studying
The past month has been relatively busy between the work at the Bashkia, language lessons, and marathon training. Not to mention other events – there was an earthquake here (lasted for 15 seconds, but long enough so that some sheetrock fell off my wall), I attended my first Albanian wedding, celebrated my 33rd birthday, had some time at the beach, and went back to visit my host family, where I killed dinner for the evening (poor chicken).
the beach of Golem
Post-chicken kill with my host mom
The summers can be fairly slow here for volunteers, as most people are going on vacation (usually for 2-3 weeks) and many projects are put on hold. It’s a great time to focus on language learning and cultural adaptation, as the workload increases in September. This has proven true since every day I feel I am making more progress in my speaking/understanding of Albanian.
Orthodox Church in Elbasan
I attended a USAID (US Agency for International Development) Best Practices conference last week, where local government offices throughout Albania presented ideas for development and survey results in areas such as infrastructure, social care, and finance. At the expo, our booth showcased the work of the Bashkia over the last year – road reconstructions and other improvements throughout the city, including successful partnerships with outside organizations. As a volunteer it was a great opportunity to meet Albanians from other cities that have a strong desire for making Albania a better place to live (and to eventually succeed in getting into the EU). It was also interesting to see what other cities are doing in the area of tourism, since one of my projects here has been to work on an approved tourism grant that will provide a tourist map in the center of the city and will also train University students to be tour guides.
Booth at the USAID Conference
For the next four weeks the Bashkia of Elbasan holds Participatory Budgeting meetings – these meetings are town hall style, where citizens come to voice their opinions about what infrastructure enhancements are needed in the city of Elbasan. From these meetings the 2010 budget is formed – thus giving the citizens an opportunity to have a voice in what the government is funding and where improvements are being made. I attended the first meeting last night, and although it only lasts an hour, it was very interesting to see the level of intensity. These people (specifically the older generations) have been through hard times, witnessing the fall of communism and struggling to form an identity as a small and poor Eastern European country. I hope to capture and post some video from these meetings, so you can see first hand what it’s like.
My sister and I at the wedding
Also coming up I will be teaching beginner English at the youth center here in Elbasan – a first for me but I’m looking forward to it. At the end of October our Group heads to the city of Pogradec for a language refresher 3-day training. And then… November is here and I’m heading to Greece. 26 miles, tons of hills, original marathon course…what a feeling it will be to cross the finish line in the Panathinaikon Stadium. Here is some history of the event:The 42,195m Marathon Race became one of the most competitive events when the Olympic Games were revived in 1896. A Greek athlete by the name of Spyros Louis, running what has ever since been referred to as the 'Original Course' from the ancient city of Marathon to the Panathinaikon Stadium in Athens, won the gold medal of the first modern Olympic Games and became a legend of Greek and international athletics. The Marathon Race has always had a prominent place in the hearts and minds of sports enthusiasts, as it represents the highest effort where the human body, soul and mind are tested to their limits as the runner presses himself/herself to the finish line.
