End of Week 6 already!

I’m through week 6 and things are speeding up. I actually have work in terms of writing up small assignments and preparing a PowerPoint based on our community project! Of course, language is always there. I like being busy again!

On Tuesday, we had our community project in the 9-year school. The activity was to have the children draw why they liked our town and what made it unique. Some of it may have gotten lost in translation, but everyone seemed to like it! My class had 41 kids which was kind of overwhelming. However, the day itself was a chaotic success. Xhuli (my host sister) and her cousin came from school to help me out, and Eri (my host brother) and Laura’s host sister came too. There were great to have along, and they really enjoyed the day, too! I kind of felt like I was back at working at summer camp, trying to make every activity perfect but learning to accept that REALLY good but not quite what I was hoping is great progress. This will be a good lesson as I move forward.

The activity also made me REALLY want to learn more of the language. Even though you can get by without it, you don’t want to! So many things get lost in translation, and you can reach out much farther if you have the language. My studying of vocabulary has been slipping a bit as I’ve moved onto grammar, but I’m determined to get back in the swing of studying both!

In other news, food has been getting better at my house. I’ve started to say when I don’t want something, and I eat noodles instead. When something is made just for me (for example, noodles), I get to put on the oil, butter, and salt, and I choose to put none of any of it on. While I like all these things (butter, etc.), my stomach can only handle a small quantity. However, to get that point across, I choose just to put none on. Also, more vegetables are being bought (as they are getting more in season), and that is nice, too!

I’m starting to get more excited about Fier, also. Though I am still a bit intimidated (as my predecessor has been great), I’m starting to see it as a blessing instead of a curse. Many volunteers go into a town, and the town doesn’t especially know what to do with the volunteer. In my case though, my predecessor has been great and used often, so I’m hoping that people know what a PCV can do and want me to do it! When I tell Albanians, I am going to Fier, I get a lot of responses of “Oh, that’s nice.” When other volunteers tell of their sites, they get an, “Oh! It is so beautiful there” or “They are so cultured there.” However, there have been no negative comments, and that makes it better. My whole attitude with Peace Corps was to send me where I would be most useful, and if that place is Fier, I’m all for it!!!

Last Sunday, the 4 from my town (yes, we are down from 5 to 4 as one site-mate needed to move to a different satellite training site) traveled to Librazhd. Xhefi (Jeff) was going to play basketball, and the rest of us were going on a hike. Well, this hike was going to be 5 hours and rather intense. One of the other hikers was concerned about her asthma, so I returned with her and got to play basketball instead. Geez, I forgot how much I hate running, especially as I am so out of shape! However, we had a really great time. My team won one of the 4-on-4 games and lost the other. I was wearing someone else’s shoes (I had brought hiking books), so I stopped after those two games. One of the volunteers in Librazhd has a mother who is the high school director, and she gave him the key to use the indoor gym. The floor was rather dusty, and there were all these desks at the one end of the court, but it was really sufficient. I held my own, but I had as many bad moves as good. When signing up for the Peace Corps, I never really considered the socialization side of it. For example, after basketball, after people returned from the hike, and after other people from Librazhd came out, there were 15 of us sitting at an outdoor café. One of the things people say after college is that it is hard to meet people, and you have fewer opportunities to spend time together and in big groups (life is not like “Friends” from TV). Well, join the Peace Corps and make some friends!

Also! Last Saturday, a woman Mom knows from her small town was in Albania visiting her son and daughter-in-law who work here. I met them in Elbasan for lunch, and it was really nice! First, it was great to see someone Mom would see soon. It was also really nice to see people outside of Peace Corps and feel a little more like I “live” here and am not just visiting. Finally, since the son lives here, it is comforting to have another connection here.

And finally, Xhuli (my host sister) has had some of the TEFL volunteers practice teaching in her school. Brad was teaching a lesson on vacations, and he asked Xhuli where she wanted to go on vacation. She said Crystal Lake. However, Brad (like many) had no clue where Crystal Lake is. It took Xhuli a few minutes to remember Crystal Lake was near Chicago. I feel really privileged that she chose to come near me! She is also really cute when she is embarrassed, and it was sweet when she told me the story herself.