Site Visit: Himarë

The coastal road to Himarë is long and very curvy. It took my counterpart and I about 4 1/2 hrs to go from Vlorë to Himarë, but that also included a coffee break for the driver at about the halfway point. The road provided me an amazing view of Albania's Ionian Coast or should I say "The Albanian Riviera."

Himarë is a small beach town that is located right on the Ionian Sea. The beach and the water are absolutely beautiful. The water is bright blue and extremely clear. There is a small "boardwalk" that runs alongside of the beach which has a lot of nice cafes and bars. If I haven't already explained that Albania has quite the coffee culture, let me explain now. Everyday there are about 4 or 5 coffee breaks during the workday. From what I have observed, Albanians spend almost as much time drinking coffee as they do working. In most European countries, iced coffee does not exsist and is completely unheard of, but in Himarë it is a different story. This is because Himarë is close to Greece and it is always pretty warm there.

Himarë is considered to be one of the oldest towns in the world. It has been controled by the Greeks, Italians, Turks, Ottomans, and, of course, the Albanians. Because so many groups hav had Himarë included in their empires at one time or another the culture in Himarë is very eclectic and includes traditions from all of the groups that were once in control of Himarë. Not only does Himarë have an eclectic culture due to it's history, but its location also contributes to the life style and language spoken in Himarë.

Himarë is located in the far south of Albania, very close to Greece. Many inhabitants of Himarë are from Greece or have family that are from or living in Greece. Because of this towns strong connection with Greece, it is quite common for people to speak Greek in this area of Albania. From what I experienced on my vist was that many people do speak Greek, but they also speak a dialect of Albanian. The Albanian that they speak is mostly Albanian with Greek words and phrases thrown in here and there. It looks like I will be learning quite a bit of Greek over the next two years.

The town is beautiful, the people and community in Himarë are very welcoming, and the students/school I will be working with all seem very motivated and interested in learning English. My visit to Himarë was pretty positive, but I am still a little nervous about moving to a new area without knowing anyone. It is a bit intimidating to move to a brand new site, open it yourself, and really don't know what all is expected of you. It is exciting and nerveracking all at the same time. I think things will be great once I settle in and get comfortable speaking Albanian/Greek with the community members. Wish me luck!

Camping in Belsh

Belsh is a small town about 1 hr. southwest of Elbasan. It is just over the hill on the south side of Pajove, but there is not a road that goes directly from Pajove to Belsh. The town of Belsh was built around a large lake and in the middle of some beautiful rolling hills. On one side of the lake there is the main part of town and there are houses/neighborhoods that surroun the rest of the lake.

Our campsite wat at the tope of one of the hills that surround Belsh. The top of the hill was pretty flat, almost like a mesa. Up there we were able to play frisbee and I also got the chance to teach a few young Albanian boys how to throw and catch with baseball gloves and a ball. Laster, once the sun went down, we had a great bonfire. A few of the other volunteers brought their guitars, which made life around the fire even more fun and exciting. The stars that were out that night were also pretty unbelievable. There were so many and they were all very bright!

Another interesting fact about our campsite was that it is the spot where shepherds bring their flocks of sheep everyday to graze. Upon our arrival at the campsite, there was a large flock of sheep just hanging out with their shepherd sprawled out on a large rock, asleep. The sheep along with their shepherd left once the sun began to set, but sure enough, they were all back the next morning grazing in the middle of our campsite.

Ok, so the past couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy! Because I am going to be teaching English in elementary and secondary schools, I had to teach several classes over the past 2 weeks. Some of my lessons went very well while others were complete messes. The first week I taught in the Pajove high school. I quickly learned that teaching a multi-level class is a huge challenge. This past week I taught in a 9-year school (1st-9th grade). My favorite class and grade I taught was 4th grade. The kids were so excited, wanted to learn, and really tried their hardest. My lesson I created was also tons of fun to execute. Because schools begin teaching English in 3rd grade, the 4th graders only know the basics. The lesson I taught was on possessive pronouns. I was so much fun to think up games and activities that the 4th graders would enjoy, but would also help them learn all the possessive pronouns and how/when to use them.

The language has definitely proven to be difficult, but I now can have conversations with Albanians, get to where I need to be, and know what is generally going on around me. I really thought that there was no way I would be able to conquer this language, but I am slowly but surely being able to integrate. Understanding and learning the language has helped me with my host family as well. My host family is only a "father" and a "mother" so there really isn't a lot going on in the house at night or should I say after sun-down. Since I now understand Albanian I can communicate much better with my host family and being at home is not as lonely as it has been these past 7 weeks.

My host father is a farmer and he has a huge orchard with cherry, pear, plum, apple, and orange trees. I got the opportunity to visit the orchard and he walked me though it telling me where each kind of tree was located. I have heard that the cherries here are absolutely amazing so I am super excited for cherry season, especially because it is coming up and my host family will have tons of them!