Thank you so much for the posts and encouragement. It is very much appreciated. I have much to post about but am extremely busy, so my apologies. I found out my placement for the next two years yesterday. I am going to be working in Vlore, a large Mediterranean city on the sea. I will be working in the Bashkia (municipality) helping with tourism and cultural preservation. I will be sure to write more about it this week. I will not have an opportunity to use the internet until the week after next.
I'm sure I will have lots to report on my next postings.
Again, thank you for all the comments, I love and miss you all.
Michael
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Weekend memories
Sunday, April 08, 2007:
I find myself accepting the fact that this place is my home more and more every day. This is my third full weekend in country and the people and country is growing on me, more than I probably know. This weekend several of us decided to host our first volunteer social; inviting all the other volunteers to our city in hopes to sit around, have some wine, good food, and conversations that could be about anything and everything.
Yesterday we had 17 people come, which is about half of the whole group. There is a nice little restaurant on the end of the lake that is away from town that has a very nice patio. We sat outside for a few hours to just socialize. More often than not I found myself in between groups of conversations just listening, just watching, just taking in everything; it was a comfortable seclusion. It was great to see other volunteers, and have an event that was not mandatory for the Peace Corps.
Today Rob, one of my site mates, and I took the hour furgon trip into Elbasan for a tour of the city from a volunteer who is currently serving there. I’ve tried to think about how to describe the city, but I’m afraid my words won’t give it justice. The history of this place is phenomenal.
On the way home we happened to catch a furgon home with an English speaking Albanian. After answering many of his questions on the drive home we invited him to coffee to continue the conversation. It is very humbling to hear some of the stories these people have to share. This particular man is married, his wife lives in the same village as I do, but he is forced to work in Greece 9 months out of the year because of the lack of jobs in Albania. He rarely sees his family and works as many hours as he can. Sadly this story is one of many that exist in Albania. It is so difficult to respond to someone who is searching for opportunity, while I’m handed an opportunity of a lifetime on a silver platter. How can I not come off as condescending or arrogant?
While the lack of money and the existence of poverty punches you in the face when you step off the plane, what you learn once you’ve spoken with a few Albanians is that they are very wealthy in love. The pride they have in their country, the love they have for their family, and respect they have for the people and culture is worth more than all the money in the world to these people. And I cannot begin to describe how much I admire that.
I find myself accepting the fact that this place is my home more and more every day. This is my third full weekend in country and the people and country is growing on me, more than I probably know. This weekend several of us decided to host our first volunteer social; inviting all the other volunteers to our city in hopes to sit around, have some wine, good food, and conversations that could be about anything and everything.
Yesterday we had 17 people come, which is about half of the whole group. There is a nice little restaurant on the end of the lake that is away from town that has a very nice patio. We sat outside for a few hours to just socialize. More often than not I found myself in between groups of conversations just listening, just watching, just taking in everything; it was a comfortable seclusion. It was great to see other volunteers, and have an event that was not mandatory for the Peace Corps.
Today Rob, one of my site mates, and I took the hour furgon trip into Elbasan for a tour of the city from a volunteer who is currently serving there. I’ve tried to think about how to describe the city, but I’m afraid my words won’t give it justice. The history of this place is phenomenal.
On the way home we happened to catch a furgon home with an English speaking Albanian. After answering many of his questions on the drive home we invited him to coffee to continue the conversation. It is very humbling to hear some of the stories these people have to share. This particular man is married, his wife lives in the same village as I do, but he is forced to work in Greece 9 months out of the year because of the lack of jobs in Albania. He rarely sees his family and works as many hours as he can. Sadly this story is one of many that exist in Albania. It is so difficult to respond to someone who is searching for opportunity, while I’m handed an opportunity of a lifetime on a silver platter. How can I not come off as condescending or arrogant?
While the lack of money and the existence of poverty punches you in the face when you step off the plane, what you learn once you’ve spoken with a few Albanians is that they are very wealthy in love. The pride they have in their country, the love they have for their family, and respect they have for the people and culture is worth more than all the money in the world to these people. And I cannot begin to describe how much I admire that.
Weekend in Fier
Friday morning a site mate of mine and I were to set off to Fier by bus. Fier was a city I knew nothing about and in all honesty I was quite jealous of the volunteers who were going to much more glamorous cities in Albania for their site visit. We arrived to Fier with few problems; the largest being that the bus we were to take was 3 hours late. My first impressions of Fier are not worthy of being noted, as they do not represent what the city is appropriately. Andrew (my site mate) and I were relieved to meet the two volunteers we were going to be sharing the next two nights with. The city of Fier really took me by surprise. It is one of Albania’s largest cities and is quite nice. Just beyond the outskirts of the city is an oil refinery, so the water is polluted, aside from that it is a very beautiful city. Most of the streets near the city center are boulevards that are nicer than those I’ve seen in America. High rise apartment buildings were being erected every so often, and we spent most of the first night in one of the city parks just chatting.
I was infinitely surprised by the size of one of the volunteer’s apartment; it is as big as my host family’s house. We spent the first evening cooking dinner and watching movies on a projector borrowed from the library.
Saturday rolled around and we decided we would prepare for a camping excursion on the beaches of the Adriatic. We planned to take a furgon to the edge of the city then walk the rest of the way; a few miles. After walking for 5 minutes an Albanian man drove by, stopped, and offered us a ride to the beach. On the way he offered to take us for coffee, then treated us to more once we arrived at the beach. After about 3 hours of talking, most of that time was spent trying to convince this man we were American. The two other volunteers spoke such good Albanian he refused to believe we were from anywhere but Albania. We pitched our tents, gathered wood, built a fire, and then spent the night doing the things associated with camping.
During the evening stories were told, questions were asked, but most of all the barrier between trainee and volunteer was broken. We told jokes, had beers, roasted sausages, shared sentiment and discussed parallel ideology. Throughout the evening I thought about many things; about how happy I was I decided to sign up for the site visit, but mostly, how since I’ve entered Albania I’ve experienced such a surprising amount of gleeful times at moments that they are most unexpected. We spent much of the evening laughing, and once the cold midnight air prevailed over our modest fire we retreated to our tents.
I’d like to take the time to discuss the bunkers that are sprinkled all over Albania. The leader of the communist reign in Albania had an immense fear of invasion. These fears lead to the construction of concrete bunkers all over the country. It is common to have a dozen concrete pillboxes strategically placed within a picturesque landscape. I’ve heard there are some 300,000.
The beaches were lined with these bunkers. Although the most captivating and I’d say appropriate, aspect of these bunkers had nothing to do with their presence on the beach but location. Over the years the sea level has risen, so the marks of communism are not only being swallowed by time, but also by the sea. I took some solace in this small observation.
When day broke I awoke with the sun. I spent most of the morning perched on the bunkers, losing track of my thoughts and dazing into dreams that were on sync with the tide. My state of mind volleyed between vertigo and euphoria. My mood could best be described as melancholy. I spent the first hours of that day quite peacefully.
The weekend came to an end all too quickly and since I’ve returned nothing has occupied my mind more than the freedom I experienced in Fier. Tomorrow I learn where my site placement will be and my anxiety level is at an all time high. One thing I have taken away from this trip that I can apply immediately is to not judge where I may be going on any preconceived notion. I knew nothing about Fier and had the time of my life.
I was infinitely surprised by the size of one of the volunteer’s apartment; it is as big as my host family’s house. We spent the first evening cooking dinner and watching movies on a projector borrowed from the library.
Saturday rolled around and we decided we would prepare for a camping excursion on the beaches of the Adriatic. We planned to take a furgon to the edge of the city then walk the rest of the way; a few miles. After walking for 5 minutes an Albanian man drove by, stopped, and offered us a ride to the beach. On the way he offered to take us for coffee, then treated us to more once we arrived at the beach. After about 3 hours of talking, most of that time was spent trying to convince this man we were American. The two other volunteers spoke such good Albanian he refused to believe we were from anywhere but Albania. We pitched our tents, gathered wood, built a fire, and then spent the night doing the things associated with camping.
During the evening stories were told, questions were asked, but most of all the barrier between trainee and volunteer was broken. We told jokes, had beers, roasted sausages, shared sentiment and discussed parallel ideology. Throughout the evening I thought about many things; about how happy I was I decided to sign up for the site visit, but mostly, how since I’ve entered Albania I’ve experienced such a surprising amount of gleeful times at moments that they are most unexpected. We spent much of the evening laughing, and once the cold midnight air prevailed over our modest fire we retreated to our tents.
I’d like to take the time to discuss the bunkers that are sprinkled all over Albania. The leader of the communist reign in Albania had an immense fear of invasion. These fears lead to the construction of concrete bunkers all over the country. It is common to have a dozen concrete pillboxes strategically placed within a picturesque landscape. I’ve heard there are some 300,000.
The beaches were lined with these bunkers. Although the most captivating and I’d say appropriate, aspect of these bunkers had nothing to do with their presence on the beach but location. Over the years the sea level has risen, so the marks of communism are not only being swallowed by time, but also by the sea. I took some solace in this small observation.
When day broke I awoke with the sun. I spent most of the morning perched on the bunkers, losing track of my thoughts and dazing into dreams that were on sync with the tide. My state of mind volleyed between vertigo and euphoria. My mood could best be described as melancholy. I spent the first hours of that day quite peacefully.
The weekend came to an end all too quickly and since I’ve returned nothing has occupied my mind more than the freedom I experienced in Fier. Tomorrow I learn where my site placement will be and my anxiety level is at an all time high. One thing I have taken away from this trip that I can apply immediately is to not judge where I may be going on any preconceived notion. I knew nothing about Fier and had the time of my life.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007:
Today marks 3 full weeks in country. The last few days the weather has been beautiful and we have been as busy as ever. The Peace Corps has planned a weekend trip for current trainees to stay and visit with current volunteers. I am going to the city of Fier (pronounced Fear) Friday with one of my site mates from Belsh. Today we had language class for about 5 hours in the morning then had a meeting with our community development coordinators. After lunch Rob, Andrew and I took a walk around the town to do some more exploring.
We went to a part of town we had never been to and came across what appeared to be an abandoned school. It was a typical communist building with very brutal concrete construction. We were curious and started to poke around, and in trying to figure out how to get into the building we met 3 kids playing soccer. They told us they were playing soccer inside and invited us to join. For 30 minutes we played on the second floor of this school, the inside was in shambles and there was dirt and hay everywhere. We played around concrete columns and a few times the ball was kicked out of broken windows and needed to be fetched. I hadn’t the slightest idea I could’ve had so much fun when I set out on the walk and it was probably the best time I’ve had here in Albania.After a tough week of stress and a few downs a fun, social, active engaging activity was something that really boosted my spirits. Although things of late have gotten me down a little, I am really starting to feel at home here. I can’t say enough how great the people are. Every now and then an Albanian man will approach me and speak in English. I’ve had many free coffees shared with these men. And the best part of my day is when I walk down the street towards my house and pass a store where two little girls live. They must be between the age of 5 and 8, but every day when I walk past they always run from the back of the building to the porch and yell “HELLOOOOO” waving and smiling from ear to ear. It must be the only English word they know, but there has yet to be a day that I haven’t had the blessing of seeing those two girls greet me on my way home. Regardless of how upset or stressed I may be, that always lifts my spirits
We went to a part of town we had never been to and came across what appeared to be an abandoned school. It was a typical communist building with very brutal concrete construction. We were curious and started to poke around, and in trying to figure out how to get into the building we met 3 kids playing soccer. They told us they were playing soccer inside and invited us to join. For 30 minutes we played on the second floor of this school, the inside was in shambles and there was dirt and hay everywhere. We played around concrete columns and a few times the ball was kicked out of broken windows and needed to be fetched. I hadn’t the slightest idea I could’ve had so much fun when I set out on the walk and it was probably the best time I’ve had here in Albania.After a tough week of stress and a few downs a fun, social, active engaging activity was something that really boosted my spirits. Although things of late have gotten me down a little, I am really starting to feel at home here. I can’t say enough how great the people are. Every now and then an Albanian man will approach me and speak in English. I’ve had many free coffees shared with these men. And the best part of my day is when I walk down the street towards my house and pass a store where two little girls live. They must be between the age of 5 and 8, but every day when I walk past they always run from the back of the building to the porch and yell “HELLOOOOO” waving and smiling from ear to ear. It must be the only English word they know, but there has yet to be a day that I haven’t had the blessing of seeing those two girls greet me on my way home. Regardless of how upset or stressed I may be, that always lifts my spirits
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Quite unexpected…
Monday, March 30, 2007:
Quite unexpected…
When I was first informed of the Peace Corps and what and where they went I had a vision in my mind. That vision usually included a volunteer whom lived quite frugally among modest folk in a small village somewhere in Africa. The volunteer would spend his days learning the language of the locals, informing them of a culture foreign to them, while learning about one to him. They would find themselves living in a hut made of earth eating things he never knew existed and could only dream of a shower. The volunteer would then spend the next two years of their life in a completely different world and would eventually invoke a curiosity in the locals that would lead him to teaching/helping them in some grand way.
While that scenario may hold true for some PCV, that world I thought of does not exist in Albania. While there are many things here that just don’t make sense, I have spent the last two weeks in luxury compared to my PCV friend in Africa. I spent this afternoon in Elbasan for our second hub day. During breaks we were encouraged to go for coffee. I spent the evening after our sessions updating my blog and checking my mail at an internet café. I came home and spent the even watching a movie on my laptop then joined my host family for dinner, only to watch an American movie (in English, with Shqip subtitles) on television. Last night I finished an assignment in the comfort of my neighbor’s house while listening to jazz fusion from his laptop while discussing how we could communicate that he had fresh coffee beans from Guatemala.
The day before yesterday the 5 other volunteers, our Albanian teacher and I decided to try out a new restaurant during our break for lunch. I’ve never had better barbequed meat ever. We had 2 huge plates of lamb chops, three plates of fried potatoes and three plays of the freshest salad. We each paid roughly $5 American dollars.
It just doesn’t make sense to me…this is not the Peace Corps that I had imagined when I sent in that application; quite a world of differences in fact.
I’ve also learned that on Saturdays the main strip of my town basically shuts down to host a huge market that sells really any produce you can think of. No farmers here use preservatives, everything is fresh and organic and I cannot begin to describe how delicious all the food is.
While there are certainly things that I was not expecting that I will not have to live without for the next two years (internet, western toilets, hot showers), there are definitely things here that are apparent and need to be addressed.
As a post communist state trying to implement a functional democracy problems are not far from being present. The lack of infrastructure is what is noticed right away. The government does what it can with the funds it has, but there are so many complex problems that have no right or wrong answers time will only tell how they are solved. I’ve begun to realize how futile my efforts may be in creating change on a grand scale. This comes to all Peace Corps volunteers I presume, some earlier than others, but from what I’ve heard it is a common epiphany. Having that said, my purpose in Albania is to serve the Albanian people; they have requested our service and so I shall give all I can and do everything in my power to make a difference. Perhaps when it comes to the close of my service in 2+ years I’ll look back on this entry and laugh at my naivety.
I believe I’ve rambled enough for one night. Time to catch up on some sleep.
Quite unexpected…
When I was first informed of the Peace Corps and what and where they went I had a vision in my mind. That vision usually included a volunteer whom lived quite frugally among modest folk in a small village somewhere in Africa. The volunteer would spend his days learning the language of the locals, informing them of a culture foreign to them, while learning about one to him. They would find themselves living in a hut made of earth eating things he never knew existed and could only dream of a shower. The volunteer would then spend the next two years of their life in a completely different world and would eventually invoke a curiosity in the locals that would lead him to teaching/helping them in some grand way.
While that scenario may hold true for some PCV, that world I thought of does not exist in Albania. While there are many things here that just don’t make sense, I have spent the last two weeks in luxury compared to my PCV friend in Africa. I spent this afternoon in Elbasan for our second hub day. During breaks we were encouraged to go for coffee. I spent the evening after our sessions updating my blog and checking my mail at an internet café. I came home and spent the even watching a movie on my laptop then joined my host family for dinner, only to watch an American movie (in English, with Shqip subtitles) on television. Last night I finished an assignment in the comfort of my neighbor’s house while listening to jazz fusion from his laptop while discussing how we could communicate that he had fresh coffee beans from Guatemala.
The day before yesterday the 5 other volunteers, our Albanian teacher and I decided to try out a new restaurant during our break for lunch. I’ve never had better barbequed meat ever. We had 2 huge plates of lamb chops, three plates of fried potatoes and three plays of the freshest salad. We each paid roughly $5 American dollars.
It just doesn’t make sense to me…this is not the Peace Corps that I had imagined when I sent in that application; quite a world of differences in fact.
I’ve also learned that on Saturdays the main strip of my town basically shuts down to host a huge market that sells really any produce you can think of. No farmers here use preservatives, everything is fresh and organic and I cannot begin to describe how delicious all the food is.
While there are certainly things that I was not expecting that I will not have to live without for the next two years (internet, western toilets, hot showers), there are definitely things here that are apparent and need to be addressed.
As a post communist state trying to implement a functional democracy problems are not far from being present. The lack of infrastructure is what is noticed right away. The government does what it can with the funds it has, but there are so many complex problems that have no right or wrong answers time will only tell how they are solved. I’ve begun to realize how futile my efforts may be in creating change on a grand scale. This comes to all Peace Corps volunteers I presume, some earlier than others, but from what I’ve heard it is a common epiphany. Having that said, my purpose in Albania is to serve the Albanian people; they have requested our service and so I shall give all I can and do everything in my power to make a difference. Perhaps when it comes to the close of my service in 2+ years I’ll look back on this entry and laugh at my naivety.
I believe I’ve rambled enough for one night. Time to catch up on some sleep.
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)
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)
A day at a time…
Tuesday, March 20th, 2007
A day at a time…
My second day as an official Peace Corps volunteer draws near an end and I am at a loss of words to describe my current state of mind. I am both physically and mentally exhausted from the lack of sleep and the overwhelming bombardment of emotion. The last two day’s have been my staging event in Washington D.C. During this time the Peace Corps does its best to introduce us to their policies, but most importantly, each other. I can already see the beginning of friendships in other, and feel connections with others myself. While we all have very different stories up to this point it has become quite clear that many of us will insert the same pages into our book of life. This bond is ultimately the foundation upon which we build our relationships. The thought that these people I’ve known for a couple days will become my closest friends is still surreal. Perhaps the connection stems from our deep resounding desire to do something good, to learn something new, and to fulfill an intense curiosity of the world and the people living on it and these qualities all brought us to the Peace Corps.
I’ve learned a lot about my colleagues over these last few days and it’s been very invigorating to be exposed to so much creativity, and so many bright minds, and people who share the same passion about this as I do.
Yesterday we were so lucky to have the Ambassador to Albania grace us with his presence. He spoke for several minutes and throughout expressed so much excitement, so much enthusiasm, and so much energy. This one man possessed so much optimism; at that time it seemed difficult to believe that Albania needs us at all. Above all these qualities the love in his voice towards his country and towards the volunteers committing to serve his country for the next two years spoke the loudest to me. This man seemed to hold us in such high esteem it was difficult to not be flattered.
Before I came to D.C. and even throughout most of staging leaving never really became real. Living in a country that speaks another language never sank in until just a few hours ago. It’s interesting to digest. I have nothing in my life that I can relate what I will experience over the next two years to, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. It makes me feel so alive.
It is pushing two o’clock in the morning and we have a long day of traveling tomorrow so I suppose I should try to get some sleep. Hopefully getting all this out will help shut off my mind and allow me to actually fall asleep tonight.
Until we meet again.
A day at a time…
My second day as an official Peace Corps volunteer draws near an end and I am at a loss of words to describe my current state of mind. I am both physically and mentally exhausted from the lack of sleep and the overwhelming bombardment of emotion. The last two day’s have been my staging event in Washington D.C. During this time the Peace Corps does its best to introduce us to their policies, but most importantly, each other. I can already see the beginning of friendships in other, and feel connections with others myself. While we all have very different stories up to this point it has become quite clear that many of us will insert the same pages into our book of life. This bond is ultimately the foundation upon which we build our relationships. The thought that these people I’ve known for a couple days will become my closest friends is still surreal. Perhaps the connection stems from our deep resounding desire to do something good, to learn something new, and to fulfill an intense curiosity of the world and the people living on it and these qualities all brought us to the Peace Corps.
I’ve learned a lot about my colleagues over these last few days and it’s been very invigorating to be exposed to so much creativity, and so many bright minds, and people who share the same passion about this as I do.
Yesterday we were so lucky to have the Ambassador to Albania grace us with his presence. He spoke for several minutes and throughout expressed so much excitement, so much enthusiasm, and so much energy. This one man possessed so much optimism; at that time it seemed difficult to believe that Albania needs us at all. Above all these qualities the love in his voice towards his country and towards the volunteers committing to serve his country for the next two years spoke the loudest to me. This man seemed to hold us in such high esteem it was difficult to not be flattered.
Before I came to D.C. and even throughout most of staging leaving never really became real. Living in a country that speaks another language never sank in until just a few hours ago. It’s interesting to digest. I have nothing in my life that I can relate what I will experience over the next two years to, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. It makes me feel so alive.
It is pushing two o’clock in the morning and we have a long day of traveling tomorrow so I suppose I should try to get some sleep. Hopefully getting all this out will help shut off my mind and allow me to actually fall asleep tonight.
Until we meet again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
