Sotire Waterfalls

Ever since I found out I was going to be in Gramsh for the next two years, every Albanian has told me about the waterfalls near Gramsh.  While few have actually visited them, the Sotire Waterfalls are famous here in Albania.  So needless to say, seeing the waterfalls has been one of my goals for awhile now.  From the time I first came to visit Gramsh, I've been dropping hints to all of my students about how much I love to hike and I think waterfalls are beautiful, etc.  Now while I would love to believe that my not so subtle hints made this trip possible...this was one of those "only in Albania" moments.

It started one afternoon when walking back to my house I ran into my friend Egla.  Egla goes to university in Elbasan but she comes back to Gramsh every weekend and her little sister is in 11th grade at the school I'll be working at.  Egla mentioned that her sister and her friends were going to go on a hike the next day and wanted to know if I wanted to go along with her.  But there was a catch, they were leaving at 7 AM and I had just finished telling the director of the school that I would meet her to discuss my summer courses the next day.  So I had to tell Egla that I couldn't go along with them.  But Egla is a tricky one and even in our short time of knowing each other she has figured out exactly what to say to keep my interest and as I walked away she said she would try to enjoy the waterfalls without me.  And that was all it took.  No way was I going to let them go to the waterfalls without me.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out how I could talk to the director to let her know that we needed to move our meeting.  Luckily the great thing about living in such a small town is that you're never too far from anyone.  So as I stood at my normal dyqan checking out the banana selection of the day, I heard my director's voice calling to me from the heavens.  After I took a few minutes to realize that I was in fact not hearing things, I looked up to see my director standing on her balcony across from the dyqan.  SCORE!!  So Romeo and Juliet style, I yelled at her from the street that I was invited to go to the waterfalls the next day and we needed to move our meeting.  And just like that...I was free!

So at 7 AM I met Egla and her sister in the city center to walk to the bus.  I figured I'd be able to relax during the hour long bus ride to the waterfalls maybe even catch up on a little sleep but woah was I mistaken.  I've never been more impressed by the energy 16 year olds have.  These kids were dancing and singing the entire ride out to the waterfalls.  And when I say they were dancing I mean that at one point we even stopped the bus so we could circle dance around it for a bit.  

When we finally got to the waterfalls, we hiked for around half an hour and then BOOM, this was our view.

Needless to say it was totally worth all the craziness.  Apparently the waterfalls change slightly throughout the year depending on how much water there is but they keep going year round.  When we visited, there were 3 main areas.  The two pictured above were the coolest.  The one on the left is a long single waterfall that ends in a nice little swimming pool and the one on the right is a bigger waterfall that falls straight onto the boulders in the river below.

We spent the rest of the day swimming, grilling, dancing, talking and taking pictures.  I was exhausted by the time we decided to head back to Gramsh but luckily the bus driver knew exactly what I needed because as soon as we left he turned the music to best song ever.  (I'll give you 3 guesses.) Thats right he played MAMBO NUMBER 5!!!  Naturally I still remembered all of the words and impressed the kids with my singing ability.  And after another hour of dancing and singing on the bus, we were back in Gramsh.  It was the perfect completely unplanned and unexpected day.

PS-I'll try to add some more pictures when my internet is a little faster.

Albanian Paralympics

A few weeks ago, I along with a dozen other PCVs got the chance to volunteer at the Albanian Paralympics.  The games lasted for three days and included teams from 5 different cities.  Myself and 3 other PCVs were assigned to the team from Elbasan, the city where we had PST.  Some of our athletes even knew the families we had stayed with during PST or remembered seeing us in our villages.

(Note: While in America I would be exceptionally creeped out if someone random told me they had seen me multiple times and could even remember what I was wearing, here that is a totally normal experience and oddly comforting.)

The games consisted of 4 different events: wheelchair basketball, running, weight lifting and Topi Goal.  While we in America are familiar with the first three events, Topi Goal had all of us curious from the moment we saw it on the schedule during volunteer training and it did not disappoint.  Topi Goal (or Goal Ball) is a game meant for visible impaired people but can be played by anyone.  The court is around the same size as a volleyball court with three players on each team.  The goal of the game is to roll the ball past your competitors to score a goal.  But the twist is that everyone has a blindfold on and they can only rely on their hearing to know where the ball is.  Because of this, the ball has little bells in it so it can be heard and the game is played in total silence.

My attempt to catch Topi Goal in action.

While our team didn't manage to take gold in any of the events (we did get silver in basketball, weight lifting, women's Topi Goal and bronze in men's Topi Goal for the record) it was still an incredibly rewarding experience to get to talk to all of the athletes and to see the joy and pride they felt in having their own games.  People with disabilities have only recently been able to access special services here in Albania and in many areas of the country they still face a lack of resources, understanding and acceptance.  To be able to see such a large group of athletes participating in the games and basking in the attention they deserve was an amazing experience and one that I won't forget for a long time.

An Apology and Some FAQs

I guess I should start off with an apology.  I know that I have been horrible at updating this so far.  As of this week I have internet in my house and no more excuses so I promise I will try to be better.  And if not you are of course more than welcome to come to Albania and give me a stern talking to!  (Translation: Come visit!!!)

But now to answer some of your FAQs:

1) What exactly am I doing here?

Well I've been assigned to work at the high school here in Gramsh.  I'll be working in tandem with another English teacher, Laura.  For right now the school year here is done so there isn't really anything for me to do at the school but next year Laura and I will be in charge of teaching the first year students at the high school.

2) What about the summers?

Well this summer is different than I imagine next summer will be because I am just getting set up.  For now I'm focusing on getting to know everyone in the community, which means a lot of coffee dates.  I'm also talking to some of the students to try to continue the two youth groups the previous volunteers had here in Gramsh.

3) What is Gramsh like?

Gramsh is a smaller town in the central of Albania.  The area is made up of a series of small mountain ranges and vallies and since Gramsh is right near 2 rivers, there is clean running water 24/7. (Which is a big deal here in Albania.)  It also has an amazing view of Mt. Tomorri, which is this beautiful huge mountain that stands all by itself.

Gramsh with a view of Mt. Tomorri in the back.

View of Gramsh from across the river.

When I say that Gramsh is small I mean that it takes about 10 minutes to walk from one end to the next.  It is made up of two main streets that run through the town and little side roads connecting the homes up in the hills.  Since Gramsh is so small most people know each other and even after only being here for a little less than 2 weeks people are starting to know me.  When I first got here I could here people asking each other questions about who I was or staring at me blatantly but now those questions are few and far between and are met with a "Thats Jenny, she is American."

4) Do you get to live by yourself or are you still with a family?

In Gramsh I'm living by myself.  It was amazing living with a host family in Kuqan and I miss the constant support and attention that I had when I lived there but it is refreshing to be in my own space.  I'm sure the novelty of cleaning and cooking for myself will run out soon but for now I'm enjoying the independence.  But don't fear, the two other apartments on my floor are occupied by older couples who always invite me in for juice and cookies whenever they see me.  The women also have offered to teach me how to cook real Albanian food and to give me any tips on cleaning that I might need.
My apartment is a lot bigger than I ever could have imagined.  I have a bedroom, bathroom, living room and a kitchen.

My Bedroom

My living room including the stuffed dog that my landlord left for me.

My kitchen.

5) How is the language?

During training, the Peace Corps makes it their number one priority to get us culturally and technically adjusted to our new country, and the biggest part of that is language.  We had language class most days of the week for around 4 hours.  All of that study time along with living in a family where nobody speaks English makes learning Shqip surprisingly easy.  Don't get me wrong, I have had many a struggle with the language.  There was the time that I almost cried in class because I couldn't roll my rrs.  And then the one time that I tried asking my host mom if she needed help with anything but instead I told her that I needed help and she proceeded to call anyone she knew that spoke a little bit of English to try to figure out what was wrong with me as I stood there blissfully unaware that I had made a mistake.  But everyday I'm amazed at how much Shqip I managed to learn in only 3 months.  I took years of Spanish but would be surprised if I could carry on a 5 minute long conversation but in Shqip I can make small talk, talk about most subjects and even explain to my landlord that the faucet in my bathroom is leaking (true story).

Some of my favorite phrases/words are:
avash avash - means slowly slowly but can be used to explain just about everything in Albania
ylber - means rainbow but it sounds really cool
mirë - technically means good but it can be used to have entire conversation in Albanian

6) What is the food like?

Food in Albania is very similar to other Mediterranean countries.  Their main foods are lamb, rice, yogurt and a lot of bread.  Bread is very important and a part of every meal here.  When they say do you want to eat they say do you want bread (Do te ha buk?) which I think speaks for itself.  Some popular dishes are byrek (philo dough filled with either cheese, spinach or tomato), fasule (bean soup), pilaf (rice dish sometimes with vegetables or meat), and soup with any sort of meat that is around.
The thing that I appreciate most about Albanian food is how fresh most things are.  Most Albanians do their shopping at the market, buying fruits and vegetables from the local farmers.  This means that they only eat whats in season and that everything is organic.  So far my favorite dish here is stuffed peppers, eggplant and squash.  It is amazing and I will make it for anyone who bothers making the trip out here. (hint hint)

But I'm sorry to say that this is the end!  This has taken me 2 hours to finish and it is beautiful outside so I'm going to go enjoy the weather.  I hope this will tide you over until I get around to updating again.