Dancing in the Moonlight

After finishing the mural, winter vacation began, and I spent a week in Germany. What I remember most is the frenzy of eating and wanting to eat everything that I can't find here. Almost every dinner, we had some kind of Asian food and added novelties like avocados, smoked salmon, horseradish mustard, natto (fermented soybeans), etc., etc.. My other fondest memory was visiting the Munich Botanical Garden, where we saw butterflies and all sorts of plants from different seasons and from all over the world. I especially enjoyed sitting on the benches and listening to The Plateaux Of Mirror by Harold Budd and Brian Eno. All museums should play such music. Though it's probably another two months until I can begin growing my flowers again, the visit definitely got me excited about this year's planting.

Now, all there is to do is celebrate New Years, study for the GRE, and wait for school to start again. The weather here has been warm compared to last year. Though autumn felt colder this year, the first snow fell on Christmas last year. However, looking at the weather report, it seems as if it'll start snowing around January 2nd. So, we'll see how things go.

"Dancing in the Moonlight" by King Harvest is an old favourite that has had a persistent presence throughout my Peace Corps service. For some reason, it seems to come on every party I go to or dinner I host. 

Where I did my mural.

Mural: Day 1

Mural: Day 1

Mural: Day 2

Villager friend who is the owner and primary renovator of the water mill

The botanical garden in Munich

St. Sebastian at a Renaissance museum in Munich

Moonlight Mile

Sorry for the long delay in posts! My iPod (with which I take most of my photos) was stolen, and, without it, I didn't have the pictures that typically motivate me to share and write these updates. However, thanks to my wonderful parents, I have a new one and will be taking more pictures and hopefully making more regular posts.

Since the last update, my toilet project has almost finished, just finishing up my closing report and checking in with the school. School is going well enough. It's taken a year and a half, but my role in the class has become more clear and consistent. Though it's not brutally cold yet, I've started sleeping in my sleeping bag (also under three blankets) and lighting my wood stove on the rare occasions that I spend a long time at home. So, as I've said before, I'm ready for warm and sunny California. 

Thus, all in all, things are going well. Recently, some teachers took me to a restaurant that serves veal tongue that is floured, battered with egg, and fried. Very tasty. I don't know why I didn't do this before, but I've also started playing soccer with my students during their gym classes, which has been tremendously fun and has helped me to better get to know my students. This week, I'll be painting an environment-themed mural at a school next to mine. So, hopefully that goes well!

While studying for the GRE yesterday, I heard this ballad by the Rolling Stones called "Moonlight Mile" for the first time. Having listened to the Stones for years, finding new gems like this makes the the familiar sound strange and new again. Also, the song seems appropriate as my service winds down and things are wrapping up.

At the cheese factory below Mt. Korabi during the summer

Another shot of my first hike to Korabi. Thirty minutes from the summit, it started raining incredibly hard. As we headed down the mountain, this is where we met a group of villagers who had a roaring fire going below a pine tree. After warming up here for ten minutes, we then hiked for (at least) an hour and half in the pouring rain down to the village where we started.

What Peshkopi looks like now. No snow in the city yet, but it'll probably arrive in the next couple of weeks.

Traditional Albanian dresses for sale in Peshkopi.

Some appetizer dishes at my favourite restaurant in Peshkopi. The left dish is a type of cheese that's similar to ricotta but also has chunks of red peppers. The top is pickled vegetables, mainly cabbage, green tomatoes, and red peppers. The right dish is boiled beets with olive oil, garlic, and raw onions.

Our latest site mate night dinner: roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a cucumber salad with roasted red peppers.