Kate's in Albania

HAUNTED HALLOWEEN 09.

2009-12-20T11:05:00.002-08:00

The language refresher ran dead into Halloween, so the group made a pit stop in Elbasan (the belly button of Albania) before being homeward bound yet again. No, this is not really celebrated in Albania, but we made it work: here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

A piece by PICASSO (GK Crew)

Double-headed Albanian Eagle

Grab some candy.... or a Fiber One

Aladdin Sane (make-up done by ME)

Grapes (essential in Albania)
Everyone's favorite snack and a turkish toilet

Willy Wonka & his Chocolate

Harry Dunn.Lloyd Christmas. (DUMB & DUMBER...duh!)

Together Again!

2009-12-20T11:05:00.001-08:00

After having gone our separate ways for 6 months, Group 12 in FULL convened in the southeastern city of Pogradec for 4 days to brush up on the language (and show off what we know). The Language Refresher Conference is provided to revive our Albanian/Shqip skills, and give us a few days to learn some more stuff. We were divided into groups based on level, and you will all be pleased to know that I was in Group 1- the advanced students!!!

Don’t get me wrong though, the language is definitely hard, and the dialect and accent is different within every person I meet. There are some days when I can understand everyone and everything, but there are other days that crush my spirits. Sometimes people don’t expect me to know a word, so after saying something so simple as “hello” they pat me on the back, hug me, kiss me, and praise me. There are other people who hear me speaking Albanian and still pretend they can’t understand a word I am saying/look at me like I’m speaking in tongues. Still there are others who hear me say “hello” and then plow full speed ahead and assume I can understand them. Most frequently though, I get complimented on my Albanian, and my favorite compliment is “you speak like you’re one of us!” Those that know me know I am extremely competitive, so my desire to learn as much as possible and always be the best keeps me learning more. But to be completely realistic about the situation, I know how much and how fast I have learned in 9 months, and its pretty incredible. I sometimes remind myself its okay when I don’t know things… or at least I remind myself that I can go home and study for hours like a true nerd.

Special Olympics

2009-12-20T10:23:00.000-08:00

Peace Corps Volunteers gathered in Tirana early in November to help out with the annual Special Olympics Albania. S.O. is fairly new to Albania, and I was extremely impressed with the event. It was sponsored by the Vodaphone Foundation and was well organized by a youth group based in the capital called The Animators. The Olympics kicked off early across town with a running of the torch and followed by a stunning opening ceremony. The 12 teams came from handicapped schools and centers all over Albania. The athletes competed in the events of basketball, soccer, ping-pong, bowling, and swimming. At the end of the day everyone involved was bused to a hotel for the night.

I think the most difficult part of the event was simply coming with an American perspective. Handicapped, disabled, mentally or physically: these terms are not well known by Albanians. These people affected are marginalized and neglected still in this country. A stigma still exists because people are uneducated; they are uncomfortable, and there isn’t many severely handicapped people in Albania. Some kids at the event were dealing with ADD while others were dealing with serious mental and physical disabilities making it hard to create a real competition. How do you think the match will turn out with all-star athletes versus a team incapable of fully understanding rules of the game? Also, most girls didn’t participate, and when I encouraged them to get involved the staff simply said, “girls don’t play sports.” It’s hard and it’s frustrating, but I DO KNOW that the kids all had a really great 3-day vacation, enjoyed some excellent October weather (I got a sunburn!), and felt very special. I can only hope to be more involved next year, and have a great time again.

Opening Ceremonies (yes, they unfortunately released those balloons into the sky)

The Berat team tearing up the futbol field

Berat vs. Lezhe on the bball court

DANCE BREAK!

Berat vs. Gjirokastër

2009-12-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

There are two UNESCO World Heritage cities in the whole of Albania: the charming Berat, (where I live) and a place in the deep south known as Gjirokaster (GK). I frequently hear the locations being compared and contrasted, so when I discovered the “once every four years Folk Music Festival” was being held in GK at the end of September, three words came to mind: Count.Me.IN!

The day finally arrived and it was not a pretty one. Here is a summary of the unfortunate events:

1) As I lugged my baggage to the center of the city, I discovered I forgot my wallet. I had 5 minutes before the bus left and 20 minutes round trip to my house. I took a TAXI to my house, grabbed my wallet, had a friend buy me breakfast and also hold up the bus for me.

2) After stopping for gas, all I could smell inside the bus was gas fumes. Fumes + carsickness = vomiting (Good thing the buses are always loaded with plastic bags specifically for this reason…no joke, they are stocked like a supermarket!)

3) While taking a break from the 5-hour journey I discover gas splattered all down the side of the bus and dripping out of the tank. The driver stares at it, shrugs his shoulders, and tells everyone to board the bus. I choose to lie down in the back and try to sleep. Once peacefully sleeping, the driver decides to slam on the breaks, the row of seats I’m on top of decide to all tip up, and I am thrust not only OFF the seats to the ground but I continue to fall down into the back stairwell feet over shoulders, skirt over head. NOT ONE OF MY 5 FRIENDS TURNED TO LOOK. Only one Albania lady saw and helped me up, then asked what happened. When I answered she interrupted me to say: “drink water or something, your voice sounds weird like you just woke up.” Well, duh, not only did I wake, I was RUDELY awoken and thrown onto my head. This incident left me with some severe arm & leg bruising.

4) Once in the GK, we hiked up a mountain just to get to a restaurant where I decided to splurge on lasagna. The restaurant however replaced noodles with slices of hard-boiled eggs and I’d have to get them a zero on the food. I should have assumed: they had menus made out of wood and advertised for an appetizer called “bags filled with cheesy creams.” (SEE PIC)

Luckily, this is where the unfortunate events ended. I spent the next two days enjoying the Folk Musical Festival. It was held in the GK castle, which was simply stunning and very well preserved (though I AM biased to Berati’s older castle). Folk groups came in from all over Albania for a 5-day show. Most groups showcased traditional dancing, singing, and musical instruments. My favorite, however, was one showcasing acting skills and a group of older men. They had big fur coats, muskets, and at one point they were doing forward rolls across the fur and getting spanked halfway through the roll. It was extremely dramatic and wildly entertaining. I live for the cultural event here in Albania, and had a great second half of the weekend in the rivaling town of Gjirokaster, but in the end, Berat is still number one in my heart.

The castle from below

FFK 2009

Performers from Kukes

ÇOBO KANTINA

2009-09-20T07:13:00.001-07:00

Yet again I am fortunate I live in an Albanian city full of culture. The occasion? Annual Wine Festival. By special invitation, I was invited to the yearly event at the Çobo Cantina, about 30 minutes outside of Berat in the beautiful countryside. Not fully knowing what to expect, a group of 7 Peace Corps Volunteers from the region and 5 tourists from the local hostel arrive into a mass of cars parked every which way, police on the roads directing traffic, and traditional Albanian folk music penetrating all the way out to the highway.

We were warmly greeted: given our very own 2009 souvenir mugs full of wine, and ushered in toward tables of free food and live entertainment. It was one of those nights that made me feel so… included…so Albanian, I suppose… in a way almost inexplicable to be quite honest. At 7:00pm, the traditionally dressed band led the way into the vineyards- in which everyone followed in sort of a parade-like session. After retrieving baskets and baskets full of grapes, we returned to the main event, where they were placed into the giant wooden vessel waiting in the center of the lawn. The group of Albanian teenage girls finally stepped in barefoot: treading the grapes to the beat of the music, everyone circled around and cheered full forcedly as if they were attending a huge sporting event. The rest of the night went down in history: circle dancing, drinking wine, eating plate after plate lamb, making new friends, chatting socially with the VIP’s of Berat, and well… just enjoying ourselves. In the Albanian language: Gezuar! (Cheers!)

Eat. Drink. Be Merry!

Çobo Winery

Live Entertainment leading the pack

Emerging from the vineyards

stepping into the grapes

grapes, rrush

Corinne and I digging in on the lamb chops

The last supper...Aida.Eric.Daryoush.Phoebe.Me.Chloe.creepy track suit man. Scott.

Ramadan & the Ringling Brothers

2009-09-20T06:33:00.001-07:00

While the dominant religion of Albania is strongly Muslim, the majority of Albanian Muslims are non-observant or non-practicing. That is… unless there is some reason to celebrate, and why not celebrate for Ramadan. For those of you who do not know, Ramadan is a month long fast for those of Muslim faith. Fasting is done from dawn until sundown, and the month is used as a sort of personal cleansing with much prayer and much self-control. In accordance with the Berat Municipality (Bashkia), performers came in from Turkey to put on a one night and one night only show. The show was accompanied by rows of tables and platefuls of food- only served after sundown of course!

The concert itself left me without words. While there were multiple singers and performers, I was left stunned by one performance in particular. I can only describe the pair of dancers and hopefully upload a video to follow that will let all you enjoy the spectacle as well. Two men entered stage left: looking somewhat like the Ringling Brothers, dressed in white puffy shirts and black vests boasting a series of chains down the front. The men joined hands, the music started (which, by the way was music so dizzying that it single-handedly could send you into vertigo), and for at least 6 minutes those men danced like THEY were the Lord(S) of Dance. Let us hope my Internet is trusty enough to upload the video- you certainly will be thanking me later.

The first performers

Snapshot of the ringling brothers since video is NOT loading. Video will come later!

Corinne, Phoebe, & I at the festival!

Gezuar Ditelindjen

2009-09-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

Once again I found myself celebrating my birthday abroad, this year was the big 25. Ironically, Sofie- one of my closest friends in the group- also celebrated her 25^th … just one day later. Thus, a party was thrown, though it was hectic having just returned from the USA and being jetlagged.

Albanian birthday are celebrated in one way and one way only: the person having the birthday invites guests to drink and a big meal – sounds like American tradition right? WRONG. The person having the birthday is to pay for all drinks and all food- guests are never allowed to pay. Thus, true to Albanian tradition I took a group of 12 of my closest friends out to a nice meal on the town of Berat followed by an endless flow of beverages the rest of the night…

Well the truth is that actually I didn’t pay for everyone because if you remember correctly I am a Peace Corps Volunteer, and collectively as a whole, we are broke. Thus, true to AMERICAN tradition, each person paid for themselves and the night carried on as normal. The day of my birthday was spent with my host family: making a traditional food called byrek for the occasion. We had a picnic dinner out on the porch accompanied by a lovely swarm of mosquitoes and at least 15 people all telling me the same thing “U bëfsh nje qind vjeç” which means “May you live 100 years!” For the special occasion I was able to drink a shot of raki, (the locally made somewhat lethal alcohol) which is a big deal because women drinking alcohol is turp or shameful. Nevertheless, I somehow swallowed the awfulness down, marking the start of year #25 of my life. May I live to be 100…

Our birthday cake, funfetti of course!

The birthday girls out to dinner at the White House

Phoebe, Luke, & Daryoush at dinner

Carrie Ann & Raino

Sof, Me, Marie, & Corinne celebrating

Back across the pond… temporarily!

2009-09-20T05:21:00.000-07:00

Five and half months later and I’m heading back to the US for Chris & Amy’s wedding… it’s almost hard to believe that 1) SO much time has passed in what seems like a blink of an eye and 2) I’m ACTUALLY getting to go to the WEDDING! I’m overwhelmed with joy and wish I could just teleport myself over instead of be miserable on an airplane for 12 hours. Unfortunately we still don’t possess the power to teleport so conventional methods must be used.

Arriving at the Tirana airport at 3am was one thing, but finding out at 7:15 that my flight home was cancelled due to a malfunctioning button was disaster. I waited 3 hours in line to be re-routed, only to be waitlisted for a flight home. When time for check-in came, a German couple was gracious enough to give me their one booked flight due to the fact that they refused to split up, and I was successfully onto Munich. Another glitch came in Munich of course. The Albanian airport never registered my re-route so it took 20 minutes to get a boarding pass, which was then followed by a 20-minute run across the airport that barely landed me on my connecting flight. One perk: a business class ticket for my 9 hour flight into the US with a full reclining bed, a gourmet menu, and excellent entertainment options on my personal television. Glitch in Chicago: lost luggage, to be reported on arrival in Detroit. Seriously, worst luck ever! Anyways, I managed to make it into the US at some un-godly hour, ride 2 hours home, and finally be greeted by my very own bed!

The week to follow was almost equally as hectic, full of spending time with family: primarily my brother on the days before his wedding/honeymoon and the rest of the family came after. Things with Chris were just like always, he made me laugh until I cry and cry until I felt almost sick and had to take a small break from his comedy. My mom, sister-in-law, and I did our usual pedicure routine in preparation for the wedding: though there were some discrepancies due to “flower” nail art that still is making me laugh. Just like always, my oldest brother BJ and I “watched TV,” which may sound silly but definitely is our tradition. His children are simply beautiful and I am so sad to be missing out on their lives. My nephew luckily remembered me and enjoyed my company while my niece had forgotten me and cried every time I stepped within some invisible 3-foot radius. Things probably don’t bode well for me with the baby on the way… after a 2-year service they will only know me as a complete stranger. My grandparents were there with me every day, overwhelmed with joy that I was home and being there with me just to enjoy my company. And to my mom and dad- they made this all possible, helping me with everything when I was home and I sadly did not nearly get to spend enough down time with them... which means I’ll be expecting them to visit Albania soon!

Wedding events kicked off Friday with the rehearsal for the wedding followed by dinner for families and the wedding party. The Toledo Zoo runs a tight ship, and after much practice we nailed the rehearsal and they released us into the wild. Dinner was to follow, but my jet lag caught up to me so I hit the hay early. Wedding day came sooner than my sleep schedule wanted, but nevertheless it began. Amy, her 2 sisters, her mom, and myself got our hair done together in the morning followed by lunch. Around 3 in the afternoon we headed toward the Toledo Zoo, getting all G.L.A.M.O.R.O.U.S. for the big event. Next thing I knew, we were headed in for the ceremony, which turned out beautiful… every single thing about it was perfect. The weather was great, we didn’t mess up our timing walking down the aisle, Spencer actually MADE IT down the aisle, Julie pronounced all her words correctly, and Chris & Amy were finally made husband and wife. The rest of the night is a blur… eating, speeches, talking to family, drinking, dancing, and divine joy. We all made it out alive- some of us better than others on the day to follow but still alive. We finally saw Chris & Amy off…well, I’m not sure I actually saw them off due to the amount of tears in my eyes… and then, we too, headed home.

What was to follow was complete and utter exhaustion. Still, I somehow managed to see friends between Ann Arbor and Columbus, get some necessary shopping done, eat as much Mexican, Chinese, and sushi as possible, and before I knew it my time was up. I left Detroit 6 days later. My flight in Chicago was delayed 2.5 hours due to the crew packing food in dry ice next to live turtles. Thank you United, I was late for my connecting flight and spent a lovely 13 hours in Munich airport only to arrive in Tirana at midnight. Some luck, huh? Either way, I can say it was definitely worth the trouble and I had the most wonderful time at my brother’s wedding: Congratulations again Chris & Amy! To everyone, I love you and miss you, and it was so great to see you all.

Rehersal at the zoo Friday night.

Amy & Chris now MARRIED!

The Wedding Party

With Dad & Mom!

Hitting the dance floor with the groom

Wedding Season: Albania

2009-09-20T04:11:00.000-07:00

Summer in Albania is just like summer is the US: weekends are full of weddings left and right. And no matter where you are at any one time during the weekend you are most likely to either see or hear part of the festivities. Albanian weddings are in many ways similar to American traditions, but here are the major differences I have noticed:

1) No ceremony or exchanging of vows is ever done; the “wedding” is equivalent to our receptions.

2) They have at least two consecutive days for a wedding: one with the bride’s family and one with the groom’s family.

3) Gifts are given in the form of cash, usually which is thrown or slammed against the head of the bride and groom while dancing at the wedding.

4) Brides do NOT smile- it signifies that they are sad to leave their family and makes all brides look absolutely pissed off on wedding day.

5) At least 10 times more food is served at Albanian weddings: mmm mmm good.

6) They have a wedding cake, but they don’t eat it and they don’t serve it =(

Beginning early on wedding day, the groom usually picks up the bride and drives around the streets for a prolonged period of time honking in celebration. Albanians, just like Americans, want their weddings documented on video. So, don’t be alarmed when you see the car preceding the bride & groom’s with a person fully hanging out the window equipped with the world’s largest video camera slung over their shoulder. The video to come will most likely have 2 hours footage of this “driving on the streets”… trust me, I have seen one too many wedding videos.

For a special weekend in Bishqem (my host family/training site), Tyler and I were invited back by my favorite bar owner to 2 weddings. What I didn’t know was that we’d be put to work at both of them… I guess we technically are volunteers though right? After the setup for the first wedding was complete, we hopped in a car to pick up the meat and such for the wedding the following day. We made it back late for the 1^st wedding, but enjoyed the food, danced towards the end, and cleaned dishes for hours on end. The next day everything was bigger…better, much better. We started preparation at 4pm: setting tables, starting to cook, and running last minute errands. By 9pm, we were shuffling hundreds of plates from the basement kitchen up to the tables while the crowd gathered outside the doors and the live band tuned up for the night. At 10pm the festivities began- we served case after case of beer and then finally all sat down to eat and enjoy the wedding temporarily. Throughout the night we had random tasks to complete, but for the most part the group of “servers” including Tyler and myself had a pretty incredible time. I somehow lasted until 5:00am, when a multitude of fireworks were set off for the occasion, confetti was thrown, and sparklers were lit. What gets me though, is that they didn’t even know what SPARKLERS were or what to do with them. I feel as though I fulfilled some American duty showing them the ways of Sparklers, and they were truly enjoyed by all. The big bang however marked the end of the night. It was so late, so we were off the hook for washing dishes! After all of the circle dancing and celebrating I definitely crawled home and into bed for a good night’s sleep! I'm sure there will be many more weddings to come...

Tyler & I ready to enjoy festivities after hard work

Yes, the 12 year kids at our table drinking beer... Cheers all around.

Tyler's host dad, Rifat, preparing the MEAT PATTIES.... man these are GOOOD!

The bar owner, Arjan, sitting down and enjoying himself finally.

Bledi & I taking a quick break to eat some food before more work!

Circle dancing with confetti flying everywhere!

Cutting the cake... yes, the ones you never eat. RIDICULOUS!

Sparklers to wrap up the night!

Cinderelly! Cinderelly!

2009-09-20T04:01:00.001-07:00

Through a little persuasion and a LOT of luck, my gracious Country Director decided to let me come back to the USA for one short week in order to attend my brother’s wedding! The news came a mere 3 weeks before the big plane trip; much planning was to follow. Leave forms were filled out and signed, plane ticket was booked, but WHAT you may ask was Cinderella to wear to the ball?

Thanks to my wonderful Albanian colleagues at the Berat Municipality, I was pointed in the direction of a rrobaqepsi or tailor by request. The first consultation with my tailor was rough: she refused all pictures I liked of potential dresses and decided to come up with a dress of her own. Unfortunately, her idea for the dress was extremely low cut, extremely short, and complete with millions of laces and bows- think along the lines of a “street worker getup” if you will. After much debate she finally agreed on one of my pictures and instructed me on how much fabric was needed. Then she finally asked, “What color will this be?” to which I replied “Brown.” Her response back was “më mire rozë” or “better if pink.” Luckily, the client is responsible for buying the fabric, so I bought brown and was self-assured that I would not be surprised by a pink dress come pick up time.

After returning with the fabric she took my measurements and opened her client book- here is my favorite part of it all. I found out that almost ALL of her current projects/orders were the same exact dress she drew for me to begin with… the street worker style. Looks like some girls are about to show up to prom in the same dress… disaster waiting to happen. I only lost one small battle to her in the end, she insisted on making STRAPS for the dress to cover my bra, since strapless does not exist in this country. After all was said and done, she made me a beautiful dress in time for the wedding and even admitted to liking the color brown for a dress. She even told me that I was inspiring to her and hoped I would come visit her with photos when I got back (though she might be upset that I did NOT wear the straps).

The suggested dress- HOT, yes?

The final dress- sans straps.

Happy Birthday America

2009-09-20T03:12:00.000-07:00

Though I am all the way over here in Albania, 4^th of July is one holiday still to be celebrated. By extremely special invitation only (and a fee of 5 bucks) all Peace Corps staff and volunteers were invited to the party with the US Ambassador on the 3^rd of July. Now, from what I understand, the party is usually held at the US Embassy in the capital of Tirana. This year it was sponsored by another organization and the party was moved to a nearby school.

Now, let me dive off subject to quickly explain Tirana from the local pedestrian point of view. Things in Tirana are NOT nearby. Things in Tirana are NOT easily located. You could virtually ask someone for directions to a restaurant across the street and they would have no idea what restaurant you were even talking about. Also, from my bus stop to the center is approximately a 40-minute walk. From the center to the Embassy is also an additional 40-minutes. Thus, you can now safely assume that simply walking to your destination can require hours of your time… and in the summer heat of Albania, prepare to show up at your destination dehydrated and drenched in your own sweat. Seriously, do not even bother showering before you come.

Okay, back on subject. “Where is this school?” you ask. Personally, I only know that it is nearby the Embassy, in the middle of a neighboring park/woods. As I set out from the hotel with my friend Marie, we walked until we found the edge of the woods and felt pretty confident of our navigation skills. Upon entering the woods however, we realized we might never make it: no buildings were in site, paths split off every which way every 10 yards, and it was sweltering. We asked security guards all along the way for the school and each one pointed us in different directions. Marie & I also managed to pick up about 5 lost American families who did not speak Albanian. Now we had responsibilities: we were in charge of getting others to safety. Last but not least, some man had instructed us to walk INTO the woods to get to the school- and after hiking through ravines and stepping over millions of logs we were able to hear music from what HAD to be a party. If only I had known it was going to turn into some sort of Summer Camp 2009 to simply GET to the party, I would have brought my hiking boots, sleeping bag, and tent along for the journey.

Hours later we successfully made it to the festivities, and boy were we greeted upon arrival. Greeted with hamburgers (which do not exist in Albania), hotdogs, potato salad, pasta salad, ice cream, brownies, free spirits, live music, fireworks, sporting events, and yes, EVEN a clown show. Ironically though, I somehow missed the clown show and only ran into a clown that night when I was in the bathroom (and almost had a heart attack). The night was simply amazing up until the point when we finally had to leave. Since it was now dark, hiking through the woods was unsafe, so our only option was the park path, which took 1.5 hours by foot to clear ourselves of the woods. Once we made it back to real life we decided to reward ourselves with some Tirana nightlife, the only nightlife comparable to American standards in the whole country. And, as always, a 30-minute walk back to the hotel awaited us in the end. Who’s planning on giving foot massages tomorrow…anyone?

The Venue: NOT your typical Albanian School.

Me & Marie: proud of FINALLY finding our way to Summer Camp '09!

The Gang- ready to depart on our 1.5 hr walk back to human contact.

Me & Sofie: full of American food and happppyyyy

The lovely FIREWORK display!

High School Graduation- Albania Style. (Matures)

2009-07-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

When my neighbor in my host family village of Bishqem invited me to his high school graduation party, I said “Of course, I’ll be there!” When he told me to bring a nice dress for the occasion, I said “Certainly, no problem!” When I got there, however, I realized I was in for quite the night, and said “Uh oh!”. For some reason or other, I managed to forget that I was in Albania - that things here are always different then they are in the U.S. - but this time, in a good way.

High school graduations in Albania are not done with caps & gowns, nor are they celebrated with family. Instead, they are celebrated in a lokal, or bar, from 8pm at night until approximately 6 in the morning with only classmates and apparently selected dates (i.e.- myself). I wore my nicest dress but failed to realize until we arrived I was at the equivalent of prom. All girls had their hair done complete with 1000 bobby pins and glittery hair spray and were all wearing snazzy high heels. They were also either wearing a full out ball gown or something so tight and slutty it seemed X-rated- either way, I was definitely UNDERdressed. The boys were also dressed nicely with black pants & a white dress shirt or something similar.

We all waited outside until the whole class was accounted for and then the ceremony began. A red carpet was rolled out with rose petals, we lined up 2 by 2, arm in arm, and walked in couple by couple with THEE most intense music blaring (which I can only imagine is their Pomp & Circumstance), 4 video cameras and 3 photographers in our faces, and all of this to be done in true Albanian style- with a straight face. I almost died of laughter walking in, but managed to keep it cool for a grand total of 1 minute in front of the cameras. We were seated at 4 long tables, served a round of beer and pop, Welcomed by the Principal and 2 student speakers, and then the party took off and never looked back. We were served a feast of food throughout the night- at least 10 courses served up until 3am, limitless beer, had video cameras & photographers constantly in our faces, and danced until the sun came up. My favorite part of the night was when some girl willingly karoke’d an Alanis Morissette song. Due to the depressive mood of the song, the DJ decided to speed it up and mix it a little, to which the girl got angry, slammed the microphone down on the table, and stormed off. Everyone was silent for a couple moments but the music started again and the normal party resumed.

We kept this going until about 5:30 in the morning, when most of us crawled out the bar, saw the sun was up and immediately wanted to go to bed. Bledi and I got home around 6am and definitely had an amazing night. And just in case I were to ever forget the moment, myself AND EXCITINGLY the whole neighborhood has their own 2 hour copy DVD of the party to watch for the rest of our lives. Congratulations graduates!
The end of the night on the dance floor.
Me & Bledi at the Grad Party.

Summer Life- and ONLY MEAT.

2009-07-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

Moving apart from the other volunteers still makes me sad. Luckily, there are weekends- a perfect time to travel around the country and visit our long (it has only been 1-8 weeks) lost friends. After settling in, Group 11 threw our group a “Welcome to the Berat Region” party at my house, and we had some good old-fashioned BBQ and a lot of “get-to-know-you” conversations. I realized Berat is a good central region amongst my friends and since I have a mansion for a home it is an especially good meeting spot.

Most of the group reunited for 3 birthdays at the end of June in Durres (the 2nd largest city in Albania and near the beach). It was great seeing everyone and the beach was definitely beautiful- however, I must say that my most favorite part of Durres was our night out for dinner. If I have not previously mentioned, Albanians LIVE for coffee, it’s known as a coffee culture. You literally cannot step two feet without running into a café. Unfortunately, most café’s say “RESTAURANT” on them but FAIL to serve ANY FOOD WHATSOEVER- talk about false advertising. As a result, searching for a restaurant in an unknown town can be quite the challenge. My group finally stumbled upon a restaurant where a friend confirmed with the owner that they DO in fact have mish (meat). So, assuming it is a safe bet, we push together tables and sit down to order. (Other side note: menu’s do not exist). When we ask what they have, the woman says ONLY MEAT. We clearly take this for a joke and ask question after question along these lines: Do you have salad? ONLY MEAT. Do you have rice? ONLY MEAT. Do you have potatoes/fries? ONLY MEAT. ONLY MEAT. ONLY MEAT. Riddle me this: how often do you come upon a place that just serves up a plate of piping hot meat, any way you want it, no side dishes, JUST MEAT? This has GOT to be the only place that would do that- and I’m happy to say that we found it here in Albania. Unfortunately, we did not eat there and the owner understood so she kindly wrote a note in Albanian saying “These are my American friends, take good care of them,” and told us to go to her friend’s restaurant down the street. If you, however, are into the idea of only meat for dinner, come visit and I will know where to take you =) Happy eating!
Tyler grilling up the kebobs! Sofie & Kristine came to visit Berat
Host family giving me a box or two of juice for the bus ride home=)
Raino being escorted to the Durres restaurant while simultaneously being hit up for $$ Some of the bday party crew on the beaches of Durres

And so the work begins...

2009-07-28T09:36:00.000-07:00

Now that I have settled in my home for the next two years, I have started my volunteer work. Let me describe Albanian work in the shortest explanation possible: summer is too hot for work, winter is too cold for work, while fall & spring are JUST RIGHT. Now that you have the Goldilocks explanation, you can understand that we as new volunteers are starting in summer (the too hot period), so beginning work is rather difficult. As mentioned previously, we were all assigned counterparts with whom to collaborate over the upcoming 24 months. My first Monday at site, I set out for my first meeting with my counterpart Dorina with much enthusiasm. After waiting an hour in the office, she finally sent me a text that she was ill from pregnancy and would not be at work for summer. Enthusiasm- crushed. Plan B- full speed ahead. Luckily, I had met people around town during my site visit and had their phone numbers. After a few phone calls I was back in action. Apparently I had met the few people putting in serious work hours over the summer and therefore they were extremely excited about my help.

I am now working every morning with the Bashkia (municipality) where I helped with an ecotourism project. Basically, we trained a group of 30 high school students to be tour guides around the city of Berat. We went on hikes around and outside the city to show them all of the great features the city possessed. Now we are operating a tourism office for the very first summer, and we’re keeping busy updating all hotel information, restaurant hot spots, bus schedules, local hiking trails, information on all monuments in town, and of course updating information on our infamous castle atop the mountain. And although this project is not so health related, there are a couple other volunteers gathering tourism information and we are all working hard together. I am finding myself getting very involved and I think it is the start of something exciting for all of Albania should tourism be a hit for the country- it definitely has a lot of potential.

On the health side of things, I have found myself working at the Residential Center for Development called Une Jam Si Ju (I am like you). The center houses 27 people living with disabilities- mainly because having a disabled child here is still extremely stigmatized. The residents are anywhere from 10-40 years old, and the incredible 29 person staff are probably the most amazing and patient people I have met in Albania to date. I volunteer at the center just hanging out with the kids, they rarely have guests visit and to have someone around is special for them. They are also having an upcoming 15th Anniversary in December and I am working with them to release an informational pamphlet on their services. It is really an incredible site and I am fortunate to be able to work there.

Hopefully come Fall I will start teaching health classes within the schools and work more with my original counterpart. As for the Albanian perspective of work in the Summer… they are right. It is a scorching 100+ here with no escape to AC anywhere and I literally feel like I’m melting at all points of the day. BUT, I still keep on working because being busy is better than feeling miserable from heat all day. Keep cool on your side of the world America!
The ecotourism students on a hike up to St. Michael's Church The Mayor of Berat presenting the students with certificates for completion of training! The Development Center!
Staff and Children of Une Jam Si Ju

The big move...

2009-07-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

As swearing-in came to a close, the 33 of us prepared for the big move to our new homes. And while all of came with 2-3 meticulously packed bags (jamming every possible nook & cranny with something), we also managed to pick up books, papers, a medical kit, and a giant water filter from the Peace Corps. As you can imagine, repacking to move was a nightmare, and to think about trying to load all of my things onto a public bus was scary. Luckily, I have the most amazing host family who offered to drive me 2 hours to my new home of Berat.

The trip was entertaining, as I had to navigate my host dad through the city of Berat, more specifically through a series of one-way roads all the way to my house -where I had only been one time for approximately only 5 minutes. Thank you memory, we made it there safe and sound. After dropping off my things, my family took me to The White House Restaurant and treated to me to a final feast. They also bought me a whole extra pizza to take home for the first nights while I settled in- I am fairly positive they don’t think I can cook anything but pasta. On the way home from lunch, they stopped at a market and bought me groceries. They then proceeded to clean my entire house with me (sweeping and mopping), mainly because they were disgusted with how filthy dirty the place was- and it was….just DISGUSTING. The goodbye was filled with many tears- though it will certainly NOT be the last I see of them.

The first week was spent revamping the house, cleaning it from top to bottom, moving furniture, unpacking, buying new things, and figuring out how to get around my new city. After much hard work, I am very settled into my new home and LOVE my place. I feel very comfortable and live on the outskirts of town in a privately owned building. My landlord lives on the first floor, there is an Italian couple on the 2^nd floor, and I am on the 3^rd. The 4^th is a roof with a beautiful view and a great spot for sunbathing. I also have 2 balconies and a giant front porch with a nice view of the city. I hope you can come visit me one day and see my place for yourselves! Until then, as always, there are pictures.

My new house (I'm on floor 3!)

The view from my front balcony, the front door to my house is behind me.

The gigantic foyer: rooms starting from closest doorway on left & clockwise: storage room, my bedroom, bathroom #1 & then #2, guest bedroom, and on the right cut off in the foto is the door to my living room and kitchen.

My master sweet: I did what I could with it.

The bathroom I shower in: notice it just drains onto the floor.

The bathroom with the toilet and washing machine

The guest bedroom

The living room with my wood stove to keep warm in winter

The kitchen: again, I work with what I've got.

Final BIZNESS in the fshat.

2009-06-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

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?!

Welp, It's Official...

2009-06-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

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.

Bishqem Farewells.

2009-06-15T07:42:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-06-15T07:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

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

A traveling we will go

2009-06-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

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 11^th 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!

Post Practicum Pics

2009-05-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

   View from the top with some lovely purple flowers- how's that for artsy?
   Daryoush and Carrie Ann 1/3 of the way up the mountain trek.
   Me kicking it at the top of the mountain- b.e.a.UTIFUL view

Post Practicum

2009-05-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

In order to celebrate the end of our hard work of Practicum- we decided to hike the highest mountain in Bisqhem. It took us about 1.5 hours to reach the peak, and had the most beautiful view of the surrounding cities in Albania. Enjoy the pictures... and for you Michigan grads... "wherever you go, GO BLUE!"

Practicum Pictures

2009-05-08T07:09:00.000-07:00

Teaching about Breast Cancer in the Health Center

SUCCESSFUL TRASH PICK UP... until they started using it as a weapon!

Tyler and the boys painting the school yard!

Yes, this IS a mountain of trash... lovely right?

Teaching first grade pedestrian safety & playing games outside.

Practicum

2009-05-08T06:53:00.001-07:00

Contrary to popular belief due to the current content of my blog, I AM actually required to do some work during training. This work is also known as "Practicum" and the tasks to be completed are divided by sector, thus the Health Volunteers have different guidelines than Community Development and TEFL Volunteers.

The HE Practicum consisted of multiple class observations in the villages and Elbasan as well as teaching a 1) first grade class 2) seventh grade class 3) community class and 4) completing a community project based on the needs and wants of the village.

I was paired up with Carrie and Ben for my 1st & 7th grade lessons where we taught road/pedestrian safety and drunk driving respectively. The classes we gave were a mix of things- broken Albanian with much help from the HE coordinator, a series of things that worked and things that were unsuccessful, and a huge learning experience. Overall I was pleased with the classes- especially our drunk driving class because I feel that the older kids took a lot of information and will use it in the future. Speaking in Albanian is still very difficult, but I tried my best and I think they understood me for the most part.

For our community practicum, all 5 of us worked together to make a health information bulletin board for the new health center in Bishqem and give a lesson on Breast Cancer. The session went crazy, and we ended up fielding a million questions from the nurses themselves!

Last but not least we completed our community practicum yesterday. We went for a "School Beautification" approach, but the director of the school in very uncooperative at times, so I'm pleased to announce it all came together okay. We divided the kids into 3 groups: one played a game about the environment, one painted the school, and the other picked up trash. At the end of it all, we were trying to take a picture of the kids with all the trash bags (we DID get one quick one) before they started BEATING each other with the trash bags, they ripped open, and the trash we all picked up went flying. Things got out of control for a short while, but we never could have seen that coming, so I just have to laugh about it.

Yes, success.... still learning a lot over here, still learning the language, still shocked I've completed 7.5 weeks, and so very excited to go meet my future work counterpart and see Berat next week. Until then... I hope to hear from all of you very soon!

Fotos

2009-05-08T06:43:00.000-07:00

Group field trip to Kruja to the Skanderbej Museum

On the beach in Durres with my teachers Entela (L) & Suzana (R)

Yes, an Albanian monument located in Rochester Hills, MI!

Brett, Me, & Lindsay on top of the Castle in Kruja

The castle and the surrounding mountains in Kruja- beautiful!

The Bread of Life

2009-05-08T05:22:00.001-07:00

Since so many of you have been asking me about It, I think it’s time for a brief look into the Albanian food & diet. Since I live out in a village- almost every household has their own field in which they mainly grow lemons, oranges, grapes, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, and of course olives. The women mostly tend to fields during the day and use the “in season” crop in meals every day- it’s actually really impressive how self-sufficient they are here, and yes, their fruits and veggies are extremely fresh and delicious and I eat them every day!

My host mom, again following along the patterns of my previous host mothers abroad, is a wonderful cook, and serves me a wide variety of food. One of the classic dinners I get is a tomato-based soup almost always served with “mish baby cow” as my family jokes about which, you guessed it, is veal. They LOVE veal and it’s usually the only meat we eat. Every once in a while, they make the slit across the neck motion and I’m served chicken for a couple days to follow.

On special occasions (especially when I am invited to other peoples houses for dinner or guests come over) I am served a “meza” which is a plate consisting of a meat (lamb, chicken, pork, or fish), a salad of cucumbers and tomatoes, cheese, French fries, olives, and byrek. Byrek is an amazing creation of light flaky dough, stuffed with cheese and spinach, and brushed with egg to make it kind of flaky. Side note: the CHEESE HERE IS AMAZING! Other side note: since olives are a huge hit here everything is made with olive oil… sometimes a LOT of olive oil, though my host family is good about holding back on the oil.

Albanians love to share their food. Most meals, the salad and “tarator” – a homemade yogurt with garlic and cucumbers mixed in (I LOVE THIS), are placed in giant community bowls in the middle of the table and everyone digs in with their own spoons. It’s definitely different, but it doesn’t even phase me anymore.

Oh top of everything I must tell you that they love bread- plain old white sliced bread. The family eats at least 3 pieces of bread each per meal and they find it really weird I barely eat any. In fact, the word for bread and they word for food are both the same, buke, literally meaning bread. Thus, they consider bread a staple food, clearly an idea still holding strong in the post-communist society of Albania.

Some More Photos!

2009-04-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

The Pajove & Bishqem groups & professors at the Culture Day Celebration last Saturday

my host family at the cultural day exchange

Me & Tyler after site placements with the crew

Daryoush, Sofie, & Brett after site placements

The map of Albania with all of our pictures on placement day: Im in the s.central pink area!

These are the yummy typical Albania sandwiches called SUFFLAQE. Addicting...seriously!

My host mom preparing dinner for the night- tomato based soup with veal & potatoes

Kristine, Leslie, Me, & Alex hanging out on the beach during our visit to Lezhe

Carpet Cleaning

2009-04-24T05:20:00.002-07:00

I spent last Sunday helping my family clean, or should I say I spent the day WATCHING them clean. Let me tell you- my host family members are professional cleaners- NO JOKE, and I thought I should share this with all of you!

The houses are made of concrete with cement or tile floors in Albania, but every house I’ve been to is also full of gigantic rugs. Naturally, while cleaning my bedroom I swept with a broom, mopped, and called it “clean.” My host mother on the other hand, insisted on removing the gigantic area rug to clean. Instead of arguing with her, I let them roll of the rug and shake it over the balcony. Again, thinking it was “clean,” I started rolling up the rug to take back to my room. They kept yelling “no” and then proceeded to get down on their knees and sweep the rug with a wide array of tiny brooms. The broom series is comparable to how you would use sand paper- start with the large grains and progress to finer sand paper step by step. The last broom in the set looked like a tiny scrub brush, and you would NOT BELIEVE the amount of dirt that came out of that rug after one month. They also managed to pick up a lot of my hair, which then made them concerned that I was losing too much hair and I was sick. I convinced them I was okay and we eventually put the ACTUALLY clean rug back into my room. All I have to say is that I am very thankful for vacuums, and I am still impressed with how good they are at cleaning rugs!

Learning Albanian/Shqip

2009-04-24T05:20:00.001-07:00

Almost every second of every day I’m THRILLED the Peace Corps sent me to Albania. The few “off” seconds I have here are when I think “Why didn’t they send me to Latin America, I ALREADY speak SPANISH?!?!” Those “off” seconds mostly come during my own frustration with the language. Don’t get me wrong, the Peace Corps language training is FANTASTIC- they really put a lot of effort into maximum learning and teaching for every learning style every day, but learning Albanian is HARD!

Six days of the week, I have 5 hours of class. I have two different teachers that switch off every other day. Luckily I live with only 3 other site mates right now, so the 4 of us get pretty individualized lessons. The Albanian language has 36 letters, and though the language is very phonetic, I have difficulty pronouncing the letters that don’t exist in English like the Albanian “ë” or “y” (e.g. dy (or 2) is pronounced like deux, but my mouth cannot change shapes to make that sound!) I also find myself constantly pronouncing words incorrectly, which means the meaning of the word changed, and usually it changed to something inappropriate and my host family laughs hysterically.

On the up note, I think I am doing well after 5 weeks in Albania. Two weeks ago we did a sort of scavenger hunt in small groups with the teachers around Elbasan as a test…and I did well according to the feedback! I guess after learning Spanish I know how learn the fastest, and it’s really just talking to as many people as possible. Normally I spend the afternoons and evenings talking to the little neighbor boys and shop owners. They understand me for the most part, and I am getting really good at understand what they are saying (which I think is my strong point). You can check out bbc Albania and watch a news video if you want to hear it for yourself. Better yet, plan a trip over here to visit and you can experience the language first hand. Hopefully I’ll be better by the time you come and you’ll be oh so proud!

The City of 1,000 Windows

2009-04-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

Friday was torture. The Peace Corps staff waited until the very last second of our training day to give us our site placements for the next two years. At 4:00pm, the 3 technical heads stood at the front of our conference room waiting to give us our assignments. After what seemed like the longest announcement of my life, Darina- the health coordinator, gave each of us a large white envelope full of info about our site and also a picture of ourselves. After finding out where we were going, we all taped our pictures to a giant map of Albania so we could visualize where we were going to be.

Me, personally.... I'm going to..... BERAT!!!!! (and I'm SOOO very excited about it!)
Feel free to google it or check out the 2 pictures I have of the city so far. Berat is located in Central Southern Albania and is a fairly large town with a population of 65,000. It is well known for the castle (see picture) and for the name - city of 1000 windows (see picture again). I'll be replacing a volunteer from group 10 who leaves in June when I move to my new home. I will NOT be with anyone else from my group (#12), but there is currently a TEFL Volunteer there from Group 11 (she's been there for a year). I do have a lot of friends in my group close by, so I'm okay with being somewhat alone. In 4 weeks, I will meet my Albanian counterpart...the person I will work with on projects for the next two years. She is from Berat and works for the Public Health Institute in the city. After a 2 day conference with her, I will go visit my site for 4 days and get to know the town, MAYBE see my future apartment, and get to meet some people!!
I think everyone was fairly content with their placements and I'm am ecstatic. GOOGLE BERAT... It is BEAUTIFUL! (This means you should all attempt to come visit me soon!)
More soon!
love, Kate

Pic of the 1000 windows from the top of the mountain

The Castle in Berat!

PCV Vistit To Lezha!

2009-04-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

The first weekend in April we were paired up with a current volunteer (NOTE: I am a "TRAINEE" or PCT until swear-in in June... then I become a "VOLUNTEER" or PCV). So, they chose a volunteer and a city for each one of us and off we went around the entire country of Albania. For four days we got to check out their lives and see how they have managed to make it through their first year. I was sent to Lezha... close to the most northern beach on the west coast. I went with 3 other volunteers in my group but they stayed with other current PCV's. Overall the trip was WELL WORTH IT. I lucked out and had an awesome hostess (Bethany), who showed me around, introduced me to all the people she works with, and gave me a pretty great idea of her life as a volunteer. On that note: I find out FRIDAY where I'll be living come June, so stay tuned for my new home announcement!!

YES and NO

2009-04-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting little fact about the Albanian YES and NO:
YES = PO and NO = JO (pronounced YO)
As if the rhyming factor didn't make it hard enough to keep the two straight in my head, I still cannot rely on shaking my head in the normal way we Americans do. Instead, by shaking my head no, I am ACTUALLY saying yes in Albanian. I am still confused by this every day because it is pretty hard to break a habit you've had for 24 years. Moral of the story, head shaking to designate yes or no is NOT a universal language. =)

FINALLY some pictures!

2009-04-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

The socks for around the house my sis in law knitted for me... how pretty!

The bedroom of my current residence

Daryoush, Carrie Ann, Me, & Tyler- sitemates

In case you weren't paying attention to the news... Albania was welcomed into NATO on

Saturday April 4th, and it is kind of a BIG deal!

Sitemates with our teacher Suzana during a quick break

Me with Gjushe (gma), Leta (sis in law), and Dashi (host mom)

Luli my host dad and I

Dyli, me, and Ueda (host bro & sis)

leta, me, and host mom

my house! (carrie ann is on the porch)

A brief look into Albanian Health Care

2009-04-05T14:36:00.001-07:00

My first three months in Albania are dedicated to training: culture, history, language, and sector specified training. And as most of you know, I'm here in Albania serving as health volunteer, so my Health Sector training is to become slowly but surely acquainted with the current health care system in Albania. Personally, I found the system extremely intriguing and decided to share some facts with you if you are also interested...

Albania was under communist rule until 1991, and under this regime the health care system was nearly faultless. However, within the last 18 years, between the recovery from communism, a drug looting scandal in 1997, and the Kosovo Crisis of '98-'99, a serious toll was taken on the health care system. One-fourth of city health care centers and 2/3 of village health care centers were destroyed and up to 30% of medical staff abandoned there posts. To this day, it's hard to keep doctors and nurses in the country to serve when Greece and Italy are so close and offer much higher salaries.

Albania does have a current health insurance program in effect for nation, where people pay 6% of their income to register with a primary care doctor and receive all services for free with a small co-pay for some medications. Unfortunately, the amount of corruption within this system surpasses the health insurance, and most people who pay do NOT receive the care they are promised, especially those in smaller villages. Most health care is paid from the pockets of the people, and there are unfortunately no NGO's or charities to help people who cannot afford care.

STATS: Inf. Mortality: 28/1000 live births and increasing, Maternal Mortality: 55/10,000 live births. Leading causes of death include 1) Cardiovascular 2)Trauma 3)Malig. Disease and 4)Respiratory Disease.

In general, I feel that it is almost unbelievable I'm living in a post-communist society. As much as I've read, learned, and know about Communism, seeing the effects first hand are pretty incredible though hard to wrap my head around and come to terms with living here. I'll be keeping you updated with more about this as I start getting my foot in the door of the health care system here in Albania. Enjoy =)

Group Picture!

2009-04-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

This is a group picture upon arrival in Albania... after our 10 hour flight and a couple of long days

End of Week 1

2009-03-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

C'kemi? (What's up? How are you?)

I've successfully made it through week 1 in Albania, and I already feel like I've been here for ages and ages. That's a good thing right? I guess I mean to say that I already feel right at home. The week was full of language class after language class after language class... it's really great though because Albanian is a pretty hard language to pick up on and is only possible to learn with extreme repetition. Miraculously, I somehow made it through the week with few struggles. My family is awesome because they understand me/I understand them, and I suppose it's safe to say that we're all pretty darn good at charades. My loving family DOES give me a false sense of hope though... constantly telling me how much language I know, only to be shot down by the neighbor lady who comes over daily and says... HA she only speaks a LITTLE... a LITTLE Albanian. Whatever, this coming from the lady who thinks we speak Spanish in America and the flight from the US was only 2 hours. HA.

Don't get me wrong though, there are definitely numerous misunderstandings, but I know to keep laughing at myself and shake it off. One day after class we went to a restaurant and literally sat there for 20 minutes trying to figure out how to ask for a menu or some sort of lunch service. We finally resorted to saying BUKE BUKE (food) and motioning by shoving food into our mouths. They finally got the idea and we felt pretty stupid. On the upside, my bargaining skills haven't faltered (even in Albanian which I barely speak). I had to barter with the furgon (bus) driver who tried to rip us off two times this week and I finally won both times and got all of my money back I was owed. (Two times a week the group as a whole meets up in Elbasan for various training sessions...T & F...and we go into the city by little buses called Furgons. The ride is only supposed to cost only 100 leke and they always ask for 150. I just kept yelling theamount of money he owed me and he finally buckled and handed it over.)

The family is still great but we've added a sister-in-law Leta into the mix since I last wrote. She's 25 and her husband (host dads brother) is working in Greece. I know my dad might sound like this total wierdo, but he's really not, he's very protective but in a good way. He knows everyone between the two towns I live in (he's EVERYONE's personal accountant) and is even paying for my internet use today because he knows the owner. They have fed me pretty big feasts too. I eat a hardboiled egg and fruit and crackers every morning, we usually eat lunch out in the town, and have pretty big dinners with meat, salad, tomatos, cucumbers, yogurt, bread, rice, and fruit every night. They also serve me Coke at every meal, so the whole giving up pop for the New Year isn't really in effect here for the next 3 months. Oh well.

As for the weather, it's soo cold here and kind of rainy. I haven't taken off my coat since I've been here until TODAY. The houses are NOT insulated, and my room is freezing all the time, so I stay in front of the heater in the family room until bed time. Today is really beautiful though, and I'm finally wearing jeans and a tshirt!

Next Sunday I'll be going to Lezha for 2 days to stay with a peace corps volunteer who has been here for a year already. It's kinda like a sneek preview into life once I'm officially sworn in as a volunteer in June. I'm really excited to go! We also have been making connections with important people in town... doctors, nurses, and teachers that we will have to collaborate with in the future for our projects during the 3 training months. We have a LOT of work to do, so hopefully I find time to get it done.

The wierdest part of Albania is that I feel like I'm snapped back into part of history in the US where women don't have any rights. No Albanian women go out to the bars, they always cook the meals and clean, they always stay in the house, it's just so wierd I can barely believe it.

Side note: we frequently watch TV in the house, and the family loves Spanish telenovelas, so hopefully I don't lose my Spanish while I'm here...kinda cool huh? Also, I got trapped into watching 8 hours of wedding video footage of all the women in my family yesterday. Basically someone took personal film footage and added some ghetto graphics to it all BAM, your wedding captured on tape! They also have a version of SNL here called Portokalli that's on Sunday, so Sunday Night Live if you will, and it's really very funny the parts I can understand so we watch that a lot too. They also have a version of Big Brother that is huge here and we all watch Saturday night together. Plus, they have this ridiculous ghetto version of Deal or No Deal Albania which they have reg. people opening the "cases" made outta a shoebox and tied with a string. So far, 3 people have miraculously had the 10000 Euros in the case but didn't play it out. HAHA, convenient eh? Well, yea, if you haven't guessed we watch a TON of tv here, but that tis the life.

Miss you all, email me soon! Love, Kate

Host Family!

2009-03-23T06:25:00.000-07:00

Miredita Shok!

I moved in with the host family on Saturday afternoon... the group of 34 split ways in 6 little buses and one by one we got dropped off at our houses. Carrie Ann was the first to go, but I was the second, and I live just down a little hill from her, so the two of us are close and we THINK our families are somehow related but cannot possibly understand how yet. My house is beautiful! It's a gated 2 story house, but the 2nd level is still under construction. There is a bathroom, 3 bedrooms on the first floor (one is mine), and a family room. The down part is that the house is a total ICEBOX... I mean FREEZING... I want to die when I wake up every morning. The family room has a gas heater though, so I pretty much am there at all hours of the day. Also, because I'm the guest they point the heater right at me...yay! (downside: they sometimes put it 2 inches from my legs and it burns me, and i have to tell them with actions...like I'm playing charades)!

My family here on the upside is absolutely hilarious and I love them already. My grandmother told me upon entering I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU repeatedly... it was very welcoming and lightened the mood. They showered me with compliments saying I was very very beautiful all weekend long. Everything I own is beautiful too apparently. Let me fill you in on the most random custom: they unpack your bags for you! They go through everything you own and try on clothes, shoes, jewelry, EVERYTHING... it was hilarious...and extremely awkward!

My host father is sooo funny. I have not stopped laughing when he is around the whole weekend and my cheeks hurt really bad! He took me out to coffee bars two times yesterday where I was the only girl in the bar (very common), and drove me all over town in his BENZ, basically the only car they have here. In the house he makes jokes with me and quizzes me on every object in the room. I slowly but surely am learning the language Shqip (pronounced SHIP), and the family is really impressed with how much I can understand. Some overwhelming urge in my body makes me think I should speak Spanish though too which is sometimes problematic. I guess I just think, foreign country, don't speak English, and I fall back onto Spanish as a backup... sorta funny!

As for food since a lot of you asked...everything is delicious. I feel like I'm eating way too much here. They served me soup with meat in it both days for dinner so far, a hardboiled egg & fruit for breakfasts, and an egg & cheese for lunch yesterday. At every meal, they put a community bowl of salad, olives, or yogurt in the middle of the table and you eat straight from the bowl together! We also have chickens on the premises which they informed me would be killed (motioned by finger slitting the neck) Wednesday, so we'll see. We also have a turkey, who knows when that goes?!

The people in my village are all very nice- I cannot wait to get to know them. Our project for Peace Corps is making contacts and mapping our community- we're going to do it all right now. We just had language class and ate a delicious pita full of meat, lettuce, tomato, onions, mayo & salsa, and FRENCH FRIES...ON THE SANDWICH...and it was delicious too!

Can't wait for more emails from you guys... they were soo nice and great to hear from you!

Bon Voyage

2009-03-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I applied to the Peace Corps about a year ago. And after what seems like an eternity, they finally offered me a position…in ALBANIA, and I leave tomorrow! If you're shocked about the location, I am too. I did preference a Spanish speaking country, but the position offered was in Albania, and I have to admit I am extremely excited about it!

For those of you who do not know, Albania is located in Eastern Europe on the Balkan Peninsula bordering Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro... as well as the Adriatic/Ionian Seas.

As for the more detailed information, I really will not know much more until I get there. I know that I am going with a group of 37 volunteers and we will all serve our first three months together around the city of Elbasan. These three months will consist of various types of training including language classes (they speak Albanian, and no, I do not know any). After the training period, we will be matched with a specific job, move to our sites, and serve the remaining two years as a volunteer. I will be volunteering within the Health/Medicine/Education realm, but I won't know more specifics until later.

Above all else, get ready- you are about to indulge yourself in yet another one of my travel blogs. I have set this up for those who care to know what I am doing and keep in touch over the next 27 months. If you've read my other blogs you know they can be long, so read at your own risk or just check in to see occasional photos. And as always, comments and emails are more than welcome from all of you!