For the next 2 years…

After recovering from a week of being sick (that’s a story in and of itself – but I won’t digress), I joined the group again on Friday, the day they announced our site placements for the next two years. We were all like kids on Christmas day –we had to wait until 4 PM, and then our program managers handed out large white envelopes with our site information. My picture was on the outside of the envelope, this was provided so that each of us could take the picture and place it on our site on a huge map of Albania, so that we can see where everyone will be. (Check out the photo) I am going to be right in the middle of Albania – it’s yellow on the map - in Elbasan! This has been where our training sessions have taken place twice a week. It is one of the largest cities in Albania, population of approx. 120,000.  

I will be working at the Bashkia (the local government office), in the department of Economic Development. I’m very excited about this – there is a volunteer that has been working there for the past two years, and she is still here for a few more months so I have the opportunity to learn about all the projects that have been started and see how I can move forward. It looks like I will be keeping very busy – some of the focus areas of the department include business development, tourism, and environmental education.

Most volunteers at some point of their service also teach English – and the volunteer in Elbasan has been teaching at the University. This would certainly be a new challenge – there is a huge demand for learning English here. Fortunately there are plenty of resources for us to use - lesson plans, volunteers that are in the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) program, and other materials that Peace Corps provides.

The day didn’t end with that – Friday was also my host sister’s birthday. I got home to a house filled of family (cousins, and of course Nona – she lives next door - see her in action here). It was a big “fest” – and we ended the night with a picture-taking marathon.



On Saturday we had “Culture Day” in Shales. It is a cross-cultural day where Albanian and American culture is on display – from food, to clothes, music, games, and lessons on how to make Turkish coffee. Our host families all gathered, and we chose to make apple pie, mashed potatoes, and a sweet salad with lettuce, spinach, apples, candied walnuts, cheese, pears, and raisins. We had to get creative with some of the ingredients, but fortunately we have a few fabulous cooks/bakers in our group so the end results were impressive.

After culture day I went home to work on our community project – which happens next Sunday. More details to come on that event. What was most interesting upon arriving home was the lamb carcass hanging outside – my host mom and dad had been busy that morning. This lamb was being prepared for dinner that night to honor guests – the parents of my host brother’s wife. I’ve actually gotten used to seeing dead animals hanging in the butcher shops here – but to see it right outside my front door was a different experience. The torture continued as my host parents teamed up to hack the bloody meat into pieces – and they also made it a point to come over to me and show it to me while laughing hysterically. To make it even that much more interesting, when I walked in the house and went to the kitchen to get some water, I was greeted by a tray of lamb parts – including it’s head and it’s eyeball staring right at me…needless to say I didn’t have much of an appetite that night. When I expressed my views/thoughts to my family, their response was “Well where do you think meat comes from?” Brilliant – and so true.