just a quick note here...one of the reasons i joined the peace corps was to improve myself, to challenge myself and to put myself in uncomfortable situations...last week we had what is known as a language refresher where all the volunteers from our group got together to refresh our language skills and just hang out and see how everyone is doing...
part of the language refresher included a talent show...this was a way for us to have some fun and laugh a bit as a big group...i participated along with a few friends which is something i would have never done in the states...and it turned out to be a great time...here's the link...if anyone knows how to improve the brightness, let me know...
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
6.5 hours to fun!
i've always considered myself to be a person to focus on the positive rather than the negative..and so when peace corps had me feeling like a lemon i made some lemonade...to escape the funk i had three friends over last weekend...we did what most people in albania do, eat, drink, and be merry...it was great to hang out and make fun of each other, and talk about problems/issues with work in addition to opportunities and successes...but that weekend ended and i decided i actually wanted to get out of gramsh this time...so i decided to visit my fellow group 13ers kumar and brittany...it takes about 6.5 hours of travel time plus maybe an hour or so of walking/wait time to get over to where they live fush arrez from gramsh...but it was def. worth the trip...
it was nice to hear stories from both kumar and brittany and catch up on time lost since we all went our separate ways after training...the first night kumar let me know that there were some wedding celebrations in town, and he was invited...these wedding celebrations are simply music blasting all day long, and people congregating to dance whenever there was enough around for a group...typically at night these dances grow...this particular night it happened to be raining, but it only made the dancing that much more fun...needless to say we had a couple beers and a shot or 2 of raki to get loosened up...but when we hit the dance parties we brought the thunder...haha, not really..but everyone had a good time...kumar and brittany live in a small village with about 2500 people i believe...it seems as though kumar and brittany are semi-celebrities, so the wedding parties def. appreciated our attendance...
i didn't get any pictures partly cuz the rain, and partly cuz i've never been good at remembering to take pictures, but we made our way back to kumars house and passed out shortly after...
like i said though, it was nice to see a different version of peace corps in albania...
oh yea, my beard is starting to fill in pretty good as well...
it was nice to hear stories from both kumar and brittany and catch up on time lost since we all went our separate ways after training...the first night kumar let me know that there were some wedding celebrations in town, and he was invited...these wedding celebrations are simply music blasting all day long, and people congregating to dance whenever there was enough around for a group...typically at night these dances grow...this particular night it happened to be raining, but it only made the dancing that much more fun...needless to say we had a couple beers and a shot or 2 of raki to get loosened up...but when we hit the dance parties we brought the thunder...haha, not really..but everyone had a good time...kumar and brittany live in a small village with about 2500 people i believe...it seems as though kumar and brittany are semi-celebrities, so the wedding parties def. appreciated our attendance...
i didn't get any pictures partly cuz the rain, and partly cuz i've never been good at remembering to take pictures, but we made our way back to kumars house and passed out shortly after...
like i said though, it was nice to see a different version of peace corps in albania...
oh yea, my beard is starting to fill in pretty good as well...
Sophomore Slump
so if you broke out time here into four classes we'd just be entering our sophomore year...(7th month of 27)...prior to coming to peace corps i read extensively about the difficulties of living in a different culture and a different country and with a different language...and pretty much everything i read talked about a magical sixth month mark where around that time homesickness really sets in...i think i had my hard period shortly after arriving back from the states, and then again a couple weeks ago...but so far i've gotten through it, and i know i'm not going anywhere...
recently i spoke to other volunteers about the challenges they're facing as well, and low and behold...the sophomore slump pretty much holds true...not everyone goes through it...(i didn't think i would)...but many do..and it's normal, and i guess that's the most important thing to keep in mind..it's normal to question our choices...
the challenges in Albania are very different than many other peace corps countries i'd guess...although we all share the new culture...new language..seclusion...in albania we have hot water...we have internet...we have phones...so it's not all bad...but just cuz our challenges are different doesn't make them any easier...for instance...quite possibly if i was in another less developed country, i wouldn't quite mind if the pace of work was so slow...but being here, it can get really frustrating, because being the optimist that i am, and that i know other volunteers are as well...i see great opportunity for albania...and the people here...but sometimes i'm not quite sure they see the same...it's hard to always keep things in perspective and remember that the borders here were closed for so long...and they lived in a communist govt until the early nineties....and then they had the terrible ponzi scheme crash in the late nineties...and i'm sure all these things add to the reason things are the way they are....
but i'm not on here to complain...just wanted to lend some perspective to those curious about what we go through here, and the challenges...if you want details of course feel free to send me an email...
so, what to do? well, i'm going to keep working...i'm going to branch out a bit and work with other individuals and organizations outside of the bashkia while still spending the majority of my time at the bashkia...i think this will rejuvenate me a bit and allow me to take on some small projects...
as for what projects: one idea i've thrown around is working on getting some funding for the local gym...how convenient you might think since i'm a gym rat...well, p90x has brought the gym home..but before i got the p90x videos i did go to the gym, and i noticed that a slight upgrade to the equipment would be nice..then, in telling my sitemate kim about the gym she asked if any girls ever go...and having the gender roles and separation that albania does, girls do not go...so my idea is to try and secure some funding for some equipment upgrades on the contingency that they set aside a certain amount of time each day so that only women, or girls can go in and use the equipment...of course i have to see if this is something the girls are even interested in...and it might take quite a bit of legwork...but that's the what's what of what i am looking to do as far as branching out goes...
take care.
recently i spoke to other volunteers about the challenges they're facing as well, and low and behold...the sophomore slump pretty much holds true...not everyone goes through it...(i didn't think i would)...but many do..and it's normal, and i guess that's the most important thing to keep in mind..it's normal to question our choices...
the challenges in Albania are very different than many other peace corps countries i'd guess...although we all share the new culture...new language..seclusion...in albania we have hot water...we have internet...we have phones...so it's not all bad...but just cuz our challenges are different doesn't make them any easier...for instance...quite possibly if i was in another less developed country, i wouldn't quite mind if the pace of work was so slow...but being here, it can get really frustrating, because being the optimist that i am, and that i know other volunteers are as well...i see great opportunity for albania...and the people here...but sometimes i'm not quite sure they see the same...it's hard to always keep things in perspective and remember that the borders here were closed for so long...and they lived in a communist govt until the early nineties....and then they had the terrible ponzi scheme crash in the late nineties...and i'm sure all these things add to the reason things are the way they are....
but i'm not on here to complain...just wanted to lend some perspective to those curious about what we go through here, and the challenges...if you want details of course feel free to send me an email...
so, what to do? well, i'm going to keep working...i'm going to branch out a bit and work with other individuals and organizations outside of the bashkia while still spending the majority of my time at the bashkia...i think this will rejuvenate me a bit and allow me to take on some small projects...
as for what projects: one idea i've thrown around is working on getting some funding for the local gym...how convenient you might think since i'm a gym rat...well, p90x has brought the gym home..but before i got the p90x videos i did go to the gym, and i noticed that a slight upgrade to the equipment would be nice..then, in telling my sitemate kim about the gym she asked if any girls ever go...and having the gender roles and separation that albania does, girls do not go...so my idea is to try and secure some funding for some equipment upgrades on the contingency that they set aside a certain amount of time each day so that only women, or girls can go in and use the equipment...of course i have to see if this is something the girls are even interested in...and it might take quite a bit of legwork...but that's the what's what of what i am looking to do as far as branching out goes...
take care.
Monday, September 27, 2010
gtl before gtl
i'd like to apologize to myself, my friends and my family for something i regularly took part in not to long ago...rocking a wifebeater to the gym....what was i thinking? my mom recently sent me a package which included one of those old school wifebeaters...i put it on shortly after, wore it around the house, and began thinking what a tool i must have looked like at the gym in a pair of shorts and this undergarmet...prime-time, i was ready for jersey shore and gtl before jersey shore and gtl....for those who don't know (Gym, Tan, Laundry)...
Monday, September 20, 2010
wants and needs
So I’ve had this idea for some time now to write a blog about my desire to marr (to take/get) certain things from home…before going to albania I had seen people’s peace corps blogs from all over the world, including Albania, and many time they had a small wish list on the side of things they want, but can’t seem to get here…or are just too expensive on a volunteers “salary” maybe tidings would be a better word? Maybe not…
Anyway, after being in Albania for six months I’m finally ready to post my address and make some requests…so here goes:
Xhefi Knoche
Vullnetar ne Korpusin e Paqes
Bashkia Gramsh, Qyteti Gramsh
Albania
What I want…
…
pictures – pictures of you, pictures of me, pictures of us…I currently have a wall that I’m turning into a monster collage, and I can’t do it without your help…so please print out your favorite pics of you, me or us over the years and send them my way…in fact, it doesn’t even have to be a picture of you me or us…just a picture that will trigger a memory of you me or us…
in addition to the shrine on my wall….i’d like to put together a slideshow on my computer when I get time here, so if you can, send me a disc if some pictures as well….thanks!
the great news about this wish is that you’re coming off easy on the wallet if you were planning on sending me a package…I think you can get away with a few pictures and cd in a regular size envelope for about 1/20th the price it would be to send a package…
videos of my nieces/nephews/cousins/even friends and family I guess dancing or singing to new popular music – why do I want this? For one, I’m missing out on popular music, and I was just introduced to Justin bieber’s “baby” today when watching a video of my neice on youtube doing her American idle addition….it was awesome! My heart melted…needless to say I watched it about 3 more times, and not just cuz I like the Justin bieber song….
I guess that’s about it for now…thanks again to everyone for all the support!
Anyway, after being in Albania for six months I’m finally ready to post my address and make some requests…so here goes:
Xhefi Knoche
Vullnetar ne Korpusin e Paqes
Bashkia Gramsh, Qyteti Gramsh
Albania
What I want…
…
pictures – pictures of you, pictures of me, pictures of us…I currently have a wall that I’m turning into a monster collage, and I can’t do it without your help…so please print out your favorite pics of you, me or us over the years and send them my way…in fact, it doesn’t even have to be a picture of you me or us…just a picture that will trigger a memory of you me or us…
in addition to the shrine on my wall….i’d like to put together a slideshow on my computer when I get time here, so if you can, send me a disc if some pictures as well….thanks!
the great news about this wish is that you’re coming off easy on the wallet if you were planning on sending me a package…I think you can get away with a few pictures and cd in a regular size envelope for about 1/20th the price it would be to send a package…
videos of my nieces/nephews/cousins/even friends and family I guess dancing or singing to new popular music – why do I want this? For one, I’m missing out on popular music, and I was just introduced to Justin bieber’s “baby” today when watching a video of my neice on youtube doing her American idle addition….it was awesome! My heart melted…needless to say I watched it about 3 more times, and not just cuz I like the Justin bieber song….
I guess that’s about it for now…thanks again to everyone for all the support!
Friday, September 17, 2010
if patience is a virtue, what is discipline?
Challenges, challenges, challenges….coming into my sixth month in albania I’m facing a new kind of challenge…a new kind of distraction….myself...it’s like I’m taking care of a 4 year old kid that I keep telling no, but he keeps doing what I don’t want him to anyway…sorry mom, now I know what you must have felt like when you always asked me to do the dishes, and I said “no problem” and then never did them…
I’m trying to maintain a balance....some work, some play…and some nothing…just for my brain’s sake…but I’m currently struggling to find the balance…on occasion I can’t resist watching a good old American movie…I tell myself, well, I’ll watch about 30 minutes of a movie while I eat dinner…then two hours later I’m kicking myself…or I watch an American movie with Albanian subtitles to try a new form of “studying” only to realize thirty minutes into the movie that I look at the subtitles about once every 5 minutes...or how about telling myself I’ll wake up early in the morning to do my workout, that way in the afternoon I’ll have more time to spend our “IRB’ing” intentional relationship building….well, that doesn’t quite work at 6 in the morning when I’m cold, and convince myself that I’m tired and I should head back to bed so I’m not tired at work…or telling myself I’m going to write a blog when I get home from work, and upload it the next day, only to find that I haven’t done either…
Fortunately, the idea for this blog came up about a week or so ago when I was getting frustrated with myself and my lack of discipline…even more fortunate is the fact that so far I’m one day into my new found discipline….blog, done…morning workout, done…
when coming to Albania this wasn’t one of the challenges I expected to face, but I guess it makes sense…we’re at the “6-month” mark…the mark that is notorious for making volunteers head home…I didn’t think much of it prior to experiencing it…I haven’t truly wanted to go home..but I have noticed a struggle..not just within me, but within other volunteers….this six month thing is no joke…but I think we’ll get through it…one day at a time….tomorrow’s plan for discpline? – workout….review flash cards…add thirty new words… I’ll let you know how it goes…
btw, made it outside for some work....
Thursday, August 12, 2010
4663 - HOME
Home sweet home…
4663 might look strange to some people…but if you put it in your old-fashioned phone, you know the kind without the keyboard…the simple kind with predictive text, not an entire keyboard on something that fits in your pocket and tends to be too small for even a baby’s fingers, you’ll get a series of words…the two most important for this blog are “HOME” and “GONE”…oh how very ironic that as I was texting some of my friends that I was now “home” in the predictive text 1st was “gone”…even more ironic since I was just contemplating whether or not I was really “home” now…I’m not really sure I know for sure…but for the time being, I think Albania is my home…what makes it my home? My routine…the one thing that has brought me comfort for so long…ROUTINE…I love routine and the comfort it affords…i used to love the fact that everytime I shaved I would start on the right side of my face, just underneath my sideburn and go from there…I used to love the fact that everyday afterwork I’d do some sort of exercise and get home around 8 pm…but that’s not what I came to Albania for..a while back I never even noticed that I always shaved the same way..but then I was reading a book, or more likely watching a movie..probably a comedian who said that I probably did…and he was right…and all the sudden…I didn’t like my routine? Why? Because it’s the routine that makes the days seem like a blur…it’s the routine that turned my 1st week at site to my 10th week at site before I knew it…it’s the routine that leads me one week away from being 28….i came here to be uncomfortable…I came here to break my routine…but my oh so short trip back to the US allowed me to look at my time here and realize that I’m breaking into routine again…as soon as I got home and had some time to think I realized how uncomfortable I felt…not with my friends, or my family..but with being “home” in America…all of the sudden I had these urges to live like I once had…to spend money like I used to make it…shortly after arriving home I did some grocery shopping to pick up some things people requested and a few things that I figured I’d bring back for myself..and 3 bags later (ONLY 3 BAGS)…I had spent almost two hundred dollar…thank god I’m a ralph’s club member and the big wigs at ralph’s now know everything I put in my cart..otherwise it woulda been $230 bucks..it didn’t hit me until a day later…but that’s just not me anymore…that can’t be me….i’m used to eating rice and beef for breakfast for about a dollar twenty and thinking that’s expensive…I’m used getting a scoop of icecream for 30 cents…I’m used to seeing a feather on my egg and thinking “wow these eggs are fresh”..and not “oh somebody didn’t clean my eggs”…these differences lead me to believe that Albania is currently my home, but my oh too comfortable home…I don’t want it to be comfortable..i don’t want my days to be routine, and I don’t want to finish these two years thinking “oh where did the time go?”
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