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)...

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!

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.... 

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 1^st 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 1^st week at site to my 10^th 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?”

so now I’m going to make it a point to shave in some random spot on my face…I’m going to make it a point to spend some time working with Albanians in their fields to truly understand where my fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat come from…maybe I’ll sleep in the living room every now and again…and maybe sometimes I won’t sleep at all and watch the sunrise…I want to continue to grow and learn and to make my days mean something more than what’s presented to me…I want to present something to myself…

it's wedding season...

Soooo…it’s wedding season in Albania..and yes, this reminds me of one of my favorite vince Vaughn movies of all time…although, I think I’ll have to go with the darkhorse and say “Made” is my favorite…

Anyway, it just allows me to talk about cultural context a bit…something that is going to start happening every week for the rest of the summer is a procession of cars driving down the main roads honking their horns while driving about 3 mph….i have yet to see anybody ghost ride the wip, although I’m sure it would be a hit, I’m not going to introduce the idea because of the inherent danger behind it, I have seen a 3 or 4 year old sitting in the front seat on the fathers lap steering while the father controls the acceleration….but back on topic..initally I was shocked by this practice, and surprised that none of the villagers were annoyed by such an event…

But two things hit me today that helped me put things back cultural context…1^st off, somebody was bumping a wedding song this morning at about 7 pm…and by bumping I mean I think their apartment was down the street but I could still here it…the important thing here is that it’s a song about weddings/marriage and nobody in town seemed to mind…I figured if nobody would mind, I wouldn’t either, and decided that would be my alarm clock for the day…

The second occurance happened while I was getting my first real deal Albanian haircut…I believe I have the traditional American fade, with the Albanian twist of the hair in the back bottom not being cut but rather matching the top of the fade to create a semi Mohawk…I’m not sure though since I don’t have a mirror to check the back…but anyway, the traditional celebration of cars driving past, honking their horns announcing the marriage of a new couple (which reminds me..quick insert…gay marriage is legal in Albania…that’s not to say that no discrimination occurs…but hats off to Albania for getting that done and for future progress)…but what I noticed was not only the barder and the people in the shop not annoyed, but they stopped what they were doing to smile, watching the procession and wave to the newlyweds....

And that’s where cultural context comes in….in albania, from what I’ve seen..many woman, and even many men continue to live with their families until they get married…so not only is it a great day that two people decided to spend the rest of their lives together…but, you also have all these other life changing events/coming of age ceremonies happening…this in addition to how close knit the communities are (I’m a bit ashamed to admit at times during my life I didn’t even know the names of my neighbors)…it all makes sense in the context of culture…

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!