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.