So I've been asked by a few people what dancing is like in Albania. I have some pictures that I still haven't uploaded and some videos of dancing at our culture day. When I get a chance, I will upload some of them so that you can see (and see some of the traditional attire that my host sister wore and a couple of the other people in my group got to wear). I HOPEFULLY will get to go to an Albanian wedding this weekend with Eliza! We haven't "officially" gotten invited yet, but I'm hoping I'll add some weight into the invitation if she can bring the crazy American. We are both super excited to get dressed up and dance A LOT...me especially....and she was joking that we had to be dressed in the best! And she asked me if I was going to wear the 1 pair of heels that I brought that I haven't touched yet, and I said no. I was going to wear my tennis shoes. And she looked shocked! But clearly...everyone knows how much i LOVE getting dressed up...and I've been waiting for the opportunity to do it here!
Otherwise, my host dad headed back to Greece today. It was super fun while he was here! I learned a few Albanian card games that he would play with me and Eliza. And they were all super impressed that I could shuffle and bridge the cards (thanks mom for teaching me that trick when i was 8!). They just kept saying "casino." I taught them Egyptian rat screw...which is always fun since it involves potentially hurting someone by slapping ridiculously hard.
It's been really cool feeling like I am definitely integrating into my village. We've been teaching typing classes at the high school for the past 2 weeks and the past 3 sundays we've played frisbee/tag/other fun activities with the kids at the church grounds [though my favorite so far was playing freeze tag today...and explaining that you had to crawl between people's legs to unfreeze them]. So I've been meeting a ton of kids and everywhere I go I feel like I know more and more people. It's super exciting, though kind of sad to know that I'll be leaving here in 1 month and have to do the same thing in my new town. I've also been going to the Catholic church here because it's a great way to re-establish relationships that I've already formed. And practice my Shqip with kids and help them with their English a bit. And the nun who is from Brazil game me some free honey! Always a plus!
As for communal living and all my friends out there in community houses...living here certainly brings a new meaning to the concept. In my family everyone shares the same water glass over dinner (I have taken to just using my water bottle). And typically when we eat we all share the same salad and yogurt bowl. However, the weirdest thing we share is the bathroom towel. Nothing like 5 people using the same towel! ...so you might want to think about incorporating these things into your intentional living! ;)
lastly...fun fact of the day....the closest word to my name in shqip is recel (which means jam/marmalade). i think it's kind of fun! and easier to get people to say this than how my name actually sounds.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Site Placement!!!
So I found out yesterday where I'll be going for my site placement for the next 2 years. I won't be headed there until the end of may...I'm not even half way through our training right now (which is crazy...because it feels like it's been forever...in a good way though!). But I will be headed to Burrel...it is in the north central part of the country..and from what I can tell, it doesn't look like there are too many attractions there. It's in one of the poorest areas of the country. And I think the latest big claim to fame there is that there were some Kosovars who kidnapped some Serbians and killed them to harvest their organs on the black market. So...good to know!
However, my supervisor in the Peace Corps says that my Albanian counterpart is awesome. He apparently has lived in England for 9 years and his wife is foreign ( I'm not exactly sure what ethnicity though). I think he's pretty progressive for an Albanian man so we'll see! ...my site mate is also pretty awesome so I'm excited about that. There aren't any current volunteers where we're headed so we'll have kind of a clean slate to start out with (which also means a lot more work making contacts).
In other events...today we had a culture day in our village for our host families. Our families made some traditional food and we made some American food (ok...we did make FRENCH toast...but we also made baked apples because we couldn't find brown sugar to do a crisp...or other various things that we could have used to cook with to make cookies or something). Like most Albanian gatherings, it ended in dancing. It's kind of awesome here that people LOVE to dance so much. As I was told today (and by an Albanian boy)...part of the reason guys love to dance is because it's one of the only ways for the girls to get out of their houses (and housework!) here. So ALL the guys can dance because it's one of their few opportunities for spending time with girls outside of school. I do have to say...that Americans could learn from this! :) Every girl loves a man who can dance! My sister Eliza dressed up in a traditional costume and Brett and Alex from my group dressed in traditional outfits that their host parents brought along. I will have to post pictures SOON! We did some typical Albanian circle dancing and then busted out the rock/pop...which is pretty much ALL from American...seriously...Britney Spears, Akon, and Rihanna...felt like I was in an American dance club. Except that it was at 2 o'clock in the afternoon...and not in the morning!
This past week we also started assisting with typing classes at the high school as part of our community project. It was pretty awesome! Albanian classrooms tend to be a little less disciplined than American ones so we were kind of worried. But kids were so ridiculously focused it was great! It was probably because they have never learned typing on an actual computer keyboard...only from a textbook. So we downloaded this interactive typing program that allows them to start using the computers in their lab at school to learn typing. If you know how to type here it's pretty much an instantaneous job. People over 30 here have NO idea how to use computers, and even current college students have no idea how to type. So it's definitely a much-needed skill we can easily transfer here. We're going to try and go in for 3 days a week, at least 1-2 hours a day during training so we can provide some consistency. I think our first day we definitely had some kids sneak in who weren't even actually in the class. And like most Albanians who have no qualms with staring, people kept stopping by the classroom to stand outside the door and stare in at us. Makes me laugh every time!
However, my supervisor in the Peace Corps says that my Albanian counterpart is awesome. He apparently has lived in England for 9 years and his wife is foreign ( I'm not exactly sure what ethnicity though). I think he's pretty progressive for an Albanian man so we'll see! ...my site mate is also pretty awesome so I'm excited about that. There aren't any current volunteers where we're headed so we'll have kind of a clean slate to start out with (which also means a lot more work making contacts).
In other events...today we had a culture day in our village for our host families. Our families made some traditional food and we made some American food (ok...we did make FRENCH toast...but we also made baked apples because we couldn't find brown sugar to do a crisp...or other various things that we could have used to cook with to make cookies or something). Like most Albanian gatherings, it ended in dancing. It's kind of awesome here that people LOVE to dance so much. As I was told today (and by an Albanian boy)...part of the reason guys love to dance is because it's one of the only ways for the girls to get out of their houses (and housework!) here. So ALL the guys can dance because it's one of their few opportunities for spending time with girls outside of school. I do have to say...that Americans could learn from this! :) Every girl loves a man who can dance! My sister Eliza dressed up in a traditional costume and Brett and Alex from my group dressed in traditional outfits that their host parents brought along. I will have to post pictures SOON! We did some typical Albanian circle dancing and then busted out the rock/pop...which is pretty much ALL from American...seriously...Britney Spears, Akon, and Rihanna...felt like I was in an American dance club. Except that it was at 2 o'clock in the afternoon...and not in the morning!
This past week we also started assisting with typing classes at the high school as part of our community project. It was pretty awesome! Albanian classrooms tend to be a little less disciplined than American ones so we were kind of worried. But kids were so ridiculously focused it was great! It was probably because they have never learned typing on an actual computer keyboard...only from a textbook. So we downloaded this interactive typing program that allows them to start using the computers in their lab at school to learn typing. If you know how to type here it's pretty much an instantaneous job. People over 30 here have NO idea how to use computers, and even current college students have no idea how to type. So it's definitely a much-needed skill we can easily transfer here. We're going to try and go in for 3 days a week, at least 1-2 hours a day during training so we can provide some consistency. I think our first day we definitely had some kids sneak in who weren't even actually in the class. And like most Albanians who have no qualms with staring, people kept stopping by the classroom to stand outside the door and stare in at us. Makes me laugh every time!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Easter and Other Things
So this past Sunday Alex and I from my group went to Easter mass at the Catholic church in our town. It was definitely a funny experience—one, because I’m not Catholic and two, because I could understand about .10% of what was being said in Albanian. There was surprisingly a lot of singing in the more “contemporary” sense…with 2 guitars and 3 people singing. I was also surprised at how many people ended up being present at the service since there isn’t really a large Catholic population in the country (and I wasn’t sure how many in our village). At first we showed up an hour early because we were told the wrong time (not sure of that was our language mistake, or someone else’s). Then during the service they kept calling out page numbers for the songs to sing and we had to be told by the 7 year old beside us what to sing. And then at one point during reciting one of the responses in Shqip, I just couldn’t control myself from laughing because Alex and I were reading so slow that we got in about every other word. At some point I’ll have to post something in Albanian so you all can see how crazy it looks (and maybe try to imagine how it sounds).
We made it through the service intact and were invited to stay for refreshments after…which included pretty fabulous cake. Naturally, we became the center of attention for about 20 school children that targeted us for their minimal use of English. They kept fighting for spaces to sit beside us and tell us their names and then dragged us into the church garden to show us around. Additionally, like most Albanian gatherings, the evening ended in dancing, a la traditional Albanian circle style. It was slightly sad to realize that about 90% of the people there were all women and children…a few boys in sight, but not very many fathers. I think we’re going to try and go every week so I’ll see how different it will be on a normal Sunday. Though I might also try to check out Orthodox Easter this Sunday somewhere in Elbasan just to see the difference….and there are some really cool churches in the area.
In other notes about everyday life here…I do have to mention the public transportation here. Sometimes when we go into Elbasan we can catch a bus from our village that takes a while but at least helps me feel pretty safe and secure. However, most of the time we catch a furgon which never runs on a set schedule, is similar to a van circa 1973, and whenever you are hopping into it, it’s kind of like being shoved into the back of a van to be kidnapped by sketchy mustachioed men. Furgon drivers also enjoy playing an endless game of chicken with everyone else on the road—between swerving to miss potholes, pedestrians, bikers, motorcyclists, and other crazy furgon drivers (without falling into the 5 foot ditches on both sides of the road)…I think my prayer life has increased just by nature of praying for my life every time I go into the city. Oh…and of course, no seatbelts are ever worn and it’s not a guarantee that the driver hasn’t been drinking a few rakis before starting work that day. I seriously came into about 3 inches of my life at least 4 times the other day going into the city. But no worries…I have seen surprisingly few accidents since being here (by odds of I’m not sure what).
In a final note, my host dad finally returned from Greece on Easter Sunday. He’s a great guy (from what I can understand of what he says…but more so from what I can judge of his character)…which I was slightly nervous about due to certain gender roles in Albania. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this (and disclaimer: this is a HUGE generalization) but men here do tend to work slightly less than the women and then expect to be waited on all the time. Of course, it all kind of depends on what profession you are in (like my host dad who works ridiculously hard in Greece and then returns to Albania rarely to spend time with family). But most of the time you only see men out at cafes during the day typically for a few hours at a time (and men are the ONLY ones out after nightfall), and you’ll see women working in the yard or kitchen all day and old grandmothers hauling wood in sacks or bales of hay on their heads as men sip espressos and raki (local alcohol of choice) at the cafes. But seeing my host dad interact with my mom and sister Eliza makes me happy that he is a caring father and husband…and he and Eliza are hilarious together!
We made it through the service intact and were invited to stay for refreshments after…which included pretty fabulous cake. Naturally, we became the center of attention for about 20 school children that targeted us for their minimal use of English. They kept fighting for spaces to sit beside us and tell us their names and then dragged us into the church garden to show us around. Additionally, like most Albanian gatherings, the evening ended in dancing, a la traditional Albanian circle style. It was slightly sad to realize that about 90% of the people there were all women and children…a few boys in sight, but not very many fathers. I think we’re going to try and go every week so I’ll see how different it will be on a normal Sunday. Though I might also try to check out Orthodox Easter this Sunday somewhere in Elbasan just to see the difference….and there are some really cool churches in the area.
In other notes about everyday life here…I do have to mention the public transportation here. Sometimes when we go into Elbasan we can catch a bus from our village that takes a while but at least helps me feel pretty safe and secure. However, most of the time we catch a furgon which never runs on a set schedule, is similar to a van circa 1973, and whenever you are hopping into it, it’s kind of like being shoved into the back of a van to be kidnapped by sketchy mustachioed men. Furgon drivers also enjoy playing an endless game of chicken with everyone else on the road—between swerving to miss potholes, pedestrians, bikers, motorcyclists, and other crazy furgon drivers (without falling into the 5 foot ditches on both sides of the road)…I think my prayer life has increased just by nature of praying for my life every time I go into the city. Oh…and of course, no seatbelts are ever worn and it’s not a guarantee that the driver hasn’t been drinking a few rakis before starting work that day. I seriously came into about 3 inches of my life at least 4 times the other day going into the city. But no worries…I have seen surprisingly few accidents since being here (by odds of I’m not sure what).
In a final note, my host dad finally returned from Greece on Easter Sunday. He’s a great guy (from what I can understand of what he says…but more so from what I can judge of his character)…which I was slightly nervous about due to certain gender roles in Albania. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this (and disclaimer: this is a HUGE generalization) but men here do tend to work slightly less than the women and then expect to be waited on all the time. Of course, it all kind of depends on what profession you are in (like my host dad who works ridiculously hard in Greece and then returns to Albania rarely to spend time with family). But most of the time you only see men out at cafes during the day typically for a few hours at a time (and men are the ONLY ones out after nightfall), and you’ll see women working in the yard or kitchen all day and old grandmothers hauling wood in sacks or bales of hay on their heads as men sip espressos and raki (local alcohol of choice) at the cafes. But seeing my host dad interact with my mom and sister Eliza makes me happy that he is a caring father and husband…and he and Eliza are hilarious together!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Weekend in Berat
So this past weekend I was able to spend some time with another volunteer who is placed in Berat. It was a FABulous weekend for learning what to expect in the next 2 years, though I did feel entirely spoiled from eating vegetables, drinking large mugs of tea, being able to read the NY Times in my inbox, and sleeping in a double bed! It was about a 2.5 bus ride to get there from Elbasan, but Berat is beautiful! It is cleaner than Elbasan and slightly smaller in size. I spent the weekend hanging out with other volunteers placed there and the 2 that went down with me (in various other sectors of Health, Community Development, and TEFl). Sunday we got a chance to tour the castle and had our own special Albanian tour guide who was able to unlock some of the Byzantine churces that were up at the castle. It's kind of fun to explore a castle that isn't really restricted by the administration running it...because we were able to explore everything and climb on top of everything and it was fabulous! It's also crazy because apparently only .1% of the site has been excavated...so I'm sure there is a cultural/architectural treasure trove that's waiting to be opened!
The girl that I stayed with is in Community Development and I got to go into work with her on Monday. She works at the Bashkia (the equivalent of our city hall/municipality) and helps with various projects. Her Albanian counterpart just got a promotion to Director of Tourism, so she will probably get more involved with that in the coming year...which is something that she initially wanted to work with anyways. She is also helping a Health volunteer develop a community garden outside of a home for mentally disabled children. Similar to other post-communist countries (and it was the same in the Czech Republic), people with mental and physical disabilies were marginalized under communism. And while conditions are better now, it still seems like they don't have the capacity or trained staff to support special education.
It DEF was helpful to realize how much of my future job is going to be unstructured and that I will have to measure success in very different standards than I would if I was in America. However, I'm excited to know my placement so I'll have an idea of where I'll be for the next 2 years! ...I will find out next Friday where I'm placed!
Otherwise, everything is great! Check out previous post for full pictures. Me and my site mates are working on our community project that we're hoping to implement in the next 2 months so I'll keep you posted on our progress. Love you all!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
PICTURES!!!
Here is a link to all of my pictures so far...
just copy and past the link into your browser...i can't get the hyperlink to work for some reason.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112480&id=7609095&l=79bc47df20
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112903&id=7609095&l=c1d9019936
just copy and past the link into your browser...i can't get the hyperlink to work for some reason.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112480&id=7609095&l=79bc47df20
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112903&id=7609095&l=c1d9019936
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