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.