One week down...

Rumor (and my calendar) has it that I have now been living in Bishqem for slightly over one week now. I'm always skeptical of rumors, only sometimes skeptical of my calendars (two r's in February? Likely story.), but am completely sure that both of them are lying to me this time around. I am quite sure that I have actually been living here for about three months now.

Oddly enough, I can remember the day that I arrived in Bishqem like it was only a few days ago. (Really, this joke is stopping now) After a few final sessions with the entire group at the hotel that morning, we divided up into groups by the towns that we would be living in during training, loaded all of our things into an awaiting Furgon (that's minibus to you, American) and were whisked off to our new homes.

When we were told that we would be living in an Albanian village during training, I had envisioned the van driving into town on an old dirt road into a small cluster of ancient brick homes with small windows and short doors that are connected by meandering dirt paths that you must share with random market stalls and the occasional stray chicken.

So you can imagine my surprise when the van stopped in front of a home that was located directly on the main highway we had been driving down and the Peace Corps staff member that was riding with us turned to me and told me that this would be my home for the next ten weeks. Instead of dodging chickens, I had to mind the passing semi trucks as I unloaded my luggage from the van. Wasn't expecting that one.

The near-constant drone of traffic aside, my home is very nice. It has two stories, but all of the living space is located on the second floor. The first floor is currently standing unfinished, but will eventually house the restaurant my host family plans to open. You enter the living quarters through a door into the living room. It is a large room with two couches and a bed, as well as a small tv. Connected to this room is a large kitchen and the one bathroom in the house. Both are western and have all the gadgets you would expect to see in a typical american home (minus the microwave. and a shower curtain). There are also two bedrooms in the house. I live in the bedroom that overlooks the front of the house. It is a large room with a twin bed, a futon, a wardrobe, and a small central table.

You notice three things rather quickly when you enter most Albanian homes. First, they don't have insulation in the outer walls or any central heating. Nights get a little chilly. Secondly, there are none of the knicknacks or books or non-practical items that are crammed into every corner of most American homes. Finally, they are spotless. The next piece of dirt that I see in the house will be the first.

I share this home with a family of four. The father manages a general store that is a short walk down the road. His wife is a housewife extraordinaire. She is up at dawn. She cooks. She cleans. She does laundry. She tends to the garden (read: small farm) in the back yard. When she finishes all the chores around the house, she goes to the store to help her husband. They return around 8 pm each night. At that point, she makes dinner (from scratch, of course). And after we eat, she diligently cleans all the dishes. This happens every day. I don't know where she finds the energy. She makes me feel like a lazy, lazy man.

They have two sons. The older one is 18 and the younger is 16. The younger one is the only one in the house who speaks any english. He isn't fluent, but we can communicate basic ideas back and forth- an invaluable asset at this point in time. My conversation with the rest of the family primarily consists of yes, no, good morning, good day, thank you, good night, and lots of smiles and nods. Of course, Albanians nod for no and shake their heads for yes, so even that can cause some confusion. It is a strange thing to live with people and not even have the ability to communicate basic thoughts and ideas to them. All in good time, I suppose. For now, I know that they are all very kind, I eat well (more than I ever eat back home), and I have a warm bed each night. Hard to complain about any of that.

I'll leave things there for now, seeing as how this is already a short story. More on Bishqem itself the next time around. Oh, and don't expect many pictures for a while. The only access I have to the internet right now is through public computers in internet cafes, and those are renowned for their collection of viruses... so flash drives aren't really an option either. I am taking pictures, though, so they will come eventually.

Stick a toe in the water

This has been a busy week and I think I owe you readers a better summary than my random, sleep deprived observations. My official peace corps term began on Monday in Philadelphia. We met that day at noon and had sessions until 7pm. There was some good information presented, but the day primarily seemed to be used to introduce us to each other and the broad principles and goals of the Peace Corps. The next day, we loaded up all of our luggage (50 people x 2 50 pound bags = lots of work for the bell hops) and ourselves on two buses and made the trip from Philadelphia to New York City. We flew out of JFK just before 7:00pm on an overnight flight to Munich. The flight itself was actually much more pleasant that I expected for my first overseas flight. The seats were relatively spacious and comfortable, the company was good, and the food was descent. After dinner and two or three restless hours of sleep, we arrived in Munich. I saw very little of Germany (read: an airport), but it fulfilled all the stereotypes I imagined. Very clean and orderly. Lots of straight lines and efficient employees. Three hours later, my brief stay western europe ended and it was back onto a plane and off to Tirana.

A flyover of the Alps. I need to see those from the ground someday.

Landing in Tirana was very surreal. I knew that this place existed in theory, but in some ways I never expected it to actually take form. But there it was, in all of its mountainous, Mediterranean glory. We slowly made it through customs (oh how the other passengers on the plane must have hated us), just to find that nearly half of our baggage had been left behind in Munich due to weight restrictions. As I mentioned previously, almost everyone (including myself) was missing one bag, and a few unfortunate people were missing both. We once again formed huge lines and overwhelmed the baggage services men, and then took what we had out to buses that the Albanian Peace Corps staff had waiting to pick us up. After a group picture and a rather tasty sack lunch, we started on our way to Elbasan. For the crows, Elbasan is only thirty or so (I think) miles from Tirana. It is a very mountainous and winding thirty miles, though, so the bus had to take the long way around. Our route took us out to the coast for a fleeting glimpse of the Adriatic and then back inland along the lowland routes. Most people slept for the two hours that the journey took, but I was wide awake, snapping pictures and trying to take in my new home. Albania is a land of stark contrasts. Clean, modern looking buildings are neighbored by structures that never made it beyond a concrete frame. The land is beautiful, sometimes stunningly so. (I sadly was on the wrong side of the bus to get a good picture, but we spent several minutes in the view of a towering Alpine mountain that was surrounded by a huge thundercloud that was being blown apart as it swept past the peak. Fantastic.) On the other hand, there is lots of trash. Everywhere. Rivers banks, especially, are covered in it. Brand new Mercedes and BMWs share the road with carts pulled by mules. It will probably be a very different place in 20 years. For now, though, we'll hopefully help push it in the right direction.

And you thought I was exaggerating.

We finally arrived in Elbasan at the Hotel Universe, where we have spent the duration of training. The hotel is very pleasant and, in many ways, quite modern. Wireless internet is available in some areas. Hot water and western toilets can be found in the bathrooms. Our days are packed full, but not so much as to cause undo stress. We have plenty of coffee breaks (Albania is a coffee culture, they continually remind us) to break up our sessions on Peace Corp policies, health and safety classes, cross culture discussions, and language learning sessions. The Peace Corp Albania staff are all very kind and helpful. Breakfast and dinner are served in a buffet style, while dinner is a more formal meal in the main dining room. The food has all been quite good. A fair amount of repetition (veggie plate, sliced meats for lunch, meat filets for dinner, sides of rice and pickled cabbage, breads, flan for desert, etc.), but it is enjoyable food, so I can hardly complain. Overall, it has been a great period of transition into our Albania lives. We are in the country, but we've had a few days to acclimate inside a small American comfort zone. Oh, and yes, our missing baggage did eventually arrive.

Hotel Universe

The room I've been staying in. My bed is in the far corner.

The bathroom. Can you find what is missing? Hint: it starts with "shower" and ends with "curtain."

The lunch spread.

All of that, however, ends tomorrow. We'll have a couple more sessions in the morning, but at 2:45-- check that, 14:45-- we pack our bags, check out of the hotel, and move in to our individually assigned homes with a host family, where we will live until the end of May. My host family lives in a small village west of Elbasan called Bishqem (pronounced Beesh-chem). It is home to about 1,650 people. The family consists of a 42 year old couple who both work in business and their 16 and 18 year old sons. Their home is very close to the school where I will be attending language and culture classes four days per week for the next ten weeks. There are four other community development volunteers who will be in my same town for training. These, I am sure, will quickly become some of my best friends. Oddly enough, one of the girls in my group is from Blacksburg, so I'll have someone to sob to when I could really go for a Gillie's special. Twice a week, we will all be taking a minibus into Elbasan (which, if I'm not mistaken, is about 25km away) for sessions with our entire volunteer group.

So that's where things stand right now. I'm looking forward to reaching a place where I can unpack my bags and claim a little bit of personal space. At the same time, the prospect of meeting a family who may or may not speak any English and in whose home I will be living for almost three months is rather intimidating. I don't have any qualms about my treatment-- families are carefully selected and Albanians pride themselves on their hospitality-- but it is a big step, regardless. With a little bit of courage and the willingness to laugh at myself as I stumble my way through these first few weeks, however, I'm sure it will be great.

So look forward to the next update: Life in Bishqem with the Sinani family. It should be fun!

Goodbye Elbasan!

Contrasts

As we speak, I am sitting in a hotel lobby in Elbasan, Albania. For a long time, the Peace Corps seemed like a nice idea that only actually existed on paper. It became very real today. I would love to do a big post about staging and traveling and the first afternoon in Albania, but that would take a long time and I really want to sleep right now. So here's a list of random early thoughts. They may or may not be coherent, but I figured it would be better than total silence:

-My fellow peace corps volunteers are excellent. I will dearly miss everyone at home, but you have good substitutes for the time being.

-The luggage for 50 pc volunteers will not fit on a regional jet. That's why just about every single one of us is missing a bag (or two, in some cases) at the moment.

-I haven't seen a single traffic signal or stop sign.

-There hasn't been much land use planning in Albania. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Either way, the lack of design and space regulation has created a world of variety that the American in me is not accustomed to seeing. The planner in me is so very confused.

-Half the cars on the road are Mercedes. Almost literally.

-The mountains are stunning. I can't wait to get more than a glance at the beaches.

-The majority of houses have a full garden and a vineyard or orchard of some sort in their front yard. They usually don't have back yards.

-People build something until they run out of money, and then stop until they get the funds to carry on. The number of half-completed buildings in this country is surprising and, again, totally foreign to the American in me.

-Summer produce promises to be excellent.

More later. Right now, I'm going to take a shower and go to bed. It will be excellent.

And so it begins

Welcome! My life is full of new adventures right now, and this blog is certainly one of them. I have never kept one of these and, frankly, never had a strong desire to try. Never the less, when you do things like move to Albania for two years, a few people insist that you do so. So here it is. I make no guarantees on how often I'll update or what content I will include. Those things will probably vary along the way. All that I promise today is that I won't forget about this and will give a true effort to make it a reasonable record of my time overseas. As for today...

It is hard to describe the feelings that I am experiencing while on the cusp of what will most likely be the great adventure of my life. The fact that I'll actually be in Albania at this time next week is almost more than I can comprehend. Part of me is scared. It is not so much a fear for my personal well-being as it is a fear that I might fail to take full advantage of the opportunities that will be presenting themselves to me over the next two years.

Sitting here, in America, I can scarcely imagine the people that I will be meeting, the places I will be visiting (and living in!), and the work that I will be doing while over there. It is foolish to live with an eye on the possibility of future regrets, but it is only too easy do so right now. I have a bad tendency to look back on the people and events from my past and think, "if only I was the person then that I am now, I could have done things so much better." In some ways, I am doing that for Matthew, version 2012, today. I am not world traveler (no really. Aside from a one hour border crossing into Mexico when I was five, I've never set foot on foreign soil). I don't know how to work effectively in Albania. I don't speak the language. I don't know the customs. I am sure that there will be plenty of opportunities to look back on things at the end and think, "if only..."

But then, that's stupid. Half, or most, of the beauty of an adventure like this comes from the process of learning itself. I must laugh at myself when I try to buy a stamp and instead ask for a hen (pula... pulla... eh, nevermind), to value the experiences that teach me how I should and shouldn't go about my work, and to relish that piece of the unknown that comes along with any good adventure. I may not do everything perfectly, but if I hold true to those ideas, I'll probably emerge on the other side as something similar to the person that part of me wishes I could be today. And I guess that's the whole point of life.

So cheers! Thanks for coming along for the ride. See you in Albania.