you forgot that I am irredeemable nerd (and an unapologetic one to boot), here is a reminder. Winter has meant not only a drop in temperatures (what?!) but an increase in power lossage. To the best of my knowledge, we lose power when: - it rains - the wind blows - someone sneezes in the vicinity of the power plant - or the guy working the night shift decides it's an especially good

Consider this the official list of things-that-will-make-me-consider-naming-my-first-child-after-you-if-I-receive-them. Or, TTWMMCNMFCAYIRT for short. • Tampons (it seems women don’t believe in them over here so they’re scarce and expensive) • Brown sugar • Baking powder • Vanilla extract • Seasoning mixtures (like taco mixes or Asian mixes, anything with some spice!) • Any herbs and spices in

I assure you, I had THE best intentions. Ending PST my thoughts were a whirlwind of, “I’m going to have time to breathe! I will write more blog posts than anyone in the WORLD! I will have SO MUCH INTERNET.” Well, obviously most of those things came true, although the internet thing took a couple weeks to actually take place. I can’t tell you how many times during this summer I have looked at

I’ve been chastised for my lack of updating-ness since arriving at site which is perfectly legitimate since I’ve been promising faithfully to maintain regular posts once I had the fountain of wifi at my disposal so I shall attempt to explain away my remissness. Today marks the beginning of my fourth week at site and it took until the second week to finally finish installing internet in my

Does this concern you for exactly how long I could babble on once I reach my actual site and have access to that fabled fountain of wifi? I will tell you this, I am many weeks behind now on my experiences and the beginning of my summer will mostly likely be spent trying to catch up on everything. That’s if I can tear myself away from the plazh (beach) of course, since I have now visited my site

No cliff hangers in this post! What a relief, ey? I know my extreme adventures tend to leave a few of you a bit wound up from all the excitement. So, after first night in Leskovik we woke up and Molly again worked her kitchen magic and produced PANCAKES. From scratch! Generally, pancakes from scratch do not amaze me, but that is because I have always encountered them in the US where they

This post could also be correctly entitled “my volunteer site visit,” but that sounds dangerously akin to “how I spent my summer vacation,” and no one ever actually wanted to read those papers. Writing them was painful enough. Let’s start at the beginning though, sometimes it’s hard for me to remember that everyone isn’t actually intimately familiar with Peace Corps procedures, acronyms (and

There are many moments throughout my day/week where I am infinitely amused. Here are some snapshots of my favorites. When I am standing and speaking to my gjyshe (grandmother) in Shqip, she generally becomes so overwhelmed that she can’t help herself and pulls me down for a smacker on the cheek. My family got a puppy. They insisted on me naming him so I named him Chips after Chips the War Dog

I’m not telling you yet! I’m going to build your suspense in this post! Unless of course you’re one of those people who read the last page of a book so that you know the outcome throughout the entirety of the book (ahem, mom), and then you’ll skip down a couple paragraphs. Last Friday was Site Placement Day which was an odd mixture of suspense and normalcy, at least for me. Previous to this

I’ve gotten more than a few questions about what it is that I do during pre-service training beyond having a blasty-blast and having all kinds of awesome Albanian adventures (like the time my Gjysh – grandpa – Shanghai-ed Zoe and I in the middle of town and escorted us off to coffee). Well hike up your pants, grab your socks and/or hats and hold on cause I’m taking you through my week. Each

I’d apologize for referencing so many videos in my blog titles, but I’m not actually sorry.  I’m actually just sad that some of you won’t get my references.  Those people should go here.  I didn’t give you the link to the exact video because you should really just watch all of them.  I’d like to ad-dress (haha!  Get it?  Don’t worry, you will at the end of the sentence!) a certain topic in this

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I have now been with my host family for over one week and in Albania for two!  It’s time for some good old-fashioned reflections on what I have learned. Reflections:1)    MTV top 40 songs are not only appropriate for any occasion, they are also relevant, with occasions defined as any meal, during open activities, and even via phone radio during strenuous hikes up mountains.2)      Transportation

All the people on the hike yesterday (details to follow)  Sweet old bombed out military building not far from my village My host mom and her two nieces who live next door.  Adorable. Eric, Ben and I at a 300 year-old Roman bridge outside of Labrazhd

But sometimes I wish I did.  Besides a drink called thall which is half milk and half yogurt, I have yet to be disappointed by Albanian cuisine.  Gjellës (soups) with giant chunks of mish (meat) in them and bukë (bread) to dip in them, salads that are fresh, fruit from the yard or local markets, carrots that were probably dug up that day, and all the cola one could want has made for some amazing

I know I left you with a teaser last time.  I will address that, relax.  I don’t know how many of you researched Albania when you found out I was headed there.  Probably very few of you.  That’s ok, I was pretty much one of you.  One thing I did not know before arriving is that they have their head po’s and jo’s (yes’s and no’s) backwards.  To say that it is disconcerting is an understatement. 

Translated: I don’t speak Albanian.  But I will speak Albanian fluently.  Or something like that anyway.  Technically shumë means “a lot” but I think fluently works in this case.  Baby steps, baby steps.  When I think about how I can already speak in a few broken sentences and understand about 5% of what my family says to me with only about ten hours’ worth of classes over four days I am

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I dwell in Possibility A fairer House than Prose More numerous of Windows Superior-for Doors Of Chambers as the Cedars Impregnable of Eye And for an Everlasting Roof The Gambrels of the Sky Of Visitors-the fairest For Occupation-This The spreading wide my narrow Hands To gather Paradise Emily Dickinson, 1955 I chose the title of blog from this poem because it encompasses the spirit of