3/22/2010
the son never shines on closed doors
-flogging molly
first day of class...4 hours of language didn’t get me quite as far as i’d expected, and only reinforced the fact that i’m going to have to work even harder outside of class to get this language down...i can’t imagine having to learn an entirely new alphabet like volunteers in other countries...only 1 different letter, and 9 other combinations of english letters make up the 36 letter albanian alphabet...
so after language class today and brief walk around our town...bisquem.i was back home studying more language..for about 3 and a half hours...fortunately my host mom sat with me the entire time to help me pronounce the words correctly...the second part of memorizing the language is actually pronouncing it right...i was so thankful to have her next time me correcting me and helping me along the way...turns out she is very very smart and used to work as a doctor or a nurse....she pulled out the stethoscope to help me understand..one day i’ll be able to get that information from a conversation...
regardless, originally i thought joining the peace corps would give me some time to reflect and spend on myself...that time has yet to come..i’ll be diligently studying language with all my extra time in hopes of understanding the conversations that occur when i go out with my host father for kafe...
as for kafe...this is a major part of albanian culture..and this is one thing that i’ve merged into my life as a calbanian...in america i never drank coffee...here, i’ve had at least two small cups a day...i think they’re called expresso shots, maybe? i add a whole packet or sugar (sometimes two)..before i even think to drink it...btw, the packets are about twice the size of the american equal/splenda packs...pure sugar...haha...so far so good though...plus, i’m trying to socialize...
another alteration to my life as a calbanian has been the removal of working out...peace corps has encouraged us to continue some sort of a workout routine if we had one in the states...so as soon as i can settle in i’ll get back on it..possibly when i have been waking up (at 5 am, i’ve been going to bed at about 9 pm)....
that’ll be all for now...
actually, scratch that..while looking for a title song i decided i wanted to comment on something americans can learn from albanians...not once in my host family’s house have i seen a light on in a room they weren’t in....albanian tip for americans number 1...if you’re not in the room, turn off the lights...tv...etc..don’t be lazy
Hey dude glad to hear things are going well so far. Welcome to the wonderful world of espresso, haha. Soon you will be enjoying those shots without any sugar at all, delicious!
ReplyDeleteGood to know my years of coffee addiction would come in handy if I moved to Albania...keep up the good work and updates!
ReplyDeletelove the blogs Jeff...good to hear about everything & can't wait to see pictures!
ReplyDeletethat's awesome you are able to fully immerse yourself in that culture (host family that doesn't speak english, going to kafe, etc).
ReplyDeletethat's cool you can learn about each other through your actions/gestures until you learn the language (lucky for you your host mom wasn't previously a stripper - that would have been awkward).
you will get that time to self-reflect. just not in training...
ReplyDeletegood luck with the language!
so brit and i have been pretty good about only keeping the lights on in the room we are in. i think we are ready for our next albanian tip!
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