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 ).