IRB

View from the top of the Castle

Can you find the Donkey??

Time keeps flying by, we had to stop and think about how long it has been since our last post and were surprised to realize that it was already three weeks ago. We still do not have internet in our apt, but we are hoping to fix that soon, we found a wireless provider that we think will work in our apartment or at least from our balcony. So that should cover us for the summer. That last couple of weeks have been interesting, we are still trying to figure out why the Peace Corps starts us in the summer when everyone is going on vacation and the schools are closed. It seems to make sense that we would start in late summer when everyone is going back to work and the schools are opening but such is the logic of the government! So our main focus for the summer is really to learn more Shqip and to do IRB (Intentional Relationship Building), which is a fancy term for making friends and having lots of coffees with people. We are constantly amazed at how friendly people are here, they will walk up to you and shake your hand ask you how you are, all without having any idea of who you are. Lauren even got a double toothless kiss from an older man just because she was walking down the street. We often get invited to have “coffee” (which can mean, beer, soda, raki etc) with people we do not know or have met only once. Here when you do the inviting you do the buying so it is strangers that are buying us drinks usually because they want to tell us how much they love America or because the want to practice their English. Just this week a taxi driver that had brought us and our very large bags to our apartment on our fist visit, saw us walking down the street and called us over. He then took us to his house, had his wife bring fresh fruit and drinks just so we could meet his 14 year old daughter who takes English in school. She wasn’t even home, so he told us that he, his wife, and daughter would meet us later that night on the boardwalk. He took us all out for ice cream and wanted to take us to dinner all so his daughter could practice her English.
When we went to talk to the guy about internet in our home, he gave us beers and asked us to sit and chat just so he could practice his English. When we compare things here to what we would find in America, it is kinda sad. I am not sure any of us would see a random Albanian walking around our city and invite them over to our house or offer to by them a drink, simply out of friendship. Yet here it is just what they do. Another thing that is very big here at least in the summer months is the nightly Xhiro (gyro), where almost everyone in the town gets dressed up and walks the board walk. Everyone says hello to everyone else or they might have a coffee, the older men play dominos or backgammon but you can see almost anyone in the community there. It is a great place to do some IRB. Lauren and I do the Xhiro almost every night, but we just can’t get into the dressing up. Some of the younger girls look like they are going out to a club, while the older men wear suits. So this makes the Xhiro a great place to see the old and new Albania as well.

It was on the xhiro that we met a group of Americans who are here searching for ancient ship wrecks. They are all SCUBA divers and work or volunteer for a foundation that goes all over the world looking for new dive sites. They have been here for a couple of months, so they will be packing up and leaving this week. But we have had a lot of fun with them. One night they took us up to the castle which over looks the bay of Sarande. The same castle that we can see from our shower, however, the view from the castle is much better than that from our shower. You can see all of Sarande, Lake Burtrint, and the island of Corfu. We were there for a beautiful sunset and then sat down for a great meal of roasted lamb and very good red wine. It times likes these when is hard to believe that we are in the Peace Corps. But we do get daily reminders:

We can only drink the water from 5:00 to 8:00pm otherwise it has to be filtered.
Despite living in a city, you can be startled when you turn on your street corner and find a large cow eating out of a dumpster.
We eat a lot of rice and pasta and little meat.
We had to tape trash bags up on our sliding glass doors b/c the bright sun was waking us up at 5:00 am every morning.
The beaches are full of broken glass and trash, and we get a lot of strange looks if we try to clean it up.

Many of you may be wondering what we do everyday, and that is a difficult question to answer. Not that our days are so varied but more so because we often feel embarrassed by the fact that we do not have more to do. I got to my office every day but since schools are out, and summer is upon us, and I don’t speak Albanian, there is not a whole lot I can do right now. For Lauren’s part, the university is closed until October so she does not even have an office to go to. Thankfully we have found two summer camps that will be starting in July one at an orphanage and one at the kindergarten run by Italian nuns. Lauren and I will be teaching English at both camps as well and helping out in any other capacity, like playing soccer and I might even teach some karate. So we are looking forward to July. Lauren will also be offering English tutoring sessions as a kind of summer school for the University Students so they can get a head start on next year’s classes. She also has been asked by the police, military and the hospital to do lessons with them. So eventually we think things will pick up.

We also wanted to send a BIG thank you out to those who sent care packages, we have been very gluttonous this week! Please if you are planning on sending us something let us know when you send it, so we know to go check for it. They don’t let us know when we get things, you kinda have to just randomly check in with them. Also, please don’t feel you have to send us tons of stuff, we know it costs a lot of money to send things here. We appreciate the thought but do not wish that you break the bank on us…unless you are sending steaks!

On a last note, today were parliamentary elections, so far they have gone off with only minor problems. Fair and free elections are key to Albania getting into the EU. So we should have a new government this week, either the Democrats or the Socialists. Ironically the Democrats are closer to our Republican party and the Socialist are closer to our Democratic party. Well I will sign off as the Call to prayer echoes across the bay. We miss you all.