Kate's in Albania: 2009

Sunday, December 20, 2009

HAUNTED HALLOWEEN 09.

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!

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

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

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

Sunday, September 20, 2009

ÇOBO KANTINA

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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?