My First Full Day

Monday, March 26, 2007

My First Full Day

Before I arrived in Albania (Shqiperia) I told myself I would write in my journal every night. It appears that I’ve already started off on the wrong track. Today was my first full day in my satellite site. Elbasan is the second largest city in Albania and that is our “hub site”. The group of 40 volunteers is broken into about 8 “satellite sites”. My satellite site is Belsh, or Bellësh, and there are 5 other volunteers living here with me. I believe the city is the largest of all the satellite sites having a population around 13,000. The region has around 80 lakes and the town is situated around the largest. The views from the hills around the lake are stunning. In the distance the Balkan Mountains make their presence known. The city is quite beautiful; it lacks the funds to support a strong infrastructure, but people do all they can to make what they have beautiful. All buildings are concrete frames with a terra cotta infill. Most times the upper floors are left unfinished while the lower floors are occupied. I’ve heard that this reduces taxes, but It also allows an addition in the future.
I woke up this morning to roosters crowing in my front yard around 6:30 am. I stayed in bed until about a quarter after seven then made my way to the elementary schools where the other volunteers and I had a 6 hour Albanian (shqip) class. The people here are very curious, but also very friendly. It is not in their nature to smile at strangers, but as soon as you greet them and introduce yourself they are very cheerful. The group and I were walking around the town and on our way home I greeted a group of two men who seemed interested in us. He insisted that we allow him to buy us all coffee at one of the local café’s. After nearly an hour of having a conversation around the level that a 5 year old would have I finally communicated to him that I needed to go home.
Last night I met my whole host family for the first time. My host mother’s name is Bukuri Pepa, my father is Bujar Pepa, and my host brother is Abër Pepa. There are two other siblings that have moved to Italy. The oldest; a daughter, is married and has two daughters of her own. We spent the night trying to communicate in what little Albanian I have already learned. Dinner was delicious. We had a very good, and simple, salad that had just lettuce, tomato, and green onions. I believe all the veggies came from Bukuri’s garden. Along with the salad was bread sliced cucumbers some lamb and French fries…Albanians love French fries and I’ve been told have them with every meal.
After showing pictures of each other’s family I retreated to my room for a little me time and to try to catch up on some sleep. Tomorrow is our first trip to the hub site (Elbasan). It is an hour drive on a furgon (mini bus). If I’m lucky I’ll be able to post these last two entries.
This whole country reminds me a lot of non tourist areas of Hawai’i. It is very beautiful, but quite poor. It will be exciting to see what all can be accomplished in the next 27 months of my stay.
It is amazing how difficult it is to try to communicate with people who have no idea what you are trying to say. I have a new found respect for foreigners travelling In America. Hopefully the 6-8 hours of daily language training will help.
I just wanted to catch you all up, but I really need to hit the books. I hope you’re enjoying these posts as much as I am being here.

Mirupafshim.
(Goodbye)