Water, Water Everywhere

It is known in Albania that the Northern areas of the country are at high risk of flooding during the winter season, particularly the Northern town of Shkodra. Last January there was a large flood in the North that was quite detrimental to the affected areas.

Last week, Albania, as well as a few other small Balkan countries, experienced the worst flood in over a century! The Northern provinces of Albania were completely under water as well as many other areas all around Albania, including: Korça, Librazhd, Fier, and Gjirokastra. Not only are these places heavily populated, but it is quite unusual for these parts of Albania to flood. Many of the roads throughout the country were closed due to the fact that they were under meters of water. In Gjirokastra, however, the roads were not the main problem. In this Southern town, the power plant was under water, resulting in a major power outage.

In Albania there are several large rivers and when it rains throughout the country for multiple days on end, the rivers begin to overflow and flood the surrounding areas. In the case of the Northern part of Albania, Shkodra and Lezhe, there is the Drini (a river) as well as Lake Shkodra that are both quite large and located in flood susceptible areas.

Due to the fact that roads were under water, boats were used as a way to get around the immensely flooded areas in order to help evacuate residents. It was pretty unbelievable how a week of non-stop rain could flood so many uniquely different terrains though out the country of Albania.

Fortunately, many aid groups from around the world have sent supplies and aid workers to Northern Albania, where the most damage was done. What is particularly frightening about this specific flood is the fact that it happened so early in the winter season. The winter months in Albania are characterized by the large amount of rainfall. I hope another large flood is not in Albania's near future as we approach only the middle of winter.

Gobble, Gobble: A FRESH Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Albania was really quite fun. Peace Corps contacted American Embassy families to see if they would host Peace Corps Volunteers for the best holiday of the year. Luckily, some American Families volunteered to host PCV's. Those of us who decided to participate in this Thanksgiving celebration traveled to the capital, Tirana. It was great to see so many Peace Corps Volunteers on Thanksgiving. The atmosphere was quite jovial and everyone seemed to be in holiday spirits.

At 11 am on Thursday morning, PCVs and US Marines, stationed in Albania, trekked across town to the US Embassy Residential Compound for a friendly game of football, PC vs. USMC. Talk about eerie! As you walk through the gates of the residential compound it is as though you are leaving Albania and entering a suburb in the United States. When I say a U.S. suburb, I mean a Stepford Wives-like community. All of the houses look exactly the same, same layout and color and the lawns are green and perfectly groomed. It was a bit weird to walk into what seemed like an alternate universe filled with "flowers and butterflies" while just outside the gates was a country littered with trash, a web of poorly paved streets, and a culture that has absolutely no idea what a pilgrim from the Mayflower is.

The annual touch-football game was played at one of the parks within the compound. It was Peace Corps vs. the U.S. Marine Corps. One may look at this match up and think, “Wow, what an unfair competition. The Peace Corps team will get absolutely demolished!” but that person would, surprisingly, be wrong! Peace Corps was able to pull out a win. Although the football win excited and motivated the male PCVs, I couldn't stop thinking that the members of the losing team are the ones who are supposed to be protecting our country... Not going to lie, it made me a little nervous, but at the same time the whole situation was pretty comical.

My Thanksgiving dinner, or late afternoon lunch, was absolutely amazing! I was lucky enough to be placed with PC Albania's financial officer, Paul. He was a great host, had a great shower, and had a heater, which kept his place unbelievably warm. It felt really nice to have some of these amenities, especially during the holiday. The only thing missing on my Thanksgiving was the Cowboys.

Growing up, the Dallas Cowboys were the center of many family gatherings. Frequently, the time of our Thanksgiving dinner was set based on the time of the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game. I'm sure you could imagine the empty feeling inside when we tried to stream the game over the internet and we did not have any luck. In the end, I guess it was good that I did not see the game because, according to news reports, at the last minute the Cowboys, once again, butchered their lead and lost the game.

Although I did get the chance to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day, I had also been included in a Thanksgiving that was to take place the following Saturday in the mountain town of Burrel. This was where events began to get a little fresh...

Albania has loads of turkeys. They are bred and raised to be eaten on New Years, on of the biggest holidays here in Albania. Due to the large population of turkey farmers, we were able to find two nice sized birds for the occasion. We cooked 2 birds because of the large number of guests that would be attending this delayed Thanksgiving Celebration.

The turkeys were super fresh and tender. The night before our celebration, 2 fellow PCVs took on the task of slaughtering the 2 turkeys that had been purchased from a nearby village. What was so ironic about this particular Thanksgiving was the fact that the 2 turkeys were purchased, tied up, housed, basted, and cooked by 2 vegetarians. They both did not have any experience with cooking turkeys, nor did they eat them. Despite the fact that these two women did not know exactly what they were doing the turkeys turned out great! The rest of the food was pretty good as well. I volunteered to make my mom's corn casserole. I had to improvise with the recipe a little because Albania did not have all of the ingredients that I needed, but it turned out just as good as I had remembered. I think a few people were skeptical about the idea of my corn casserole, but I believe they were pleasantly surprised. Or that's what I concluded because there was absolutely none leftover.

Not only did this Thanksgiving dinner include great food, but it also included a few games. We all played Thanksgiving Twister and a trivia game about Thanksgiving and turkeys. Did you know that Minnesota is the state that produces the most turkeys in the U.S.? I also made it to the finals of Thanksgiving Twister; I believe I came in 3rd. Not trying to brag or anything, but I am pretty good at Twister, always have been. These games definitely added to the fun and merriment of our Thanksgiving celebration.

I was a little nervous about what a Thanksgiving in Albania was going to be like, but it turned out to be tons of fun and I am already looking forward to next year!

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Before becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer I had it in my mind that being part of the Peace Corps would allow me to go out into the world and really make a difference in peoples’ lives. I would not say that I am not making a difference, but what I would say is that what my service has, so far, seemed and felt like has been completely different than what I had imagined. I have come to learn that the tiny successes and improvements that I occasionally see are very very important to my survival here in Albania.

Upon my arrival in Philadelphia for orientation, everyone in my group looked so bright-eyed, energized, and ready to take on the world. I was excited. Here were people who want adventure, look for challenges, and feel like they should focus on others for a while, rather than themselves. I met my roommate in Philly and liked her right away. Then the following day we all boarded the plane for Albania. Luckily, I had an entire row of seats to myself for the long plane ride, while other volunteers were packed into seats right next to each other. Once in Albania, my group and I were taken to a hotel in Elbasan for a 3-day orientation to the country, prior to meeting our host families. I had, not one, but two roommates. I once again had lucked out in the roommate lottery. So by this time I was pumped about being in Albania and being in the Peace Corps. Things were looking up!

All through my life, I have had some absolutely amazing experiences, but for some reason each of those experiences came with a price. Unfortunately, so did Peace Corps Albania. My luck began to dissolve, and dissolve fast!

I would like to list just a few glitches that I have come across over the past 8 months I have been here...

1. 1st morning, ice-cold shower. Water went out once I had shampooed my hair. End up having to get out of shower and go to the room next door to finish up.

2. Upon first meeting my host family, I told my host mother that I needed to throw up. I hadn't even learned how to say, "I am going to school", but somehow I had the vocabulary and grammar to tell her that I was going to be sick. (this was not at all what I was trying to communicate)

3. Last night at host family's house I was not only locked out of the house, but a huge metal chain and pad-lock had been wrapped around the gate of my host family's yard. I had been locked out, at night, in the dark.

4. During a furgon (van) ride from one town to another I got so sick I cannot even begin to explain. I was throwing up in a plastic bag, while the furgon driver was swerving all over the road, making it nearly impossible for me to successfully aim into the bag.

5. A bus driver tried to charge me 800 leke for a 400-leke ride. To his surprise, I speak Shqip (Albanian). I refused to pay the inflated price, which resulted in me being left in the wrong town without a way to return to my village.

6. My toilet began to leak H2O around the base. Upon further investigation, I found a colony of maggots living underneath my toilet. I had it fixed about 3-4 days after this discovery. Note: I am not sure that it was completely fixed because I think it might be leaking again...

7. The water in Himare is pretty dirty. When water comes out of the faucet it is tinted brown. Due to the really "clean" water I have developed a bacterial fungus along the jaw line of my face. Why there and no place else? On top of that, I can't get it to go away because no matter how much I scrub/wash my face I am still using the water, which was the problem to begin with.

8. I had boarded a bus that was heading back to Himare. Things were looking good. I got a good spot on the bus and had no one sitting next to me. Not 5 minutes out of town does a man get on the bus with 2 dead/bloody animals in bags. He leaves them right next to my seat and proceeds to go to the back of the bus to find a seat. He was on the bus until the final and last stop.

I tell these stories not to complain or criticize, I tell them because they are good stories and, to be honest, I really can't believe some of this stuff has happened. Most of what we, Americans, may think of as interesting, weird, and/or gross, are just cultural norms in Albania. One of my favorite things about being here is all the communication errors, differences in infrastructure, and the more primitive lifestyle.

The way I deal with all these differences is just to laugh about how absurd some of these situations are, while trying to be as understanding and respectful of the Albanian Culture at the same time. I wouldn't have any stories upon completion of my Peace Corps service if things like these didn't happen. I am really happy that I am here and I really wouldn't change any part of my experience thus far, except for maybe the maggot colony under my toilet...

An Education

The Albanian education system is quite different than the United States education system. There is a definite need of improvements in both education systems, but for now I am going to completely ignore the problems with the United States education system and focus on the deficiencies of the system in Albania. I guess I should start with an explanation of cultural differences between Albania and the United States that might shed some light on the difficulties I am facing in my job as an English teacher here in Albania.

Firstly, school goes from 1st to 12th grade, 10th-12th being optional. The amount of time spent at school is an interesting topic. School runs from 8 am to 1 pm. Insert: there is also a 5 minute break in between each class and a 20 minute break in the middle of the "day". Plus each class is only 45 minutes long. This whole time schedule is a huge disadvantage to the students. Between disruptions, classroom management, and questions, there is barely any time to properly/thoroughly teach new lessons. The 12th grade has two 45 min classes a week. That is only 1 1/2 hrs of English per week. No one can be expected to sufficiently learn a language without repetition and constant practice.

Another interesting fact about Albanian classes is that all the classes are multi-level. Meaning, there could be a boy who does not know a lick of English in the same class as a boy who speaks English fluently. This creates problems for the students, as well as the teachers. First, it is hard for a teacher to create a lesson plan for a group of students that has so many different needs. This leads to the better English students receiving attention, while the students, who actually need the instruction don't get the attention that they need/teachers just give up on kids who need their help the most. Teachers, here in Albania, cater to whoever makes their job easier and that is usually the kids who do not need as much instruction.

Failing a class absolutely, positively SUCKS (for lack of a better word)! Not only do those students who fail a class have to retake that specific class, but they also must retake the entire year's curriculum. For example, if a boy failed 11th grade math and aced all of his other classes, that boy would have to re-take the entire 11th grade, simply because he failed 11th grade math. This system goes back to the problem with multi-level classes and the unwillingness to help struggling students.

In order to graduate from high school, each senior must take and pass a set of Matura tests. The best way to describe these tests would be a national final exam that is also used for college admission. If a student wishes to continue their education by attending a university they must send their Matura test scores plus three majors (ranked) that they are interested in pursuing. Based on test scores, students are placed in majors and in universities around Albania. The university in Tirana is thought to be the most prestigious and is where the students with the highest test scores are usually placed. In the end, students don't really get a say in what they study or where they go to school. Unfortunately, it is all based on numbers.

From my experiences thus far, the Albanian education system seems to be quite corrupt, just like most “regulated” institutions in Albania. How is a country, which wants to rid itself of corruption, able to instill honest, hard work when Albanians are exposed to it at very young ages and in places, like schools, where honesty is not valued and hard work does not help one get ahead? Buying grades, hiring and firing teachers based on political views, and simply just allowing this behavior in schools is not helping the corruption problem in Albania. Not teaching kids right from wrong, and creating a society where knowledge and experience mean absolutely nothing compared to money is perpetuating Albanian corruption. In my opinion, the only way Albania is going to be able to eliminate corruption is by starting with a younger generation, holding students responsible for their actions, educating them about morals and ethics.

My First Animal Slaughter

Baktashi is one of the three sects of Islam. This specific sect can only be found in Albania, Northern Greece, and very few parts of Kosovo. The Baktashi tekke is at the top of Mt. Tomori, Albania's second tallest mountain. A tekke is a building that is usually round and is used for spiritual retreat and character reformation. The Baba (which literally means "father") lives in and is the head of the tekke as well as, has the authority to give spiritual guidance. Near the tekke there is a long, stone walkway that leads to an area for prayer, a small cemetery for previous Babas, and at the end of the path is where animal slaughter takes place. A festival is held each year during August/Ramadan and is when the Baktashi ask for peace and luck in the new year.

All along the newly cobblestone walkway there are small herds of sheep. Each family picks a sheep to buy and sacrifice. A sheep costs about the equivalent of $100 US dollars, which is a lot of money for Albanians. Once the sheep has been chosen it is taken to the slaughtering area. When approaching the slaughtering area one can see two long rows of butchers butchering sheep one right after another. It really is quite a site. The way the sheep are killed for this specific sacrificial festival is by slitting a sheep's throat then allowing the animal to die by all the blood spilling out of it. Once the blood begins to seep out of the sheep, it is customary to put a bit of the sheep's blood on one's forehead while reciting a prayer. After the blood has left the animal, the butcher hangs the sheep up by it's hind legs and begins to prepare the sheep for eating.

One of the most interesting things I learned, while observing the slaughtering process, was that all the insides of a sheep are bundled together in a ‘bag’. The ‘bag’ contains all of the organs and is neatly packaged up inside the animal. This bag looks exactly like a white, GLAD, plastic garbage bag. The fact that all the organs and everything else are in this ‘bag’ it makes butchering a sheep a quite easy and a pretty fast process. No offense to my dad, but it took these butchers about half the time it takes my dad to gut and fillet a fish. It's pretty unbelievable!

Once the sheep is ready to be cooked, the owners take it to an area where there are numerous spits. The spits are low to the ground and are manually rotated. The entire hillside was covered with people roasting sheep. Not only was this experience very interesting and unlike any I have had so far in my life, but all the meat was really good. For lunch and dinner that day I ate lamb/mutton shish-ka-bobs. And they were awesome!!

The festival lasts for 10 days, but most families only go up for a day and a night, which is what my group did. All the Albanians were interested in why we came to the festival and were very welcoming. It was fascinating to see a religious animal slaughter with my own eyes. It was definitely an unforgettable experience!

Beer and Albanian Bumper Cars

The Paris of Albania. That is what Korçë is considered to the rest of Albania. It is a larger town on the Eastern boarder of Albania (next to Macedonia). The streets are clean and there are well kept parks and green areas all around town. There is also a big, beautiful Greek Orthodox church in one of the main intersections in the town. The town is also home to the first school in Albania. Korçë not only has beautiful parks and historic buildings, but is also has tons of small neighborhoods that can be found on small side streets and in between the larger/main roads. These neighborhoods are composed of small dirt roads (almost trail-like) with home made of stones that have been white washed with a paint made from limestone dust. The homes also all have flowers and/or vines growing on top or on the sides of the buildings. Most Albanian towns or villages do not have distinct neighborhoods like Korçë does.

Just getting to Korçë was quite an adventure. A small group of volunteers from various areas of Albania met in Elbasan. From Elbasan we rode a train to Pogradec. It was an absolutely beautiful ride, but it was also painfully slow. What was so unbelievable was that it only cost 120 leke (about $1.20), which is pretty cheap for a ride from the middle of Albania to the Eastern boarder. Once we arrived in Progradec, we had a nice lunch and then continued on our journey to Korça in a furgon (small van). We got to our final destination around 2:30 or 3:00 pm. It was a long trip, but the experiencing the train was really fun. We were able to start celebrating a friends birthday, as well as see some pretty spectacular views.

While in Korçë, a group of friends and I stayed in an old Ottoman boarding house that was literally in the middle of Korçë's large open-air market. The building was round and several market vendors were even set up in the center (hole) of the building. The second floor was where all the rooms were. Each room faced the center of the "circle" and opened to the outside. The rooms were quite small, which really wasn't an issue because we only slept there and spent most of our time exploring Korçë and enjoying the Beer Fest. The bathrooms, on the other hand, were a completely different story. There were two "toilet" rooms, one for girls and one for boys, on one side of the boarding house. There was also a sink/shower room next to the two "toilet" rooms. The sink did not connect with any type of drainage system so when you turned the water on, the water when through the hole in the sink and onto your feet. That was quite a surprise on my first visit to the bathroom! The "toilet" rooms each had one turkish toilet. A turkish toilet, for those of you who have not had the pleasure of using one, are fancy (if you could really use this word in this context) holes in the ground. Because of this set up, the bathroom area reeked! The whole boarding house experience made me feel like I had traveled back to Medieval Times. I am not one to complain about dirt and grime, but this place was just plain nasty! Needless to say, I will probably not be staying there again.

The actual Beer Festival part of the weekend was really fun. There were lot of people from all over Albania, as well as quite a few Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV's). It was also nice to see some of the volunteers I hadn't seen in a while, as well as, get to know a few I really hadn't spent much time with. The festival featured Albanian beers, with a few Greek ones thrown in for fun. Each beer cost the equivalent to .50 US cents. What a bargain, right? There was also great live music and group grilling out. There were also bumper cars, along with other carnival-like activities. Of course we all took part in the bumper cars. We had to show the Albanians the REAL way to do bumper cars. What is so fascinating about Albanian bumper cars is that everyone drives around and makes a huge effort not to hit each other, but while driving real cars Albanians are pretty wild and not many driving laws are enforced. Lets just say us PCV's showed them how to do it right. All and all is was a super fun weekend!

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!

For those of you who went to Disney World as a young child or a parent of a young child, I am sure you already know about Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, thanks to my sister the Diers Family definitely knows all the ins and outs of that ride. For those few of you who have not gotten the pleasure of experiencing this ride, I would strongly recommend that you take the time to travel to Disney World specifically to experience this ride. Not just for the awesomeness of the ride, but it would also give you a sophisticated topic to bring up at those cocktail parties when you no longer see any of the over-sized coffee-table books to steal a conversation topic from.

I feel a brief description of the ride is in order, for those few who have no idea what I am talking about. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride can be ridden by small children and adults, alike. The premise of the ride is that you are traveling through Mr. Toad's magical world on a track in a roller coaster-esk cart that looks quite similar to Ford's Model-T (a really old car). The ride is full of sharp twists and turns, that absolutely tickled my sister to death! I don't think it's too presumptuous to say that this ride is my sister's favorite ride of all time. Due to this weird, but endearing, obsession my parents and I have ridden on this ride quite a few times. This is how I came to know so much about this ride and why this specific ride has had such a HUGE impact on my life.

Ok, now for the Albanian connection. As I have explained before, I live on the Ionian Coast in a small village that is smack in-between extremely tall mountains and the sea. In order to go anywhere I must travel on windy roads through the mountains. Normally, I ride a large, "normal", size bus, but on my way to Saranda a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to ride on a short bus. Let's just say it was an experience. The driver drove extremely fast, continuously whipped around sharp curves, and I think he purposefully hit every bump and pot hole between Himare and Saranda (and let me tell you, there are quite a few of them).

The driving in Albania is, needless to say, BAD. None of the driving laws or speed limits are enforced and 2 lane roads are frequently turned into 3 lane roads, by a vehicle simply driving down the center line in-between the 2 lanes of cars. Many times it feels as though the furgon (small van) or bus drivers are playing "chicken" with the car coming from the opposite direction in order to pass the "slow" car in front of them.

After the quick trip down to Saranda, I happily got off the bus, my heart still racing and my legs still a bit shaky. I explained my adventure (if one would call it that) to a few friends I was meeting down in Saranda. This is the HONEST TRUTH, the only words that came out of my mouth were "It was Mr. Toad's Ride getting down here!" I didn't have to say any more.

The connections that Americans have with each other, no matter how obscure they are, have pooped up randomly since I have been in Albania. I really didn't know anyone in my group before arriving in Albania, but simply because we all have the experience of being American there are so many things that we just get. When you're living in a foreign country, constantly speaking a foreign language, it is so nice to say some common saying from the US and have everyone listening to you understand what you mean without an explanation.

Lesson of the Story: If you have not ridden Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, it is imperative for you to do this ASAP. What can I say? Experiencing this ride can help you bond with your future comrades.