Vath

I recently met a cobbler named Lilli. The pictures below are from his small shop. The walls are metal but painted orange and lined with soccer clippings and a few old campaign posters. After stitching a couple tears in my friend's shoes, he showed us what he described as his passion--a turkey that he was raising in the empty children's center across the street. He had the key to the building door, but the front gate had a padlock that he yanked open and locked again afterwards. The turkey sat on eggs that were numbered in pencil. The highest number that I saw was 22. He told us to come back when the eggs hatch in mid-April. 

Before seeing the turkey, the man on the bottom walked in the shop and slowly sat down. I think that something was wrong was his voice, because he spoke so faintly. When he saw my camera, he motioned to another man in the shop to come closer. I imagine that he had to strain his voice for it to reach that far. 

Anyhow, the other man didn't seem to want to move but understood and asked me, "Photography?" After a bit of confusion, I discovered that the old man wanted a picture and I asked him in Shqip,"Do you want a portrait?"

He nodded with an embarrassed smile. I took a few shots and showed him the pictures on my camera's small screen. He looked pleased with the photographs.

Once I came back from the turkey, he was gone. I'm not sure whether he grew tired of waiting for the cobbler or had just come to chat and left. Because of his voice, I imagine that talking would have been difficult but it's quite possible that he just came to listen. Before leaving, I showed the other man the pictures and found out that the old man's name is Vath. 

Shkoombini Excursion

Today, my compatriots and I wandered around the "Shkoobini River," which runs next to Peqin. The pictures below are from the trip.

As I said in my last post, it has been been raining recently in Peqin. The rain ended yesterday and the sky was clear today. 

This morning, I interviewed a butcher as part of an assignment. He went by the name of Llushi. He had a tree trunk cutting board, which he said was 100 years old. The diameter of the trunk was a little over a yard, and it was a good three feet tall. The rings were lined with white congealed fat. While we talked, he shared his goat cheese and taught me some profession-specific vocabulary: ribs, knife sharpener, cutting board, etc., etc.. 

During the afternoon, four volunteers and I met and walked to the river. The mosque is the city's town center. It's where all the men sit at cafes, chat, and loiter. As you go away from it, the town grows considerably more quiet and you see more women walking around. 

All around Peqin, there are beautiful mountains like the ones in the photographs. What is really impressive about the area is the way that the mountains surround you. Since I lived next to the Pacific Ocean all my life, it's a new experience living with land all around me.

For dinner, I had a big bowl of yogurt with shredded cucumber and little garlic for the aroma. 

Peqin 

Forest across Peqin 

 

Local football field. "Shkumbini" is the name of the river next to Peqin

The forest featured above begins on the left. Shkumbini is the river on the right.

First Days in Peqin

I arrived at my pre-service training site, Peqin, on the 22nd.

Since then, I have been living and breathing Shqip (the Albanian language). It's hard to tell whether time is going quickly or slowly, but it feels very full.

There's so much to write about that I'll divide my thoughts about the city, my host family, life in an Albanian town, etc., etc., into a few posts. For now, I'll write down a few thoughts to "fix them in my memory," as the Albanians say.

Of course things in life never go as you plan. However, I was still more than surprised to listen to the Bee Gees, ABBA's "Dancing Queen," Diana Ross' "I'm Coming Up," and other 80's pop jams in the furgon on the way to Peqin. I hear that the drive to the host family can be a somber experience for many volunteers. In my case, those tunes numbed me to all negative emotion.

Other than that, I don't want to tackle anything too heavy. If I begin writing about anything important, I won't get back to studying Shqip tonight. Besides, it's been raining the last few days, so I haven't been taking pictures. Once it clears up, I'll take some photos to accompany my next posts. Anyhow, I'll finish by saying that I've never had so much fun learning a language nor learned so much in such a short time. My Albanian host family is very kind and are teaching me well. My host mother made me some amazing beef soup last night. Lastly, I am having a tremendously good time integrating into the community.

Elbasan

Today is my second day in Albania.

On the 18th, we left Dulles International Airport at 6:50 PM and reached Vienna, Austria around noon. We took a one hour flight to Tirana at 4:00PM. I didn't sleep a wink throughout the entire trip. On the first plane, I re-watched Never Let Me Go and Home Alone while compiling music for my new iPod. During the second flight, I sat next to a young, tattooed Frenchman who was visiting his girlfriend in Tirana. 

Surveying the land from above, I caught the glare of the sun off the wing. However, the country still presented itself as being very beautiful and varied in landscape: snow capped mountains, white sand beaches, green forest hills, orange-roofed villages, stony rivers, and patchy fields. 

My first breath of Albanian air reminded me much of Goto (the Japanese island my father is from). It smells fresh, like chopped wood. Once we exited the airport, we were met with another familiarly nostalgic Japanese scent--a cloud of cigarette smoke. 

We are staying at the Univers Hotel in Elbasan, a large city in the center or, as the mayor described it, at "the navel" of Albania. Below, is the view outside my window. The hotel has all the typical western amenities. Perhaps, it is different in that the internet is less reliable and you can't flush your toilet paper, but it's nothing to complain about. After a welcoming dinner of brussels sprout soup and fried river fish, I quickly fell asleep around eight or nine.

Out of the things that I didn't expect in Albania, what is probably most striking is the near-constant rave and techno music. It's playing outside now, started by at least nine this morning, bumped during breakfast, and was present pretty much any other time of day. Almost reminds reminds of being back in Isla Vista. Though it's not exactly my cup of tea, it may mean that my electronic music will be more appreciated than I expected.

The coffee here is potent. For my first cup, I used the dregs of two near-empty pots. It kind of reminds me of the stovetop espresso that we brewed in college: kinda thick, strong in flavor. When I get the chance, I'll talk about the coffee at length. Maybe, I'll even bring a notebook down to jot down some fresh impressions of tomorrow's cup. During my interview with the TEFL supervisor, we had a good laugh when he saw that my/our college radio program was called, "Black Coffee." 

I'm going to shower and sleep soon, so I'll wrap this up. However, I'll quickly end by saying that the staff appear very reliable and the Albanian people have been nothing but warm and welcoming. The landscape is gorgeous. The produce is fresh and diverse. Best of all, the coffee is plentiful.

The view outside my window

My first cup of Albanian coffee

Breakfast: cucumber, tomato, sausage, goat cheese, something like swiss cheese

Hotel cook

Cats

Staging in Washington DC

Due to the distance, I had to arrive a day early in Washington DC. My plane departed at 7:50 in the morning. I slept on and off for two hours as I listened to the Symphonies of the Planets and then studied Albanian for the rest of the flight. As I checked into the hotel, another guest walked in with two large bags, which were obviously not meant for casual travel. She recognized the same with my luggage and that's how I met my first fellow Albanian volunteer. She previously served as a health volunteer in Turkmenistan and has been living in Oregon since.

For dinner, we went to a nearby place, Justin's Cafe, where I had a disappointing bowl of butternut squash soup. It's my fault because I hadn't anticipated it being so sweet. Every bite had to be chased with a gulp of water. However, I'm glad I tried it and will beware in the future.

Between checking in and dinner, I snapped this quick selfie/self-portrait. (I'm sorry Nick). It seems appropriate to begin with at least one picture at time zero. 

Three Nights Till Departure

Thanks for dropping by. I'm not sure how often and in what fashion I'll be posting to this blog. However, I'll do my best to upload pictures and write about my experiences as often as possible. The title of this blog is somewhat of an homage to a joke of my grandfather's. So, I hope no one interprets any pessimism in the title. Rather, I'm nothing but optimistic about my trip though I regret having to leave my friends and family for so long.

I posted my mailing address to the side and encourage everyone to write. I just tossed a tall stack of envelopes into my suitcase and aim to send them all before I return!