Randomness

Just a list of a few things I've done since the last time I posted.

1) Went to a bachelor party, was forced to drink a lot, circle danced, watched people set the husband to be's favorite sports jersey on fire as a sign that he was no longer a boy.

2) Had some language evaluations. I've been speaking in shqip a lot more since then because the feedback I received was very positive ( I'm getting the feeling that a large part of the evaluation was supposed to be a confidence booster). I've actually had a few fairly lengthy discussion in shqip with my host parents and some other people since then which makes me really happy. I know I've not hitting the grammar points exactly but I am able to communicate fairly well.

3) Learned where my permanent site will be. I'm going to be living in the south east of Albania in a city called Ersake. It's maybe an hour away from Greece and is situated on top of a plateau, which means that even though it's in the south it is much cooler year round than other areas in that part of the country. There are two volunteers living in Ersake at the moment, though one of them will be finishing her service in May so I won't be spending much time working with her. The other volunteer still has another year to go so I'm sure I will see her often. Another volunteer from my training group was also stationed in Ersake so I'll have a buddy going into it.

4) Going along with number 4, I learned what I'll be doing for most of the next two years. My primary assignment will be to work with English teachers in the high school. I would be following in the footsteps of the volunteer who is leaving May. They would also like me to try and build relations with the middle school that is close to the high school. The staff at that school has expressed interest in having a volunteer work with them but have never actually had one work in their school. From what I hear, Ersake hosts quite a few camps during the summer so I'm sure I'll send time working at those as well.

5)My host brother Vasi injured his collarbone after falling off his friends bike the other week. He had to go to the hospital in order to get an xray. He got a sling and is doing ok but gave us quite a scare when we first found out. A neighbor told me and my host mother a few minutes after he fell and we ran over to the field to check on him.

6) My practicum started this week, so I've been teaching classes in the high school and observing my sitemates' lessons. I taught 4 classes this week and will teach 4 more next week. It's been interesting because I've never really taught an entire classroom before and while we have a had few sessions on classroom management and the fundamentals of teaching, I know that I'll be learning something everytime I step in the classroom.