lists

so i've been pretty unimpressed and unmotivated in my blog writing..turns out, i'm not much of a writer if i can't even get through my posts...so i'm thinking of trying something new..summarizing better and keeping it short and simple...

today's list..things to get used to in albania
1.  sweating in the morning, at work, in the afternoon, and at night - the summers are hot, and there isn't much ac around...just one of those things i've gotten used to...it's not uncommon to show up to work and litterly have to wipe sweat from my brow for about 15 minutes before i cool down, and wait for the next sweat session to begin..

2. extra long handshakes - it is not uncommon for an albanian to hold your hand for an extended period of time after shaking it and talking...this can be awkward, but i'm getting used to it..

2a. the bro shake - this is the handshake where each party invovled fingers are pointed toward the sky rather than parallel to the ground...sort of like a grip for an armwrestling match...this is only awkward when i don't know it's coming and i motion for a regular shake and get the bro shake..it's especially unexpected when it comes from an elder, although that's not uncommon here..fortunately i have plenty of practice with awkward handshakes in the states, and i can just play the american card here...

3. sitting, waiting, wishing - there can be a lot of downtime in albania...sometimes i'll go to a cafe with my counterpart and we'll sit for a bit in silence after we finish our drinks..typically, i like to get up and go do what's next, and i initially thought we only sat in silence because of my relatively limited shqip...but after sitting with my counterpart and his friends, i noticed this is common...just something to get used to..after long it won't be awkward silence..it'll just be time to think...

4. buying fresh vegetables, fruits, and bread - back home i'd go to the grocery store about once every two weeks...here, it's necessary to go about once every three days..but this isn't a problem since everyday when i walk home from work i pass all the food stands i need to stop at...and i'm actually getting fresh, organic food for cheap...(i think)....my diet has changed a bit..and there isn't much fast food here, but this is something i can grow to love...

5. understanding half the words of a sentence, and trying to decode it as soon as possible...if you've read my blog posts you know i constantly talk about studying..even so..no matter how many words i know, my ear hasn't quite caught up to my brain..when an albanian speaks at a normal speed the word tend to blend together..so i do my best to pick out the words i understand and decipher the meaning of the sentence...this tends to work most of the time, but i need to be careful with certain conversations to make sure i understand...in due time though..i will understand everything...or i'll waste all my time trying..

sunny daysss

It’s been a bit of time between blogs so I figured I’d hit you all up with the latest happenings in gramsh and Albania in general…got to do a little bit of camping last week on a beach in a town called divjak with some fellow peace corps friend…about 12 of us..it was a good time..we had our mini 4^th of july party complete with sparklers and even some fireworks..it was cool to do something to celebrate the 4^th although it is hard to live up to the traditions I’ve gotten used to in el Segundo..pregaming at drews…finding a way to Hermosa and making it back to el Segundo to see the awesome fireworks show…blurry or not….

Anyway, that was last weekend…things at work have been going pretty much the same..i spend the days studying the language and interacting with my Albanian collogues…I’m picking up more and more of the language, and feeling more and more comfortable using it…I’m thinking when I come back to visit for haas’ wedding in august I’ll give you guys a little taste on what I’ve aquired so far…

I guess that’s the next piece of major news..i was granted special permission to leave the country a bit earlier than the “3 months after training” policy thanks to my program manager and our country director…it comes with a slight penalty, but it’s bearable and I’m excited to make it back for the wedding… and see as many people as I can in the short 5 or 6 day window I’ll have in the states..planning on making it down to the tavern on Friday, august 6^th if you want to catch up for a minute..haha

I’m getting more and more settled into my apartment and slowly but surely it’s becoming my home..i’ve also been trying to establish some sort of routine..peace corps says it helps with the homesickness/sadness/etc. during the 1^st 6 months of service, which are supposed to be the worst…I’ve fared pretty well so far and am thankful of that…living and working in another country is hard enough as it is without the added sadness of missing home…so, that’s been going well…

Soccer is huge all over the world, and it’s pretty huge in Albania as well…all the café’s/restaurants put up tvs especially for the world cup..you might not think that’s such a big deal, but keep in mind that a tv here is a lot more expensive relatively than a tv in the states…so I’ve done my far share of watching the world cup..it’s unfortunate that the US lost, but it just didn’t look like they were ever really ready to play…from an amateurs perspective at least…

Gonna try to post some pics on facebook and update the blog more regularly so keep checking back! 

pune = work

So, “pune” in Albanian is “work” in English…so far I’ve been in to work at the local municipality a handful of times…currently my counterpart and I  are waiting for our office to be completed…originally we were waiting for computers…now we’re waiting for tables..the computers were supplied by USAid, an NGO that does a lot of work around the world, and has done a lot of work in Albania..Gramsh is also part of another USAid project that I hope to collaborate with once I get my feet wet here and have a better understanding of the city and the people…

So far my days are spent learning Albanian (which I’m very lucky to be able to do at work, otherwise I’d have to spend 3 hours at home after work studying), going to coffees with my new coworkers, and sometimes grabbing a bite to eat with my coworkers..the work culture in Albania is much different than in the US in many ways, but in many ways is also very similar…whereas in the US people will take time for themselves at there desks to surf the internet, or take personal phone calls under the radar, in Albania, these breaks are with their coworkers, whether for coffee, a bite to eat, or a quick trip to pick up some shoes…

Maybe by American standards this wouldn’t be acceptable to do something like this out in the open…but what makes American standards the holy grail?  I’m beginning to really appreciate many aspects of Albanian culture that are quite different from what I’m used to…it’s not rare for my to walk into a store only to find the shop owner/worker in the store next to his conversing with a fellow shop owner..it seems that personal relationships are very important here…more important than work…sometimes I think people lose sight of that in the US...just food for thought…

In the same vein, I was at the local gym (it’s no 24 hour fitness, but I’m lucky to have one at all) and I was talking to a couple of high school kids who know the current volunteers in gramsh who are leaving…anyway, while talking they asked me if I liked Albania..I said yes, and they had a hard time believing me…then they asked me what my favorite city was in Albania, and I said that I really like gramsh…again, they had a hard time believing me…What about Tirana?? The kid asked me. Tirana is Albania’s capital and is  actually very similar to many big cities in the US or around the world…not exactly LA, but close..anyway, I explained to him that Tirana was my least favorite city that I’ve been to in Albania..he didn’t understand why since there are so many things  to do in Tirana..i explained that I don’t like crowded places, I don’t like traffic and I don’t like heat associated with big cities…”but there’s so much to do…” I guess it’s one of those grass is greener things…or maybe not, maybe that’s just his preference and not mine…

Anyway, over the next few weeks if not months I expect to do a lot of studying, start on a few small projects at work, and try to integrate into the community…will keep you posted..

sometimes when you fall, you gotta get up and run your ass off...

so, I cant remember if I mentioned this in my last blog, and I’m not currently online so I cant check, but I am now at site in gramsh..i made it to site on Sunday, unpacked, cleaned a bit and worked on Monday..unpacked and cleaned some more..then needed to head for the capital city to help assist with the special Olympics. It was a great experience and I’m already looking forward to next year when my shqip is better and I can communicate with the people there that much more…the events they had were basketball, soccer, bowling and running…they had different groups from cities across the country…I assisted with the younger kids from a large city called durres..i had a lot of fun..and will be back to participate next year for sure..

funny story though, in order to make the games in time on the first day my site mate and I had to take the 5 am bus to Tirana…normally this wouldn’t be a problem…but with all the travel, and all the activities taking place over the last few weeks..including moving into my apartment that I had to clean..i was exhausted..my intention was to wake up at 3:50, plug in the hot water heater…go back to bed..wake up at 4:20 and shower…then bounce for the bus stop at about 4:40…my first alarm worked fine..i woke up, went into the bathroom, but then decided that I’d rather sleep than shower…so I went back to my room and thought I changed my alarm..and went back to bed…then at 4:50 I get a text from my sitemate kim (she’s awesome btw)..that she had to get on the bus since it was raining..realizing I was super late and would have to run across town I quickly jumped out of bed…

I live on the 4^th floor of a brand new apartment building (in fact I think I’m the only one in the entire 7 story building since the apartments aren’t quite done yet)…with marble floors..well, it had been drizzling that morning and when I got to the steps leading to the streeet (full sprint)..there was a lady entering the building, she turned right in front of where I was going..i tried to change direction on slippery stairs and went down  flat…she proceeded to yell at my in shqip..i finally got up and realized she was telling me to go to the hospital…I told her (Jam mire) I’m fine…got up and ran across town to the bus…made it to the bus a couple minutes after 5…I think I was running a six minute mile pace with a backpack packed for 3 days on..lol..needless to say..my lower back is still a bit sore…

I’ll try to post pics of my pad and my pain on facebook soon now that I have an internet café relatively close…which also means I’ll be on skype..so if any of you guys wanna hollar let me know when you’re on..it’s looking like during the week I’ll typically be on around 7 pm my time when I go to internet…I can make appts. For the weekend….

All for now…

been a long time...

i feel like it's been an eternity since my last post..these last few weeks of training have been pretty hectic and nearly all of our time had been accounted for until just last week..this week we've had a bit more free time on our hands, and as such, we've spent a lot of it together..there are 50 of us, and we know that once we all leave for our permanent sites we won't be seeing each other nearly as much..it's definitely bittersweet..we're all ready to get started working, but it'll be hard to just leave these 49 other people behind after spending so much time with them over the last 10 weeks...

so, we have our swear in this thursday...then i get to go to my future site...once i get there i'll have fairly regular internet access, so i'll be able to e-mail/skype more regularly....and will definitely be expecting some calls...

anyway, just wanted to give everyone a quick update since it had been a while...

talk to you all soon!


ps..almost forgot to mention, with all the time i spent on studying shqip, i actually somehow did a fairly decent job on the language test..i scored in the "intermediate medium" range...not sure how it happened, but i'll take it...

a little inspiration to travel...

quickie

finally got to put my newly bought basketball to use with some other volunteers and one albanian kids...good time..it was nice to just get out, run, and play a fun game...nice stresss free sunday...

as part of our training we have to do a project in our home town...my group put together something at the local school with the 8th and 9th graders...we're going to have them draw pictures of their favorite things about their town...we didn't have a lot of time to put the project together, but the idea is to get them thinking about their community as a home and place to stay and have a community...our town is so small it doesn't have it's own government offices, and many business are actually in the town next store...many of the people go to other cities to work, so hence the idea of getting them to think about their own town as a place to live and work...obviously it's a lot more complicated, and if there are no jobs in town they can't really stay...but i think peace corps wants us to get used to planning, mapping, and then executing projects...

many more projects to come...have met a few more of the current volunteers and they are all pretty cool....SOOOO FAR SOOOO GOOOD...

one last note, i might be getting a dog at my site from the current volunteer there that is leaving..we shall see, but that might be kinda cool...i was hesistant until i heard the phrase, he'll keep you warm in the winter...i'm nearly sold...