Girls shootout during 1st game, Rubik won of course!!
Girls group in Traditional clothing, our spokesmodels!!
Huddle up! Boys team preparing for championship match.
Two boys from Berdicё team who I convinced to pose for a Photo. They are holding the Ball Puma Peace sent me to promote the matches.
Memorial to G.W. Bush!!
Women area.
Teuta's nephew dressed in traditional Muslim clothing.
September 9, 2010 was Baijram e Madhe in Albania and much of the former Ottoman Empire whom still practice Islam. The holiday marks the end of fasting for the month of Ramazan. Rubik and Mirdite as a whole are 98% Catholic in a 98% Muslim country, so I travelled to Fushe Kruje to experience the holiday. Alex used to be the volunteer in F.K. but has since been moved to Durres due to issues with the Mayor who is a sack of $h1?. USAID, which is the United States Government, tax paid, aide organization is even going to pull out of the city due to complications with the mayor. Anyways, while in F.K., Alex had a quasi host family situation for a few weeks with a woman who I have written about before. (if you care you can look back two entries) Teuta and her family are practicing Muslims and observed the fast and since I expressed interest in experiencing the ceremony she invited me to celebrate with her family. For those of you who do not know, practicing Muslims strictly fast from sunrise to sunset during the entire month of Ramazan which falls in the summer (Ramadan in non Turkish influenced regions of the world). In Albania, during the entire month you can hear Roma people (gypsies) roam the streets playing drums after sunset and before sunrise to let people know that they can either eat or not eat soon. The community usually gives the neighborhood drummer a tip for his services on the final day. Since the ceremony for Baijram e Madhe starts at sunrise I arrived in F.K. the night before and had dinner at Teuta’s house. This is always an interesting experience. Teuta had to work at her small shop until 8 so Alex and I made her family dinner. I have mentioned before that this is not something that is done be men in Albania. Her family is fairly socially progressive but Çimi, her husband, still likes to give me a hard time. Teuta is a good woman and a riot to hang out with but she can also be negative about her country at times. She has every right to be critical of her country which has made countless mistakes over the years. She also lives in a suburb of the capital city. This means there are many transient people and criminals. Alex and I try our best to keep things positive when we talk about politics and culture in Albania. Alex has even taught her the popular “glass half full” philosophy that some smart and positive person has been saying for decades. Teuta has a very bright daughter and the hope for any parent, especially an economically and socially depressed parent, is for your child to have a better life than you have had. This is a concept that is difficult to explain to Albanians. My people I talk to on public transportation or cafes seem to think that everyone in America has it easy. I always admit things are easier in some ways in America and there are opportunities for advancement, but you for many nothing is given to you and you must keep a positive attitude. I like to tell them that their country is fairly new! This is always cause for arguments. Albanians have one of the oldest cultures in Europe. They are descended from the Illyrians, who are said to be older than the Greeks. I try to explain that although their people have inhabited this part of the world for a hell of a long time, their country is in fact new. The Republic of Albania was created in 1912, I think, after the withdrawal of the Ottomans. The country then experienced a short monarchy, King Zog, and then occupation from the Italians and Germans during WWII. Following the war, the communist party took over and continued to run the country into the ground until 1985 when Dictator for Life Enver Hoxha died. His successor, Alia, over the course of about 6 years allowed more and more freedoms and eventual a second political party was formed and in 1991 the “people’s party” was no longer in office. The country began to develop as a democracy until in 1997 the economy completely collapsed thanks to a country wide ponzi scheme. Much confidence in the new government was lost at this time and has had a difficult time regaining. So, basically the country is young! Albanians love to compare their country to America so when I tell them how people lived when our country was a baby, I hope things are put in perspective. Things here are very similar to times when America was in the same stage of development. Okay, I rambled a lil there, but this is a conversation we always have with Teuta because she loves to say, “you so lucky you born in America, I no, I born in Albania.” So back to the celebration. I slept at Teuta’s house and we woke around 6am and headed down to where the ceremony was being held.
Last year, according to Alex the prayer was held in the city center but his year there is a fairly hilarious construction project in F.K. In 2007, President George W. Bush and the first lady made a trip to Albania and due to its proximity to the airport stopped in Fushe Kruje. This is F.K. claim to fame since all American presidents are worshipped in Albania. The Mayor, in all his wisdom has decided to use the fledgling budget of the city to build a memorial for the event that will feature benches, trees, and a statue of the world’s favorite American leader. Baijram e Madhe was held at a futbol field due to the construction. It was an interesting ceremony. Excluding Nezura, which is a Bektashi holiday (Bektashi is the most popular Muslim sect in Albania, mostly because you can still drink alcohol hahaha) I have never really experienced any live Muslim traditions. I have been to dinners for Jewish holidays, Hindi celebrations, and of course Christian holidays. At the entrance to the park there were of course some beggars, people are especially giving on Muslim holidays, and people with the mosque who were handing out the prayer guide and a fruit. The fruit is a traditional food to officially break the fast. People were also handed bags so they could put there footwear in them before stepping on the ceremonial rugs. Then the men and women were segregated. Men were guided to the front near the Imam and the women were placed with the children in an area farther back. Observers like me just sort of stood in the back. Alex, Teuta, and Teuta’s friend Leta did not stand near me out of respect for the tradition. The prayer took about one hour but started with the Imam, who I am told is a bit extreme (not terrorist extreme but evangelical extreme if you catch my drift) gave a spirited lecture about being a good Muslim, he then led the prayer which consists of standing, bowing, kneeling, and then touching your head to the floor a few times. I just watched.
After the prayer, we were invited to café by one of Teuta’s good friends who I have met several times before. His name is Miku and he and his brothers own a few businesses in town. Really nice guys. It was about 7:30 now and this is the fashion the day kind of went in. After that café, we went to Teuta’s house where Teuta showed us how to make Byrek (a type of phylo pie that you can really put whatever you want in it). Çimi’s dad had passed away recently and it is custom to visit the homes of people who are missing a family member on the first Baijram since so he had a few visitors who we drank café with. We then went to a girl named Natasha’s house. Natasha was in Alex’s Outdoor Ambassador club and was also a youth volunteer for the project last summer. She also just graduated from high school and over the last year her family has become close friends with Alex and in turn me. Her dad is a big fisherman and promised to take me fishing in Rubik. He joked with me that a few months ago he was in Rubik and went around the town asking for me. He said he was surprised that everyone knew who I was but had a different answer on where I was that weekend. Anyways, I gave him my phone number and he is supposed to come up in a few weeks. After café with Natasha, we went back to Teuta’s for lunch. Of course we could not make it the entire 15 minute walk back without having another café, this time at Çimi’s mother’s house. We usually refrain from accepting her requests because she is mean to Teuta, but because she had lost her husband recently, it would have been rude to decline. She lives with two of her daughters and there small kids, I will post here a picture of one of the kids in the traditional holly dress for Muslim men.
After we ate lunch at Teuta’s, we headed back to Rubik. I had planned to meet with my mayor to discuss several projects we need to get a move on but of course, he was M.I.A. Guess I will have to wait till next week, typical.
Secluded beach in Budva, Montenegro
Alex trying to make a decent face while eating the Raw Horse Brochette!
Turkish Bath, Outdoor Pools, Budapest
Plitvicka Jazera National Park, first water fall, Croatia
Plitvicka Jazera National Park, first water fall, Croatia. Jenifer, Alex, Myself, James.
Raw Horse Brochette, Belgrade, Serbia
Alright I am officially behind on this blog. I have decided to skip everything in April and May since I am too behind. Power has been out here from 9-4pm everyday this week. Also, we only have 6 hours of water spread out in two hour shifts per day. With all the free time since most of my colleagues are at the beach I thought I would try to update this blog. I really hate the summer! So, not much is new here. As far as work goes, I just got a grant for a couple thousand dollars to build a Public Information office at the municipality I work with. Should be good, going to try and increase government transparency, you know democracy and shit! Also, we participated in a "best practices" competition that a Swiss development agency held last week. The process started about three months ago and we submitted information about a successful project that was completed a while back. The Swiss Development Agency (SIDA) received about 54 projects and they chose about 30. The 30 that were chosen presented and answered questions about the project last Wednesday. We presented a project in collaboration with the larger municipality in my area. This is the most satisfying work I have done in a while. During our first meeting they brought me this presentation they had prepared with ridiculous colors, pictures, and only about 5 sentences. I told them to delete it and start over and it took 4 more meetings to produce a decent presentation. It was great, the Mayor of Rreshen, the other municipality, would just argue with me (in Albanian mind you) until my Mayor would just say, "We will do what Brett thinks." I think after a year of hanging out with these old dudes they are finally starting to take me seriously. We had about 4 meetings in all and when it came time to present the project...we won!!!! I gave the mayor of Rreshen, who even up to the day of the presentation was trying to change things on the presentation that I disagreed with, a "boo-yah." He of course had no idea what that meant!! The organization has, get this, 950,000 Euros to spend on these 5 municipalities over the next few years. I don't know if I can really explain how big this is, my municipality has a yearly budget of less than $200,000 which is mainly only used for administration, public services, and public assistance. Alright to other things.
I took a trip throughout the former eastern bloc in June with Alex. We started from Albania and went north to Budva, Montenegro. Place is gorgeous. The beaches were so nice and just over crowded with beautiful Serbian women. I have been a few places in Europe and by far Serbian women are the best looking. Alex and I both couldn’t believe how beautiful all the women were. Budva also had a really nice port and old city. I decided that when I own a sailboat, this is where I will probably keep it!!!! After Budva we headed to Sarajevo, Bosnia. This is the city that was under siege in the mid '90s for over two years and only came to a close after President Clinton stepped in to negotiate a peace agreement in Dayton, Ohio. So in other words they have mixed feelings about Americans in the former Yugoslavian countries. We had a great time in Sarajevo. Our hostel owner was a history graduate and was also in his early twenties during the siege. He offered to give us a walking tour of the city for about ten euro each but it rained that day so we drove it instead. He had so much insight and we both learned a lot about the tragedies his people had endured. He dropped us off at this tunnel that was used to smuggle Bosnian troops and food into the city. The tunnel was built under a house of a former Bosnian soldier and his wife. It traveled under the Airport to a neutral city. Throughout the siege the Serbians caught and tortured people in an effort to find the tunnel but never did and now the people who own the house are seen as national heroes. They have been pictured and written about in countless newspapers and our senator John McCain had even visited their house. So Alex and I didn’t realize that this house was far out in the outskirts of Sarajevo when our tour guide dropped us off. After we toured the house and tunnel we realized we had about a 3km walk to get back to a trolley station. It was still raining. As we were discussing whether to attempt hitch-hiking or just walk, the owner of the house opened up his garage. We asked him if we could call a taxi and he replied in his broken English, "I am taxi." We didn't realize who he was at first until his elderly wife came out and handed him something. Alex got a lil gitty and says, "It’s the lady, Brett, it’s the lady." The old man just laughs and mocks, "The lady the lady." This was the woman we had seen in all these news articles throughout the museum that accompanies the tunnel. She would take daily trips through the dangerous tunnel to smuggle food and even smuggled out the Bosnian president while her husband guarded the house with a Kalashnikov rifle. The old man drove us through town and to the trolley station and when he found out we were American he refused not accept any money for his trouble. This was nuts, driven around by a national hero; this would be like getting a ride from Davey Crocket and Harriet Tubman, well sort of. The next day was my birthday and we headed for Belgrade, Serbia.
We found a really cool hostel that was owned by these two guys in their late 20's. They were financed by their brothers who are lawyers and doctors in the states. They told us that they were having a bunch of friends over for the Serbia-Uruguay football game (world cup) later that night. Alex and I decided we would go get some food. All I wanted was a hamburger made from beef (I had a burger in Macedonia on new years but they translated the word literally, it was actually made from ham) they recommended a place that turned out to be excellent. After that we walked around looking for another restaurant and ended up at a place called "The Horse Shoe." We ordered a salad and some beers and asked the waitress what was good. She said all they served was HORSE MEAT, hence the name of the place. We must not have looked too enthused and after talking to her a bit she offered to bring us something to try on the house. Just a side note, this happens all the time to Alex. She is always given free shit. We tell her she lives in a bubble, but it always benefits to be around. Anyways, the waitress brings out these four thinly cut pieces of toasted bread with an almost spread looking, inch thick layer of a tan substance and a tomatoes on top. She explains that this is their RAW HORSE BRUSHETTE. The diced tan meat is actually raw horse meet. I tried one and it was actually really good once you got over the texture and knowledge of what it actually was. I was also down about three beers (beers in Europe are about .5 liter) and two birthday whiskeys from Alex. She picked it up and made a face that almost made me vomit when she bit into it. Even when we tried to take a picture of her making an enjoyable face she looked as if someone was stepping on her toes. I ate all four of the things and loved it. The waitress said it was a Serbian delicacy and that only that restaurant and a sister restaurant at the HORSE TRACK sold horse meat. After the horse shoe we went back to the hostel and the game had already started. We walked in to find about 30 drunken Serbians yelling at the flat screen. We got some beers and joined in yelling at the Asian ref who kept mucking up calls. Serbia lost but to be honest I spent a lot of time looking around the room. Like I said before, Serbian girls are gorgeous and there were also a few Swedish coeds on summer break. It is really nice to see the opposite sex out and about. In Albania the only chance I get to see girls my age that actually brush their teeth and don't smell of onions and sour yogurt is when I go to one of the bigger cities. After the game the owners caught wind that it was my birthday and before I knew it we were drinking shots of Serbian alcohol and gearing up to go to a night club. The two owners got about 4 cabs and we headed to a club that is actually a barge on the Danube River, one of the most famous rivers in Europe. The place was nuts. This is one part of Europe that even my brother would enjoy. The Serbs that brought us kept buying drinks, I think because they thought Alex and I were hilarious. It was good though, we got hassled once for being American from some D-bag and the guys that brought us came right over to make sure we were okay. Best hostel staff ever. That wasn't it. After a while the place was packed and I danced into a waiter who dropped the beer he was carrying. Only a little spilled out but he tried to make me pay for it. I refused and called him clumsy, which he didn't understand. Shortly after we finished arguing, a really nice manager came over and said that he was sorry but that I either had to pay for the half spilt beer or leave. I told him my cheap ass wanted the rest of the beer I spilt, that his waiter needed to be more careful walking around the dance floor, and gave him the money. We decided the club was getting too busy and our hosts were getting a bit toasted so we retired before the night took a downward turn. It was so much fun though. Apparently we went home early, even though it was pushing 4am. The next morning we woke up and did the tourist thing. Then we headed to Budapest, Hungary. Not too much that you would be interested in happened there. We met up with another Peace Corps volunteer who lives in the north of Albania, one of my closest friends here. Budapest was great and the nightlife is awesome not to mention I got to eat McDonalds, KFC, Subway, and Burger King...a highlight of the trip. We also spent a day at a Turkish bath. This was awesome. It had different temperature pools, saunas, mineral baths, good food and of course cold beer. The next stop was Croatia.
We went to a national park called Plitvicka Jazera. It was probably the most beautiful place I have ever set eyes on. The park is 16 lakes with hundreds of waterfalls that connect them. Amazing. We were at the park for one day and two nights and then we headed to Dubrovnik, Croatia. The beaches here are awesome too and since University was just finishing up there were people everywhere. Dubrovnik was slightly too overrun with tourists for me but the beaches were great.
We were in Dubrovnik for two nights as well and then headed back to Albania. It was really kinda funny. As soon as we crossed the border to Albania the road gets way shitty and there is a flock of sheep blocking the road. Not two minutes into the country and we were already seeing farm animals on the highway, typical. I got to say I needed the break but when I got back to Albania I was a bit bummed out to be back. The next month and a half I spent cruising around Albania and readying my applications for graduate school. This is also around the time I received a call from my mom, my grandmother had lost her nearly three year battle with lung cancer. I will miss her very much and she was a huge support in my decision to join the Peace Corps. I made an effort to return to America for her funeral but with such short notice I could not find a ticket for the amount of money I had. It was difficult speaking to my mom about it from thousands of miles away and I was honestly at a loss for words, my thoughts are with my family back home. Since then I have had little work, excluding the Best Practices competition which was in early August.
That is until September. The first week of September I got a call from my counterpart. He said that after almost a year and a half, the computers for the Foreign Language Computer Lab had finally arrived. I spent a few days setting up the computers and applying administrative protections. September 6th was the first day of the school year and we inaugurated the Lab. The lab was placed in the 9-year school and because the school was brand new this year, there was a large activity. I was told that members of the French Embassy (they paid for the computers) were coming but my counterpart and the director of the school failed to let me know that others would take a look at the lab. The presentation to the French went very well. After they left I began to shut down the computers when Sander came in the room in a panic. Apparently the First Lady of Albania was about to arrive and was going to come to the lab along with the Vice Minister of Education and the Director of Education for my region. We frantically turned on the computers and set up the presentation again. Znj. Berisha (wife of Sali Berisha, the Prime Minister of Albania) came in to the room accompanied by about four dudes with video cameras for national media and a few reporters. She was also with security and administrative staff. Of course the program that I had set up would not boot!!! It was the longest minute since I have been in Albania. Finally the program started and Sander gave her the tour. My Mayor and Sander introduced me to her and she shook my hand and thanked me and Peace Corps in general for our service. It was cool; this was the first major politician I had ever met. The event was televised on all the national news stations but they must have edited out the part where we shook hands, hahahaha. I was extremely happy that after a year this project was finally done.
The next things on my plate are a Peace Cup that will be held in Rubik. It is a futbol game that is held in all United Nations member states and will be the first time it ever happens in Albania. At least I hope it will happen. The other thing I am working on is a project to purchase a budgeting program for the financial office and some computers. Currently they do everything on paper and by hand. Outside of work I am also training to run a 15km race in Istanbul, Turkey in October. It isn’t a huge distance but I am super out of shape so I have been trying to train daily, easier said than done. I am also in the tedious process of applying to graduate school. Wish me luck and I hope everyone back home is well.
