fier...fear...and football

(note...i was waiting to post this post until i got a picture of the marines we were lucky enough to eat with, but it hasn't made it my way, so i'm posting pa-picture...)

so it's been a while..a little over two months ago I sort of realized that it was time for me to get out more..do some travelling, visit some volunteers and get to see more of the country...so in a nutshell, that's what i've been up to..

a few weeks back i went to fier..got to hang out with quite a few volunteers there and had a great time.  quick thanks to susan for hosting...and chris and kristEn for hanging out...one of the things i like most about peace corps are the conversations i have with the other volunteers, learning more about them and what they've accomplished...i'm lucky to be surrounded by some amazing people...

more recently, we had thanksgiving in tirana...fortunately for the volunteers we had the opportunity to be hosted by american families or the marines for dinner...a group of four of my friends..they treated us like royalty..which was weird, because usually when you're around servicemen you want to do the work for them...the food was amazing as well...all in all it was as best a substitute for being home that i could've hoped for...


oh, and before the festivities we also got to play a little football...i think this game is an annual tradition, and the volunteers hadn't won in the past..but we put together a good squad and pulled out the win..had we played tackle i think the marines would've had the advantage...but we represented for the finessers our there...here are some pics..

 

Benny Buttons

so i watched this movie for the first time and the quote just stuck for me...the movie is based on a short story by f.scott fitzgerald, and i guess this sorta sparks a little interest in me to read books other than non-fiction...

"For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people who have a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of, and if you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."


i guess the scary thing is the thought of starting over again...but if that's what it takes, that's what you gotta do

What do you wear? WINTER

undershirt...underarmor...sweater...jacket...gloves...beanie...scarf

pants...long johns...long johns part II

and it's still cold...

burrrrreeezyyyy

so i have a post all good and ready for to explain what i did on thanksgiving..just waiting for a picture from a friend before i post...so don't worry..i did something..missed the normal celebration from the states...but still had fun..

in any case...it's starting to get much colder here...i woke up this morning and it was mid forties in my house...i'm guessing that means outside it was high 30's....it's been really brisk here lately...reminds me of a few winter days i've spent in nebraska...difference being, i don't have a heater in my house..i can get one..and may once it gets really cold..but for now i'm saving money on electricity, and i can stand it...as long as you guys can stand to hear me complain..

one thing i always took for granted was socal weather...i'd been in freezing temperatures before, and deserts...and i hate deserts...now i realize it's much different to visit cold...and to live in the cold...it affects a lot more things than you realize...

for instance..i workout in my apartment, using some weights i bought and a pull up bar i brought from home, with my personal trainer, tony horton...(if you don't get the reference, google it)...anyway...now that the weather is so cold in my apartment, when i workout, my tile floors gather up all the moisture in the room and get extremely slippery...i figured i could work my way around it until recently when i almost fell and busted me head open..so i bought this wonderful rug for 20 bucks, and now i feel a bit more safe...

on top of that, the cold air really does a number on my endurance, lungs and appearance...take a look at this shot, post workout, i felt and looked a bit like nick nolte from the old pic...

finally, here's a picture of my windows crying cuz it is sooooooo cold outside...haha..

is that normal?!

i recently visited some friends in albania and one of the things we talked about are the changes we had to adapt to when we first arrived, and how we feel about those type of occurrences now...on my ride home from this short visit i began to think about things that we now pretty much percieve as "normal" and don't give a second thought about:

...i recently visited my host family - my parting gift? a bag full of oranges, and about 2 liters of homemade jelly complete with the smuckers cap on the glass bottle...why 2 liters and not say, .5 liters? your guess is better than mine...

...on my way home from visiting a few friends i arrived at the bus stop about 1/2 hour early so as not to miss the bus...i've heard of volunteers arriving only to find out the bus left early cuz it was full...so, upon arrival i see that the bus isn't there yet...

...so i stop in a little shop to enjoy some pilaf and two small sausage type things and a drink called salep, sorta like cocoa, but not...get the bill...250 leke...being that i've been in albania for 8 months i quickly realize that i'm being overcharged by at least 50 leke (about 50 cents)...and being me, i just pay and go on my way cuz i'm not going to argue about that 50 leke...next time i will just ask for the price upfront...

...while i was eating the 8 am bus arrives...i make my way over at about 7:50 and quickly notice that nobody is there for the bus besides about 4 other people..what this means here is that the bus isn't leaving anytime soon...but then a smaller bus/van pulls up and appears to be willing to take the 4 passengers on the ride home..this makes sense to me, so i grab my bag off the bigger bus and head towards the smaller bus, only to notice that nobody has gotten on...after a brief discussion, nobody gets on and the smaller bus drives away...people here have loyalty once committed to a bus or van, and will tend not to make a switch, even if it means waiting another couple hours for a bigger bus to move everyone..

...by this point i figure i should check out the taxi situation since they only cost 100 leke more (one dollar) and arrive in about 3/4 of the time...i notice that there is one lady waiting for a taxi, and this means we would only need one more person to have a full taxi and be able to leave...

...so we wait...two guys get in, only to get out about 5 seconds after we turn on the engine when they find out we'll be taking the "old road" since the new road (which isn't that much shorter or safer) is flooded...

...so we wait some more..finally we get one more person and my original 8 am bus plans have now changed to 9:30...which isn't terrible since i've spent the last hour and a half listening to "the invisible guerilla" audiobook...and now i feel much smarter and more aware....

...one final detour though, before we leave town, our driver stops for a good 20 minutes at a store because he is going to do some travelling and needs to print his ticket out at some travel agency...again, par for the course...

so you may ask, is that normal? i think the answer you'll get from 90% of volunteers here is that no, that's not normal, its actually an easy morning