the iron is hotttttt

ok, so i have a couple updates...

1st - i finally got the the root of why the playground equipment has yet to be installed at the park and the grassy area has yet to be fixed...the crew that does these types of jobs for the city is currently digging trenches to fix the sewage system..and when i say "crew" i mean group of about 4 or 5 guys, so, we have a little more waiting to do...i guess the sewage system should come first...

2nd - today we got started on our other project, the soccer tournament bringing youth from the cities and villages together in a soccer tournament.  it was great to see and here the excitement of all the kids involved, and getting the two groups together (village and city) was just a start for what we have planned...the girls also got out there and played some soccer which they really enjoyed (we thought they may be resistant since they normally play volleyball or basketball)...i think pictures speak loader than words...i also plan to put together a video once it's all said and done (we have two weeks to go)...

getting ready to start

standing room only

gettin after it

concrete is set

Workers at the Bashkia have begin to set the foundational concrete that is needed for the playground equipment I mentioned in my last post.  So far things have been moving extremely fast. I didn't expect to receive the equipment so soon (next day free "shipping" - maybe it's called freight) and work by the Bashkia staff to install the concrete basins the following week!

I have been pleasantly surprised by how things are moving.  I am trying to stay on top of things with my counterpart and paying attention to detail and potential issues.

As you will see in future pictures there is a "new" fence that has been installed around the boundaries of a park.  This is great because it keeps kids safe and out of the nearby street.  This fence was not part of our project, although it very well could have been.  It has been up for a few months now and has been damaged a bit by people trying to walk over the fence to reach the entrance (as they originally only created one entrance).  They have since created two other entrances.  Also, to help keep people from climbing over the fence we are planning on moving the plants from the middle of the playground to the edges by the fence so people won't be able to step over.  This will also open up play space for children.

Still to come:

installation of new equipment
repairing of existing equipment
moving plants
removing excess concrete
fix damage to fence
plant grass

Thanks again for all the support!

the wheel in motion...

I just wanted to drop in and give everyone an update on the latest with the Peace Corps Partnership Program project I had funded. Things are actually moving along a lot faster than I expected.  Of course there has been a slight hiccup in the process, but that happens everywhere.

So here's the latest:

We received the funds for the project, and then contacted the supplier of the playground equipment with whom we originally received our quote from.  He was still in business so we took a trip to go check out the quality of the product.  Along the way we also knew of another vendor who deals in playground equipment so we were going to stop there on the drive over.  Unfortunately we drove right past the second vendor as they are pretty well hidden, I hadn't passed by in a while, and they didn't have any equipment out in front of their shop like usual.  We decided to continue on and circle back if we needed to.

Once we arrived at our original vendor the hiccup came.  Unfortunately one of the items we originally requested had been sold, and unlike what we may be used to in American, placing an item "on order" is not an easy process.  So we decided to go with most of our original order, then change out an item so we could maximize the value of our leke (dollar).  We ended up selecting:

Swing set: they also had one that was made from more solid material, but I was convinced by my counterpart that this piece was better for a few reasons: it had more spaces for the children, and although the material on this would break down before the other model (which was much more expensive), the workers at the Bashkia (municipality) could put together the frame using wood and replace any damaged parts.

Teeter totter: who doesn't love a good teeter totter.  They had two versions here, we went with the stronger more durable model.

Spinny thing: nothing says fun like spinning in circles till your dizzy.  This piece was high quality and the pieces that are breakable, are also easily replaced.

Finally, our vendor threw in this horse spring thing at a large discount.  We had a bit of money left in our budget, but not enough to cover the cost.  So we said we would come back later after installing the equipment if we'd like more (being the crafty buyers we were), he came back with a reduced price we could afford (being the good salesman he is) because he didn't want to leave money on the table.

Sometimes it's hard to smile...

But usually it’s hard to stop. As some of you may know about 3 months ago I submitted a Partnership Grant to do complete a Playground Improvement Project in Gramsh for a park that has become run down on the City’s main street. This grant program is a bit unique in that after it is approved by the Peace Corps it is up to the volunteer to raise the funds needed to actually complete the project. All in all, we needed to raise just over $4,000 for the project which will include new equipment for the park, repairing existing equipment, improved landscaping, and a health information component which will be headed by my site mate Kim.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when the time came to ask for donations. Everyone knows that the last couple years in America haven’t been great in terms of the economy and I felt a little strange reaching out to people to ask for money. But I did, and the response was great. I received the donor list of those people who had “checked yes” to share their information with me so I could see that they donated, and keep them in the loop on the project. The list was amazing, it included my family and friends, and family and friends from my site mate Kim, Kim’s dog, and some family and friends of other volunteers who helped spread the word about our project. I cannot express how grateful I am to those of you who helped in any fashion (donations, posting a link, etc.)

My counterpart will be returning next week and that is when we will begin the project. I will keep posting blogs on the project and will send out an email to those of you who provided your emails to keep you apprized of the latest news. Below you can see some pictures of the park in its current condition.

Thanks for all the support.

Ha-Merr-Ik (Eat, Take, Leave) - mission accomplished

I recently returned from a nice two week trip to the states where I was encouraged to keep blogging, so I figured what better to do when I got home and all caught up on my sleep, than blog...

I had a great time back in the states, saw my family, friends, ate copious amounts of food, drank flavor filled beers, spent entirely too much money, but most importantly shared my experiences and heard all that I've been missing while abroad.  Special thanks to anyone and everyone who took the time to meet up and say hi.

Adjusting back to life in America wasn't too bad.  I only made a few mistakes in conversation (speaking in Shqip) or out in the real world with cultural differences.  But, shortly after arriving home I realized why the transition that you hear so much about while serving wasn't that difficult, I wasn't making a transition.  I was on vacation.  I didn't have to worry about finding a job, or somewhere to live, something to drive, something to do.  I was there, and that was all that I needed to do, or be.  So to everyone who wanted to ask me, or did ask me if it was weird, or hard being back, sorry if I didn't give you a good answer, but the correct answer (for me at least) is "not yet."  It was a nice taste of what will come when I get back, but all the stuff I listed above, that will be the difficult stuff, the vacation stuff was great!

Towards the end of my trip, as much as a love seeing family and friends, I was ready to come home, er, to Albania, which really is my home now.  At the moment I just feel like this is where my purpose is, this is where my home is, and this is where I belong.  I still have work to do, which was actually a great feeling.  I remember waking up sometimes in the states and not wanting to go to work before I ever got out of bed, not a good feeling.  But, wanting to go to work from some 3,000 miles away, it actually put a smile on my face and reminded me of how happy I was to finally make this decision to join the Peace Corps.

So, thanks to everyone who met up with me, can't wait to see you all a year from now, but for the time being, I have work to do.

albanian conversations...

every now and again i'll have a bad day with the language and get down on myself because of my desire to communicate better...the truth is, i do alright, but, as with everything, there is room for improvement...anyway, i recently had two conversations that i'd like to quickly highlight because of their randomness, and because i'm proud of my ability to understand the topic...

a few weeks ago i went back to my host family's house to visit, enjoy some food, and company...i brought a liter and a half of RAKI as a gift (i'll be bringing some back with me to America on may 28th for all those who would like to try it) and was more than repaid in hospitality, food, and wine...gift giving has never been a forte for me, in fact, gift receiving has even gotten weird for me as i've gotten older...

anyway, back on point..my host dad and i were sitting in the living room watching a little tv and out of nowhere he asks if i've ever had a dream where i was able to fly...i excitedly responded that yes i have, and asked him if he has, and how often he has that dream...he explained that he recently had the dream, but it wasn't the first time...he was sooooo excited to tell me about his flying dream, and the things he did, how weird it was to be flying, and how weird it was that i also had that dream...i explained to him it's a pretty common dream, i don't know why people have it...but it's a lot of fun as long as you don't fall down..we both got a laugh out of that...in my head i could only think of the "naked at school dream" - i quickly ran through the scenario in my head and realized i had the vocabulary for it, but quickly realized this wasn't the time of the place for that conversation....thankfully i hadn't been drinking...

then, this past week i had a conversation with a coworker about a stamp collection, again, another topic that is very unusual, and unordinary...the more i think about the conversation, the less difficult i remember it being, probably because the only word that i don't use often is stamp...but nonetheless, at the beginning of this blog i cited two stories (i think), and this is the second one that actually inspired me to write this post...so anyway, he told me about the age of his collection, where they were from, and how many he had....asked if i had a collection, to which i replied no, but i did collect sports cards when i was a kid...i think i was able to explain that accurately...

i'm hoping that within my last year here i'll have many more conversations like these and will be able to express myself even better with continued practice and study of the language.

gabim - mistake

in my post titled "welcome to albania - again" i recently noticed that the bottom of the submission had a quote i found from an article that i remember from the time and had copied because i thought it was funny...somehow i accidently inserted that quote at the bottom of my submission...as you can see, it's totally unrelated...so, just like the nytimes, i'd like to print a retraction...
what was included at the bottom said: "if english was good enough for jesus, it should be good enough for you" which is funny and ironic on so many levels, but anyway, sorry about that if anyone found that weird or offensive.

imazhi i ri per gramshin

New Image for Gramsh - this is the name of a local non-profit organization that i've recently started working with...i met the founder through a mutual friend, two days later we had a project idea, and two days later i wrote a grant looking for funding for that project...yes, life is good...

back in the states i may have complained about having to bring work home, or i may have simply said, no, that i wouldn't do it...but sitting at my house the night before the grant was due i was happy to be doing this work...i finally got to a point in albania where i felt as though i was doing something...i could see the light at the end of the tunnel...now, i may not have written a good enough grant in those two days...but, if we don't get funding this go-round, we will have another opportunity in july...either way, i'm hopeful...

the project was thought of by the guy i am working with who has years of experience as a soccer trainer..his idea, put simply was to have a soccer tournament over the course of 3 weeks including kids from the local city, and surrounding villages...after going over his ideas, and then beginning to write the grant i realized that we would need to do a little more than a soccer tournament for local boys to secure funding..given the short time, i think i found a pretty good plan...

i added two key components to the grant (which my partner completely agreed with)...we added a team for girls who were interested in playing..i'm hoping we can get 4 girls teams to play...but only getting 2 or 3 may be more realistic...we added this to help promote gender equality, and help shake up perceived and accepted gender roles in the community.

the second component we added was to include a game on the final day when the youth from the villages and the city join teams and cooperate in a sort of "all-star" game...on some occasions people from the city have a negative view of those who live in the villages, and we saw this as an opportunity to promote cooperation amongst them, as well as to show them, at the end of the day they're all the same...

so, we shall see...but i just wanted to pass along the good news of this new partnership and the prospects for opportunity that i envision....

welome to albania! - again

a bit of time has passed with my last blog...but something happened this week that provided me another spark and give me another dose of energy for my upcoming service.  The new group of trainees arrived in Albania this past thursday.  41 new volunteers, and possibly three more on the way shortly made there way to albania from all of the US and landed successfully in albania, finished orientation, and are now at their host family houses!  (oh, the arrival of the new group obviously means i've been here for a year also)

you might wonder how this could possibly jumpstart me, or give me energy, but it's quite simple; their arrival brought back all my memories from staging, orientation, moving in with my host family, and training...it reminded me of how excited i was to meet 49 new people in philadelphia, of the night before the flight to albania, and how nervously excited i was, of flying over albania and seeing it's natural beauty, of going to a store my second night in town, and having no idea what the clerk behind the counter was asking me (if i wanted a plastic bag)...all of those things were so new and exciting...then came the move in with the host family which is a very exciting/nerve wrecking/awkward time, especially when nobody in the family speaks english...

things that were once foreign and strange are now common place...for instance, drinking an expresso shot slowly over the course of half an hour (considering i never drank coffee to begin with), or sipping raki (which i could barely stand when i first arrived),  2.5 hour bus rides are now the norm, and the time actually passes very quickly...

i could go on and on about all the things that i've slowly become accustomed to in my year here, but i really am cherishing this new found nostalgia after the arrival of group 14...it reminds me of how far we've all come here in albania, and pushes me to continue to try and do better...to be successful, and to overcome my current challenges, just like i've overcome my past challenges here...

with all that said, just want to say thanks to everyone for all the support over the last year i've been here...i'm looking forward to a productive next 15 months!  

Call me a cynic. I did.

Call me a cynic.  In fact, I'll call myself a cynic just to be fair.  I came across this article about the Superbowl and it spoke to me about something larger.  (I hope the NFL doesn't come after me for using the word "Superbowl.")

Fans with tickets miss Superbowl

For a quick summary, some fans who had purchased tickets for the Superbowl were unable to take their purchased seats because they weren't ready/safe in time for the game.  As a mea culpa, the NFL refunded three times the purchase price of the tickets, allowed the fans to go on the field after the game, and the fans will be "guests" of the NFL at next year's Superbowl (if there is one, which is what got me thinking...), among other perks including merchandise, food and beverages, although probably not beer.

So now I'm going to give you my completely biased, cynical opinion on this whole situation, and the NFL's intentions.  (Btw, does believing we shouldn't have a Columbus Day make me a cynic?)  So, upon reading the article I couldn't help but think that something was awry.  The NFL was going above and beyond the call of duty with these perks.

The generosity they showed to the ticket holders didn't match the image I've gotten from the NFL lately.  They appeared to be a caring, responsible organization.  This would mean they put fans, and players first, profits and bottom lines would fall in line accordingly, but wouldn't be the drive behind critical decisions.

But what are we used to?  A league that wants to increase the length of the regular season from 16 games to 18 games.  Why? Very clearly to boost revenues, and not one single other reason.  When I read about players who are paralyzed, or who have difficulty walking after playing years in the NFL I can't think of a single good reason to extend the season for two more grueling games besides a lust for MORE money.  Never-mind that the owners are multi-millionaires and potentially billionaires.  Never-mind the fact that the NFL is a billion dollar meal ticket.  When is enough, enough?

So, for those that follow NFL news, you know that the current collective bargaining agreement is ending and there may be a potential lockout if the owners and the players union cannot agree on a myriad of subjects.  And this is where the Superbowl mistake comes in.  What better P.R. can the NFL get with its fans than what this turned out to be.  Going over the top to correct a mistake that was only made for one reason, that dirty little word comes up again, GREED.  They tried to pack as many people as humanly possible into that game, and again, for those who follow the news, ticket prices were ridiculous, then resell ticket prices were even worse.

So, in an attempt to bolster their image before the upcoming labor negotiations, the NFL went over the top.  Which takes me back to intentions.  To me it just feels like the NFL is trying to pull the wool over our eyes, paint themselves in this positive light.  Yes these people missed watching the Superbowl, and should be compensated appropriately.  But, since when did the NFL put fans first, before revenues?  What about all the controversy surrounding the NFL network, and the cable subscribers who don't have the option to get the network without switching to satellite television, what about the regular black-outs that occurred throughout this season.  What about the fact that teams have been known to abandon cities when they don't get "sweet" deals where tax payers assist in paying for a new stadium?  I'm not buying it.

Ok, now I'll get off my soapbox.

a jenny jones makeover!

so for those of you who haven't noticed...i gave my blog a little makeover...it had been a while since i posted anything, actually, since before new year's...so i had to get  a post in before i let an entire month go with nothing...and while i was at it...i changed the layout a bit..

in any case...the new year has been good thus far in albania...i have had a few grant writing projects to work out, which although the translation part is a bore, improving the language, and the idea that i may be able to help this city acquire some funds does make me feel good...doing any kind of work really...

in january i also continued my quest to visit all the volunteer sites while i'm here in albania...so, i went with my sitemate kim to erseke where we visited with katie and marie...we had a good time there...its always nice to see what other cities have to offer...erseke is very small compared to gramsh, and not many people were out when we were there..it's supposed to be one of the colder cities where volunteers are placed, but we lucked out, and the weekend we were there i only needed to wear one pair of long johns..

the latest news in albania has been the demonstrations over the control of the democratic government...i'm not going to pretend to know the entire history, but i was able to watch things unfold live on television at my counterparts house...needless to say, it wasn't pretty...there were plenty of peaceful demonstrators, but there were also those who were throwing rocks, tipping over cars, and burning things...the question now looms whether or not the protests will continue, or if things will die down...today should be telling if the demonstrations continue, and how large they are...

for the time being the demonstrations have been limited to tirana, and i haven't had any concerns over my own safety (for those concerned)...

here are some articles on the news:
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/uneasy-calm-returns-in-albania-following-deadly-clashes

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-opposition-protester-clash-with-police