This is a formal PST reflection, which I thought might provide better insight into the professional and reflective aspect of TEFL technical training.
Molly B. Douglas
Assessment Journal
March 22 – 27
PST Core Expectation: Prepare your personal and professional life to make a commitment to serve abroad for a full term of 27 months.
Comment on core expectation: I am still wrapping my head around this week’s core expectation. We are just starting to chip away at the (dense, heavy, sometimes intimidating) block of training material. Honestly, I feel like a sponge that has reached the point of information leakage. Full absorption for this week has not only been attained, but also surpassed.
Major learnings of the week: Following this week’s informational sessions and school visit, I now have a good idea of what constitutes the average Albanian classroom in a semi-rural setting. Thanks to Ymer (TEFL trainer, a university lecturer in English and English literature), I also now have a complete picture of the educational system, from the bureaucratic and administrative to the beginnings of educational philosophy to curriculum and textbooks. My biggest challenges will be: the poor state of available textbooks (produced outside the US, lacking in concept introduction and explanation, mixture of British and American English, abundant inaccuracies, inconsistent and random themes, outdated material, etc.), team-teaching with a potentially reluctant counterpart, and creatively compensating for resources I would ordinarily use to make a lesson more colorful, interactive, and just plain exciting. No markers, crayons, paper, whiteboard, projector, and more! I will just have a blackboard, box of chalk, and myself.
My TEFL group visited a secondary school in Bishqem, a neighboring town, where we observed the only English teacher (a twenty-something year-old young woman who is responsible for the entire student body’s English language learning) in a school of 400+ students teach a sixth-grade class. I really enjoyed the classroom visit! I like observing the quintessential 45-minute lesson play out in a real-life setting: introduction of topic and then detailing of concept; presentation of challenge and independent or group exercise; sharing of student efforts; check for accuracy; review together; address outstanding issues; assign homework and move on. The teacher we observed was great. I was aware of her lesson’s weaknesses, but I was also appreciative of all its strong points.
Teachers are definitely under-appreciated in this world. They grapple with a diverse array of students, at different learning levels and with a wide range of backgrounds, and somehow propel them forward to a higher level of knowledge and greater self-confidence. Assisting and inspiring others to take hold of their own lives, to make their own decisions, and to create and pursue their own opportunities is a worthwhile pursuit.
This week we also had a training session at the hub in Elbasan on Development 101; nothing new here, but definitely an excellent reminder that the role of a TEFL volunteer is two-fold. I will not only be a classroom instructor, but also a development actor. I am a proponent of the bottom-up approach to development, so I am looking forward to the opportunity to exercise all that I have learned in internships and in the classroom on the ground at my site.
How I will apply my learning: Where it concerns textbooks, I understand that I will have to juggle adhering closely to the schedule dictated by the units in my grades’ selected textbooks with exercising creativity to render the applied material both engaging and fully comprehensible for my students. Frankly, this is not a major surprise. I definitely have been down this road before in previous teaching situations and welcome the challenge. I plan to coalesce all of the creative teaching techniques and lesson plans I have used, or have noted others (peers, colleagues) using, in order to brainstorm independently and with my fellow trainees to develop “a plan of attack” for the Albanian classroom. Developing hypothetical plans and then exercising them in later weeks will be a great opportunity to check the efficacy of my plans.
The development session serves as a reminder that I need to apply all of my development learning (both the theory and practical experience) to my teaching experience. For example, I need to look for ways to demonstrate and link students to opportunities beyond secondary and university-level education. I need to look for ways to deepen their families’ involvement in education and to perhaps even open opportunities to non-school age family members. Maybe I could find a way to extend English language education to adult learners, to enrich early childhood education, to link students to other students around the world for cultural exchange and international cooperation purposes, to broaden school resources, and more.
This is what interests me the most – broadening my students’ visions of the world and helping them to identify or develop the opportunities and tools necessary to carve their desired paths through that world. It is frustrating to reflect that often, regardless of desire, dreams will remain unrealized when the pressure and pull of socioeconomic and cultural realities is sometimes too great. Plus, the desire to attend to university may not trump the desire to take care of a family at home or to respect a certain aspect of gender roles. And hey, what’s important me as an American may not be important to an Albanian. Values differ across cultures, and no one set of values is “right” or “wrong”. It is important to consider that the individualistic drive and concentration on self-propulsion is a typically American vision of “progress”. Almost every other culture in the world values the family unit over the individual unit. Community development—-moving a whole family, just as moving a whole under-served socioeconomic stratum, towards its dreams—-is the focus in contemporary development theory and practice.
New questions and ideas about which I would like more information: Still pondering.
My performance this week: I am constantly working on divining as much about Albanian culture, language, people, and history as possible. My host family members are the biggest contributors to this personal pursuit. I am incredibly happy with my host family, and that comfort and sense of welcome has also gone a long way to making me a more productive trainee. I am extremely grateful for the hospitality extended to me by my host family and enjoy spending as much time with them as possible. They tease me, I tease back; they press extra bananas on me when I leave for school; they pass the baby off to me and are confident that I can lull her to sleep; they slow down their conversation so I can participate... I know this is the honeymoon period, but right now I am not sure for what else I could possibly ask.
I feel relatively pleased with my language progress thus far, considering that difficulties, frustrations, and anxiety about my ability to grasp and retain new material are normal. I am currently working on stringing together simple sentences. My sentences tend to be overloaded with prepositions and un-conjugated, tense-less verbs (yikes!). I am aware of weaknesses (ex. definite versus indefinite articles) and have identified those sectors to which I ought to devote additional study.
My primary personal concerns regarding performance this week are two-fold; specifically, I know that I should attempt to diminish the amount of English spoken at home with my family, and I am deliberating how to more effectively balance family, study, and TEFL training. With regards to the first point, I would, however, like to argue (to myself or to whomever it may concern!) that falling back on the occasional English phrase to clarify a persistently elusive point has in fact mostly served to further propel my understanding of Shqip. Mostly, we only revert to some English words when an impasse is reached in communication. Sometimes, though, when I initially fail to understand something that is said simply because it is spoken too quickly, the person speaking responds by automatically reverting to the English translation. So, I have to be quick to ask for that individual to repeat the Shqip, just at a slower pace.
About Me
- Molly
- Albania
- Peace Corps English teacher in a rural Albanian mountain town
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
27 March 2010 - a full first week under the belt
Hello all!
So, I officially have a full week in Pajove under my belt. Cheers! I am still loving the experience, despite some minor stumbles. My Shqip (Albanian language) is coming along swimmingly. I am back at Matilda's uncle's place (which I have discovered is not a public internet "cafe") in order to crank out this post, with Matilda, Mage, and most of the nearby adolescents for company. There is another internet cafe in town (about 1.5 minutes from here), but it is a "locale" - more of a bar, and thus an unsavory location for girls to be seen. It damages my reputation, unless I am accompanied by men who are careful to define our relationship as benign. I have gone with the other PC volunteers several times. The male PC volunteers are our buffer, plus the owner is the brother of Brad's (fellow trainee) host father.
As I mentioned before, this village is SMALL. Everyone knows all about the habits, backgrounds, and languages spoken by the volunteers in training. We are: Molly D., Molly J., Lesley W., Leslie K., Nathan, Brad, Alicia, Kay, Brittany, Lauren, Meredith, Sergio, Diana, and Hari. My lesson group constitutes myself, Leslie, Brad, Nathan, Brittany, Alicia, and Hari. If someone speaks German, everyone in town who speaks German knows alllll about that individual. If someone wears brightly colored underwear and hangs it out on the line to dry, everyone is aware of that individual's color preferences. If I buy a Kinder Bueno bar, it becomes public knowledge that I prefer hazelnut chocolate. It's great to be a celebrity! Plus, none of the attention is hostile. It is purely friendly and based on an interest in relationship building. Building social relationships, with care, respect, and politesse, is extremely important in Albania. You always great your acquaintances, bring gifts for short visits, try to pick up the bill for kafe (coffee), etc.
So, now we progress to observations/notes on particular subjects.
KAFE
To begin with, Shqiperia is first and foremost not a Balkan country, nor a neighbor of Greece, nor a 70% Muslim country... it is a COFFEE country!!! If you were to inquire into Albanian personal values, the symbol of Albanian culture, the essence of Albanian life, being, spirit, dreams, beliefs, hopes... the response would inevitably, indubitably be KAFE. Life is brokered over a sweetened cup of Turkish kafe or a double express (espresso). Contracts are built, friendships furthered or broken, jobs won over kafe. I, being a former employee of that wonderful corporation known as Starbucks (don't fight me on this, San Franciscans and all those corporate giant-haters out there; you just don't know what you're talking about until you've worked for Starbucks), am extremely PLEASED to find myself in a country that celebrates kafe/cafe. It is sweet, full-bodied, complexly rich, and... satisfying.
Nete and Dafina prepare kafe by putting two scoops of sugar and one scoop of Turkish-ground coffee beans (the grind is the consistency of fine sand, for all of you non-Starbucksians) into a tiny pot on the end of a long handle. The rest of the pot is filled with water. The pot is held over a portable gasoline burner until the contents boil for about half a minute. One pot of liquid makes two tiny cups of kafe. Yum!
RELIGION
There is... none? How to describe? Following World War II, Albania became a Communist country and the government pursued the Soviet, then Chinese, then its own model of Communism with zest and zeal. If you are familiar with the Communist model of governance (which I hope you are), religion is a divider of the working masses, so its observance is carefully squashed into a neat packet to join all of the trash on the river banks. So, families might originally be Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic - whatever! - but it is very uncommon to adhere to doctrine today. Also, other religions are starting to cross the border. Younger generations are becoming interested in Evangelical religions, the Mormon faith, Judaism, etc. It's cultural, non-aggressive, benign, personal, and comfortable.
Also, the Prime Minister announced last month that gay marriage will shortly be made legal in Albania. Hopefully that will become a reality in the near future. Sexual orientation and gender roles are a touchy subject in Albania, not because people are uninterested or uncaring - simply because they are sensitive social and cultural topics.
WATER, SANITATION, and INFRASTRUCTURE
Water is uje (ooh-yee, which is a simple phonetic representation of the word and not entirely accurate). Uje is trickling about in the mountains and plains, but more often than not, it is full of raw garbage and some sewage. Albania lacks a garbage removal system. People simply fling their refuse, plastic and all, into the waterways and ravines. Please keep in mind that while others might gasp in horror, Albanians do not see what they are doing as environmentally cruel - it simply a part of Albanian culture and a benign activity. What other options do they have? Infrastructure, including roads and especially electricity, is extremely fragile. A recent initiative to more efficiently link the capital to the North hit a "roadblock" (ok, awful pun), when a mountain tunnel randomly collapsed. Winding roads make potentially one or two hour journeys last four or five hours. The whole country is rebuilding itself in a new capitalist and democratic era, and a lot of the early development projects introduced to Albania following its emergence from Communism in the nineties failed in the long term. All of my fellow Georgetown students know exactly about what I talking. Electricity was out for the majority of the day today! And I so wanted to do laundry... I will discuss with Nete when I get home. I can use the tiny washing machine (strictly cold water) or I can wash my clothing articles by hand. I think I will tackle the whites by hand! My clothes are quite dusty.
A ground-level perspective on water use meets electrical bills: I take a shower usually every three or two days, so my hair is spending a lot of time pulled back. The power required to heat the water contained in the tanks on the top of the house is very expensive, and considering the number of people with whom I live, I wouldn’t dream of asking to shower more regularly than my host family members. It follows that I usually look as if I slept with my head in a vat of oil. I am actually beginning to regret getting a haircut prior to departure for Albania! Shorter hair is difficult to wind into a clip/headband/hair tie style.
FURGONS
The main mode of transit in Albania today is by car. You will see teenagers driving old, sometimes new Mercedes, at top speed on the roads, swerving around pedestrians, masons with wheelbarrows of cement, and horse-drawn carts laden with straw or stones. Oh yes, there are still plenty of carts with their patiently laboring burros and horses. For those without cars or those who do not choose to drive all the way to Elbasan on a regular basis, there is the furgon. Public buses are slow and unpredictable, so furgons are your best option for travel. Furgons are vans, typically of the Volkswagen or Mercedes variety, that are privately owned and operated by drivers looking to make a few bucks. The same drivers regularly trek the same routes, so you can identify who is trustworthy by asking around town. A trip to Elbasan is 100 leke (1 USD); the trip back is 150 leke. Furgon drivers careen down the roads, only slowing for periodic police roadblocks, at which point they also hustle through the motions of seat belt application. Getting pulled over by the police is a bore! Out come the vehicle registration papers, the furgon driver apologizes again and again, and the police look generally fatigued. There are no speed limits, and adhering to your respective side of the road is optional. The furgon, as a concept, is universal. You can find minibus transportation, where one is wedged between an older woman smelling of garlic and a leering young man, wherever you go. Just make sure you have a notebook to wedge between oneself and the other passengers. Buffers everywhere are good! To date, I have traveled exclusively with my fellow trainees, so no issues to report (yet). I have heard that it is not uncommon to run into a driver who has had one too many shots of raki.
RAKI
Raki is the national moonshine. Everyone and his mother makes/drinks raki and Shqiptare wine. The wine is weak (almost a diluted red/rose) and the raki is STRONG. And I mean strong, like rubbing alcohol strong. My fellow trainees have been discussing the latter beverage's potency of late, but I found myself unable to contribute to discussions until last night. I know that most Albanian men imbibe daily, even ritually downing a shot with their morning coffee, but I had yet to see any alcohol make an appearance at my host family's table. We have grape vines and homemade jam, so I wondered where might be the raki? Last night I introduced the topic into the pre-dinner table discussion and discovered that my family is uniquely sober! They do make their own raki and wine, but keep it for rare use, mostly social. However, since I inquired, Nete and Dafina immediately produced a shot gloss and plonked raki in front of me. I made motions to inquire whether or not it was meant to be emptied all at once or in small sips. Small sips, the ladies indicated. I sipped and was, in a word, whoa. There is only one word for raki, and that is whoa. Whoa. You will have to try to imagine the extent of burn and kick in your own mind. There is no comparison legally available in the US.
FOOD
Shqiptare food is fresh and hey, completely organic and mostly grown at home. Everything tastes WONDERFUL, but some nutrients are missing in daily diet. My host family makes their own grape jam, wine, raki, olive oil, vinegar, pickled prunes, pickled cabbage, and pickled peppers. If I even glance in the direction of something unfamiliar or new in a jar on the counter, Nete pops open the lid and hands me a spoon with which to sample. I have yet to eat or drink something I did not love. Soup with beans, stew with meat, pasta with freshly made pasta sauce, new bread every day, byrek (flaky spinach pastry), an Albanian cornbread, rice, fusale (beans), kafe, and mountain tea. One exception: I am not a fan of hard-boiled eggs, both because of the cholesterol content and the smell/taste. I am, however, eating them for breakfast. Hop-a! (Greek and Albanian for “Dance/Heck yeah!”)
TURKISH TOILETS
You can look this one up. Consider that I have a Western European toilet and bidet in my host family’s house. I am a lucky girl! However, the public Turkish toilet situation is nothing by which to be intimidated. Once you get the hang of a handle-less balancing situation, the situation is manageable.
HOST FAMILY NEWS
This week we have been enjoying beautiful weather! It is amazing how much weather contributes to one’s state of mind and general well-being. Cool nights, warm days. We do only have a wood stove in the family room, so I sleep under a pile of thick, Turkish-style blankets in my room at night. I don’t want to think about the winter months…
Megi, Mande, and Eri took me on an official tour of the family’s houses and property. I admired flowering fruit trees, the baby chicks and baby turkeys cheeping about the yard under the watchful eye of Mama Turkey (she is responsible for both her babies and those of her chicken counterparts), the view from the top floor of the house, the grape vines, and the greenhouse vegetable plants. Nete and Dafina monitored our progress over the turned soil and manure in the field behind the house. Megi and I each grabbed one of Erian’s arms to make sure he didn’t disappear into the furrows altogether. Everyone, including Fatime and Sadik, posed for pictures and experimented with my camera.
Nete showed me all of her photos of Eri, her wedding, Meleq as young man, and her extended family. Yow! Albanian families are big and faithfully devoted to one another. Social circles are big, mostly because they consist primarily of relatives. Love and stick by your blood. Everybody else comes second. It was a fun exchange, with lots of new Albanian words for various parts of the extended family. I also figured out that the family used to live up a mountain maybe 30 or 40 minutes away.
Nete’s mother came to visit and drink kafe for a while yesterday. She looks like her daughter and is a bit more youthful than Fatime. Nete is a very pretty woman, so I would hazard a guess that she gets her looks from her mother. (Nete is also blonde and fair, which is unusual in Albania.) Nete’s mother spoke to me rapidly, hugged me, and was altogether a great lady with whom to spend 45 minutes. She brought cake (torte) for the kids, and for me. This is just one example of when my “foreign-ness” and eternal guest status work to personal advantage. Did I mention that I always get fed, whether or not I am “u ngopa” (full of food)? You have to ritually refuse food three times (no joke, this is a social custom) before the individual offering the food relents.
I have been studying primarily in the family room, near the wood stove and with the family, rather than in my bedroom. If you know me well, you are probably aware that I don’t like to study in a room alone or in silence. Thus, everyone has been getting involved in my language learning. I am now able to converse a bit with Dafina and the grandparents. I am able to understand Eri, and Mande and Megi patiently take me through easy conversations. Nete is wonderful; she is my lifeline language-wise. Even Sadik has taken an interest in my flash cards. He learns English vocabulary faster than I learn Shqip and likes to comment on Shqip’s relative simplicity. Why do the British and Americans need so many words to detail basic concepts and directions? It makes him laugh, and his amusement makes me laugh in turn.
I did my first load of laundry today and will hang it on the line tomorrow! Some colored undergarments were in the load, and I hear that they will be the topic of community gossip by the time they come off the line at the end of the day tomorrow. Oh well…
Megi walks with me to school every day, and now we are typically joined by other trainees and their host family siblings. We walk 20 minutes along the train tracks, which are distinguished by a great view of the valley, trash, and a dead goat. At least I missed the butchering of cows by the road prior to Nofruz on Wednesday. Brad saw the decapitated carcasses and kept his description to a minimum. I expect to see a lot of chicken necks snapped and so on and so forth. I will probably be doing some of that myself.
Twice this weekend I joined all of the women in the family, from 10 year-old Megi to myself and Matilda (Tila) to the eldest aunt, Nimete, at Nimete’s green house to sit on Turkish rugs on the tile walkway near the well in the front yard (which is full of lush fruit trees and happy chicks). Together we drank kafe, gossiped about upcoming weddings, and talked beauty regimens. The most fun I’ve had since coming to Albania! I wish I had brought a few beauty or style magazines to Albania. They would have been a hit.
I also helped Tila and Dafina turn soil for a vegetable garden in a lot in front of the houses. Last summer the men of the family laid a foundation in the lot for a potential food shop (i.e. supermarket, but in miniature). For the time being, any part of the property not sunk under cement will be tilled and planted for the purpose of cultivating leafy and juicy sustenance! We three girls attacked the lot with heavy spades (also wearing flip flops, which are verboten for yard work at my home in the USA), turning up snails, worms, and the occasional toad. The chickens followed us, snatching up every potentially tasty and protein-packed critter that captured their attention. Blisters tomorrow! And a sunburn… But we did win a nice round of kafe as a reward for our efforts. Shqip tutorial: punoj = to work/labor.
PEACE CORPS NEWS
This week we continue language lessons with two alternating instructors. Tuesdays and Fridays we take the furgon to Elbasan for technical training with the other TEFLers and for general training with the whole group. Our TEFL trainers are Agim and Ymer.
This past week we went to a secondary school in Bishqem to observe an English class (there are not enough English teachers for every village, so Lazarej has none) and to discuss the Albanian educational system and school resources and organization with its director. The lesson we observed was taught to sixth graders and dealt with the present continual tense (I think; this is not my forte!). Sixth graders are the same the world over; these students whispered, and the girls strained and practically quivered right out their seats with eagerly raised hands. The boys hesitated to perform in front of visiting strangers.
School runs from 8 am to 1 pm, and each class is 45 minutes long. Class size can run from 35 to 50 students, space is scarce, and resources are minimal and colorless. For example, the Bishqem school director (who also teaches biology and chemistry) explained that his science classes lack labs, so lessons are never concretely demonstrated.
Our language class typically runs from 8 am to 1 pm when we are at school in Lazarej. The classroom has a plywood board painted black, a stack of boxes full of chalk, no heat, some desks, chairs, and a plywood box covered with a table cloth for a teacher desk. We are also in the computer room (The technology is nice! It must be new – nothing else is!), so the door is padlocked and behind a metal frame. The building is white-washed, and plain posters proudly detailing student achievements, potted geraniums, and the national anthem decorate the hallways. There are two floors and maybe a total of eight classrooms. The front yard is a dustbowl for soccer and recess. The outhouse in the back is a no-go zone. Forget Turkish toilets, this is a sewage pit!
Our language teachers are young and a uniquely-Albanian brand of enthusiastic (reserved but dedicated). Ervin, in particular, is a sharply witty instructor, and our primary instructor, Ardita, is a sweetheart. We cover a lot of ground in our five hour lessons, though I did expect to spend more time in the classroom each day. I suppose this reflects the Peace Corps philosophy that you primarily learn by doing. I fully support that approach to learning. Cultural immersion all the way! We have kafe break (of course), during which period we head to the tiny shop next door and drink caj (pronounced “tschay”), which is tea and is typically chamomile or special “mountain tea”, or Turkish coffee. The more posh locale serve express (espresso).
Two of the trainees in my TEFL group celebrated birthdays since we arrived in country, so this Sunday all of the trainees (19 in total) living in Komuna Pajove (Pajove, Lazarej, and Bishqem) met for a picnic in Pajove Larte. Pajove Larte (or Pajove High) is a group of abandoned stone cottages on top of a hill behind the town where the poorer folk lived during Communism. The abandoned houses are perched on a very steep slope. They are linked by steps and surrounded by grape vines, lush purple iris, and wild greens that some host mothers use in cooking. The old cemetery is also in Pajove Larte, and the hill is capped by a well and deep water reservoir.
The picnic was a success, despite a late start due to a general tendency to forget that today was Daylight Savings in Albania. I was munching on toast in the kitchen when my host family pointed to my watch and explained that it was an hour later than I had thought. Aiee! I contributed Nutella and bread to the picnic, which also included peanuts, beer, pretzels, Prince cookies, and bananas. Sergio brought his steel-string guitar. He and Nathan took turns playing, and we all sang. We attracted some neighborhood children, and everyone below in Pajove Qender (Pajove Center) discussed our antics. It rained the night before, so afterwards we all trooped down to the locale for kafe in muddy sneakers and jeans. Afterwards, I walked to Bishqem with some of the trainees who live outside Pajove proper, and we discussed potential community service day projects.
Part of Peace Corps training requires each training group to design and implement a one-day development project at their training sites as both a thank to the communities for hosting us and an opportunity to experiment with a controlled development project. Some ideas: overhauling an existing school library, holding a career day at the local high school, painting a world map on the middle school wall, etc. It should be fun!
ALSO: I will be traveling to visit a current Peace Corps volunteer this coming weekend! We leave midday Saturday and return Tuesday afternoon. Also, Dafina asked me to join her on a visit to her sister, who lives in a small Albanian city not too far away. I would really like to do both, but there are language classes and homework to consider. I will see if I can manage it.
Another volunteer is skipping the site visit to attend a Shqiptar wedding. Hop-a! I hope I get to attend an Albanian wedding while I am here. Albanian weddings last for three days and consist of two separate ceremonies, one at the bride’s house and one at the groom’s house. The bride is exhausted by the end, having worn between three and four gowns and not being able, unlike her groom, to seek release in a glass of raki.
So, I officially have a full week in Pajove under my belt. Cheers! I am still loving the experience, despite some minor stumbles. My Shqip (Albanian language) is coming along swimmingly. I am back at Matilda's uncle's place (which I have discovered is not a public internet "cafe") in order to crank out this post, with Matilda, Mage, and most of the nearby adolescents for company. There is another internet cafe in town (about 1.5 minutes from here), but it is a "locale" - more of a bar, and thus an unsavory location for girls to be seen. It damages my reputation, unless I am accompanied by men who are careful to define our relationship as benign. I have gone with the other PC volunteers several times. The male PC volunteers are our buffer, plus the owner is the brother of Brad's (fellow trainee) host father.
As I mentioned before, this village is SMALL. Everyone knows all about the habits, backgrounds, and languages spoken by the volunteers in training. We are: Molly D., Molly J., Lesley W., Leslie K., Nathan, Brad, Alicia, Kay, Brittany, Lauren, Meredith, Sergio, Diana, and Hari. My lesson group constitutes myself, Leslie, Brad, Nathan, Brittany, Alicia, and Hari. If someone speaks German, everyone in town who speaks German knows alllll about that individual. If someone wears brightly colored underwear and hangs it out on the line to dry, everyone is aware of that individual's color preferences. If I buy a Kinder Bueno bar, it becomes public knowledge that I prefer hazelnut chocolate. It's great to be a celebrity! Plus, none of the attention is hostile. It is purely friendly and based on an interest in relationship building. Building social relationships, with care, respect, and politesse, is extremely important in Albania. You always great your acquaintances, bring gifts for short visits, try to pick up the bill for kafe (coffee), etc.
So, now we progress to observations/notes on particular subjects.
KAFE
To begin with, Shqiperia is first and foremost not a Balkan country, nor a neighbor of Greece, nor a 70% Muslim country... it is a COFFEE country!!! If you were to inquire into Albanian personal values, the symbol of Albanian culture, the essence of Albanian life, being, spirit, dreams, beliefs, hopes... the response would inevitably, indubitably be KAFE. Life is brokered over a sweetened cup of Turkish kafe or a double express (espresso). Contracts are built, friendships furthered or broken, jobs won over kafe. I, being a former employee of that wonderful corporation known as Starbucks (don't fight me on this, San Franciscans and all those corporate giant-haters out there; you just don't know what you're talking about until you've worked for Starbucks), am extremely PLEASED to find myself in a country that celebrates kafe/cafe. It is sweet, full-bodied, complexly rich, and... satisfying.
Nete and Dafina prepare kafe by putting two scoops of sugar and one scoop of Turkish-ground coffee beans (the grind is the consistency of fine sand, for all of you non-Starbucksians) into a tiny pot on the end of a long handle. The rest of the pot is filled with water. The pot is held over a portable gasoline burner until the contents boil for about half a minute. One pot of liquid makes two tiny cups of kafe. Yum!
RELIGION
There is... none? How to describe? Following World War II, Albania became a Communist country and the government pursued the Soviet, then Chinese, then its own model of Communism with zest and zeal. If you are familiar with the Communist model of governance (which I hope you are), religion is a divider of the working masses, so its observance is carefully squashed into a neat packet to join all of the trash on the river banks. So, families might originally be Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic - whatever! - but it is very uncommon to adhere to doctrine today. Also, other religions are starting to cross the border. Younger generations are becoming interested in Evangelical religions, the Mormon faith, Judaism, etc. It's cultural, non-aggressive, benign, personal, and comfortable.
Also, the Prime Minister announced last month that gay marriage will shortly be made legal in Albania. Hopefully that will become a reality in the near future. Sexual orientation and gender roles are a touchy subject in Albania, not because people are uninterested or uncaring - simply because they are sensitive social and cultural topics.
WATER, SANITATION, and INFRASTRUCTURE
Water is uje (ooh-yee, which is a simple phonetic representation of the word and not entirely accurate). Uje is trickling about in the mountains and plains, but more often than not, it is full of raw garbage and some sewage. Albania lacks a garbage removal system. People simply fling their refuse, plastic and all, into the waterways and ravines. Please keep in mind that while others might gasp in horror, Albanians do not see what they are doing as environmentally cruel - it simply a part of Albanian culture and a benign activity. What other options do they have? Infrastructure, including roads and especially electricity, is extremely fragile. A recent initiative to more efficiently link the capital to the North hit a "roadblock" (ok, awful pun), when a mountain tunnel randomly collapsed. Winding roads make potentially one or two hour journeys last four or five hours. The whole country is rebuilding itself in a new capitalist and democratic era, and a lot of the early development projects introduced to Albania following its emergence from Communism in the nineties failed in the long term. All of my fellow Georgetown students know exactly about what I talking. Electricity was out for the majority of the day today! And I so wanted to do laundry... I will discuss with Nete when I get home. I can use the tiny washing machine (strictly cold water) or I can wash my clothing articles by hand. I think I will tackle the whites by hand! My clothes are quite dusty.
A ground-level perspective on water use meets electrical bills: I take a shower usually every three or two days, so my hair is spending a lot of time pulled back. The power required to heat the water contained in the tanks on the top of the house is very expensive, and considering the number of people with whom I live, I wouldn’t dream of asking to shower more regularly than my host family members. It follows that I usually look as if I slept with my head in a vat of oil. I am actually beginning to regret getting a haircut prior to departure for Albania! Shorter hair is difficult to wind into a clip/headband/hair tie style.
FURGONS
The main mode of transit in Albania today is by car. You will see teenagers driving old, sometimes new Mercedes, at top speed on the roads, swerving around pedestrians, masons with wheelbarrows of cement, and horse-drawn carts laden with straw or stones. Oh yes, there are still plenty of carts with their patiently laboring burros and horses. For those without cars or those who do not choose to drive all the way to Elbasan on a regular basis, there is the furgon. Public buses are slow and unpredictable, so furgons are your best option for travel. Furgons are vans, typically of the Volkswagen or Mercedes variety, that are privately owned and operated by drivers looking to make a few bucks. The same drivers regularly trek the same routes, so you can identify who is trustworthy by asking around town. A trip to Elbasan is 100 leke (1 USD); the trip back is 150 leke. Furgon drivers careen down the roads, only slowing for periodic police roadblocks, at which point they also hustle through the motions of seat belt application. Getting pulled over by the police is a bore! Out come the vehicle registration papers, the furgon driver apologizes again and again, and the police look generally fatigued. There are no speed limits, and adhering to your respective side of the road is optional. The furgon, as a concept, is universal. You can find minibus transportation, where one is wedged between an older woman smelling of garlic and a leering young man, wherever you go. Just make sure you have a notebook to wedge between oneself and the other passengers. Buffers everywhere are good! To date, I have traveled exclusively with my fellow trainees, so no issues to report (yet). I have heard that it is not uncommon to run into a driver who has had one too many shots of raki.
RAKI
Raki is the national moonshine. Everyone and his mother makes/drinks raki and Shqiptare wine. The wine is weak (almost a diluted red/rose) and the raki is STRONG. And I mean strong, like rubbing alcohol strong. My fellow trainees have been discussing the latter beverage's potency of late, but I found myself unable to contribute to discussions until last night. I know that most Albanian men imbibe daily, even ritually downing a shot with their morning coffee, but I had yet to see any alcohol make an appearance at my host family's table. We have grape vines and homemade jam, so I wondered where might be the raki? Last night I introduced the topic into the pre-dinner table discussion and discovered that my family is uniquely sober! They do make their own raki and wine, but keep it for rare use, mostly social. However, since I inquired, Nete and Dafina immediately produced a shot gloss and plonked raki in front of me. I made motions to inquire whether or not it was meant to be emptied all at once or in small sips. Small sips, the ladies indicated. I sipped and was, in a word, whoa. There is only one word for raki, and that is whoa. Whoa. You will have to try to imagine the extent of burn and kick in your own mind. There is no comparison legally available in the US.
FOOD
Shqiptare food is fresh and hey, completely organic and mostly grown at home. Everything tastes WONDERFUL, but some nutrients are missing in daily diet. My host family makes their own grape jam, wine, raki, olive oil, vinegar, pickled prunes, pickled cabbage, and pickled peppers. If I even glance in the direction of something unfamiliar or new in a jar on the counter, Nete pops open the lid and hands me a spoon with which to sample. I have yet to eat or drink something I did not love. Soup with beans, stew with meat, pasta with freshly made pasta sauce, new bread every day, byrek (flaky spinach pastry), an Albanian cornbread, rice, fusale (beans), kafe, and mountain tea. One exception: I am not a fan of hard-boiled eggs, both because of the cholesterol content and the smell/taste. I am, however, eating them for breakfast. Hop-a! (Greek and Albanian for “Dance/Heck yeah!”)
TURKISH TOILETS
You can look this one up. Consider that I have a Western European toilet and bidet in my host family’s house. I am a lucky girl! However, the public Turkish toilet situation is nothing by which to be intimidated. Once you get the hang of a handle-less balancing situation, the situation is manageable.
HOST FAMILY NEWS
This week we have been enjoying beautiful weather! It is amazing how much weather contributes to one’s state of mind and general well-being. Cool nights, warm days. We do only have a wood stove in the family room, so I sleep under a pile of thick, Turkish-style blankets in my room at night. I don’t want to think about the winter months…
Megi, Mande, and Eri took me on an official tour of the family’s houses and property. I admired flowering fruit trees, the baby chicks and baby turkeys cheeping about the yard under the watchful eye of Mama Turkey (she is responsible for both her babies and those of her chicken counterparts), the view from the top floor of the house, the grape vines, and the greenhouse vegetable plants. Nete and Dafina monitored our progress over the turned soil and manure in the field behind the house. Megi and I each grabbed one of Erian’s arms to make sure he didn’t disappear into the furrows altogether. Everyone, including Fatime and Sadik, posed for pictures and experimented with my camera.
Nete showed me all of her photos of Eri, her wedding, Meleq as young man, and her extended family. Yow! Albanian families are big and faithfully devoted to one another. Social circles are big, mostly because they consist primarily of relatives. Love and stick by your blood. Everybody else comes second. It was a fun exchange, with lots of new Albanian words for various parts of the extended family. I also figured out that the family used to live up a mountain maybe 30 or 40 minutes away.
Nete’s mother came to visit and drink kafe for a while yesterday. She looks like her daughter and is a bit more youthful than Fatime. Nete is a very pretty woman, so I would hazard a guess that she gets her looks from her mother. (Nete is also blonde and fair, which is unusual in Albania.) Nete’s mother spoke to me rapidly, hugged me, and was altogether a great lady with whom to spend 45 minutes. She brought cake (torte) for the kids, and for me. This is just one example of when my “foreign-ness” and eternal guest status work to personal advantage. Did I mention that I always get fed, whether or not I am “u ngopa” (full of food)? You have to ritually refuse food three times (no joke, this is a social custom) before the individual offering the food relents.
I have been studying primarily in the family room, near the wood stove and with the family, rather than in my bedroom. If you know me well, you are probably aware that I don’t like to study in a room alone or in silence. Thus, everyone has been getting involved in my language learning. I am now able to converse a bit with Dafina and the grandparents. I am able to understand Eri, and Mande and Megi patiently take me through easy conversations. Nete is wonderful; she is my lifeline language-wise. Even Sadik has taken an interest in my flash cards. He learns English vocabulary faster than I learn Shqip and likes to comment on Shqip’s relative simplicity. Why do the British and Americans need so many words to detail basic concepts and directions? It makes him laugh, and his amusement makes me laugh in turn.
I did my first load of laundry today and will hang it on the line tomorrow! Some colored undergarments were in the load, and I hear that they will be the topic of community gossip by the time they come off the line at the end of the day tomorrow. Oh well…
Megi walks with me to school every day, and now we are typically joined by other trainees and their host family siblings. We walk 20 minutes along the train tracks, which are distinguished by a great view of the valley, trash, and a dead goat. At least I missed the butchering of cows by the road prior to Nofruz on Wednesday. Brad saw the decapitated carcasses and kept his description to a minimum. I expect to see a lot of chicken necks snapped and so on and so forth. I will probably be doing some of that myself.
Twice this weekend I joined all of the women in the family, from 10 year-old Megi to myself and Matilda (Tila) to the eldest aunt, Nimete, at Nimete’s green house to sit on Turkish rugs on the tile walkway near the well in the front yard (which is full of lush fruit trees and happy chicks). Together we drank kafe, gossiped about upcoming weddings, and talked beauty regimens. The most fun I’ve had since coming to Albania! I wish I had brought a few beauty or style magazines to Albania. They would have been a hit.
I also helped Tila and Dafina turn soil for a vegetable garden in a lot in front of the houses. Last summer the men of the family laid a foundation in the lot for a potential food shop (i.e. supermarket, but in miniature). For the time being, any part of the property not sunk under cement will be tilled and planted for the purpose of cultivating leafy and juicy sustenance! We three girls attacked the lot with heavy spades (also wearing flip flops, which are verboten for yard work at my home in the USA), turning up snails, worms, and the occasional toad. The chickens followed us, snatching up every potentially tasty and protein-packed critter that captured their attention. Blisters tomorrow! And a sunburn… But we did win a nice round of kafe as a reward for our efforts. Shqip tutorial: punoj = to work/labor.
PEACE CORPS NEWS
This week we continue language lessons with two alternating instructors. Tuesdays and Fridays we take the furgon to Elbasan for technical training with the other TEFLers and for general training with the whole group. Our TEFL trainers are Agim and Ymer.
This past week we went to a secondary school in Bishqem to observe an English class (there are not enough English teachers for every village, so Lazarej has none) and to discuss the Albanian educational system and school resources and organization with its director. The lesson we observed was taught to sixth graders and dealt with the present continual tense (I think; this is not my forte!). Sixth graders are the same the world over; these students whispered, and the girls strained and practically quivered right out their seats with eagerly raised hands. The boys hesitated to perform in front of visiting strangers.
School runs from 8 am to 1 pm, and each class is 45 minutes long. Class size can run from 35 to 50 students, space is scarce, and resources are minimal and colorless. For example, the Bishqem school director (who also teaches biology and chemistry) explained that his science classes lack labs, so lessons are never concretely demonstrated.
Our language class typically runs from 8 am to 1 pm when we are at school in Lazarej. The classroom has a plywood board painted black, a stack of boxes full of chalk, no heat, some desks, chairs, and a plywood box covered with a table cloth for a teacher desk. We are also in the computer room (The technology is nice! It must be new – nothing else is!), so the door is padlocked and behind a metal frame. The building is white-washed, and plain posters proudly detailing student achievements, potted geraniums, and the national anthem decorate the hallways. There are two floors and maybe a total of eight classrooms. The front yard is a dustbowl for soccer and recess. The outhouse in the back is a no-go zone. Forget Turkish toilets, this is a sewage pit!
Our language teachers are young and a uniquely-Albanian brand of enthusiastic (reserved but dedicated). Ervin, in particular, is a sharply witty instructor, and our primary instructor, Ardita, is a sweetheart. We cover a lot of ground in our five hour lessons, though I did expect to spend more time in the classroom each day. I suppose this reflects the Peace Corps philosophy that you primarily learn by doing. I fully support that approach to learning. Cultural immersion all the way! We have kafe break (of course), during which period we head to the tiny shop next door and drink caj (pronounced “tschay”), which is tea and is typically chamomile or special “mountain tea”, or Turkish coffee. The more posh locale serve express (espresso).
Two of the trainees in my TEFL group celebrated birthdays since we arrived in country, so this Sunday all of the trainees (19 in total) living in Komuna Pajove (Pajove, Lazarej, and Bishqem) met for a picnic in Pajove Larte. Pajove Larte (or Pajove High) is a group of abandoned stone cottages on top of a hill behind the town where the poorer folk lived during Communism. The abandoned houses are perched on a very steep slope. They are linked by steps and surrounded by grape vines, lush purple iris, and wild greens that some host mothers use in cooking. The old cemetery is also in Pajove Larte, and the hill is capped by a well and deep water reservoir.
The picnic was a success, despite a late start due to a general tendency to forget that today was Daylight Savings in Albania. I was munching on toast in the kitchen when my host family pointed to my watch and explained that it was an hour later than I had thought. Aiee! I contributed Nutella and bread to the picnic, which also included peanuts, beer, pretzels, Prince cookies, and bananas. Sergio brought his steel-string guitar. He and Nathan took turns playing, and we all sang. We attracted some neighborhood children, and everyone below in Pajove Qender (Pajove Center) discussed our antics. It rained the night before, so afterwards we all trooped down to the locale for kafe in muddy sneakers and jeans. Afterwards, I walked to Bishqem with some of the trainees who live outside Pajove proper, and we discussed potential community service day projects.
Part of Peace Corps training requires each training group to design and implement a one-day development project at their training sites as both a thank to the communities for hosting us and an opportunity to experiment with a controlled development project. Some ideas: overhauling an existing school library, holding a career day at the local high school, painting a world map on the middle school wall, etc. It should be fun!
ALSO: I will be traveling to visit a current Peace Corps volunteer this coming weekend! We leave midday Saturday and return Tuesday afternoon. Also, Dafina asked me to join her on a visit to her sister, who lives in a small Albanian city not too far away. I would really like to do both, but there are language classes and homework to consider. I will see if I can manage it.
Another volunteer is skipping the site visit to attend a Shqiptar wedding. Hop-a! I hope I get to attend an Albanian wedding while I am here. Albanian weddings last for three days and consist of two separate ceremonies, one at the bride’s house and one at the groom’s house. The bride is exhausted by the end, having worn between three and four gowns and not being able, unlike her groom, to seek release in a glass of raki.
Written on 21 March 2010!!!
Hello all! I am writing from my homestay cousin's uncle's computer in Pajove, the village 30 minutes outside of Elbasan where I am located for my homestay and "real" training. Once/twice a week we will travel back into Elbasan to rendez-vous with all 50 members of Group 13 (that's our "class") for technical, health, safety, policy, security, culture, etc. training. There are seven other TEFL trainees living within two to five minutes walking distance of me in Pajove. These are the same trainees with whom I will take daily language classes in Lazarej. For our first day of classes (Monday, tomorrow), my host family will walk me to the school (shkolle) in Lazarej where we are permitted to use a classroom with our language instructor. Tuesdays and Fridays are also for technical training - i.e. getting ready to be a TEFL volunteer.
Okay, so some more about Pajove and my host family, b/c I bet that is what you are most curious about!
Pajove is a small commune of twelve villages... I live in Pajove proper and am going to school in Lazarej, 15 minutes away. The owners of the house where I live are Sadik Cullhaj (pronounced chool-hi) and his wife, Fatime. Sadik is in his 70s and Fatima is in her late 60s. The lady in charge of daily life in the house is Nete (pronounced Neh-tuh), who is married to Sadik's son, Meleq. He might be the oldest or the youngest son - it depends who takes on the primary familial responsibility. The two other sons work abroad; a lot of men from Albania ("Shqiperia" - pronounced Shipper-ee-ah) go to find work opportunities in Greece, Italy, Germany, or the UK. They have a LOT of responsibility, shouldering the family's financial responsibilities. Nete has two children. First there is Erian, or Eri ("air-ee"), who is three years old, totally precocious, and infinitely cheerful. There is also a three month-old baby girl named Elinda, who is appropriately plump, warm, and full of smiles. I told Nete about the link between my niece and nephew and her children, which she likes. I also shared all of my family pictures today and presented Fatime with Munson chocolates and the kids (femije) with Cadbury Easter eggs to the children - including Mande, who I will introduce next. Mande (his full name is Armando and his nickname is pronounced just like Monday, the day of the week) is six years-old and the son of Dafina, Sadik and Fatima's daughter. She and her husband are divorced. Mande is six and a half, Dafina is 27, and Nete is 28.
They all live in a four-story house, where the roof stretches over a tier of open verandas on each floor, so the staircase is open-air and each floor has a main door to access the hallway and the interior rooms off the verandas. My room and the bathroon are on the third floor. I am very lucky b/c the bathroom has a French-style toilet, bidet, and an enclosed shower - very, very rare in Albania. But comforts and assets vary across Pajove - for instance, the Cullhaj family's neighbors have tractors and more animals. My host family has a milk cow, a horse, a whole bunch of chickens, some apple trees, some orange trees, and grape vines. The well is in front of the house, where the little lawn is spic and span green. The back of the house is mud and churned earth for spring ritual of fertilization. The family room - where everyone spends all their time b/c that is where you will find the wooden stove (no central heat!) - is on the bottom floor, which is actually like a very, very warm, white-washed basement(like a French cave) with full windows. The floor isn't subterranean, the ambiance just makes it feel as if you are in a cozy cave. The whole house is made of thick, thick cement, and the bottom floor sinks into the earth like a bunker. The house is square and has a flat roof with water tanks on top. It is set off the main road with a long strip of fenced-in agricultural property behind the house. Pajove sits on a river in a valley and all of the houses off the main road have a narrow strip of farming land that stretches back, alongside their neighbors' land.
Up the long, gated driveway before my house is another house, built in the same fashion, but painted a lime green (an Allie color!). This is inhabited by Sadik and Fatime's eldest daughter, Nimete. Sadik and Fatime have seven children in total - four girls and three boys). Nimete lives there with her three children, Matilda (22, a university student majoring in German), Renato (17, still in gjimnaz), and Mage (pronounced Ma-ge), who is ten years-old and a student at the school where I will take Shqip classes. Matilda, Renato, and Nete all speak a little English (Anglisht). Renato and Matilda grew up in Germany near Frankfurt, where their father still works and lives. Nete learned English from her brother and sister-in-law who moved to England. Though they only visit for three months every summer, Nete is a swift and incredibly intelligent learner, so it follows that her command of English is extraordinary.
Everyone is incredibly incredibly warm and friendly. Dafina is a bit shy, but I am right there with her. I have to fake an outgoing personality in order to become an outgoing house guest. There is no other way to survive! You MUST play charades and smile. Nete is my defacto host mother, so Fatima, who wants me to always sit next to her so she can study my face, smile, and pat my shoulder/hug me, is my grandmother. Sadik likes all of the silly stories about my interactions with the babies, who do not speak a word of Anglisht and have a hard time understanding that I am not great w/Shqip, but still play and try to talk to me all the time anyway. Matilda has also adopted me, and is really friendly and outgoing. She is engaged, but ALL, and I mean all, of her friends are married and a good portion have babies of their own. Typically, girls get married right after high school and before university. Marriage, however, is not a bar to pursuing higher education.
My first night (last night), I watched the movie "Matilda" (like the book by Roald Dahl) w/Matilda, Maggie, Eri, Renato, and Mande. The host families were told to let us sleep for as long as we wanted this morning, so I woke up at 7 and lay there until 8:15ish, but Erian came in at 7:30 to talk to me. Now I am understanding why we are encouraged to lock our doors!!! Plus, with little curious kids in the house, you never know what might disappear. I am not a big door-locker, so we will see what happens.
Last night I ate gjelle, which is a potato, onion and meat soup (additional vegetables optional) and buke (bread) with Coca-Cola! Dessert is a piece of fruit. I was encouraged to eat at the table with Sadik, Matilda, and Renato. Everyone else hung out w/us in the family room, watching TV. Food is prepared outside, I think, and then brought in. Sometimes we eat in shifts, depending on who has greater authority in the house and also depending on who wants to monitor the baby and little guys first. Women do all household chores, but the men are not ungrateful - it is simply gender roles. Families where both the men and women are employed are beginning to split the chores. Did I mention that the TV (a small flat screen above the refrigerator) is always on? Cartoons and music videos and Big Brother and subtitled/dubbed American movies! Renato and Matilda both shared their American music collections w/me. Everyone is married to their mobile phone, or celular (cell-you-LAR).
It's wild when you know everyone is talking about you, and you can only pick up a few words. But I don't mind at all, because the conversations in which I am featured (appear to be!) good natured or curiosity-driven. No one has been hostile or threatening. Everything out of the norm I do is silly and constitutes the opportunity to create and spread a new story. The volunteers in town are MAJOR news. Pajove is only 1408 people in all twelve villages!!! I challenge my friends and peers to build a private life here - it doesn't exist! I just worry about tiny faux-pas that perhaps the familje Cullhaj won't correct right away, and I will thus end up repeating. Albanians are very gracious and accommodating, so I don't want to trespass on their kindnesses. I also must be very very neat. Everything is sparkling clean and tiled in porcelain or marble. And we absolutely do not wear shoes in the house. Shoes are left outside on the stairs landings leading into the main doors of each house level.
This morning Nimete gave me a bunch of dark reddish purple wild iris! Very sweet of her. And then someone produced candy, so I hauled out my gifts, too. You are not supposed to whip out gifts right away, so we ease into the exchange. I am just taking as many cues as I can, including eating hard-boiled eggs at breakfast, which I am definitely having to get become accustomed to quietly. Salad is a huge staple here, as are pickled vegetables, so don't worry, Allie! Plus, I have a GIANT PC-issued water filter straight from the British military.
All of the kids came for this trip literally a minute up the road to the Matilda's uncle's video shop, so I am attracting a lot of attention. I get the impression that as a guest, I am getting this access for free!!! So we will see how things unfold after a few days and I am no longer new.
Spring is officially here! It is warm enough for just a shirt and everything is green, green. Our training program coordinators pronounced it Kesmet (Kismet), Albanian good luck.
Please Google Earth Pajove (it might be spelled Pajova and is outside Elbasan to the west on the main road), so you have an idea of where I live.
TEFL training is going to be hard-core. In our initial meeting with Agim and Ymer, we discovered that all 15 trainees (the other eight also live in Pajove, but they take separate language lessons) have a wide variety of talents and some have minimal English instruction experience. TEFL is the smallest job sector, so we can deduce that PC stretched wherever it could to find anyone remotely qualified for English instruction. In TEFL, we have two architects, a computer scientist, etc. We will observe classes, have a practicum, build a teacher portfolio of lessons etc, go over techniques, come up with secondary projects, like theater clubs and book clubs, etc. For all the TFA-ers out there, it is roughly comparable to your summer crash course prior to beginning work. In addition to team-teaching, we are expected to observe other teachers' lessons and to critique. We are the resident experts!!! We have, however, been cautioned that NO ONE team-teaches in Albania, so our counter-parts might be suspicious and unwilling at first, but they will hopefully adjust and respond to our flexibility, open-mindedness, professionalism, and attitudinal deference (all the appropriate buzz words). Agim, who long ago was a host brother and is the product of PC English education in high school and at university, is incredibly professional, but he also very friendly. Ymer is a university English lecturer, and a member of several regional boards of English ed and the co-author of a book. School starts in August and is going into vacation soon. Woo woo! I will have plenty of time to prep for next semester.
So, fingers crossed, b/c I know I will make or may have already made faux-pas and will get homesick/really sick, but it seems like life will be... GOOD. It is what we make of it! I want to do all that I can, whenever and wherever I can, so here I go.
Okay, so some more about Pajove and my host family, b/c I bet that is what you are most curious about!
Pajove is a small commune of twelve villages... I live in Pajove proper and am going to school in Lazarej, 15 minutes away. The owners of the house where I live are Sadik Cullhaj (pronounced chool-hi) and his wife, Fatime. Sadik is in his 70s and Fatima is in her late 60s. The lady in charge of daily life in the house is Nete (pronounced Neh-tuh), who is married to Sadik's son, Meleq. He might be the oldest or the youngest son - it depends who takes on the primary familial responsibility. The two other sons work abroad; a lot of men from Albania ("Shqiperia" - pronounced Shipper-ee-ah) go to find work opportunities in Greece, Italy, Germany, or the UK. They have a LOT of responsibility, shouldering the family's financial responsibilities. Nete has two children. First there is Erian, or Eri ("air-ee"), who is three years old, totally precocious, and infinitely cheerful. There is also a three month-old baby girl named Elinda, who is appropriately plump, warm, and full of smiles. I told Nete about the link between my niece and nephew and her children, which she likes. I also shared all of my family pictures today and presented Fatime with Munson chocolates and the kids (femije) with Cadbury Easter eggs to the children - including Mande, who I will introduce next. Mande (his full name is Armando and his nickname is pronounced just like Monday, the day of the week) is six years-old and the son of Dafina, Sadik and Fatima's daughter. She and her husband are divorced. Mande is six and a half, Dafina is 27, and Nete is 28.
They all live in a four-story house, where the roof stretches over a tier of open verandas on each floor, so the staircase is open-air and each floor has a main door to access the hallway and the interior rooms off the verandas. My room and the bathroon are on the third floor. I am very lucky b/c the bathroom has a French-style toilet, bidet, and an enclosed shower - very, very rare in Albania. But comforts and assets vary across Pajove - for instance, the Cullhaj family's neighbors have tractors and more animals. My host family has a milk cow, a horse, a whole bunch of chickens, some apple trees, some orange trees, and grape vines. The well is in front of the house, where the little lawn is spic and span green. The back of the house is mud and churned earth for spring ritual of fertilization. The family room - where everyone spends all their time b/c that is where you will find the wooden stove (no central heat!) - is on the bottom floor, which is actually like a very, very warm, white-washed basement(like a French cave) with full windows. The floor isn't subterranean, the ambiance just makes it feel as if you are in a cozy cave. The whole house is made of thick, thick cement, and the bottom floor sinks into the earth like a bunker. The house is square and has a flat roof with water tanks on top. It is set off the main road with a long strip of fenced-in agricultural property behind the house. Pajove sits on a river in a valley and all of the houses off the main road have a narrow strip of farming land that stretches back, alongside their neighbors' land.
Up the long, gated driveway before my house is another house, built in the same fashion, but painted a lime green (an Allie color!). This is inhabited by Sadik and Fatime's eldest daughter, Nimete. Sadik and Fatime have seven children in total - four girls and three boys). Nimete lives there with her three children, Matilda (22, a university student majoring in German), Renato (17, still in gjimnaz), and Mage (pronounced Ma-ge), who is ten years-old and a student at the school where I will take Shqip classes. Matilda, Renato, and Nete all speak a little English (Anglisht). Renato and Matilda grew up in Germany near Frankfurt, where their father still works and lives. Nete learned English from her brother and sister-in-law who moved to England. Though they only visit for three months every summer, Nete is a swift and incredibly intelligent learner, so it follows that her command of English is extraordinary.
Everyone is incredibly incredibly warm and friendly. Dafina is a bit shy, but I am right there with her. I have to fake an outgoing personality in order to become an outgoing house guest. There is no other way to survive! You MUST play charades and smile. Nete is my defacto host mother, so Fatima, who wants me to always sit next to her so she can study my face, smile, and pat my shoulder/hug me, is my grandmother. Sadik likes all of the silly stories about my interactions with the babies, who do not speak a word of Anglisht and have a hard time understanding that I am not great w/Shqip, but still play and try to talk to me all the time anyway. Matilda has also adopted me, and is really friendly and outgoing. She is engaged, but ALL, and I mean all, of her friends are married and a good portion have babies of their own. Typically, girls get married right after high school and before university. Marriage, however, is not a bar to pursuing higher education.
My first night (last night), I watched the movie "Matilda" (like the book by Roald Dahl) w/Matilda, Maggie, Eri, Renato, and Mande. The host families were told to let us sleep for as long as we wanted this morning, so I woke up at 7 and lay there until 8:15ish, but Erian came in at 7:30 to talk to me. Now I am understanding why we are encouraged to lock our doors!!! Plus, with little curious kids in the house, you never know what might disappear. I am not a big door-locker, so we will see what happens.
Last night I ate gjelle, which is a potato, onion and meat soup (additional vegetables optional) and buke (bread) with Coca-Cola! Dessert is a piece of fruit. I was encouraged to eat at the table with Sadik, Matilda, and Renato. Everyone else hung out w/us in the family room, watching TV. Food is prepared outside, I think, and then brought in. Sometimes we eat in shifts, depending on who has greater authority in the house and also depending on who wants to monitor the baby and little guys first. Women do all household chores, but the men are not ungrateful - it is simply gender roles. Families where both the men and women are employed are beginning to split the chores. Did I mention that the TV (a small flat screen above the refrigerator) is always on? Cartoons and music videos and Big Brother and subtitled/dubbed American movies! Renato and Matilda both shared their American music collections w/me. Everyone is married to their mobile phone, or celular (cell-you-LAR).
It's wild when you know everyone is talking about you, and you can only pick up a few words. But I don't mind at all, because the conversations in which I am featured (appear to be!) good natured or curiosity-driven. No one has been hostile or threatening. Everything out of the norm I do is silly and constitutes the opportunity to create and spread a new story. The volunteers in town are MAJOR news. Pajove is only 1408 people in all twelve villages!!! I challenge my friends and peers to build a private life here - it doesn't exist! I just worry about tiny faux-pas that perhaps the familje Cullhaj won't correct right away, and I will thus end up repeating. Albanians are very gracious and accommodating, so I don't want to trespass on their kindnesses. I also must be very very neat. Everything is sparkling clean and tiled in porcelain or marble. And we absolutely do not wear shoes in the house. Shoes are left outside on the stairs landings leading into the main doors of each house level.
This morning Nimete gave me a bunch of dark reddish purple wild iris! Very sweet of her. And then someone produced candy, so I hauled out my gifts, too. You are not supposed to whip out gifts right away, so we ease into the exchange. I am just taking as many cues as I can, including eating hard-boiled eggs at breakfast, which I am definitely having to get become accustomed to quietly. Salad is a huge staple here, as are pickled vegetables, so don't worry, Allie! Plus, I have a GIANT PC-issued water filter straight from the British military.
All of the kids came for this trip literally a minute up the road to the Matilda's uncle's video shop, so I am attracting a lot of attention. I get the impression that as a guest, I am getting this access for free!!! So we will see how things unfold after a few days and I am no longer new.
Spring is officially here! It is warm enough for just a shirt and everything is green, green. Our training program coordinators pronounced it Kesmet (Kismet), Albanian good luck.
Please Google Earth Pajove (it might be spelled Pajova and is outside Elbasan to the west on the main road), so you have an idea of where I live.
TEFL training is going to be hard-core. In our initial meeting with Agim and Ymer, we discovered that all 15 trainees (the other eight also live in Pajove, but they take separate language lessons) have a wide variety of talents and some have minimal English instruction experience. TEFL is the smallest job sector, so we can deduce that PC stretched wherever it could to find anyone remotely qualified for English instruction. In TEFL, we have two architects, a computer scientist, etc. We will observe classes, have a practicum, build a teacher portfolio of lessons etc, go over techniques, come up with secondary projects, like theater clubs and book clubs, etc. For all the TFA-ers out there, it is roughly comparable to your summer crash course prior to beginning work. In addition to team-teaching, we are expected to observe other teachers' lessons and to critique. We are the resident experts!!! We have, however, been cautioned that NO ONE team-teaches in Albania, so our counter-parts might be suspicious and unwilling at first, but they will hopefully adjust and respond to our flexibility, open-mindedness, professionalism, and attitudinal deference (all the appropriate buzz words). Agim, who long ago was a host brother and is the product of PC English education in high school and at university, is incredibly professional, but he also very friendly. Ymer is a university English lecturer, and a member of several regional boards of English ed and the co-author of a book. School starts in August and is going into vacation soon. Woo woo! I will have plenty of time to prep for next semester.
So, fingers crossed, b/c I know I will make or may have already made faux-pas and will get homesick/really sick, but it seems like life will be... GOOD. It is what we make of it! I want to do all that I can, whenever and wherever I can, so here I go.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
First (full) day in Elbasan, training hub for the next three months
Today is March 18th, the first official day of training after arrival in Elbasan on the afternoon of the 17th. Yesterday I was EXHAUSTED; today I am hovering between “tired” and caffeine-induced concentration. The flight from New York to Munich was eight (and some change) hours long, but it was difficult to sleep. Most of the trainees (Note: We are not officially volunteers until we have passed exams at the end of training and take an official oath) were hyper and excited, which I felt in waves alternating with fatigue. I also always find it difficult to sleep in a cramped position. Though we took over most of the plane, seated to my left was a young Frenchman who had traveled to New York to make some post-doctoral presentations at Columbia University and then was heading to Germany for similar meetings. He is looking for job in the United States in information technology.
The layover in Munich was just two hours long, but I could relax in the completely calm and, to some degree, familiar environment. The airport felt like Switzerland! It was like being transported back to Geneva. I think that even the French-speaking Swiss in Geneva, mere miles from the French border, are more German in their customs and culture than they are French. The airport is an excellent example of contemporary German design - efficient, light, clean, cool, and spare design. I didn't drink the beer for which Munich (or Munchen) is famous, so I will have to make a trip back sometime in the next two years. I saw my favorite marzipan from Niederegger for sale, but it came in a ridiculously priced gift pack with a medley of other products, so I concluded that the price was not worth the half bite of deliciousness.
We flew to Elbasan in a tiny, cramped plane - P will know what I mean because it was just like those planes that makes the hop from Bradley to DC. We almost took over the entire plane, and the few Albanians who flew with us were completely befuddled. Landing at Albania's only airport in Tirana was an eye-opener!! The landing strip is short and in a (relatively) remote location, right near the base of a cluster of mountains. We poured off the plane into the tiny airport (just one room!), where we proceeded to overwhelm customs, discovered that half of the group's bags were missing, and then skipped the metal detector and police with casual shrugs and waves. We were met by Peace Corps Albania’s administrative staff, all of whom were so friendly and patient. Our country director, Hill Denham, had us take a group picture with the Albanian flag before boarding our bus.
Albania looks a lot like Switzerland to me, in the sense that while we drove away from the airport through wide plains, mountains always loomed around us, mere kilometers away. There is no slow rolling build-up to the mountains – they just emerge right out of the flat landscape. Everything is brown for the time being – spring is on its way! Keep in mind that Albania is primarily mountainous and that only a narrow strip of coastline on the Adriatic escapes a high altitudes and abrupt rises in terrain.
Most of us slept on the two hour bus ride to Elbasan through the countryside. We arrived in Elbasan in the mid to late afternoon when the light quality was a perfect foil for the scenery. The sun was getting ready for bed, so the mountains were “bathed in a rosy glow”. All of the Communist-era concrete apartment and store buildings (they are built upwards as opposed to outwards), which are painted in a myriad of fading pastels (the paint job occurred after Communism), picked up the waning light and looked warm. Elbasan is a mixture of older, box-shaped concrete buildings and rubble with new, raw construction and very few modern, high-tech buildings that may be businesses or private residences. Some private residences are giant compounds surrounded by high walls and topped off with barbed wire. The main streets are really broad and seem to be under constant construction, but the town also has a maze of tiny back alleys. A few wild dogs roam around the streets looking for food.
Any water running through the town in cluttered streams is muddy and polluted - the river banks are filled with trash. Albania currently does not have much infrastructure to handle waste or to facilitate recycling. There are small cafes and businesses all over and there is a petite park in the center of the town, complete with ubiquitous stationary chess sets on park tables and even a bumper car carnival ride. We attracted a lot of stares during our brief tour through the center of town.
Most of the younger women we saw walking on the street (never alone, always with a female friend or a husband/fiancé/male sibling) wore tight jeans and short, bomber-style synthetic jackets. Women all wear high heels while the youth generally wear Puma-style sneakers. All of the young men also wear tight jeans and hoodies or short jackets. Hair is gelled or pomaded into a general messiness with creative highlights. Dramatic makeup would appear to be taken quite seriously. The older generation is very classic and modest, as are all of the Peace Corps Albanian staff members that are native to the region. There is a distinct difference between what is worn on the street and what is worn to work –at least for everyone under the age of 50. Lots of couples were out for a promenade while the sun went down on the 17th.
We had dinner after the tour. It is obvious that the red carpet has really been rolled out for our group. We were served much more food than we could eat, and the amenities in our rooms are very modern and expensive for present-day Albania. I share my room with a volunteer who is a grad student at GW in Public Health Policy. One other girl from the same program is also here; she was my roommate in Philadelphia (both are very nice, very sweet, and very smart).
Today (the 18th) we began the hard-core rounds of language training and policy review. Most of the training is performed by university-educated Albanians who were hired by the PC to conduct our PST (Pre-Service Training). Our language instructors today were great; I can already tell that we are going to be learning a great deal of information in a very short amount of time. The language staff keeps on insisting that we ought not to worry because their primary goal is to ensure that everyone reaches passing level (Intermediate Low) by the end of training in three months. I am more concerned with proving that my skill level is sufficient enough to be useful at a site! We have to pass language and skill requirements in order to be sworn in as official volunteers on May 27th.
I have also found out where I am going to live once the non-orientation training officially starts this Saturday! I will be in a very small village called Pajove, which is one of twelve villages that comprise a commune with a total population of 1,408 people. My host family is very big, and consists of an older couple, their two adult children, the adult son's spouse, the adult son's three month-old daughter and three year-old son, and the adult daughter's six year-old son. So, I make number eight in the household. They have hosted before (yay!) and do not smoke in the house. I will be about 45 minutes from Elbasan, where all of the trainees will congregate twice a week for the next three months to conduct health, safety, and general PC protocol training. The seven of us TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) trainees placed in Pajove will participate in intense language and job training together in Lazarej, a neighboring town. It turns out that TEFL is the smallest job sector in this wave of volunteers. The other two sectors are Community Development and Health.
Lazarej is about 15 minutes from my house, so the only real travel logistical feat will be getting from Pajove (pronounced Pah-yo-vay) to Elbasan once a week. It will take about 45 minutes by furgon (minibus). Thank goodness that our language teachers will be making the first few trips with us! After the first week, all of the trainees will continue to travel together to Elbasan for safety’s sake.
I have to report for dinner soon, so I think that is about all for now!!!
*Important note: Internet access goes in and out here in Elbasan, as does the electricity. I don't know what my internet situation will be like in Pajove (probably non-existent), so I will try to work something out.
I forgot to describe my fellow trainees! We range from uber out-going to more shy, but everyone has a positive and friendly personality. Most of us are in our mid to late twenties. There are three married couples, two in their late twenties/possibly early thirities, and one couple probably in their fifties. We have a few older (than average) volunteers, ranging from their late thirties through their sixties. I think I am the youngest by just a few months in our group of fifty trainees.
The layover in Munich was just two hours long, but I could relax in the completely calm and, to some degree, familiar environment. The airport felt like Switzerland! It was like being transported back to Geneva. I think that even the French-speaking Swiss in Geneva, mere miles from the French border, are more German in their customs and culture than they are French. The airport is an excellent example of contemporary German design - efficient, light, clean, cool, and spare design. I didn't drink the beer for which Munich (or Munchen) is famous, so I will have to make a trip back sometime in the next two years. I saw my favorite marzipan from Niederegger for sale, but it came in a ridiculously priced gift pack with a medley of other products, so I concluded that the price was not worth the half bite of deliciousness.
We flew to Elbasan in a tiny, cramped plane - P will know what I mean because it was just like those planes that makes the hop from Bradley to DC. We almost took over the entire plane, and the few Albanians who flew with us were completely befuddled. Landing at Albania's only airport in Tirana was an eye-opener!! The landing strip is short and in a (relatively) remote location, right near the base of a cluster of mountains. We poured off the plane into the tiny airport (just one room!), where we proceeded to overwhelm customs, discovered that half of the group's bags were missing, and then skipped the metal detector and police with casual shrugs and waves. We were met by Peace Corps Albania’s administrative staff, all of whom were so friendly and patient. Our country director, Hill Denham, had us take a group picture with the Albanian flag before boarding our bus.
Albania looks a lot like Switzerland to me, in the sense that while we drove away from the airport through wide plains, mountains always loomed around us, mere kilometers away. There is no slow rolling build-up to the mountains – they just emerge right out of the flat landscape. Everything is brown for the time being – spring is on its way! Keep in mind that Albania is primarily mountainous and that only a narrow strip of coastline on the Adriatic escapes a high altitudes and abrupt rises in terrain.
Most of us slept on the two hour bus ride to Elbasan through the countryside. We arrived in Elbasan in the mid to late afternoon when the light quality was a perfect foil for the scenery. The sun was getting ready for bed, so the mountains were “bathed in a rosy glow”. All of the Communist-era concrete apartment and store buildings (they are built upwards as opposed to outwards), which are painted in a myriad of fading pastels (the paint job occurred after Communism), picked up the waning light and looked warm. Elbasan is a mixture of older, box-shaped concrete buildings and rubble with new, raw construction and very few modern, high-tech buildings that may be businesses or private residences. Some private residences are giant compounds surrounded by high walls and topped off with barbed wire. The main streets are really broad and seem to be under constant construction, but the town also has a maze of tiny back alleys. A few wild dogs roam around the streets looking for food.
Any water running through the town in cluttered streams is muddy and polluted - the river banks are filled with trash. Albania currently does not have much infrastructure to handle waste or to facilitate recycling. There are small cafes and businesses all over and there is a petite park in the center of the town, complete with ubiquitous stationary chess sets on park tables and even a bumper car carnival ride. We attracted a lot of stares during our brief tour through the center of town.
Most of the younger women we saw walking on the street (never alone, always with a female friend or a husband/fiancé/male sibling) wore tight jeans and short, bomber-style synthetic jackets. Women all wear high heels while the youth generally wear Puma-style sneakers. All of the young men also wear tight jeans and hoodies or short jackets. Hair is gelled or pomaded into a general messiness with creative highlights. Dramatic makeup would appear to be taken quite seriously. The older generation is very classic and modest, as are all of the Peace Corps Albanian staff members that are native to the region. There is a distinct difference between what is worn on the street and what is worn to work –at least for everyone under the age of 50. Lots of couples were out for a promenade while the sun went down on the 17th.
We had dinner after the tour. It is obvious that the red carpet has really been rolled out for our group. We were served much more food than we could eat, and the amenities in our rooms are very modern and expensive for present-day Albania. I share my room with a volunteer who is a grad student at GW in Public Health Policy. One other girl from the same program is also here; she was my roommate in Philadelphia (both are very nice, very sweet, and very smart).
Today (the 18th) we began the hard-core rounds of language training and policy review. Most of the training is performed by university-educated Albanians who were hired by the PC to conduct our PST (Pre-Service Training). Our language instructors today were great; I can already tell that we are going to be learning a great deal of information in a very short amount of time. The language staff keeps on insisting that we ought not to worry because their primary goal is to ensure that everyone reaches passing level (Intermediate Low) by the end of training in three months. I am more concerned with proving that my skill level is sufficient enough to be useful at a site! We have to pass language and skill requirements in order to be sworn in as official volunteers on May 27th.
I have also found out where I am going to live once the non-orientation training officially starts this Saturday! I will be in a very small village called Pajove, which is one of twelve villages that comprise a commune with a total population of 1,408 people. My host family is very big, and consists of an older couple, their two adult children, the adult son's spouse, the adult son's three month-old daughter and three year-old son, and the adult daughter's six year-old son. So, I make number eight in the household. They have hosted before (yay!) and do not smoke in the house. I will be about 45 minutes from Elbasan, where all of the trainees will congregate twice a week for the next three months to conduct health, safety, and general PC protocol training. The seven of us TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) trainees placed in Pajove will participate in intense language and job training together in Lazarej, a neighboring town. It turns out that TEFL is the smallest job sector in this wave of volunteers. The other two sectors are Community Development and Health.
Lazarej is about 15 minutes from my house, so the only real travel logistical feat will be getting from Pajove (pronounced Pah-yo-vay) to Elbasan once a week. It will take about 45 minutes by furgon (minibus). Thank goodness that our language teachers will be making the first few trips with us! After the first week, all of the trainees will continue to travel together to Elbasan for safety’s sake.
I have to report for dinner soon, so I think that is about all for now!!!
*Important note: Internet access goes in and out here in Elbasan, as does the electricity. I don't know what my internet situation will be like in Pajove (probably non-existent), so I will try to work something out.
I forgot to describe my fellow trainees! We range from uber out-going to more shy, but everyone has a positive and friendly personality. Most of us are in our mid to late twenties. There are three married couples, two in their late twenties/possibly early thirities, and one couple probably in their fifties. We have a few older (than average) volunteers, ranging from their late thirties through their sixties. I think I am the youngest by just a few months in our group of fifty trainees.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Mailing Address During Training
This is my mailing address for the first three months of the Peace Corps experience. I can only receive letters at this address! No packages.
(Name of Trainee)
Korpusi i Paqes
PO Box 8180
Tiranë, Albania
(Name of Trainee)
Korpusi i Paqes
PO Box 8180
Tiranë, Albania
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Here is an official introduction:
To those who choose to concern themselves with my fate for the next two years and three months, you ought to know that I am leaving in March for Albania to serve with the Peace Corps in the capacity of English language teacher. I still don’t know if it will be at the primary or secondary level or where I will be posted in Albania. I do know, however, that I have 48ish days of official vacation, so most of you are either obliged to fly out to me or must pay for my ticket to and room and board while staying at your meeting locale of choice.
In this post we shall cover…
Background: Albania is located in the Balkans on the Adriatic Sea! It is just across the water from Italy’s eastern coast and shares borders with Kosovo, Montenegro, Greece, and Macedonia. Albania has a narrow coastal plain running the length of its eastern border with the Adriatic while the rest of the country is comprised of high mountains and elevated plains. Contrary to some questions and assumptions I’ve been fielding, Albania is not a temperate country. Albania enjoys dry, hot summers, à la Mediterranean, and suffers through cold and very damp winters. It’s a source for raw minerals in the international markets, but mainly depends on agriculture to keep chugging along. Olive groves, citrus orchards, and vineyards are scattered about the country. Food staples range from what we consider stereotypical eastern European fare (aka MEAT) to yogurts, feta, and bananas (thank you, Greece)! I hear the food is supposed to be relatively bland? Which surprises me, as I would imagine that a territory and a people shaped by a myriad of conquering empires channeling cultures (and wouldn’t one think spices, as well?) from both the East and West would have a little more oomph in its cooking. That leads me to a brief historical overview. See next paragraph. (How is that for a transition sentence, hmm?)
Ancient Albania = Ancient Illyria, next door to Ancient Greece. The Albanian language, Shqip, is an Indo-European language that has altered very little through the centuries and is considered a unique pocket language with no known relatives (not unlike the Basque language). Albania was under the control of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires all at one time or another and did not win official independence until November of 1912 (though there was an epic revolt against the invading Turks in the 1400s led by Skanderbeg, Albanian national hero). The country then went through awkward pre and post-World War I political transformations and emerged with an unstable government that shortly succumbed to Soviet-style communism. In the 1970s, Albania veered away from Soviet bloc politics and turned its head toward China. Communist government was not officially shed until 1992, at which point Albania began its transformation into a (technically still transitional) democracy.
My general situation: The Peace Corps is operating in Albania primarily in the sectors of education, community and youth development, and health. I hope to develop secondary projects in health and community development when not cranking out lesson plans, screaming into my pillow, or playing with the kids next door. I am trying to revisit my TEFL experience with DC Schools and some additional materials rustled up from CT’s state TEFL programs in order to prep for the three months of group training that precede the two year solo assignment. I understand that most of my fellow education volunteers are TEFL certified, so I don’t want to run into situations that unfold thusly: “Umm, what does that ten-letter acronym being thrown around by all of my fellow trainees signify, and am I betraying a fatal flaw by asking this question?” I am also relying on my ability to think creatively and “on my feet”, so to speak, in order to make a success out of training.
Thankfully I have purchased a travel alarm clock that illuminates in the dark with just a tap of my blindly groping hand. Can you imagine the horror of my superiors if they discovered my long and pitiful struggle with chronic tardiness? Before you all begin to laugh, it must, however, be noted that employment with Starbucks has whittled my margin of error down to about three minutes, so I consider myself on the way to joining company with those who can call themselves prompt.
Adjustments!: Infrastructure is a little shaky, so Albania is famous for its electrical outages (sometimes lasting up to 18 hrs), lack of central heating or air conditioning, and limited, limited internet access. I’ve been there, done that with respect to all three, but never for two solid, uninterrupted years, so I expect to come back with a little more street cred. A Peace Corps joke: “Pessimists look at a glass and pronounce it half empty while optimists look at a glass and pronounce it half full. Peace Corps volunteers look at the same glass and reflect, ‘Hey, I could take a bath in that!’” My goal is to thoroughly identify with the “take a bath” mentality by the time I return to the US.
In other news, still studying for the GRE – actually, that’s a falsehood. Am cramming Albanian language lessons instead. BUT, I hope to take the paper-based GRE in Tirana (capital city) while overseas and to at least crank out a few applications in time for admittance into a Fall 2012 program. I know I should be giving long-term planning more consideration, but right now my head is buried in preparations for the immediate future. We shall see!
In this post we shall cover…
Background: Albania is located in the Balkans on the Adriatic Sea! It is just across the water from Italy’s eastern coast and shares borders with Kosovo, Montenegro, Greece, and Macedonia. Albania has a narrow coastal plain running the length of its eastern border with the Adriatic while the rest of the country is comprised of high mountains and elevated plains. Contrary to some questions and assumptions I’ve been fielding, Albania is not a temperate country. Albania enjoys dry, hot summers, à la Mediterranean, and suffers through cold and very damp winters. It’s a source for raw minerals in the international markets, but mainly depends on agriculture to keep chugging along. Olive groves, citrus orchards, and vineyards are scattered about the country. Food staples range from what we consider stereotypical eastern European fare (aka MEAT) to yogurts, feta, and bananas (thank you, Greece)! I hear the food is supposed to be relatively bland? Which surprises me, as I would imagine that a territory and a people shaped by a myriad of conquering empires channeling cultures (and wouldn’t one think spices, as well?) from both the East and West would have a little more oomph in its cooking. That leads me to a brief historical overview. See next paragraph. (How is that for a transition sentence, hmm?)
Ancient Albania = Ancient Illyria, next door to Ancient Greece. The Albanian language, Shqip, is an Indo-European language that has altered very little through the centuries and is considered a unique pocket language with no known relatives (not unlike the Basque language). Albania was under the control of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires all at one time or another and did not win official independence until November of 1912 (though there was an epic revolt against the invading Turks in the 1400s led by Skanderbeg, Albanian national hero). The country then went through awkward pre and post-World War I political transformations and emerged with an unstable government that shortly succumbed to Soviet-style communism. In the 1970s, Albania veered away from Soviet bloc politics and turned its head toward China. Communist government was not officially shed until 1992, at which point Albania began its transformation into a (technically still transitional) democracy.
My general situation: The Peace Corps is operating in Albania primarily in the sectors of education, community and youth development, and health. I hope to develop secondary projects in health and community development when not cranking out lesson plans, screaming into my pillow, or playing with the kids next door. I am trying to revisit my TEFL experience with DC Schools and some additional materials rustled up from CT’s state TEFL programs in order to prep for the three months of group training that precede the two year solo assignment. I understand that most of my fellow education volunteers are TEFL certified, so I don’t want to run into situations that unfold thusly: “Umm, what does that ten-letter acronym being thrown around by all of my fellow trainees signify, and am I betraying a fatal flaw by asking this question?” I am also relying on my ability to think creatively and “on my feet”, so to speak, in order to make a success out of training.
Thankfully I have purchased a travel alarm clock that illuminates in the dark with just a tap of my blindly groping hand. Can you imagine the horror of my superiors if they discovered my long and pitiful struggle with chronic tardiness? Before you all begin to laugh, it must, however, be noted that employment with Starbucks has whittled my margin of error down to about three minutes, so I consider myself on the way to joining company with those who can call themselves prompt.
Adjustments!: Infrastructure is a little shaky, so Albania is famous for its electrical outages (sometimes lasting up to 18 hrs), lack of central heating or air conditioning, and limited, limited internet access. I’ve been there, done that with respect to all three, but never for two solid, uninterrupted years, so I expect to come back with a little more street cred. A Peace Corps joke: “Pessimists look at a glass and pronounce it half empty while optimists look at a glass and pronounce it half full. Peace Corps volunteers look at the same glass and reflect, ‘Hey, I could take a bath in that!’” My goal is to thoroughly identify with the “take a bath” mentality by the time I return to the US.
In other news, still studying for the GRE – actually, that’s a falsehood. Am cramming Albanian language lessons instead. BUT, I hope to take the paper-based GRE in Tirana (capital city) while overseas and to at least crank out a few applications in time for admittance into a Fall 2012 program. I know I should be giving long-term planning more consideration, but right now my head is buried in preparations for the immediate future. We shall see!
Prep for departure (less than two weeks to go)
I'm just back from San Francisco, coming off the high, and in the midst of rediscovering the overwhelming nature of "to do" lists. Aiee, I really have a lot to do, and it's all little bits and pieces. Most irritating today: figuring out transformers and adaptors. Also, do I bother bringing a small blow dryer? My hair is lifeless and sad without it. I wish the recommended packing list weren't so long! And of course it has a clause stating that it would be next to impossible to bring everything, so weeding out the "can't-live-wthout" from the "it-would-be-preferable-to-have" is going to be a test of patience and executive decision-making capability. Man, my bags should pack themselves and POA papers and personal property insurance should just materialize/resolve themselves when I stomp once, click my heels twice.
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