Saturday, March 28, 2009

End of Week 1

C'kemi? (What's up? How are you?)

I've successfully made it through week 1 in Albania, and I already feel like I've been here for ages and ages. That's a good thing right? I guess I mean to say that I already feel right at home. The week was full of language class after language class after language class... it's really great though because Albanian is a pretty hard language to pick up on and is only possible to learn with extreme repetition. Miraculously, I somehow made it through the week with few struggles. My family is awesome because they understand me/I understand them, and I suppose it's safe to say that we're all pretty darn good at charades. My loving family DOES give me a false sense of hope though... constantly telling me how much language I know, only to be shot down by the neighbor lady who comes over daily and says... HA she only speaks a LITTLE... a LITTLE Albanian. Whatever, this coming from the lady who thinks we speak Spanish in America and the flight from the US was only 2 hours. HA.

Don't get me wrong though, there are definitely numerous misunderstandings, but I know to keep laughing at myself and shake it off. One day after class we went to a restaurant and literally sat there for 20 minutes trying to figure out how to ask for a menu or some sort of lunch service. We finally resorted to saying BUKE BUKE (food) and motioning by shoving food into our mouths. They finally got the idea and we felt pretty stupid. On the upside, my bargaining skills haven't faltered (even in Albanian which I barely speak). I had to barter with the furgon (bus) driver who tried to rip us off two times this week and I finally won both times and got all of my money back I was owed. (Two times a week the group as a whole meets up in Elbasan for various training sessions...T & F...and we go into the city by little buses called Furgons. The ride is only supposed to cost only 100 leke and they always ask for 150. I just kept yelling theamount of money he owed me and he finally buckled and handed it over.)

The family is still great but we've added a sister-in-law Leta into the mix since I last wrote. She's 25 and her husband (host dads brother) is working in Greece. I know my dad might sound like this total wierdo, but he's really not, he's very protective but in a good way. He knows everyone between the two towns I live in (he's EVERYONE's personal accountant) and is even paying for my internet use today because he knows the owner. They have fed me pretty big feasts too. I eat a hardboiled egg and fruit and crackers every morning, we usually eat lunch out in the town, and have pretty big dinners with meat, salad, tomatos, cucumbers, yogurt, bread, rice, and fruit every night. They also serve me Coke at every meal, so the whole giving up pop for the New Year isn't really in effect here for the next 3 months. Oh well.

As for the weather, it's soo cold here and kind of rainy. I haven't taken off my coat since I've been here until TODAY. The houses are NOT insulated, and my room is freezing all the time, so I stay in front of the heater in the family room until bed time. Today is really beautiful though, and I'm finally wearing jeans and a tshirt!

Next Sunday I'll be going to Lezha for 2 days to stay with a peace corps volunteer who has been here for a year already. It's kinda like a sneek preview into life once I'm officially sworn in as a volunteer in June. I'm really excited to go! We also have been making connections with important people in town... doctors, nurses, and teachers that we will have to collaborate with in the future for our projects during the 3 training months. We have a LOT of work to do, so hopefully I find time to get it done.

The wierdest part of Albania is that I feel like I'm snapped back into part of history in the US where women don't have any rights. No Albanian women go out to the bars, they always cook the meals and clean, they always stay in the house, it's just so wierd I can barely believe it.

Side note: we frequently watch TV in the house, and the family loves Spanish telenovelas, so hopefully I don't lose my Spanish while I'm here...kinda cool huh? Also, I got trapped into watching 8 hours of wedding video footage of all the women in my family yesterday. Basically someone took personal film footage and added some ghetto graphics to it all BAM, your wedding captured on tape! They also have a version of SNL here called Portokalli that's on Sunday, so Sunday Night Live if you will, and it's really very funny the parts I can understand so we watch that a lot too. They also have a version of Big Brother that is huge here and we all watch Saturday night together. Plus, they have this ridiculous ghetto version of Deal or No Deal Albania which they have reg. people opening the "cases" made outta a shoebox and tied with a string. So far, 3 people have miraculously had the 10000 Euros in the case but didn't play it out. HAHA, convenient eh? Well, yea, if you haven't guessed we watch a TON of tv here, but that tis the life.

Miss you all, email me soon! Love, Kate

Monday, March 23, 2009

Host Family!

Miredita Shok!

I moved in with the host family on Saturday afternoon... the group of 34 split ways in 6 little buses and one by one we got dropped off at our houses. Carrie Ann was the first to go, but I was the second, and I live just down a little hill from her, so the two of us are close and we THINK our families are somehow related but cannot possibly understand how yet. My house is beautiful! It's a gated 2 story house, but the 2nd level is still under construction. There is a bathroom, 3 bedrooms on the first floor (one is mine), and a family room. The down part is that the house is a total ICEBOX... I mean FREEZING... I want to die when I wake up every morning. The family room has a gas heater though, so I pretty much am there at all hours of the day. Also, because I'm the guest they point the heater right at me...yay! (downside: they sometimes put it 2 inches from my legs and it burns me, and i have to tell them with actions...like I'm playing charades)!

My family here on the upside is absolutely hilarious and I love them already. My grandmother told me upon entering I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU repeatedly... it was very welcoming and lightened the mood. They showered me with compliments saying I was very very beautiful all weekend long. Everything I own is beautiful too apparently. Let me fill you in on the most random custom: they unpack your bags for you! They go through everything you own and try on clothes, shoes, jewelry, EVERYTHING... it was hilarious...and extremely awkward!

My host father is sooo funny. I have not stopped laughing when he is around the whole weekend and my cheeks hurt really bad! He took me out to coffee bars two times yesterday where I was the only girl in the bar (very common), and drove me all over town in his BENZ, basically the only car they have here. In the house he makes jokes with me and quizzes me on every object in the room. I slowly but surely am learning the language Shqip (pronounced SHIP), and the family is really impressed with how much I can understand. Some overwhelming urge in my body makes me think I should speak Spanish though too which is sometimes problematic. I guess I just think, foreign country, don't speak English, and I fall back onto Spanish as a backup... sorta funny!

As for food since a lot of you asked...everything is delicious. I feel like I'm eating way too much here. They served me soup with meat in it both days for dinner so far, a hardboiled egg & fruit for breakfasts, and an egg & cheese for lunch yesterday. At every meal, they put a community bowl of salad, olives, or yogurt in the middle of the table and you eat straight from the bowl together! We also have chickens on the premises which they informed me would be killed (motioned by finger slitting the neck) Wednesday, so we'll see. We also have a turkey, who knows when that goes?!

The people in my village are all very nice- I cannot wait to get to know them. Our project for Peace Corps is making contacts and mapping our community- we're going to do it all right now. We just had language class and ate a delicious pita full of meat, lettuce, tomato, onions, mayo & salsa, and FRENCH FRIES...ON THE SANDWICH...and it was delicious too!

Can't wait for more emails from you guys... they were soo nice and great to hear from you!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Bon Voyage

As most of you know, I applied to the Peace Corps about a year ago. And after what seems like an eternity, they finally offered me a position…in ALBANIA, and I leave tomorrow!  If you're shocked about the location, I am too. I did preference a Spanish speaking country, but the position offered was in Albania, and I have to admit I am extremely excited about it!

For those of you who do not know, Albania is located in Eastern Europe on the Balkan Peninsula bordering Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro... as well as the Adriatic/Ionian Seas.

As for the more detailed information, I really will not know much more until I get there. I know that I am going with a group of 37 volunteers and we will all serve our first three months together around the city of Elbasan. These three months will consist of various types of training including language classes (they speak Albanian, and no, I do not know any). After the training period, we will be matched with a specific job, move to our sites, and serve the remaining two years as a volunteer. I will be volunteering within the Health/Medicine/Education realm, but I won't know more specifics until later. 

Above all else, get ready- you are about to indulge yourself in yet another one of my travel blogs. I have set this up for those who care to know what I am doing and keep in touch over the next 27 months. If you've read my other blogs you know they can be long, so read at your own risk or just check in to see occasional photos. And as always, comments and emails are more than welcome from all of you!