A good week!

I wrote this on July, 14 2009

I have the best job in the world, granted I poop/shower over a glorified hole, wash my clothes in the same bucket I use to flush my toilet, don’t speak the language very well, and live on the 5^th floor of a building that may crumble at the slightest tectonic plate shift…I couldn’t be happier! Of course there are plenty of days when I just want to go home, play with knuckles, hang out with family and some friends, look Sarah in her eyes, and just not be in Albania…but today was one of those days that makes “service” worthwhile.

Today was fantastic. No, this entire week was fantastic. The 3 goals stated in the Peace Corps act are; to help the people of interested countries in meeting their needs for trained men and women, to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served, and to help promoted a better understanding of other peoples on the part of all Americans. Any of these goals that are achieved are considered work for me, that’s right, if I just be myself around Albanians and write home with stories of my day to day, that is considered a commendable days work. I personally believe that I am doing a prodigious job at the latter two objectives. Sure I do not do work much at the actual agency (Bashkia Rubik) I am assigned to (currently, my mayor says I will have more work than I know what to do with come September), but it is also summer time in Albania and few Shqiptares do any work either! Did I mention I had a good week!

I guess I will start with the beginning of my week even though today was probable the best day I have had (skip ahead if you are so busy you just cannot stand to read my ridiculously in depth description of how I spend my time)

Wednesday is basically when my week started. I had a meeting in Tirana for a project I some of us in the north are helping with in association with World Vision, UNV, Vodafone, and the winner of big brother Albania (how exciting, a Shqiptare celebrity, kidding of course.) After the meeting I went to Fruse Kuja with Alex because her host family (she is one of two PCV who live with a host family because she had some problems with her first land lord 1 week into service) had invited us to go to the beach near Lezhe and I would never miss an opportunity for a free ride to the beach. Alex somehow has the luck to attach herself to excellent families. Her new host mother housed a PCV two years ago and spent 6months in England so she speaks some English. She is probably the most progressive Albanian I have ever met. She and her husband are like a teenage couple, they have been married for 20 years. This is extremely unusual in Albania, members of her community tell her that she has “shume torpe” (a lot of shame) because she holds her husband’s hand and kisses him in public, not in a gross way, but shit they are married. They don’t care and relish at the chance to hang out with Americans. I had a great time just hanging out at the beach and taking in the scenery. We went to a beach that is outside of a small village so it was basically undeveloped. Sitting there on the beach, drinking a beer and eating a nectarine, Alex and I couldn’t help but laugh about the fact that we signed up for Peace Corps in order to suffer a little bit, and here we were sitting on an awesome beach on the Adriatic Sea, what a great job!! Like I have said before things are not exactly easy here, we are thousands of miles from home in a strange country with broken infrastructure and a culture drastically different than our own. My point is that, I guess I expected something different.

Sunday of that week, I was invited by the summer camp that is conducted at the culture center in front of my house to attend a field trip, to help. The field trip was to a village close by that has an artificial lake that is made possible by a communist era 1957 damn. I don’t have many details on this day, but it was great. I hung out with about 18 15year old kids playing games and swimming in the lake. Stephanie (my site mate) and I introduced the group to peanut butter, which had mixed reactions. The kids are probably the best in my town and deserved some R&R since they had been helping with the younger kids at the camp, all of them speak some English and it was great to get a chance to hang out with some really good kids. Of course most of them are girls because the boys here (quna) are treated like princes and for the most part are little bastards. In any event I think we recruited some participants for our Outdoor Ambassadors club and maybe even for my youth volunteer group. Yes, hanging out with good kids at a beautiful lake playing games and swimming in a lake counted as work for me!

I am currently fixing a Shqiptares computer and that is as frustrating as dealing with French people (I like most French people but they are not very nice to foreigners, something that many people in America are starting to adapt, so the writing in this may be shit.

Today was great. I had the choice of either going to Tirana (the capital city) where a fellow PCV and I had two meetings; one with a professor of Geographical Information Sciences/Systems and another with a minister in the national government about a project that was started by a now COSed (close of service) PCV who started an adventure tourism project that maps hiking tours throughout Albania using GPS and GIS software. The project is Paul’s baby, but now that he is no longer a PCV it has been left in the capable hands of Tauschia and myself (along with a few supporting PCV actors). Not to bore anyone too much, but the project in a nutshell is; we search out and take a GPS on various uncharted trails throughout the Albanian countryside that conclude at a destination (a castle, ruin, city/village, something of aesthetic/historic/cultural significance, etc.), process the data into a usable GPS trail with points of interest (water sources, views, homes of people we met, places to sleep/camp, etc.), write a description of the trail and post it on the project website for use (www.bunkertrails.org). Not to toot any type of horn but this is not easy, the best maps of Albania are hard to get and come from either the military or more likely the USSR. We work by word of mouth from local people and garner information from other PCVs in their respective sites. We are currently applying for PC committee status which would greatly improve the effectiveness of the project because we would be able to capitalize on PC committee funds, less restrictions on time we spend out of site, PC support, and the ability to better improve the capacity of Albanian counterparts who are involved in the project. Well, I just got a little excited about the topic but back to the point. I was going to attend these meetings with Tauschia because I am the GIS technician/treasurer for the committee, but I had some site specific work. This was abnormal, the one day that I really want to be involved in something I can’t because this is one of two days (in a month of service) that my host agency actually has some work they need my help on.

Alright, so I didn’t get to go to Tirana and promote the project. Instead I had probably the best day thus far in Albania. I had goal 2 covered no problem today and this entry counts as goal 3, so in my opinion I have worked genuinely hard today. Having said that wait tell you hear what “work” consisted of. I woke this morning at 5:45 (I thought my counterpart had said we would meet at 6:30 but he actually said 7:30, I get the two confused, damn this language) and went to a café where I would wait and we would eventually meet. We were driven to a nearby village by an employee of the Bashkia in order to collect information for a tourist brochure (and verify possible locations for a tourism promotion day, “Rubiku Touristik 2009”) that the Bashkia is putting together with financial backing from the French Embassy (I think the French at least). I am apparently a photography and tourism expert in terms of Albanian city government so I was the authoritative figure on the trip, don’t really know what the other people on the trip were saying but when I said, “wait, this is a good spot for a picture,” or “write this down as a point of interest, westerners will love it,” they listened, a perplexed look was given because most of the time no people were in the picture, but who wants to look at a picture of a natural scene with some bloke in the way of the view. I am not an artist so if by chance anyone actually reads this blog, has some artistic knowhow, and wants to help a LDC (Less Developed Country) let me know and I will send you the pictures or the website address I am creating and you can give me some “constructive criticism.” The village is gorgeous. The area is tucked in the mountains (coming from Arizona I would consider them hills) behind Rubik which have a “clean, fresh feel, vaguely reminiscent of sheets lifted from a tumble dry,” (taken from a description of an unrelated area in Europe by Bill Bryson, but it is what I thought of instantly when I first drove into Katundi i vjeter.) As we drove through the village, I would instruct the driver to stop periodically in order to take photos of a church or a collection of homes that stood out. The goal was to collect pictures of the area and visit homes of families who had expressed interest in housing tourists who would like to visit, a way to boost the economy and attract guests to the hospitable country. Our first stop was at the home of a family which housed three generations. The property was fairly large which matched the number of its inhabitants. We were treated in true Albanian cordial fashion with coffee and raki. After a period of wandering around the property taking pictures of the various subsistence activities that were taking place, the oldest of the children in the household guided us on a hike to a plain on the top of the mountain behind his house. Keep in mind I am basically just along for the ride, I had no idea what the day had in store for me because I have an incredible time understanding my counterpart, or anyone else in Rubik for that matter (they speak a dialect in this portion of the north that people in the south can’t even understand.) We walked along a breathtaking path for about thirty minutes and soon arrived at the top, here lay an amazing plain where I could see Lezhe and Shingjin in the distance. Those are coastal citites, I had no idea I was going to be able to see the firkin beach from up there. I sat in utter aw for some time and took about 50 pictures, none of which did the site justice (I had heard of a goat trail that connected the village with Lezhe but I never realized it would be so…beautiful. We were then guided down a separate trail that led to the opposite end of the family’s property; I was surprised that this was even more of a fantastic hike. The trail led beside the family’s water source, a small creek which fed a man made reservoir. When we arrived back at their home, we were led into the back room, a modest living room with sporadic seating, a couch and a coffee table. The table was strewn with various fares that were all produced on the property. The items included the typical Albanian items, all which are fresh as can be; tomatoes, cucumber, djathe e bardhe (a white cheese that slightly resembles feta), pork, beef, garlic, pickled peppers, cabbage and onion, and of course raki (made from grapes). Unbeknownst to me, we had other places to visit and Sander (my counterpart) soon pulled me away from the feast where we said our goodbyes and were escorted back down the hill in the owners 4X4 SUV. Before I left America there was a lot of talk throughout the country and in the media about fears that America would eventually (if not already) be taken over by China, India or rising powers in South America. I am by no means an authority on the topic, but as I rode alongside this simple yet incredibly happy villager in his Ford Maverick, listening to Queen on his stereo, watching him smoke countless Winston cigarettes and taking a look at the massive scare from his triple bypass surgery done at an American hospital in Tirana, I couldn’t have been more proud to be an American. This happens to me fairly often, in daily conversation or meetings on the streets people from this post communist country who have been subjugated to many hardships, dream of life in America. No place is perfect but I am incredibly lucky to have been born where I was born and anyone back in America who thinks that the country is on a downward slope or even ashamed to go abroad and tell people you are American; travel to a LDC anywhere in the world, spend three weeks living with its people, and I guarantee you will come back with greater pride and constructive attitudes about change in the country instead of just complaining.

The next three stops were at various homes where we met the owners, their families and took pictures. The last stop of the day was at a house that must have been built before the communist era. I say this because it was actually insulated and sturdy. The property had a creek that ran through the front yard with water so cold and clean, I thought I was in a different place. The day had been extremely hot and I had drank lots of raki (wouldn’t want to be rude to hospitable people of course) so I asked for some water. I usually don’t drink much of the water straight from the tap here in Albania but I was up in the mountains, it tasted great (like mountain spring water from a bottle), and I just couldn’t help myself. Then I realized that there is no sewage system up in these mountains and the water comes from various wells in the area…I will probably have giardia, great. Anyways, I was introduced to the grandma of the house who told me I reminded her of her grandchildren who all work abroad as laborers. As we sat at a table outside and sipped on raki (this time made from Thane berries) I couldn’t help but wonder at the scenery. I guess I kind of slipped into a daydream because the next thing I know there was an incredible amount of food placed out on the table (I counted ten plates heaped with food, for only three men and me). I will add a picture. After that meal I could barely move and Sander and I decided it was time to head back to Rubik and take a nap.

When I arrived back in Rubik, the parnari (owner) of the duqan (small market) came running out after me and requested that I fix her computer which had shut down due to viruses she had acquired in who knows what manner since they don’t have internet available. This has so far taken me a solid three hours, but who else would do it, for free? So that is where I am now…Naten i mirё!

End of PST and my Permanent site

Gositme, Donkey Cart

U.S. Ambassador to Albania, Swearing in ceremony

Girl in Gostime

Swearing in ceremony

Celebrating swearing in at Locale with owner

Swimming in Gostime, girls don't exactly go swimming with boys...

Milking a cow

Shkoder volunteer visit, Rozafa Castle

So PST had its ups and downs but for the most part it was a great experience and we were kept busy the entire time, really busy. We were sworn in as official Peace Corps volunteers at the end of may and moved to our permanent sites on May 28th, 2009. The swearing in ceremony was a huge relief and it meant that i would no longer have to live with the restrictions of PST; no more host family, constant reporting on where i was or was going, and no more scheduling decisions made for me. My permanent site is Rubik, which is in the north central portion of Albania. The first two weeks of my service were spent with the volunteer that i would be replacing, which is uncommon the current volunteer usually leaves before the replacement arrives or the new volunteer is moving to a brand new site. I thought that spending these two weeks with a PCV who had lived there for two years prior was great. My shqip is not exactly great and he introduced me to the community and my new workplace. Rubik is a small municipality of 10,000 people which includes the 11 villages the Bashkia (city hall) serves. The town of Rubik is only about 1700 people but is located on the national highway to Kukes/Kosovo. I live in a small communist bloc apartment overlooking the river fan and the national highway, a.k.a. Rubik's main road. The apartment is not bad although i dont have many of the luxuries that are commonplace for Albanian apartments. I have a Turkish toilet, no washing machine, a small balcony, a tiny kitchen, and a bed made from what appears to be a chain link fence. I really cannot complain, when i applied to be a PCV i never thought that i would live in such a place. I pictured a hut somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Service in Eastern Europe is very different, i wouldn't think easier, than service in other parts of the world. There is about two people in my town that speak English and the rest speak a dialect of shqip that is extremely difficult to understand and is even unrecognizable by Albanians in the south. My shqip was not good in any respect after PST but i am trying, slow going but i am trying. We were told time and time again during PST that the first few months (1-9 months) would be extremely hard and slow. Albanians work in a relationship based business environment and with little knowledge of the language it is hard to get any type of work started. My counterpart and the mayor say that i must first learn the language and then, in September, they will have more work for me to do than i will be able to handle. That would be great because as of right now i feel utterly useless. I spend most of my time reading and trying to learn the language with my tutor, which is very difficult since teachers in Albania rather you memorize and regurgitate than actually learn. I have found that with this lack of work i have the time to travel and enjoy the country. Most weekends i spend out of my site with other PCVs who also have little work to speak of. So far i have traveled to beaches in Vlore and Durres,and the cities of Lushnje and Lezhe. I have had some work but it is slow in progress and takes little time overall. Rubik is currently working on a foreign language computer lab for the elementary school that i helped in witting a budget/proposal for and will implement if we get the funding. I am also helping in a youth volunteerism project through the United Nations and World Vision which will work to encourage volunteering in Albania's northern youth (ages 15-25). The project will assist several groups to develop and implement community projects in their respective regions. I hope this project is a success because if we can change the perception of giving back to the community among the youth in Albania it would be a huge accomplishment in my opinion. During communist times, less than 20 years ago, people of all ages were required to work on state run projects like planting trees or building roads/buildings and the state called this "volunteering" so the word has an extremely negative connotation. People here believe that it is up to the state to do anything about the problems they encounter like dirty streets, dilapidated schools, assistance of the elderly or disabled, misguided youth, etc. With this project we hope to inspire a new generation who's only negative experiences of volunteering are told to them by there parents. We are in the beginning stages and have only held preliminary meetings with organizers but are in the process of creating a local television advertisement and will hold our first meetings with the youth the week after next. Other projects i am involved with are pending and i don't want to jinx them by talking about it. Life here as a new volunteer is relatively good, although there are many difficulties and every day is a challenge. I don't really think anyone besides close friends and family will read this blog but if you do and want any additional information feel free to contact me. Internet for Bashkia employees is readily available so i can be contacted easily, unlike some parts and sectors of the country. Naten.

A little behind

I haven't been too good at updating this thing, it has been about three months. Well what has been going on? I am now an official Peace Corps volunteer and successfully got through Pre-Service Training (PST). I now live in Rubik, Albania which is in Mirdita, the central north. PST was extremely busy, frustrating, exciting, and intense. I had classes 6 days a week for language, technical training in community and organization development, culture and government/politics. I was placed in a host family for the three months of PST in a small village outside of the city of Elbasan which is the third/fourth largest city in Albania. Twice a week during PST, all the 33 trainees in my group would travel to Elbasan where we would be briefed on Peace Corps safety/security, rules/regulations, Albanian culture/language, and sector specific technical training. The other four days of the week we would stay in our training sites and receive training in a local school with our respective training groups which consisted of 5-6 other trainees. My particular group consisted of three women, one guy, and myself; Connie, a 59 year old woman who most recently worked for OSHA in Oregon, Alex, a 23 year old international marketing graduate from Boston, Rachel, a 23 year old theatre management graduate from Virginia and Seth, a 23 year old international studies graduate from New Jersey. During PST my site mates and I became extremely close. In PST, due to the reality that everyone is going through the same difficult process people either grow close are grow to hate each other, I am really glad the latter didn't happen to us. I don't want to go into detail about everything that happened during PST because I have already sent out detailed e-mails to family and friends of my experiences but for the sake of goals two and three in the Peace Corps act I will mention the highlights. My favorite parts of PST consisted of milking a cow, traveling to Shkoder and Kruja, the Trainee camping trip, our community project and countless funny stories about my less than great host family. Part of PST in Albania is to develop and implement a community project within the 10 week period as practice for what work as a PCV (peace corps volunteer, there are all kinds of acronyms in US government work) will be like. Our community project was to teach a series of typing classes at the local high school along with weekly community youth events that consisted of fun games on the weekends and culminated in a scavenger hunt/dance party (Albanians love dance parties). We also had to write a PDM (Project Design Management proposal for the project and present it to a panel as training. My training site's project went particularly well and i would say it was the best project in our training group (our host village was Gostimё by the way). As for host family life mine was especially different, compared to the other 33 members of my group. I lived in an even smaller village than Gostimё (shtepanj) which was about a 30min walk to Gostimё but lived next door to Alex who i really got to know and am now close friends with which was lucky. My family consisted of a Father, who was 62 and spent most of my stay in Greece as a worker, a Mother, who did all of the house/farm work, a host sister (Lola), who was a 40 year old business owner in Gostimё, and a host brother (Luli), who was a 25 year old recently engaged dude who didnt do much of anything (except creep Alex out a little bit). There are many unusual things my host family did but i will only go into the really good ones. My host mother on the third day i was living with them decided to make soup for dinner (we actually had soup every night for dinner and sometimes the same soup the next day for breakfast) with a chicken from their property. I was in my room studying shqip and writing in my journal about what had gone on that day when i heard this horrible noise. It sounded like a cat was beeing ripped apart, it turned out it was a live chicked being ripped apart by my host mother. I went out on the porch to see what all the noise was about and saw her simply break the chicken's arms, dig her fingers in the hole that the broken bone had torn and began butchering the animal, still alive, with her bare hands. This was a great introduction to the house and made other occasions when i would come home to a group of women covered in blood, gossiping, and butchering an entire cow on the patio commonplace. Of course the night of the chicken i was given the best part (the organs) in my soup which consisted of water, oil, and a little bit of green onion. Looking back that was one of my favorite soups she made. The worst one being a thick liquid which consisted entirely of fat from a baby cow, which i affectionately call "fat soup." Annother great story of my family is that in the very last night i was at their house, i was having dinner with my host sister who did most of the paper work and delt with peace corps on logistics of my being at their home, casually asks me what my name was!! I had been a guest in there home for ten weeks and they didnt even know my name, kind of a funny story but also pissed me off a little. Not all of the experience with them was bad and i did get to see a lot of what life for an Albanian villager was like. One last thing about the host family, non of them spoke any english, which i initially thought would be great and my shqip would be good by the time i left, i was wrong and many nights i would be ignored so they could focus their energy on "Big Brother Albania." I did really enjoy hanging out with my host father when he wasnt in Greece and every so often there would be neices and nephews from other family members around who were fun to play with and actually attempted to speak to me in shqip. I guess i have more things to write about PST but it is getting kind of late here and i need to make dinner. If anyone is actually still reading this far down on this post i will try to update more often and finish talking about PST. Naten.