Big Brother…Amazing Sister!

So this week is starting my second full week of classes for PST. It definitely is very odd to be back on a rigid schedule…and one that pretty much requires me to be indoors by 8 pm. We typically have class from about 8 in the morn til 5 pm. However, I think I’ve regretted to mention how much people here LOVE coffee breaks. You can have at least 3-4 coffee breaks during the day so I stay pretty wired on Turkish coffee and espresso. It also means that typically there are tons of men at the bars at any point during the day because they’re taking a “coffee break” which might end up being 3 hours. We all go into Elbasan (the 3rd largest city in the country) twice a week for sector-oriented sessions and cultural training, etc. However, rarely during the day do we have any free time. And we have class Saturdays as well. So it’s going to be a crazy next 2 months that I’m sure will fly by.

It’s still kind of surreal to think that I am here for over 2 years. Especially considering that I’ve only been here 2 weeks and it already feels like 2 years! …not that it’s been grueling, I’ve just already experienced SO much in 2 weeks! I haven’t really had culture shock yet…I’ve gotten used to the roosters and sheep pen outside my window. And the CRAZY drivers in this country! (they have absolutely NO respect for pedestrians…our bus driver almost ran over a woman and her baby the other day)..and the road is always shared by crazy motorcyclists, pedestrians, sheep, and donkey carts.

As for other cultural nuances…the food isn’t horrible, but it’s not super fabulous. It’s a lot of bread, soup, eggs, and meat. A few vegetables occasionally and typically some salad. And always a lot of olive oil on everything! And cheese on everything too! (the region I’m in is known for its production of olive oil) We have a milk cow at my house (as do most people) that we get our milk from and my host mom makes cheese and yogurt. I haven’t milked it yet, but I’ll keep you posted as to when that happens. Everybody here has their own animals/gardens. They don’t necessarily grow things to sell at the market, but it’s more subsistence farming.

The other crazy thing here is people’s obsession with the show Big Brother Albania. I never watched the show in the states, but everyone here watches it. there’s even a station that has the show 24 hours a day. And it’s mostly boring because it’s just people talking and getting dressed up to stay INSIDE! I find it slightly ironic that Big Brother would be so popular in a post-Communist country…I would imagine people might have had enough of spying on people’s lives since their own were always monitored by the Communist Party. But my host sister (who is a typical high schooler at 17) loves the show! So I watch it just to spend time with her. But while I don’t enjoy her same taste in television (she also loves Spanish telenovellas), she is amazing! She has SO much energy and is always singing and dancing and joking around. And all of her little cousins LOVE her! I taught her some yoga today which was pretty funny…and I’m hoping she has a school dance while I’m here because I’m totally invited! I can’t wait until I can understand more of what she’s actually saying in Albanian so I can get more of her original personality!

Me and the other PCVs did take our hike. But it was a 6 hour hike in the cold and rain and we definitely slipped and tripped our way up/down the mountain. We ran into quite a few shepherds with their herds of goats and sheep carrying black umbrellas. And even though it was rainy and foggy, this country is still SO beautiful. It was nice to get out and exercise and do something active that was out of a classroom. We enjoyed a semi-picnic lunch since we couldn’t stop for long because of the wind and rain and ended up back in Gostime wet and ridiculously muddy. …just furthering the perception of crazy Americans (people don’t wear yoga clothes/running clothes/sweatpants/active wear around here…let alone MUDDY ones…so we got the stare down at the Kafe…shocker of the year! :D ).

Shume Mire!

So as I’m slowly trying to learn Albanian as quickly as possible, I still carry my dictionary around with me everywhere that I go. And of course, like learning any language, I at least always try to use the words I know—mainly being “thank you” (faleminderit) and “good” (‘shume mire’). I am slowly getting better and picking up more words in conversation, but mostly I kind of feel like a parrot repeating the things that someone asks me. I did get to throw in the word “llafazani” the other night. My host sister had been joking that my gjyshe (grandmother) and her friend were chatterboxes…and when grandma’s friend spent the night the other night after dinner (think 2 crazy 80-year-old ladies!) they were discussing arranged marriages and the friend and my grandma started chattering away. So I threw in the word llafazani and they got a kick out of it! …and then the friend proceeded to talk in gibberish for a few moments just to joke me that that’s what Albanian sounds like to me (which it still does!).

Tonight at dinner I was finally able to talk a bit more with my host mom though. I am better at kind of formulating sentences…but right now I have to remember that I’ve only been in the country for 1 week! So it seems like I don’t know a whole lot right now, but I guess I do need to give myself a little leniency in the time frame of knowing the language.

On another note—I think it’s so hilarious being in a small village. We are definitely the talk of the town!! There are some things that I haven’t even told my host sister Liza about the other volunteers, but then I come home and she’s asking me questions about so-and-so and knows how many kids they have and where they’re from, etc. It’s kind of amusing. Oh…and EVERYONE is a kusheri (cousin). The first whole day that I was here, Liza and I went over to Seth’s house (another volunteer) who has 3 younger host brothers. And one of their friends was there who was Liza’s cousin…but she had never met him before. But me Seth, and Brett taught them all how to play ultimate Frisbee which was pretty awesome! I figure if my first day in my village is teaching people how to play ultimate, there can only be good things to come! However, I was kind of afraid that my host mom would hate me because I’m corrupting her daughter. Because earlier that morning when I was doing my make-up, Liza had come in to watch and then she asked me to do hers. So after doing her make-up, I took her to a game of ultimate with a bunch of boys! (we were the only girls) …and she DEF has a crush on one of the American guys, I just can’t figure out who (my Shqip isn’t good enough yet!).

Our second day of school (the first day everyone here had out because of a holiday) was today and besides already sticking out because we look like Americans, we have our language classes at an elementary school. So literally, when I was walking in with Connie, everyone in the courtyard was staring us down. Albanians have NO shame about staring open-mouthed at you…and for long periods of time. I’m sure we were the talk of the school for the day. But I kind of like it! I’m thinking about making a choreographed dance routine for all of us as we enter together…that way everyone here will think ALL Americans do that. It’s kind of funny to think that I could do anything and people here would just automatically stereotype that all Americans do the same thing. So sorry if I have any weird habits that will give any of you a bad reputation here!
Otherwise, everything is great! The food has been good—I did realize I’m NOT supposed to brush my teeth with the water in the bathroom (oops!)…but I haven’t had the runs yet. I did use a Turkish toilet for the first time (and hope to God that I never have to poop in one!)…think glorified hole in the ground but inside…and usually with no toilet paper present…and with a cup beside it to wash it down. I’m sure there are many more ridiculous and embarrassing stories on the way, so stay tuned! Me and the other PCVs in my village are hopefully going to go on a hike this weekend in the mountains nearby! Hopefully the weather will permit.

Host Family 101

So today when I was dropped off at my host house I was greeted by 3 amazing women! My host grandmother, mother, and sister all live at home while their brother and father work in Greece. I was greeted with many kisses on the cheeks and a few chest rubs by grandma. My sister Liza was especially excited and held my hand for at least the first 10 minutes that I was here. She also helped me unpack most of my stuff (which my room is a lot larger than I thought it would be and the bathroom does have a western-style toilet…no crazy turks for me at home at least…and looks like it was recently remodeled). The house is beautiful and much nicer than I thought I would be in. While I unpacked it was kind of funny listening to the sounds of roosters and cows right below my window because I certainly am not used to this living in Virginia Beach.

I probably should be erring more on the side of caution…but I figure if I’m going to get sick at some point, it might as well be in the beginning so I can build up my immune system. For dinner we had a sort of beef stew with bread, custard with biscotti, and fruit. I’m not quite sure where everything appeared from (since I haven’t seen the kitchen which is on the 1st floor…and I’m not sure if I will until I’m not considered a guest anymore). But already I’m pretty sure I’ve drank unpasteurized milk (directly from the cow in the back yard), eaten fruit that’s been washed in the water, and brushed my teeth with the water. We were told that there is usually a time to use water in the morning (from 6-8 am) and in the evening (from 4-6 pm). However, there is running water in my house all the time and I think it’s coming from the well outside…I’m not sure how sanitary it is but I’ve brushed my teeth with it twice…and I don’t have giardia yet! Though I definitely haven’t drank it directly and I did manage to convey to Liza what my water filter was. So I’ll put that into use soon!

My sister Liza has been super excited. Upon arriving she took me into her room to show me her jewelry and make-up and her favorite clothes. She also showed me all of her pictures of friends and her favorite ringtones on her phone (yes, everyone here has a cell phone…even if they don’t have running water 24 hours a day or toilets that flush). It’s kind of sad to see how much of the younger culture here is influenced by American pop culture. Her favorite song is “Right Now” by Akon and of course she knows Britney Spears and Beyonce, etc. But I’m pretty positive that she doesn’t understand most of what’s being said in the songs (and I’m 100% sure that most of the older Albanian women have NO idea of what’s being said or they probably wouldn’t let her listen to it).

Liza has been super helpful though. I’ve spent most of the last 24 hours walking around with the dictionary glued to my hand and I’ve picked up a few crucial words and been able to convey most things that I need. In typical Albanian fashion, since Liza is the youngest daughter all of the chores are left to her. She set and cleaned the table and swept the living room when we were done. She moved all of the dishes away and I helped…but again, the kitchen is still a mystery to me. I would say that the house is pretty comparable to my house back in the states in terms of size, but people just have a lot less STUFF (Jess I think you would enjoy this minimalist culture). Consumerism hasn’t quite set in here yet. Like Hill (our country director) was saying, basic needs in Albania are met…it’s not like Africa where it’s a struggle to just get clean drinking water and other physical needs met. Here they are at a stage where those things are present but there are many other fundamental problems that affect progress. The most noticeable is the lack of a public sanitation/garbage collection system (I still haven’t figured out where the trash can is in my house). There is trash everywhere outside…next to rivers, on the sides of the street, in the roads, etc.

I’m headed in to town in a little bit to check it out with the other 4 volunteers. Today is shopping day…so I’m sure we’ll get our fair share of stares since everyone is out and about…and we stick out like 80s pops stars at a Renaissance fair. And since us girls will be walking around with men!!

Separation Anxiety

So the last couple of days of PST have finished up and they have definitely been jam-packed with a lot of information about what to expect and what we will be doing in the next few months of training as well as once we get to our permanent sites. Unfortunately, I think the guy at the front desk of the hotel got very annoyed with my roommates and me because we kept having issues with our hotel room. The first night it had been ridiculously cold and we thought it was just because our heater was broken. So we ended up walking down with the heater remote and shaking it in front of him (…don’t quite know how to say “the heater is broken” in shqip yet) to hopefully imply that we needed help. He hesitantly came into our room (Albanian guys are ridiculously freaked out by being in the company of women…let alone American women…and let alone 3 gorgeous (heh) American women!)…and I was totally concerned that there might be bras and underwear hanging out everywhere because we hadn’t really thought about it. …and while he did look like he wanted to run out immediately, he did fix our heater.

So after he came to fix it, we get a phone call to our room. I jokingly answered the phone with a hearty “pershendetje” (hello in Albanian) thinking that it was one of the other guy volunteers from upstairs trying to utilize their minimal Albanian that we’d learned. But then the person actually responded with a “pershendetje” back, followed by “mir” (good). Then I was confused because it didn’t sound logical saying “good” after saying “hello.” Then he responded with “condition?” and I realized it was the front desk guy making sure our heat was working. I must say it was adorable.

So we thought that it was finally working, but just in case we forced Phoebe into using a really thick lice blanket that we found in the closet (…not really lice…but it was pretty sketchy since we weren’t sure how long it’d been in the cabinet). Well we woke up the next morning (to snow!) and it was FREEZING. And that’s when we realized that the window was open and completely broken so it wouldn’t close at all. Unfortunately, we had a really bad storm all day long with A LOT of wind and snow…and by the time we got back to our room after lunch, the window was broken off by everything except 1 hinge and tilted at the perfect angle so that snow was being directly funneled into our room. So our curtains were soaked and there was a big puddle under the window. So we had to change rooms our last night…where Katie and I then managed to break the overhead light (…I mean the light bulb had just burnt out so it wasn’t actually our fault)…but we did have to call front desk boy again. …in retrospect…perhaps he just kept breaking things on purpose.

Last night we also had a trainee discotec and ended up learning some traditional Albanian circle dances as well as a few other moves and watched our language teachers bust some moves on the dance floor. During the day we also had a panel of current volunteers that were able to answer a bunch of our questions about service and about living with a host family. I was already forewarned that apparently the women of my family will demand to weigh me at some point…and apparently on a pretty regular basis…so to not be concerned when this happens. Apparently one of the current volunteers was weighed at a seed store on her first day. So I’ll keep you updated on my first weigh-in! We also learned about the truly affectionate nature of older Albanian women (and their desire to rub arms, bellies, chests, etc.) so I was prepared for that as well. It will definitely be weird to not be around 35 people anymore. We’ll see each other twice a week, and then 4 other days during the week we have language classes in our satellite village (I am in the village of Gostime with 4 other people). But I’m excited to learn more of the language and culture as I get away from the crutch of being around English speakers.

First Days in Albania

So after an amazing few days in Philadelphia with the roomies from college and Mike, I have finally arrived in Albania (after an extended trip of about 20 hours!) and it’s already amazing! Surprisingly, I haven’t been nervous at all…even during the beginning stages and during traveling I just had a very real peace about coming here. I feel like it’s just the reassurance that this is exactly where I’m supposed to be right now. I know that this is the perfect timing for being here and I’m really excited about it. I’ve only known the people that I’m with for about 3 days…but right now, it feels like a lifetime. Already we’ve experienced so much together that it feels like we’ve gone through journeys and journeys together. There are about 35 people total split up between the fields of Health, Teaching English and Community Development. We will all live in satellite villages where we will do language training and then 2 days a week we will head into Elbasan (the larger town) to do some group training on culture, health, and safety. The people I’m here with are really cool—from various walks of life but all with the desire to improve the quality of life for people in developing nations.

Today was our first day of orientation and we met with our program directors to discuss our eventual site placements (where I’ll be for the next 2 years after training). During my interview with the Community Development coordinator, I think I mentioned “arts” or “culture” about 80 times (ok…maybe only 15). I also mentioned that I LOVE event planning…so who know what type of activities I could be planning. …I had the brief vision of myself teaching hip-hop to Albanian teenagers or something. ….apparently the dance scene is just breaking in Albania and I said I love working with middle and high schoolers. So who knows what I’ve gotten myself into J I feel like Albania might be the Prague of the early 90s…when the isolated post-Community country had a birth into the contemporary arts scene…so we’ll see. I’ll keep you posted on my site assignment but I won’t know until about week 4.

So instead of trying to convey everything I’ve witnessed in the last 2 days (…it feels like SO much longer!), I’ll just do a brief list of first impressions of the country.

· Gorgeous landscape! (palm trees next to snow-covered mountains) with a planting season that’s year-round
· Fashionably dressed people—even if the living standards are lower than the U.S. (…seriously the women are SO fashionably dressed…I might need to invest in a pair of awesome $19 boots that everyone has here)
· Cows tied to leashes on the side of the road
· Donkey-drawn carts
· Construction everywhere (thought apparently it looks like people are busy, but it sometimes takes 10-15 years to complete a project)
· Men crowded around tables playing dominoes in the afternoon coffee time
· Ugly concrete bunkers studding the hillside (used during the Communist period under Hoxha in case of a bomb attack by the West)
· So many gutted concrete buildings (think the pictures of the platforms with the stairways leading up to the sky that have no walls)
· Dichotomy of scrap metal yards/trash dumps/broken concrete next to brightly colored villa-style apartments and other in-tact shops
· FABulous food! (Mediterranean-style diet with many vegetables and salads and lamb/chicken….which my going back to meat is going okay!)
· Being unabashedly stared at. ..we went on a walking tour of Elbasan yesterday and people STARED at us unashamedly…they have no qualms about making it clearly obvious that we are foreign to their environment and are intrigued
· Not being able to go out after 8 pm because women are not seen outside after that time and NEVER go anywhere by themselves (even during the day!)

So hopefully this isn’t overwhelming for the first entry! I have no idea what my access to internet is going to be like. I did find out a little bit about my host family (that I will live with for 3 months during pre-service training). I have a dad (that is an immigrant from Greece) and a mom that are in their mid-40s; a brother and a sister that are 18 and 19; and a grandmother that is 84! So I’m excited to meet them on Saturday!

In other news…my funny language story of the day (which I’m sure there will be many!) is of course, a story involving the humor of a middle school boy. The number for 2 in Albania is “dy” (pronounced “doo”) and so we were going through class repeating things after the teacher as a group; then by each side of the room; and then each saying it individually. As I’m sure you’ve already figured out…repeating the phrase very quickly results in a LOT of people saying “doo doo.” So naturally, I completely lost all self-control and laughed hysterically for about 2 minutes straight. By the time it came around to me to repeat it individually, I couldn’t even breathe. …I’m hoping all of the people at Hot House can appreciate this story since they know my history of laughing at “duties” in office meetings. …so clearly, I haven’t changed that part of my personality.

I love you all and appreciate your support in getting me here! Be in touch and keep me posted on your lives!! I’ll try to write as often as possible!