Al Llegori

Coming up on the end of my service and just thinking back to the early days when things were so new, fresh, and sometimes confusing.  This little story pretty much sums up a larger point/picture that, as a volunteer in another country and culture, I had to be patient enough to learn.  Thankfully, I was able to learn.

So, the story goes like this: In Albania I've spent a lot of time in cafes drinking coffees with friends.  When I first arrived I noticed a strange habit the waiter would do while changing out the ash tray.  Instead of grabbing the ash tray, and replacing it with the new one, he'd place the new ash tray on top of the old one, pick them both up, then set the new ash tray back down on the table.  I remember the first 10-20 times I saw this I didn't understand why he was doing it this way, and I saw it as a wasted step.  

Anyway, after getting more acquainted with cafes, smoking and Albania, I realized that the waiter would take this extra step so as to avoid having ashes fly out of the ash tray and onto the customers.

I think this is an allegory for what many volunteers/travelers go through, and we have to be aware that there may be more than meets the eye.  We also may not completely understand why things are happening the way they are, but that doesn't mean there isn't a good reason why things are this way, it may simply mean that we don't understand the bigger picture.

This is one of the skills I will gladly take from my time in the Peace Corps, and although I may have had it before, I think it has only been sharpened through this experience.

7 days left....yikes.

Indefinite and definite? what's that?

So, if you're not quite to sure of what indefinite and definite mean in terms of grammar and language, you're like me. I'm not sure how I was taught grammar in school, or how I was supposed to learn it. But it's actually pretty simple, I think.  In definite you include "the" before the item, in the indefinite, the "the" is not there.  Like: Can you give me "the" socks vs. Can you buy me socks.  My friend Matthew wrote a great blog about the language very early on, here.

I digress, my point was, when I came here I didn't know much about grammar rules in terms of "terms" or knowledge, but I did know how to speak English, which can be helpful, except for the fact that many of the grammar rules are different in English and Albanian.  Aside from Matthew's eloquent example, another instance is the word for "the municipality", bashkia.  Depending on where it is in the sentence, and whether you are talking about "the" municipality, or "a" municipality, the municipalities, or some municipalities there are many different ways to use the word "bashkia."  *Off the top of my head I can think of bashkia, bashki, bashkise, bashkiake.  I may not have spelled them all correctly, and I'm sure I missed some, but you get the idea.  Needless to say when I began studying the language, and we got to this point in the lesson I nearly broke down in tears.  I decided to continue on though, but ignoring these slight changes in the word, and instead just studying my flash cards to no end.  I figured as long as I knew the base version of the words I needed to use, I could be understood.  While that wasn't always the case, it was good enough.


*I'm pretty sure I'm missing something here, but that's ok.

I'll never forget the day I was riding in a furgon (van taxi) with my buddy John and he repeated at least three times "Thane Shkolle" finally, one person in the furgon understood.  I don't know exactly what he was supposed to say, maybe "Shkolla Thane" (using the definite, and putting the noun before the adjective (?)), but we both just sat there in awe when one guy understood, and we thought repeated exactly what John said, at which time the driver immediately.


It was moments like that which also kept me from being complacent about the language.  One day I'd be on top of the world, thinking I knew so much, then a person wouldn't understand me when I said the simplest thing.  The graph below captures my perceived ability, and my actual ability taken over time.

Anyway, I was thinking of all of this because we just had our COS conference which included our language test.  Which, when we began, I never imagined I'd be able to take without studying.

In general my experience went like this.  Usually my confidence fell after I spoke to an Albanian who couldn't understand me, or one who said that I should've learned more up to that point.  But, over time I became more aware of my level.  Also, you'll notice larger jumps in actual knowledge at the beginning, then as concepts got more advanced, more casual jumps.  Toward the end my improvement mostly came from conversation and recognition.  Finally, you'll notice, there is no "scale" for actual ability, haha.  End of longest caption ever.

What do you do?

So, the trip to Kenya got postponed due to safety reasons and Peace Corps policy, but Kristen and I decided to take a short trip to Rome.  It was on this trip while staying in a hostel where we met numerous people that I began to really think about the question that many Peace Corps volunteers probably get, "what do you do?"

While we can all answer that question, in many different ways, it finally dawned on me today, that Peace Corps is so much more about what I learn than what I do.  I wish I could say I've gotten a lot more done.  Not because I don't think I've done anything, I'm happy with what I've done, but simply wish i could have done more.  So, if you've read my blog, you might have an idea of some of the things I've done, but I don't know if I've ever talked about what I've learned.  The reason I think this question is much more poignant is because learning is what floats my boat, even more so than what I do.  The idea that I now know what it's like to live in Albania, that I now KNOW that I'd rather live in an uncomfortably hot rather than an uncomfortably cold location makes me happy.  Especially when I consider that prior to coming to Albania I didn't think that...

So what have I learned? I've learned...

...to communicate better.  Working in a professional setting with the language ability of a 5 year old really makes you think about what you're trying to say, and figure out a way to say it that makes sense to those around you.  I've really grown to enjoy this challenge, although I must say at the beginning it was quite painful and often felt limiting and defeating.  As someone who loves to joke around, finding the comfort in a foreign language to make those jokes is difficult, but you can get huge laughs with jokes that aren't quite as funny simply because sometimes getting to the joke is the funny part.

...to make use of the tools available to me as efficiently as I can.  This is something that I will continually need to work on, but being here, as with the language has helped me think outside the box.  Finding ways to get things done when the tools I'd like to have aren't available. It kinda reminds me of the scene from Apollo 13 where they throw the mismatched box of tools on the table and tell the guys to figure it out.

...to put myself out there.  Whether it was meeting new volunteers, Albanian friends, or anyone for that matter, I've gotten much better than this.  Early on in Peace Corps a volunteer said something like "Peace Corps is about putting yourself in uncomfortable situations and learning from them," and that couldn't have been more right on for me in this instance.  Social situations have always been a bit "uncomforting" to me, and it's something I joined Peace Corps to improve upon, and it's working.

This is me putting myself out there...i led this circle dance at one point....SOBER!

...that although I can live 1,000s of miles away from family and friends, I don't want to.  I've learned this not only through being away, but also through watching the dynamic present in Albanian relationships.  Seeing their dedication to family has led to me questioning how I could possibly have lived in the same city as my sister and mother, and 30 minutes from my father, and not made it a point to see them MORE.  It's something that I plan to do when I get back, and not something I plan to take for granted again.
...

I wrote this blog entry about a month ago with the intentions of adding more to this list...but, i'm not in that writing mode, plus, i think it's long enough at the moment....if i don't like reading more than i page of a blog, why would i put you through it?

so, lookout for part 2..although it might never come...we also had a close of service conference, so i'll have a few notes from that too..hopefully soon! only about 2 months left.....

just for fun

so my last update was work...this update is fun.....just got back from a short trip to macedonia, bulgaria, romania, turkey and greece with four other peace corps buddies...we rented a car in macedonia and did quite a bit of travelling...i think romania was my favorite country of the places with travelled, with a town/city called Brasov being my favorite place (although it was all enjoyable).  i had good company, good food, good sightseeing and good times...i think i simply reinforced my belief that major cities are not for me as istanbul although beautiful and full of history, was probably one of my least favorite cities...i just think it's tough to get a feel for a country by a major city, i'd much rather spend my time in the rural areas getting to know the people, and the culture...but that's just me...

next up is a trip to africa (kenya and possibly tanzania) with my girlfriend kristen...she has yet to be to africa, so i'm excited to share that with her...i have been there once and can't wait to get back..we're planning on going to a elephant orphanage, go on a safari, feed some giraffes, and hopefully visit a peace corps volunteer or two so we can see what life is like in Peace Corps AFRICA!

finally, i made a video for an organization called Travel with Balls...the idea is simple, when travelling the world, bring a couple soccer balls you can buy for about 2-3 dollars, and pass them out to kids in need...the response you'll get is amazing...clearly i'm not suited to be an anchor on ESPN, but it was well worth my nerves to make this video and support a good cause and good people! you can see my video below, and the official video below (official video first) and if you search "Travel with Balls" on facebook, twitter and the web you can access their respective accounts and their blog...i really hope it takes off and more people get involved...that's all for now..have a good one folks....

Official Trailer:

My contribution:

still moving

it's been a while since i blogged last...i have a couple updates to give...

first, we've completed the soccer project, named a champion, and made a cool video that all the participants can remember...hopefully sopa, protect ip and the music companies will allow me to continue to share the video for years to come with the music i'm borrowing using the "fair use" clause....haha..anyway, here's a video recap of the soccer tournament...i had a great time doing it...and i think the participants did as well...

next up is the park project...what can i say besides it has been an up and down experience...the latest is that we've had to uninstall some equipment to make repairs to insure the equipment lasts...in addition, we had a "volunteer day" with some of the high school students to help turn the soil around the trees, and paint different features to keep the park looking nice (which is hard to do in winter when the grass turns to mud)....we had about 8 students come out to help us out which was nice, my sitemate kim and i even did some work ourselves....after winter dies down a bit we will return to the park and reinstall the equipment we uninstalled with the necessary reinforcements...

finally, although my time here is winding down, i'm working on two new projects, i won't be able to fully complete either, but i hope to lay the foundation for the volunteer who follows me to gramsh so they have some work to do when they arrive...

the first thing is a project at the local health center...i'm submitting an application today to begin to replace an outdated filing cabinet (about 30 years outdated) where residents medical records are kept...this is a small grant i hope we can utilize to show the benefits of a modernized filing system in one office...i also like the idea of starting with one office to make sure the project is worthwhile...we're starting with one filing cabinet, but if this project is useful, i think we can replace about 30 cabinets at 5 different locations, which would be a much bigger grant that would have to be completed after i left...but, given the importance of keeping medical records in good shape, i think this project is a good candidate for a grant...

the second thing i am working on is a tourism project for the region of gramsh...again, we're setting the foundation for something bigger...right now we're picking the 5 best locations, and trying to put together a program for travelers, and a place where they can easily gather information...the final piece will be teaming with an english speaking person (possibly a high school student) to act as a tour guide...i'm hoping we can get all the information ready and up on the web before i leave....

so that's that when it comes to work..hope you're all doing well....

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!