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the first thing is a project at the local health center...i'm submitting an application today to begin to replace an outdated filing cabinet (about 30 years outdated) where residents medical records are kept...this is a small grant i hope we can utilize to show the benefits of a modernized filing system in one office...i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!

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.