FAQs

Thank you to everyone who continues to read and send me emails, too! I realize sometimes when I post write emails, I leave a lot of the context out. So, I figured I would add some of that context back in and post some answers to some FAQs.

Who are all these different site mates?
My “satellite site” Bishqem during training had 5, then 4 of us. My full-time satellite site mates were Jeff, Laura, and Matthew, and my part-time mate (though full-time friend) was Libby. I grew really close to everyone, and it still feels a little strange without them.

In Fier, I have 2 site mates: Kristen and Chris. Kristin is in my group (13) and works at the health center. She is loads of fun, and I am happy to be near her for 2 years. Chris is from the previous group (12), has one year left in Fier, and works at a school teaching English. He is very supportive and is showing us around. We get together for dinner or “coffees” from time to time.

Where do you live?
I live in an apartment by myself. I live on the 4th floor of a communist bloc apartment building built in 1975. Pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/SusanManikowski/ApartmentInFier#. I also live a 5 minute walk from Kristen and Chris in one direction and about 12 minutes from my office in another. (On my walk to work, I pass one of the TV stations, and it blasts American music from the giant screen out front. It makes me happy to walk by!)

What will you do?
The nice thing about being a volunteer is that I get to work on the projects that interest me. With my primary placement, the Bashkia, I will get to work on programs that help Fier accomplish its development goals, from building a website, building parks, and surveying citizen satisfaction with the city’s services. With other organizations, such as the women’s organization here, I can work on including women in participatory budgeting and hosting a breast cancer walk. The UNDP volunteer here works with the Roma community, and an Italian school holds a summer camp. There are so many other opportunities that I just don’t know about yet! (I will also have days where I am bored out of my mind.)

What is a normal day?
I don’t think I’ll have many of those! I do go into my office every day, Monday to Friday, from 8am to 4pm (minus a lunch-no one else eats), unless I have a meeting with someone for a different project. I work on my projects, talk with my co-workers, and enjoy the air conditioner! I also learn new words every day at 12, and my co-worker Armida quizzes me on them and the words I learned the night before. I’ll walk home and stop to buy some fresh veggies because every 10 feet there are places to buy food or walk to the Euromarket and by my favorite food: cereal. I have a cloth bag from the bashkia that I carry around with me for groceries/items, and people don’t look at me too strange when I refuse a plastic bag. In the evenings I’ll meet someone for a “coffee,” make something for dinner (I’m experimenting and determined to be a half-decent cook by the end of this), study, write a letter or a blog post (!), watch episodes of Glee over and over on my computer, or clean my apartment (because it is always dusty). I bake every Thursday night for work on Friday (even though I don’t cook well, at least I can bake well). Other random things come up, too.

What do you do on the weekends?
This is definitely a FAQ, and I definitely don’t have an answer at this point. When I lived in Bishqem, I would have class on Saturday, study, meet with my site mates, or meet bigger groups of trainees in Pajove or Elbasan. I would definitely study and spend loads of time with Xhuli (still my favorite Albanian) and my family.

I have only had 3 weekends in Fier, so I can’t say what a “typical” weekend is. To be honest though, I don’t think my life here will be typical; it just seems so random. Weekend 1 was my first, and I ate dinner with my site mates and got my apartment ready. Weekend 2 was spent partly in Tirana, dancing the night away, only to return to Fier exhausted (with enough energy only to make French toast for my site mates for dinner). Weekend 3 included another fundraiser party, 10 hours of trainings that I barely understood for camp, an event at Appolonia* that I barely understood as well, as I heard Shqip be translated into Italian,** and Skype dates with my parents and a good friend. Weekend 4 I visited Libby in Shijak and Durres for a good time, and I hope to travel to many more places in the weekends to come.

Do you like Fier?
The answer is absolutely. It is a clean, easy to get around city that is a good hub for travel to other locations. People are nice, and my co-workers are hard workers. I will have a lot of resources here to get a lot of projects done.

What do you like best?
Definitely it is the people I like best. It motivates me to study more, so I can actually communicate with them on a deeper level. As my friend Lesley astutely pointed out, we have the language skills to only talk about ourselves.

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In addition to the FAQs asked by you all, I have FAQs asked me by Albanians. The answers are short, but I respond in Shqip.
Which is better: Albania or the US?
Well, both are different, and I like them both. Both have good and bad aspects.

How many people are in your family?
4 (Family and relationships mean so much here, and people want to know everything about your family. I don’t mind though, since I like talking about the people I love!)

Are you married?
No.

Why aren’t you married?
I want to wait until I’m older to get married.

Are you going to marry an Albanian?
Kismet! (That’s the way to say we’ll leave it up to fate.)

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Now, just I like I said that I can speak only about myself in Shqip, I don’t like the feeling that I speak only about myself in English, too. I want to know what you all are up to! Thank you for keeping me informed. Thinking about you!

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*Historical places in Albania interest me. They are difficult to get to (no real structure of tourism), but when you do get there you get free access to touch things and really to take things if you wanted (you should NOT do this!!!).

** The party after the presentation was fun though! I got the leg of the turkey because I am American and got to be in pictures with the mayor.