Monday, June 30, 2008

The Gorge..."Where Every Step Is An Adventure!"


So this weekend I boarded a bus and headed out for a little weekend get-away.  First stop was my host family in Belsh.  I left Berat about 12pm and arrived in Elbasan, the city where we did our training, at about 2:30.  I met for coffee with two of my teachers and left for Belsh about 6.  Upon arrival in the ol' stompin' grounds, I was greeted by many familiar faces, surprised that I had come back so soon.  I went straight to the family store, where Babi and Artemisa were waiting for me.  Babi was so glad that I had returned.  He had been so worried about me since I left.  Mami met us there, too.  I made the mistake of telling her that I didn't eat lunch that day because I was traveling.  Her worst fear, that I was not eating, was realized!  I had to do a little damage control after that, and show pictures I had of me cooking with stephanie from the weekend before to avoid the inevitable over feeding at dinner.  
The next morning I left Belsh at 6, picked up Stephanie on the side of the road in Shalles, and we headed into Elbasan to catch a furgon to Korce.  From there we would be able to get a furgon to Erseke and meet the group for the gorge hike at 11 am.  Well, even the best laid plans can fail sometimes.  Our furgon from Elbasan to Korce, that should have left at 7 am, didn't actually leave until 8:30, so we got off our schedule by an hour and a half.  The drive was beautiful though.  We pass through a city called Pogradec, with a huge lake in the mountains.  It looks like Lake Tahoe.  Beautiful!!!  We finally arrived in Erseke about 1 pm and met up with the rest of the group.  

Erseke was really beautiful!  We headed down the path into the gorge and got a gorgeous view of the rolling hills and green landscape.  The temperature in Erseke was very different from here in Berat.  They are in the south east part of the country and the altitude is higher, as they are in the mountain region.  It was probably still in the 70's there compared to the 90's here!  
The hike was amazing!!!  You walk into the gorge, which still has water, at the top of the hill, and we hiked all the way down, deep into the gorge. It was quite the adventure.  Most of the water is only ankle to knee deep, but you can not see the bottom at all through most of the hike.  There are parts where  we would come to a waterfall and you just have to jump down, not really knowing what the water is like below.  We all survived the hike, which takes about 3 hours total, with out incident, although I am still really sore, even today.  After the hike, we all made dinner and ate together, and then played a lively round of Catch Phrase.  We went to bed around 12 am, cause we had another long day of traveling to look forward to on Sunday.  Altogether the trip is only about 90 miles from Berat to Erseke, but it takes about 5-6 hours to complete! Welcome to traveling albanian style!  
All in all it was a great first trip to see the countryside of Albania.  I am looking forward to this weekend when we will celebrate the 4th of July at the Embassay with the Ambassador and 100's of his closest friends.
 

Friday, June 27, 2008

Week Two Report

So, I have been in site for two weeks now.  Time is going by a little more slowly here than it did in training.  It is weird to go from overly-programed training schedule to days that you really have to self initiate if you want to get anything done.  My days at the bashkia (municipal building) are passing slow.  Right now I am spending the mornings here, and then going home around noon.  It just gets too hot to stay here after that.  The "Big Heat" has come to Albanian and we can definitely feel it.  It is not much cooler (only a few degrees) here than it is in Dallas.  One big difference...no AC!!!!  You just pretty much sweat all the time.  

My sitemates here are pretty great.  Marisa is a PCV that has been at site for one year already.  Getting to know her is fun and she is really willing to help me integrate into our little community.  She also has some really good ides for projects and is excited to have someone to work on them with.  Right now, we have a youth group that we are running and are meeting students several times during the week to practice english and study for the SAT's. There is enough to keep busy for now.

This weekend I am going to another site in Albania.  Erseka is in the south-eastern part of Albania.  On the way I will stop in at my host family for a visit.  It will be nice to see them again and get a homemade meal!  When we arrive in Erseka on Saturday, we are going on a gorge hike with several other volunteers.  Should be really great scenery, and I am excited to see some of my friends that will be coming in for the trip that I haven't seen since our swearing in!

FYI..I have posted several new albums on Flickr Photos.  Follow the link that I have set up on this page, and take a look.  There are many more to come...they are just slow to load.


Tuesday, June 24, 2008

It's gettin' hot in here!


Summer has definitely come to Berat!  It is getting into the mid-high 90's everyday, and with no air conditioning, that is hot.  Thankfully my best albania roommate Jamesi (who is in route back to America today), left behind a great way to keep cool.  On the top of my roof is the best place to be in the albania heat...my swimming pool!  Stephanie and I blew it up and broke it in for the first time in summer '08!  It's great!  There will be many a pool party had here in the summer months to come!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Smile...Family Photo Shoot



Took a few pictures with the family before I left for Berat.  I love my family!  They are amazing!!!

My new Home

Really glad to be at my new home in Berat.  I moved from my family in Belsh on Saturday morning and my cousin drove me to Berat, which is about a two hour drive.  It was really hard to say goodbye to my family that took such good care of me during my first few months in country.  However, I know that I will be back to see them soon, maybe sometime this summer.

Along the way we stopped and ate at a fish restaurant.  It was the first time that I have had fish during my time here in Albania.  I was not nervous about it because I was with my cousins and I knew that they would know the good fish from the bad fish.  You have to be careful here about which lakes you eat fish from because so many are not very clean.  To my surprise the fish came out as the WHOLE fish...head to tail.  I felt like I was on Survivor Island!  I ate it, and it was actually really great.  Very light and not too oily.  The hardest part was eating around the bones!  Those suckers are little.  One thing that I have learned, is that Albania is no place for picky eaters!

I arrived in Berat on Saturday afternoon.  James, the volunteer that has worked in the bashkia the past two years is still in town, although he leave Albania for good on Sunday.  He is helping me get settled in and I am asking him tons of questions.  He has been a great resource.

I think that I am going to like it here in Berat.  Not a lot of work right now, but I am getting to know the people and the town and I know that with time the project ideas will develop.  My house is great.  I am going to out up pictures soon.  It is really big, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen.  It has a washer, but no dryer.  Those are pretty rare in Albania.  James has kept it in good order, so it's been a good transition.  Just waiting to get unpacked until after James heads home.

At the "office" for the first day.  Things are slow, but I am meeting people.  Most of the Bashkia speaks Shqip, so I know that mine will be improving.  I will also get a tutor in Berat to help me get better at the language.  "Avash, Avash"...Little by Little!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Gjithmone Gati! (Always Ready!)





 So...It's official!  I am now a Peace Corps Volunteer.  Our swearing in ceremony was great.  The Mayor of the town we trained in was there, all our training staff and teachers and the Ambassador of the US in Albania was there, too.  He did our actual swearing in.  Greg and Courtney did a great job delivering a speech that they wrote all in Shqip. At the end of the speech they asked, "Ju Jeni Gati?", to which all the volunteers replied "Gjithmone Gati!"  At the end we all stood up raised or right hands and took and oath that we would defend the US constitution and serve as god PCV's!  My parents came as did many of the other volunteer's families.  The auditorium was pack! We had a little reception for the people who traveled in to town to see us and then it was all over.  I am still going to go back to my host family tonight for one more night, and then I depart in the morning.  However, lot's of the volunteers will be departing from Elbasan early saturday and this is the last time (for a while) that I will see them.  It's sad to say goodbye, but I know that I will be making visits to their sites soon!  Once I get to site I will post pictures of the whole ceremony.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Ice Cream Goodbye!


                                    Our Belsh Group and Families
For our last days together with our families we celebrated and thanked them with an ice cream party at our favorite ice cream hangout in Belsh.  We all had such great families and we were sad to have to leave.  They were all so great at welcoming us into there homes and helping us get adjusted to the language and culture.  They will all be missed as we leave for our new homes!



Thursday, June 5, 2008

10 Days to Go!!!

Only 10 more days until we move to our permanent sites!!! I am really excited to be going, but so sad to be living my best friends, who are moving to different cities!  It's going to be weird not seeing them during the week.  It will be fun to see how things begin to develop in Berat.  Exciting times!!!