Dorina and she works for the Directorate of Public Health in Berat. She has previously worked with a PCV, so she is used to working with the Peace Corps and knows what it’s all about. This could turn out to be either positive or negative – so I’m hoping for the best to come with her.  Other counterparts definitely made me laugh, one of them told us “she hoped her PCV would make her famous,” so if that’s not setting the bar high, I don’t know what is! And as always, no gathering can be complete without some good old-fashioned circle dancing each night, a guaranteed way to feel dizzy and nauseous after spinning rapidly in a circular motion for over an hour, but also a guaranteed good time.

 

SITE VISIT: Following our 2 days in Tirana, we all went our separate ways to visit our future homes and get a 4 day sneak preview. I was hosted by Corrine who is the volunteer currently living in Berat (she has successfully completed one year) and my future site-mate for the next year. She is a TEFL Volunteer and teaches English at a local high school. I also got to meet Marissa, a volunteer from group 10 who is leaving this year upon the completion of her two years. Both of the girls showed me “the ropes” or as many as they could in 4 days time- and I must say they were a HUGE help. I briefly got to see my new apartment- a pretty large apartment on the outside of town that will need a lot of cleaning and a LOT of love, but has great potential. During the visit, I also got to meet important people around town that I might be working with over the next two years. I met the new director of the Public Health Department of Berat, all of the people who work in my future office at the Directorate of Public Health, people who run a free STD/HIV testing clinic, the director of the mentally handicapped center/home in town, and the people who work at the municipality (bashkia) including the MAYOR himself.  We were invited to the opening ceremony of an Art Gallery Exhibit that night which was phenomenal. I also was invited to start an Ecotourism Campaign in town with the Bashkia workers. They kicked everything off on Friday morning by inviting high school students to come learn about ecotourism, and we went hiking up one of the mountains in Berat. They learned about future tourism in Berat and what backpackers are looking for when they come. They also learned about how to maintain a clean environment, and understand why foreigners often come for hiking. Berat is a beautiful city, and I am VERY excited to be a future resident!