So I've been here for a over a year now and guess what that means? Time for my group to start sharing our experiences with the new trainees. I was chosen to do the session on writing and gave it to the new group of TELFers on Friday. Here's the story of that weekend.
On Thursday I left to go to Elbasan I got in to my hotel around 6:30 and called Ymer, the professor who was going to present along side me. He told me he'd be around soon, so I decided to relax with a beer while I waited. He showed up around 7:15 and bought us more beers while I ran up stairs to gather the materials I had prepared.. We talked for about 10 minutes before he told me that he had tobe somewhere in very soon. My friend Sergio's parents were visiting and Ymer was taking them out for a fancy Albanian dinner. He invited me and before you know it I was sitting down with my buddy's parents.
It was a great dinner full of tasty food like frog legs and stuffed peppers.We had some nice Spanish wine which of course that led to long conversations about the Peace Corps and life in Albania. I really like Sergio's parents and it seemed to me that they had a great time.At the end I tried to pay for my meal since I was originally included
in this meal but Ymer wouldn't have it.
The next morning I headed over to the school to give my presentation. It was supposed to be based on a session design that was created by folks back in DC, I thought that the design was so boring that it would put
the trainees to sleep so I threw out about 50% of what Washington sent me. It went really well but my changes threw my manager, Agim, a curveball because he wasn't expecting me to change anything. The session designs are part of a pilot program to standardize trainings and Agim is supposed to send them feedback about their effectiveness.So I kinda screwed that up but Agim said it was fine and that he liked the changes I made.
The next hour or so was spent chatting with some of the trainees over lunch. I ended up hanging out with them for the whole day pretty much.I was talked into attending the session when the Ambassador came to talk to the group. At any other time I would have bee excited to hear what he had to say but I felt really under-dressed because I was still in jeans. It went alright though. About an hour later the trainees figured out where they were going to be spending the next 2 years. It was pretty cool to see them all excited and stirred up. The guy who is now living with my family in Kuqan, Jason is going to be placed in a town that's not to far from me so that's cool. I spent that evening hanging out with him at my host family's place.It was really fun hanging out with all them and Jason and I got along really well which was cool because I was worried it would be a little weird meeting him.
Long story short I had a great time meeting the new trainees and I wish them well.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
That Long Albanian Winter
So as ya'll should be able to guess I've never really had to deal with a real winter. Sure I've seen more snow than most Savannah natives and I've driven through a blizzard, but none of my experiences up until now have matched what I'm going through now. None have they even come close to being on the same level.
It snowed for three days straight the week before Christmas, and I am just now starting to see patches of my street. Most of Erseka is still covered in ice. A doctor friend of mine slipped last week and fell so hard he deflated his lung. The ice on my stairs made getting up and down from my apartment quite perilous for awhile there. This week the city workers started taking pickaxes to the sheets of ice covering the town. Some of those layers were several inches thick. Most days it doesn't get above freezing except in areas with direct sunlight.
Now I can hear you saying "Hey, man. Slow down, we have winter in the States. What makes Albanian winter so special?" My friends I haven't told you yet that Albanian winter gives everyone a special ability. As soon as December rolls around everyone is granted the ability to see their breath regardless of if they are inside or outside. That's right folks there is no such thing as Central Heating and Air here. Nor is there much in the way of insulated walls which means that quite often it is colder inside than out.
The only real way to negate this is to own a wood burning stove. I'm very fortunate that I have one of these. They are great and don't have that steep of a learning curve. Dealing with the wood can be a burden. You have to buy it, find a place to store it and have someone chop it up. The rituals of building a fire become a way of life. Every few weeks I take a stroll down to the sawmill to grab some kindling, then I spend an afternoon chopping and smashing it into small enough pieces to easily start fires.
There are many types of electric heaters in Albania but most of them are terrible. Many of them couldn't heat a small closet. They are very tricky pieces of technology. My friend Ian has one that doesn't heat his apartment at all but has managed to burn a shirt and a pair of long underwear.
I don't know how Albanians do it, but my fellow PCVs tend to move into whichever room has the stove in the winter. That means some of us spend 3 months living in our kitchens. Not a horrible existence ( at least there is always a snack nearby) but if you ever have to go into any other room in your house you have to grab a coat.
Don't even get me started on how wonderful the heating system is in my school.
It snowed for three days straight the week before Christmas, and I am just now starting to see patches of my street. Most of Erseka is still covered in ice. A doctor friend of mine slipped last week and fell so hard he deflated his lung. The ice on my stairs made getting up and down from my apartment quite perilous for awhile there. This week the city workers started taking pickaxes to the sheets of ice covering the town. Some of those layers were several inches thick. Most days it doesn't get above freezing except in areas with direct sunlight.
Now I can hear you saying "Hey, man. Slow down, we have winter in the States. What makes Albanian winter so special?" My friends I haven't told you yet that Albanian winter gives everyone a special ability. As soon as December rolls around everyone is granted the ability to see their breath regardless of if they are inside or outside. That's right folks there is no such thing as Central Heating and Air here. Nor is there much in the way of insulated walls which means that quite often it is colder inside than out.
The only real way to negate this is to own a wood burning stove. I'm very fortunate that I have one of these. They are great and don't have that steep of a learning curve. Dealing with the wood can be a burden. You have to buy it, find a place to store it and have someone chop it up. The rituals of building a fire become a way of life. Every few weeks I take a stroll down to the sawmill to grab some kindling, then I spend an afternoon chopping and smashing it into small enough pieces to easily start fires.
There are many types of electric heaters in Albania but most of them are terrible. Many of them couldn't heat a small closet. They are very tricky pieces of technology. My friend Ian has one that doesn't heat his apartment at all but has managed to burn a shirt and a pair of long underwear.
I don't know how Albanians do it, but my fellow PCVs tend to move into whichever room has the stove in the winter. That means some of us spend 3 months living in our kitchens. Not a horrible existence ( at least there is always a snack nearby) but if you ever have to go into any other room in your house you have to grab a coat.
Don't even get me started on how wonderful the heating system is in my school.
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