In one of my early posts, I made a comment about how slowly time was passing in Albania. Our first week in Bishqem crawled by at a snails pace and left me wondering how I would ever make it through...
I need to interrupt things for a moment here. There are so many things about life in Albania that define the experience but are all to easy to forget to mention when talking to people back home or when making these blog posts. One of those things is the soundtrack in Albania. Shqiptars have fantastic (-ally hilarious, at times) taste in music. Just to give you a taste, I'll keep a running tab on the music that is playing in the internet cafe. Right now, we're being serenaded with "Ridin" by Chamillionaire. Back to the program...
...ten weeks of training. After that week, though, life found the accelerator pedal and put it to the floor. We are now almost finished with week SIX. It feels like we should be at week two.
New song: Rihanna, S.O.S... wait, they didn't get their fill of Ridin, so we have skipped back at that. Thug life, yo.
This past week, we finished up with our community project. During pre-service training, everyone works with the other volunteers in their respective villages to plan and execute a small project in their community. With no money and little time, (Ridin. Again. Did I say fantastic taste in music? Huh. Also, yes... I do type this slow)we had to think small. Our project ended up being a poster competition that we organized at the school in Bishqem. Our objective was to help foster a great sense of community identity in the village, which, although quite charming in its own regard, is easily overshadowed by its larger neighbors. It's a pretty idealistic goal for a 30 minute art project with 13 year old kids, but hey. What are the peace corps if not idealistic? I'm not sure if we inspired the next generation of Bishqemers to take a firm grasp on their village and drive it into a prosperous future, but they did seem to enjoy themselves. Afterwards, we went out to the school yards and played with the kids. (Ridin. For the fourth time. It seems that I was a bit too easy with my praise. Most of the time, though...) I hadn't played a game of soccer for years and my skills were not improved by my jeans and the loafers that I was sporting. Still, though, it was all kinds of fun.
Now, we have transitioned into some bad balkan pop music. It doesn't talk about some fellows trying to catch other fellows riding in a less than sanitary manner, though, so I'll take it.
In other news, how about hokie baseball?! I was concerned by the prospect of potentially missing a title game appearance by the football team (hey, a man can dream) or a tournament appearance by the basketball team, but I never thought I'd be in danger of missing a college world series appearance by the baseball team. But as of now, they have taken series from THREE top ten teams this season. Who'd a thunk.
It looks like we get to wrap up this visit to the internet cafe with some albanian folk music. Honestly, I am a fan. I will certainly be buying some during my stay here to take with me back to the states. Catchy beats, nice melodies, and a healthy appreciation for the clarinet. Healthy in the way that John Candy was healthy. What more can a guy ask for?
Chris and I were both clarinetists, so I get it.
ReplyDeleteyou are an excellent narrator. i'm glad we have 2 years to follow along. who would have thought chamillionaire would make it to albania? it's weird how the world is getting so much smaller with the internet and globalization in general.
ReplyDeletei chatted with your mom at becca's wedding shower and she was beaming as she told the teachers/moms about your experiences. so jealous they're going to visit you. my family had zero interest in taiwan :P something about slimy food.
Rachel- if you two had known the potential laying within your instruments, you would have never quit. You could have been pop stars!
ReplyDeleteMegan- I'm pretty sure that I'll have a better knowledge of American pop music after two years in Albania than I did after 24 in America. Certainly wasn't expecting that one. Also, maybe you shouldn't have mentioned the bit about the slimy foods. That's why I'm staying quite about the haze of smoke that hangs in all the restaurants and the crazy furgon drivers. Heh.