Pictures from October (And some updates)

Since I was MIA during October, lets play a little catch up...

Village Market

In a previous post I explained the ins and outs of the Gramsh market but what I failed to mention is that a 45 min walk outside of town, there is also a village market.  This market is very very very different from the Gramsh one.  Here you can buy animals (chickens, sheep, goats, cows, donkeys, you name it they got it) farming tools and food basics like ginormous bags of flour and corn.  Needless to say, they were shocked to see a foreigner walking around but it was definitely worth the experience.

Get your hunting gear here.

Need some pots and pans?

Yes those are chickens hanging on the side of the trailer and of course the trailer
itself was later filled with sheep. 

Albania vs. Iceland Soccer Game

At the beginning of October, I and around 20 other volunteers went to Tirana to see the Albanian national soccer team play Iceland in a World Cup qualifying match.  Watching sports and going to games is one of the things I miss the most here and it was amazing to have the opportunity to do that again.  But what we didn't count on was the fact that a huge storm would roll into Tirana right as the game started.  A little rain wasn't going to stop us but when the lightning started we decided that standing around in a stadium with umbrellas in a lightning storm probably wasn't the best life choice.  We relocated to a bar to watch the rest of the game but by then we were absolutely soaking.  Despite the fact that Albania lost, it was still one of the highlights of my time here.

Just a little wet...

 Language Refresher

During our time here, there are a few ISTs (In-Service Trainings) that are mandatory.  The first one is Language Refresher.  So after a little under 6 months at site, all of the volunteers from my group were reunited in Elbasan to learn some Shqip.  It was great seeing everyone again and it truly felt like returning home.  Elbasan was were we were during out training and we even stayed at the same hotel we were in for our first 2 nights in Albania.  It is shocking how much we've all changed since then!

While the conference was fun it was also absolutely exhausting.  We were divided into groups based off of the amount of Shqip that would be spoken during our classes.  I somehow got placed in the 90% group (apparently the language staff has more faith in my language abilities than I do).  Classes started at 9 AM and went on until around 4 PM.  The language staff really tried hard to make our classes as fun as possible and we got to learn a new Albanian song and a poem as well as do some circle dancing.    The video above is of the Albanian song "Nen nje portokalli" that we learned.

Too much Shqip can drive a girl cray-cray!

But there is always enough time to Ha buke (Eat bread)!

 Halloween

Every Monday I teach English to a group of 9-vjecare students.  They are amazing and working with them is definitely the highlight of my week.  A few of them are the girls who I worked with this summer as well.  But in honor of Halloween, we learned about some of the American traditions like Trick-or-Treating and Haunted Houses.  PS- If you want to feel like you're crazy try explaining to people that Americans will pay to go into a house that has been made scary just for the fun of it.  Thanks to my amazing parents, we even had some Halloween themed art supplies!

Watching 'Thriller'

The group with their finished products.  Thanks again Mom and Dad!!

(Photo credits to Joyce and Michael)

Albanian Tarator

Every Sunday, I devote my day to life's simple pleasures.  That means reading, baking and streaming football.  This week, I celebrated by making a big batch of Albanian Tarator.  My obsession with Tarator started during PST when I was invited for dinner at one of the other volunteer's host family's house.  They had two huge plates of Tarator and we easily finished both.  Tarator is a cucumber yogurt sauce, and is basically the Albanian answer to Greek Tzatziki.  During the summer, it is oftentimes watered down and served as a cold soup.  But most of the time it is eaten either slathered on bread or my favorite way,  by the spoonful.

Albanian Tarator

2 cucumbers
3 cloves of garlic
2 cups greek yogurt
juice from 1/2 lemon
drizzle of olive oil

1.  Peel and scoop out the seeds of both cucumbers.

2. Grate or finely chop the cucumber.

3.  Peel the garlic cloves and finely mince the garlic cloves, mixing them together with the grated cucumbers.

4.  Mix in the yogurt and lemon juice, making sure that everything is evenly distributed.

5. Drizzle olive oil on top.

And wallah!  It is that simple.

The finished product

Happy Sunday everyone!

Getting Back on Track

Hello Everyone.

I know that its been awhile since you've heard from me.  I apologize.  To be honest it has been a rough couple of weeks over here.  When I first started this blog I decided that while I wanted to give a complete picture of my experiences here, I wouldn't blog while emotional.  When you join the Peace Corps, they warn you about the emotional rollar coaster.  They have a nice clean looking graph that shows the ups and downs you'll experience over the next 2 years.  What that graph doesn't quite get across is just how big those downs can be.

So I'll be honest with you all, I haven't quite found my groove here yet.  I came to Gramsh with a lot of ideas and a lot of energy.  While my official title is a TEFL Volunteer, I didn't want to strictly teach English.  What I did want to do is work with the youth of the community to challenge ideas, to teach them their self worth and to help them harness their energy to make a difference in their community.  I wanted to work with women in the community to address gender inequality, advance women's health measures and create a supportive community for young women and mothers.  And I didn't count on it all being so difficult.

After over 50 years under a strict Communist regime, most Albanians don't trust change and new ideas.  This can be difficult to accept as an American.  We are taught from a young age to try new things and to always think outside the box.  We are taught that if we see a problem, we should go out and fix it.  But we are also given an advantage that Albanian's don't have.  We are allowed to fail.  Think about all the times growing up you heard the phrase, "At least he/she/they tried." or how many times your parents told you that you should "Try everything once."  Those sentiments don't translate to Albania.  Here, a person's reputation is the most important thing.  Failing at something would make them the topic of gossip and chatter and in a small town like Gramsh, that can change a person's reputation overnight.  For obvious reasons, this makes people hesitant to challenge the status quo.

The problem is, I have always been a go-getter.  I have always given 100% to whatever I wanted to accomplish.  But this is the first time that it really isn't up to me.  I'm not here to force change onto people.  I'm here to serve the needs of my community.  This has been the hardest thing for me to accept.  Sure I could start a youth council or run a training on equality in the workplace, but if the people aren't involved in the planning and execution of it, it won't last or be successful.

I haven't given up hope that I will achieve my goals here.  But I have decided that I need to change my approach.  I spent the last few days with the rest of the volunteers from my group at our Language Refresher training and talking to them reminded me that while I am here to serve my community, I need to take care of myself as well.  So from now on I'm accepting that thing here happen much slower and that even the small victories should be celebrated.  And avash, avash things will get better.