So for a week over spring break, the men in my family made the big trip across the pond to do some traveling with me!  We planned for a quick visit to Berat and then on to see the grand sights of Munich, Germany.  Allow me to take you through a photo diary of our vacation.

Here we are in Berat, The City of 1000 Windows.  Can you guess why?  Standing on the foot bridge that connects two of the historic neighborhoods in Berat, you can get the most unrestricted views of the city in its entirety.  The boys were only able to make a short trip here, really about 24 waking hours, before we took flight for our trip to Munich.

This is a shot of the inside of the Tirana airport.  Yeah, we have FREE wireless internet!  Unfortunately, the way that our flights ended up, the boys had a three hour wait at the Tirana airport, followed by a two hour layover in Slovenia, before they landed in Germany, whereas my flight left before theirs and was a direct (hour and a half) trip to Munich, where I then waited about five hours for them to arrive!

Once we all arrived in Munich, about 9pm, we made the mistake of renting a car.  Trying to navigate the way to the hotel in the dark, in an unfamiliar rental car, with Mark reading the map, without his glasses, was not the best way to start the trip.  This is just one of the many shots of Dad perplexed by the street maps of Munich.  Image, making spaghetti, drain the noodles, and then pour the noodles out randomly all over the floor... I think that is how they came up with the street "plan" for this city!  The car was returned after one day, and we were all about the public transport after that!

First stop, the city center, MarianPlatz.  Behind the boys is a shot of the Old Town Hall.  Across the street (not able to see in this photo) is the New Town Hall.  Funny thing, because the whole city was bombed out during WWII, they had a little rebuilding to do after the war was over.  They constructed the New Town Hall first and then proceeded with the reconstruction of the Old Town Hall.  So, in fact, the New Town Hall is actually older than the Old Town Hall!  We got all this information and more when we decided to join a free tour around the city center.  After a three hour walking tour, we had a greater appreciation for the history of Munich and Germans, and a better feeling for the layout of the city.

Dinner on our first night in Germany was celebrated at the legendary Haufbrauhaus!  Great beer drinking and lots of meat eating could be the theme of this trip.  I think I did more of both in one week than I had in a long time.  And yes, that is a beer in little Stevie's hand!  In Germany the legal drinking age in 16, so he was able to join in with a little celebrating, too.  Most of the nights, however, he chose to drink the Radler Beer, which is a mix of Beer, lemonade or sometimes a sprite-similar beverage.  This is what the bicyclers drink when they are out on the town, so that at the end of the night they are still able to safely see themselves home without incident.

We were lucky enough to have our friend Austin Engel, who is living in Munich as a tour guide and English teacher, take time from his busy schedule to show us around.  He was gracious enough to take an afternoon and lead us on a private tour around the Dachau concentration camp.  Used as the "model" camp during and before WWII, Dachau is now open to the public to enter and to act in and of its self as a memorial to all the prisoners who died within its walls during this dark time in history.  

We made a visit just outside of town to the BMW factory and its neighbor across the highway, the Olympic Park!  The boys took a tour of the BMW museum, home to old Bond cars and other fascinating things, I'm sure.   Then we all enjoyed the inside tour of the BMW factory, where we were able to see the full construction of a car, from start to finish.  Really cool!  Only bad part, no door prizes or giveaways at the end!

The BMW headquarters building is in the shape of a four cylinder engine, and it was constructed for its grand opening the same time as the summer olympics (remember, literally right across the street)!  Somebody was thinkin'!  And no Steven did not teach an 80's step aerobics class that morning, nor is Mark the unibomber.  Apparently, those are just cool looks now-a-days!Towards the later days on our vacation we boarded the train with another private tour guide to head out into the countryside to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle of King Ludwig II.  Unfortunately, about two hours into the ride, our guide informed us that he had put us on the wrong train and we needed to turn around and head back to Munich to re-board the correct one.  After catching the right train, and riding it for another two and a half hours, we reached our destination, only to find that we were too late in the day to buy tickets to take the tour inside in castle!  Huge bummer!  I was really disappointed to have come all this way to find out we were not going to be able to go inside.  As a consolation prize, we did get to go inside the parent's castle, the lesser of the two in that town.  We also did make the trek up to the Neuschwnstein Castle a stalk around the outside.  This picture captures the view of the castle from Mary's bridge.  Oh, and to add insult to injury, yes, that is snow in the picture.  It began to snow really hard as soon as we stepped of the train and stopped again as soon as we got back on to head towards Munich.  Not the best day!

Our last day was spent shopping, eating and catching up on the last minute things that we wanted to see before out departure.  The picture above was the inside of the super-ornate Asamkirche, or Asam's Church.  Dad found it in one of his travel books and we went buy on our last day to check it out.  It was truly awesome!The picture below was a site that had the boys captivated for hours.  We heard about a place in the English Gardens where the river had a spot surfers could ride a wave that was permanently created by something on the river floor.  So we went to check it out, not sure we would catch anyone in action on this 30 degree day.  But, sure enough, we were able to watch the dedicated few shred the wave as they tried out new tricks and "performed" for their fans.  I think if it had been a few degrees warmer we wouldn't have been able to keep Mark on dry land.

After a busy week, it was back to the airport were we said our goodbyes!  Dad and crew went home to Dallas, and I departed for my Tirana bound plane.  All in all, we had an excellent trip.  I would recommend Munich to everyone!

What started out as a simple rain boots purchase has spiraled out of control.  Now it's up to you to decide.... how much argyle is too much?  Thanks mom for my Valentine's presents.  The fleece is really warm!

We were tricked here in Berat.  For several weeks the weather was very pleasant for the winter months, highs in the 60's and lows in the 40's... until this week!  Temperatures plunged into the lows 40's and has been rainy.  Then this afternoon, a surprise!  A snow storm blew in.  This was not like those silly Dallas snow flurries,  this is like a CO style snow storm.  Unfortunately, so far the snow has not stuck to anything, except cars, but we are entertained by the large snow flakes. Somehow, a little snow makes the cold feel better!  Pictures from out photo shoot will be posted soon. 

Clara Update:

She is doing fine.  It has been almost a month since her surgery and she is making  a full recovery, although to the surprise of my neighbors and co-workers, she still only has three legs!  Maybe they think she is like a lizard and someday that stump will turn back into a full functioning leg!  Who knows!  She is learning how to get around with just three legs and doesn't really seem to mind her handicap.  She runs, jumps and can climb stairs with the best of them.  Also, I think that she is becoming more accustomed to her new (mostly) indoor lifestyle.  Inside it's a little warmer by the fire and food and belly rubs are more easily accessible.

Nothing else is really happening here in Berat.  The weather is rainy but luckily not too cold, usually in the low to mid 50s during the days and low 40s at night.  I am becoming better at lighting my wood stove, just as spring is around the corner. Hopefully I can retain my new fire building and starting skills for next winter season.  Still working on tourism projects, as the Tourism Information Office prepare for the busy summer season. 

Happy New Year 2009!  Hard to believe that my time her in Albania is already into the new year, and that I have 9 months under my belt.  Still feels like just yesterday when we first stepped off the plane.  Speaking of getting off a plane, I should let everyone know that my plane rides back to Albania went much better than the ride home.  No delys, no airline problems, no missing luggage, just an easy ride all the way back.  Perfect end to a great trip home for Christmas.

Things however were not so great when I got back.   The little dog the I have semi-adopted was not well upon my return.  I had received a message from a friend, while I was in Dallas, that Clara had been bit by a dog on her leg and that she wasn't doing very well.  Well.... that was a huge understatement!  I expected to come home to find her with an ugly cut on her leg that maybe should have had some stitches, but instead, her back leg was so mangled I knew that it would have to be removed, and quickly.  

I called my friend in the next city over, about 1 hour and 30 minutes car ride away, and the home of the nearest vet office.  We set an appointment for the next morning for her to have the leg amputated.  Sounds easy, but getting her there would prove to be challenging and, as it turns out, expensive (by peace corps standards).  I ended up hiring a taxi to take us and just wrapped in a towel, not knowing how she would react to her first car ride experience.  She did fine, although she did throw up about half way through our trip.

Got to the vet in Fier, and laid her out for an "examination".  Let me also say that this is nothing like taking your dog to the vet in america.  In fact, I'm not sure that this vet had examined a dog in quite some time.  Anyway, so there she is laying on the cold floor of this one room vet office, and Gensi (the vet) let's us know that he is not comfortable doing the amputation, and that he would just put her down.  That not being and option at this point, I ask if there are any other alternatives.  He calls his professor from university, and he agrees to do the amputation.  So we are off to Tirana, yes, in another taxi!  At least this time we have a dog cage. (Jack is my friend Stephanie's dog from America and he had his create from the plane ride that we borrowed)

So, once in Tirana, the vet there looked at her and listened to her heart and was worried that due to the infection spreading in the body, she may not make it out of the anesthesia.  Without any alternative, that was just a risk that we would have to take.  Stephanie and I left for about an hour and return to find Clara, leg cut at the mid thigh, u awake and ready to go home.  Albanian after patient care is also much different than in the states.  She would go home to Fier and get antibiotic injections from Gensi over the following 6 days, then we would be able to return to Berat.  

The next week she did a little better everyday.  Eating and drinking were big steps and she started to get more strength back.  She also started to hate going on her daily trip to the vet more and more, and with more energy was able to show us just how she felt about getting that injection!  At the end of the week, we returned to Berat.

Since being home, she seems to continue to make good progress towards recovery.  I think that she likes her warm inside bed at night, which is a new luxury, post surgery.  We are going to go back to Fier this weekend for the stitches removal, create return,  and final checkup.  Hoping that she will be a good patient and get a clean bill of health! 

Some Friends at our Berat Thanksgiving

Karaoke in Tirana after our Thanksgiving Meal with the Cristina's.

This is the first time the I have been out of Dallas for Thanksgiving, so I thought that I would make up for that by having two, here in Albania.  Our first Thanksgiving was on Thursday.  Embassy and Ex-Pat Families invite Volunteers to their homes on Thanksgiving for some real food and heat... not sure which one I appreciated more! I ate dinner with the Cristina Family and seven other volunteers.  Steve Cristina, basically the Vice-Ambassador, and his Finnish wife Lea, had their cook prepare us a wonderful meal, with Turkey, stuffing, Pies, and even sweet potatoes that Steve brought back from his last trip home to NO, LA.  Everything was fantastic!  The night was topped of by a trip to the Karaoke bar with friends.  We spent the whole long weekend in Tirana with some of our friends from the Embassy and then on Sunday hauled a 15 lb. frozen turkey (from Macedonia) back to Berat on the furgon.  

After letting it defrost for a few days, on Tuesday we began to prepare for out Berat after-Thanksgiving day feast.  Me, Marisa and Corrine, invited Albanians that we work with or teach, or just friends.  We thought that it would be a nice time to share some American culture and get to eat more stuffing!  Corrine helped me prepare the turkey Tuesday morning.  Bear in mind, this is the first time that I have ever cooked a turkey.  I don't even remember the last time that I even watched my mom prepare one.  So the pressure was really on not to ruin this big bird. In the oven at noon and out about 4, the turkey was a success!  Accompanied by stuffing, cranberry dressing, pumpkin pie and pecan pie bars (all from the USA), we laid the table and our guests started to arrive.  

Our Turkey feast got mixed reviews from our Albanian friends.  This is some thing that we are used to by know, after offing up many baked treats, then often times told that they need more salt, or the my banana bread taste too much like banana!  We were just glad to have everyone over and, for the most part, everyone enjoyed the meal.  We sure did!   And in typical thanksgiving style, there are plenty or left overs for turkey sandwiches for days to come! 

My back yard...view from my kitchen window.

This week it got really cold!  We had very little power (outages from 9 am to 6 pm), but lots of rain! I am really glad that I have my wood stove to keep me warm.  Sometimes I think that (with out heat) it is warmer outside of my house than inside!  Looking forward to my trip home to American, where there is central heat!

Who ever thought that a girl from Texas would have to learn about installing and maintaining a wood stove!  Well because of the cold winters here without heat in the homes, we are forced to use other means to keep our little bodies warm in the winter.  

Several heat producing options are available to volunteers.  We can use electric heaters, but they use a lot of electricity, and therefore are very expensive.  Plus when we are without electricity, which is frequently in the winter, they only serve as towel racks and dust collectors.  Another option is the gas heater, which is fine, if you don't mind death by asphyxiation on carbon monoxide fumes!  That may be a little dramatic, but the small of the gas tends to be responsible for many headaches!

So the best option, for me, is the wood burning stove.  Problem is that my house was not set up for the appliance.  You have to have a hole to the outside for the smoke to ventilate, you have to have the pipes to connect the stove to the outside, you have to have several cubic meters of wood to burn throughout the winter, and you have to have the stove... none of which I had before a week ago!

So I began my quest to acquire all of the necessities for wood stove construction.

I found a wood stove, that was used, but I really like it and it is kind of cute, not like some of the other stoves that I looked at.  I had some of our guys friends carry it up the three flights of stairs to my apartment.  The girls were on hand to supervise.  Next, I had to arrange for a hole to be blasted out of the side of my wall.  This was to the displeasure of landlord, Pirro.  I am not sure that he had full confidence in my General Contracting abilities.  With the help of some friends from work, I arranged to have some workers come and make the hole.

They arrived on time, equipment in hand.  I had bought the pipes by this time, so that they could accurately cut a precise hole.  I left the room as they began to drill, because the noise from the electric jack hammer was too loud, and there was a lot of dust from the concrete explosion. (luckily I had moved all my furniture and covered it with a sheet)  When I returned to admire the work, I was less than thrilled to see that a huge hole, at least double the size of the 12cm pipes was their best work.  In typical albanian fashion, they left with promises to return the next day to then patch the hole, and applying what I know about Albanian's and promises to work, I knew I may not see these men for a while!

Sure enough days went by, huge hole remaining the new center piece of my wall.  I stuffed it with plastics bags, to keep the birds out, but as luck would have it, the temps dropped and the cold weather blew in, dislodging the bags from their proper place.  Big Mess!

Days later the men arrived and to my surprise, patched the hole with meticulous detail, fitting the pipes seamlessly through to the outside.  I had my wood delivered a few days before and spend some hours hauling it up three flights of stairs.  Now that the stove was ready, I was excited to see how this thing performed!  I wanted to see if all my efforts were worth the wait!

I found that fires are not that easy to light.  It is not as simple as just holding the match to the wood as i had hoped.  I put all my girls scout training to action, and built my little fire pyramid, and then stuffed it with paper and small wood.  When that effort failed, I abandoned my GS teachings and bought fire starter from the supermarket!  With their help I had a fire raging in no time.   I burned my first fire for about 2 hours that night, and was totally disheartened by the lack of heat it produced!  Not willing to raise the white flag without  a fight, I called in the troops the following morning!

Marisa came to the house at 10am the next morning, determined to get the house as warm as an oven.  I was the perfect day for a fire, dreary and wet outside, and we were also facing another day of 9-6 power outages!  We got the fire going after a few tries, and loaded it up with wood.  Together we decided that as soon as we could no longer see our breath, that the stove was beginning to prove its worth.   Over the next 4 hours, and several Phase 10 card games later, the room did heat up, in fact it was so warm that we were able to sit without blankets for the first time that week!  Very pleased with our work, we were eager to share the warmth with our friends that were coming to visit for the weekend.  All were very impressed and appreciated the warm room we had prepared!

So, now that it is all said and done, I am proud of my new purchase, and look forward to defrosting next to my stove all winter long! 

Many of you know that my mom came to Albania for a month long visit.  I think that she got a pretty good taste of the life of a volunteer.  She was so good about email updates of the things that we did during her time her that I have been a little lazy!  So, time to get back to it.  Here is a summary of the things that we did during her visit.

We made a trip to Bogove, a town only about an hour and a half bus trip from Berat. The town is the water source for the whole Berat region.  There is water flows crystal clear out of the mountain.  My mom and I are pictured at the waterfall, where the fresh water first pools before cascading down to the river and out to the town.  We hiked in to this serene little picnic spot and then met some of my Albanian friends for some lamb back in the town.  They also offered to give us a ride home in their private car, which is a much better alternative to the bus!

You may have heard me mention the garden that our youth group is creating at the local mental facility.  During the time that my mom was here, we funded our project and began some of the initial gardening and and preparation.  Since mom was here, she offered her assistance.  This is a group shot after our firsts days work, in the soon to be, Garden of Hope.

Several cities in Albania are home to ancient castles.  I think that my mom saw a hearty helping of them during her visit.  We saw the really well maintained castle in Gjirokastra, the ruins of the oldest inhabited castle in all of Europe, which is in Berat, and then the castle in Shkoder, which mostly offers a nice birds eye view of the city below.  This is us inside the castle of Shkoder.

Our weather was really perfect during the whole trip.  Days were in the 70's, sometimes even 80's, and the nights were pleasantly fresh.  Nothing sleeping with a hot water bottle couldn't cure.  This is us at the beach, and if we had our swimsuits, we would have been hard pressed to stay out of the water!

All in all it was a great trip.  It was really fun having my mom around in a otherwise sort of lonely place.  I am glad to say that she made it back safe and sound after her 22 hour trip to the USA.  I have been back to life as "usual" here in Berat.  Keeping busy working on a tourism project and still entertaining guest that come in to see our wonderful city!  Looking forward to my trip home in only a few weeks!

My mom got here on Sept 29th for a long visit.  We have been able to make a lot of fun trips since her arrival.  From the moment that she arrived, it has been really interesting listening to how she views Albania as a new visitor.  Things that she sees as odd or different, I have just grow accustom to. We made a beach vacation to the south of Albania and then got to see the country as we drove back up to Berat.  The beaches are really gorgeous here, it's just a shame that Albania does not do a better job of keeping them clean and marketing them to travelers.  Guess that's why I'm here! We also made a visit back to Belsh, my training village, so that my mom could meet the family who took such good care of me while I was in their home.  We arrived about 2 and spent only one night.  It was really the perfect amount of time. My mom got to see the town, and of course my albania family had prepared a huge feast.  Lots of animals died to create this festival meal!  We had meat and fish and turkey, as well as salads and potatoes, amongst other things.  I am glad that everyone got along (as was to be expected) and that my two families enjoyed each others company.   This week, Berat is celebrating their invitation to become a UNESCO World Heritage City.  We are hosting quite the party and the Prime Minister of Albania came!  That is a pretty big deal.  It was interesting to compare the difference in security that the prime minister here had to that of Bush, when he makes appearances.  Berisha (the PM) just rolled into town, very little security detail, walked right into an uncontrolled and  unscreened crowd of people and proceeded to make a speech to a crowd of Albanians with no microphone.  That's Albania for you!  Guess you don't know to make all the security arrangements until you have had an incident to learn from.

For the weekend we are going to head to the north and see some of my friends from training.  Then next weekend my mom heads back state side.  Hard to believe that five weeks is over already! It's been a good time.

The time for Grape Festivals is now.  Kantina Cobo, Berat's winery, just recently hosted their annual grape festival.  A small group of volunteers is invited to attend and join in the celebration.  This year only my friend Courtney got to wear to traditional costume, but we all got to watch the grape harvesting and stomping.  Cobo made food and there was plenty of wine to go around.  

This wine fest is no casual event, since there are often times Ambassadors or other "Officials" invited.  It was nice to get ready to go out to a party for once.  I welcome the occasion to actually do my hair, as it doesn't happen often anymore!

And just like that, summer is over.  For the last few days it has been rainy, and now that the rain is gone, the weather has gotten really cool.  Fall has arrived!  Although my house is not that cold...yet...I am learning ways to keep warm.  I have like 3 blankets on my bed already, and I bought a hot water bottle to keep in my bed with me.  It's kinda like I am sleeping with a little puppy, as it's about that size, and "she" keeps me warm all night.  

This weekend I will look for a wood stove.  I have a gas/electric unit that works great, but for heat, the wood stoves are the best.  My house is set up to accommodate one, so if I can buy one for a good price, I'll be set.  Soon, I will be moving my bed into the main room and sealing the windows.  I'll be like a little Eskimo, warm inside my igloo.

On another note, I am eagerly awaiting my mom's arrival to Albania.  She will get her on the 29th of this month, so just a little over a week to go.  And, today is a big day, as it is the 6 month anniversary of my arrival to Albania!  I have to say that although there are days that I long to be at home, I am still really glad to be here, working and experiencing such a different life.

This guy was the captain of his own "ship".  He just sat all day in his little dingy, waiting to pick up passengers for a lake tour.  I would ride with him...his hat definitely says CAPTAIN!

The lake on the Macedonia side was a home for Swans.  The lake on the Albanian side is home to a lot of garbage.  On the Macedonia side I even saw recreational boats, and maybe even a skier and a wakeboarder.

They have a castle, too, just like Berat.  Unfortunately, it was closed to the inside because I went to visit on their Independence Day.

Saw this stool at a street side cafe.  I love TEXAS!!!!

The group that I went with.  The girl next to me is Eva.  She is my counterpart and works as the mayors secretary.  The man to my right is Ladi.  He works in the tourism office.  We do most of my work here at the bashkia together.  The other man is the artist that was doing a show in a village outside lake Ohrid.  

View from the "boardwalk" were I spent most of my time relaxing.  It was just beautiful!

This past weekend I got a "Free Pass" out of the country to Macedonia, which is a bordering country to the east of Albania.  It was sooo great to be out of country, if only for just one night.  I got to sit by Lake Ohrid and just relax.  He have created a little photo journal of my time there.  One side note, you know that you miss America when the first thing that you do on vacations is head straight for the McDonalds (which I never really ate in America) and after that, go straight for the grocery store!

I should start by explaining how much I love the Olympics!  Ok, I really love the olympics!!!!  I try to be impartial to winter and summer, but something about the summer olympics just makes me happy.  I love that athletes compete peacefully for their countries, and when they stand on that podium, their flag, their anthem, and that country, if just for a moment, grabs everybody's attention.  Oh, and I am a sucker for a crier!

So, away from my country, and my patriotism higher than ever before, it became essential to watch this year competition.  Marisa and I bought cable just for the games and began to enjoy watching the events.  Day after day, we watched as Europeans sealed their victories and took home their medals.  We began to ask ourselves about the quality of this years crop of olympic talent from home.  Where were all the American Gold-medal athletes that we have sent in years past to dominate the pool or crush the competition around the track?

Only after a call to home did we learn just what an effect our media has on our perceptions.  Ben (Marisa's boyfriend in America) let us know that America was indeed doing well and had taken home many medals!  We began our analyzation...

We realized that our cable company offered only EuroSport and an Italian broadcasting company for games viewing.  It became so clear!  Of course Europeans were bringin' home all the golds!  That was what this audience wanted to see!  

My lesson learned.  We all must be diligent in collecting our information, news, history, and stories, from multiple sources to make sure that we are getting a well rounded perspective on the truth.  So many times since I have been here, I have been given contradictory information to what I have known to be true my whole life.  Whether about historical facts, cultural norms, political practices, or religious beliefs,  it is only in these times of questing what you have always know for certain, that we are forced to seek facts around what we believe to be truth. 

"When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons.  We cease to grow."  - Anais Nin

Grow!!!

Fig Plantation

Yesterday, Marisa and I were invited by a friend to go to a near-by village to pick figs on a fig plantation.  We had a wonderful time.  The plantation was a half miles walk off the main road.  Ireana's niece and nephew came with us and we all wondered through the garden together.  We had such a great night.  We all ate dinner at this little locale that was on a lake (that had seen better days..the water was a little low) and the wind was so cool.  What a break from the "hair dryer" breeze in Berat.  Our dinner was salad and french fries followed by frog legs and fish.  I tried everything that was served to me, but I have to say the frog legs were a little hard to swallow!  Not one of my favs!  

How exciting a unplanned kidnapping can be!!!!  Yesterday, after a Roots and Shoots meeting with Marisa and our youth club, we met up with Marisa's friend who was going to Tirana for a haircut.  A friend of hers, who has a private car, was going to be driving her, so we jumped in for a free visit to the capital.  

Our plans, however changed somewhere along the way.  We ended up in Durres, a city along the beach, a city with an awesome shopping center and import grocery store.  Marisa and I were so excited...this was our chance to stock up and Spicy Heinz Mustard, blue cheese and name brand cosmetics!  After wandering up and down the isles, yes isles, we began to make our selections.  I bought yogurt, cheese, and other things that don't make it to Berat.  The center even had a camping store, where is bought a real yoga mat!

We left the shopping paradise and on the way home, stopped for a beach front dinner.  Our driver, Petrit Cobo, the owner of the only real winery in Albania, treated us, and then we were back in car headed for home.  

We left Berat around noon, not sure where the day would take us, and we were returned about 10 pm, with full stomachs and grocery bags, but empty pockets.  So it goes....life as a Volunteer!

Meet my landlords new puppy.  Someone left her on my front porch a few weeks ago, but I just cannot afford to keep her.  Since Wayne ran away, I figured that my landlord Pirro might be interested in keeping her.  He was, so now the puppy has a home.

She's cute alright, but what you can't see from this pic is that she is a total mess.  I spent an afternoon bathing her and combing fleas and ticks out of her hair.  Not a problem, 'cause you can see those little suckers (ha ha, no pun intended).  The problem lies in the unseen...

Since the bath day a fews days ago, I have broken out with a rash all over my arms.  Any guesses to what it might be, or who it may be from?  RINGWORM....and yes, it's from that cute little fur ball above.  So, after a few sleepless nights from the itching, I have been prescribed athletes foot cream for the rash and a hearty dose of benedryl for the itch.  My advise to you...don't mess with the stray dogs!

Sad Day...Since I published the last post about Wayne, my landlords dog, who bites my heels and heards me around the yard, he is no where to be found.  One day he followed us into town, and now we can't find him.  Come home Wayne!!!

Other things are going well.  The temperatures have climbed back into the high 90's, so days go a little bit slower in that kind of heat, with out the AC.  I made some banana bread yesterday night and it is me mire!  I flourished into a great little baker here.  

Yesterday I spent most of the morning cleaning up my house.  At least once a week I try to make a past through the house with a broom and a mop.  The house gets so dusty, living on the dirt road.  Unfortunately, one of the draw backs to a large house is that it takes a long time to clean up.

Today is just like any other day.  I have been a work for a little while and now I think that Marisa and I will go get something to eat for lunch.  After that, we are going to go for a visit at my supervisor's home.  I am looking forward to meeting his family.

Thought it may be neat to take you through a day in my life, and all the sights and sounds that I experience during daily life here in Berat.  Come along for the ride...

My bedroom faces the east, so early in the morning (about 5:30 -6am) I am awaked by the sunlight flooding into my bedroom.  If this natural alarm click were not enough, the roosters outside my window crow to make sure that I know that the day has started.  I am becoming more and more immune to their crys, but occasionally I still hear them squawking about in the garden below.  I rise from bed, usually to a cool house, much different than the warm temperature that I fell asleep in.  I head to the kitchen for some granola cereal (imported from Germany) and a cup of instant coffee (that's as close to American coffee as I can get).  Some mornings I am out of the house more quickly, if I am meeting Marisa (sitemate) for an early hike, and others I set up my make-shift yoga studio on my large front patio and take in the sunrise while I am "connecting my body and mind!" Sounds very serene...and it is!  I have started doing yoga because of encouragement from Marisa.  She really likes it and has quite a collection of MP3 downloaded classes.  Some are hard (toning classes) and others are more easy (stretching and breathing).  Either way I really like them and feel that is a great way to wake up.

Most days I proceed to get ready for work.  In the hot summer months this does not require a lot of prep time.  A mildly warm shower and a splash of blush is about all the effort that I can give as I anticipate the heat the day will soon deliver.  My hair doesn't even get blown, as it will dry in the sun during my 10 minute walk to the office.  On my way down the 3 flights of stairs of my villa, I am greeted by the neighbors and the neighbors dog, who we have affectionally name Wayne (he is a cattle dog, and we figured it appropriate for him to have a country name).  Wayne usually follows me half way down my street, playfully bitting at my ankles the whole way, before returning home.

On my way to the office (a ten minute walk to the center of town) I pass though the Gabby.  This is were the Roma people, a group of Gypsies, are selling used clothes, shoes and homegoods, under open air tents.  They call out to anyone who will listen, announcing their goods for sale.  I am greeted with "Miremengjeses" and as I pass, I hear curious whispers about "Ajo eshte American?"  The road to the office leads me by several of my favorite neighborhood stores.  I collect friendly waves and indifferent stares as I pass, my long red hair drying the breeze.  How different I must look the men who line the street cafes?  Many have never been outside the block where they live.

At the office, a 3 story concrete block standing in tribute to the best communist architecture had to offer, I spend most of my time with the same three people.  Emilijano, is my supervisor, Vali and Asjem, share his office.   I am not really doing work with them, as they are all engineers (a common profession here), but they are entertaining to interact with.  We exchange greets and a mix of shqip and english, then I work on projects quietly or check my email.  Most of my work is focused on the youth group that Marisa and I have started.  I usually only commit a few hours to work here, interrupted with trips to the post office to pick up packages or random visits from people off the streets.  I leave and usually make stop at Marisa's apartment, which is in the center of town.  On the way I may stop in at the supermarket, or a fruit and vegetable stand to pick up the makings of dinner. 

Time at Marisa's is consumed by planning our next youth meeting or SAT prep class.  We may meet for a coffee, or, on slow days, waste our time away suffering the mental torture that a New York Times Saturday Crossword puzzle brings us, or instead drift away into a heat induced afternoon nap.  

The buzz of the cell phone alarm clock wakes us, as we get ready to leave the house for a Roots and Shoots (our youth group) club meeting, or coffee with a friend.  When we return to the house, dinner preparation are fast underway.  Marisa is a better cook, so she is our usual menu planner.  She is a vegetarian, so I am eating meals, pa mish (without meat), or better... the soy or tofu fake meat that she has frozen by the pound-full from here recent trip to germany.  Most of mine dinners, I supplement with either chicken breast or sausage, both of which I can get here at the supermarket.  

Our after dinner plans usually include the Gryo, a community walk down the main street of down.  To gryo is very simple...For girls, you put on your most scandalous outfit and walk up and down the street hoping to be "pick out" as an eligible bride.  When you get the the end you turn around and walk back.  For guys, you sit at the cafes and "shop" for your future wife, or troll street chatting with your other Chuni friends.  It really is quite the spectacle.  The street is lined from curb to curb with people just out for stroll, as vendors sell pop corn and cotton candy.  You can even hear the occasional crash of the bumper cars in the center of town, although most of the time the Albanians simply drive them in a circle around the track.

Marisa and I say our farewells, and set our meeting plans for the next day.  I head home, about a 7 minute walk, down the same street that I walk on to begin my day.  Even though the sun has long since set behind our mountian, the streets are still alive.  Store owners packing up their goods, neighbors sitting on their front stoops, and men watching EuroSport at the local pubs.  I arrive at the house, again greet by Wayne, eager to see if i have brought him any food from town.  Pirro (my landlord) is closing up the gym he runs next to the house, and Taushia (his wife) sits on the patio feeding Ray, her grandson.  Sometimes, from deep inside there house that occupies the first floor of my villa, I can hear the infant cries from the two week old grandbaby and Ray's new little brother.  I say my "goodnights" a head upstairs.  

Night time is a relatively quite time.  Usually the neighbors dog is howling for attention and contrary to popular belief, the roosters are crowing even thought the sun will not rise of several hours.  I lay in bed, reflecting on my day, the differences and similarities of my life here.  I miss my friends and family, but think about the new ones that I am making here.  I thank God for another day, and close my eyes for rest, lucky to be living such a good life!

A group of us just recently took a vacation to the beach Dhermi.  It was gorgeous!  We camped out, laid out and swam all day long.  It was a great mini-pushime (vacation) as Marisa and I have been pretty busy getting things going with the youth group that we are working with.  On Saturday we spend the night in Tirana for a 4th of July party at the home of the US Ambassador to Albania...who wasn't even in the country at the time.  It was a fun afternoon picnic party with hamburgers and hot dogs, meals that we do not regularly eat on a day to day basis here in Alby. Back in Berat for the week and probably the weekend too, which will actually be a nice time to clean, shop and wash things in the house.  

So this weekend I boarded a bus and headed out for a little weekend get-away.  First stop was my host family in Belsh.  I left Berat about 12pm and arrived in Elbasan, the city where we did our training, at about 2:30.  I met for coffee with two of my teachers and left for Belsh about 6.  Upon arrival in the ol' stompin' grounds, I was greeted by many familiar faces, surprised that I had come back so soon.  I went straight to the family store, where Babi and Artemisa were waiting for me.  Babi was so glad that I had returned.  He had been so worried about me since I left.  Mami met us there, too.  I made the mistake of telling her that I didn't eat lunch that day because I was traveling.  Her worst fear, that I was not eating, was realized!  I had to do a little damage control after that, and show pictures I had of me cooking with stephanie from the weekend before to avoid the inevitable over feeding at dinner.   The next morning I left Belsh at 6, picked up Stephanie on the side of the road in Shalles, and we headed into Elbasan to catch a furgon to Korce.  From there we would be able to get a furgon to Erseke and meet the group for the gorge hike at 11 am.  Well, even the best laid plans can fail sometimes.  Our furgon from Elbasan to Korce, that should have left at 7 am, didn't actually leave until 8:30, so we got off our schedule by an hour and a half.  The drive was beautiful though.  We pass through a city called Pogradec, with a huge lake in the mountains.  It looks like Lake Tahoe.  Beautiful!!!  We finally arrived in Erseke about 1 pm and met up with the rest of the group.  

Erseke was really beautiful!  We headed down the path into the gorge and got a gorgeous view of the rolling hills and green landscape.  The temperature in Erseke was very different from here in Berat.  They are in the south east part of the country and the altitude is higher, as they are in the mountain region.  It was probably still in the 70's there compared to the 90's here!   The hike was amazing!!!  You walk into the gorge, which still has water, at the top of the hill, and we hiked all the way down, deep into the gorge. It was quite the adventure.  Most of the water is only ankle to knee deep, but you can not see the bottom at all through most of the hike.  There are parts where  we would come to a waterfall and you just have to jump down, not really knowing what the water is like below.  We all survived the hike, which takes about 3 hours total, with out incident, although I am still really sore, even today.  After the hike, we all made dinner and ate together, and then played a lively round of Catch Phrase.  We went to bed around 12 am, cause we had another long day of traveling to look forward to on Sunday.  Altogether the trip is only about 90 miles from Berat to Erseke, but it takes about 5-6 hours to complete! Welcome to traveling albanian style!   All in all it was a great first trip to see the countryside of Albania.  I am looking forward to this weekend when we will celebrate the 4th of July at the Embassay with the Ambassador and 100's of his closest friends.  

So, I have been in site for two weeks now.  Time is going by a little more slowly here than it did in training.  It is weird to go from overly-programed training schedule to days that you really have to self initiate if you want to get anything done.  My days at the bashkia (municipal building) are passing slow.  Right now I am spending the mornings here, and then going home around noon.  It just gets too hot to stay here after that.  The "Big Heat" has come to Albanian and we can definitely feel it.  It is not much cooler (only a few degrees) here than it is in Dallas.  One big difference...no AC!!!!  You just pretty much sweat all the time.  

My sitemates here are pretty great.  Marisa is a PCV that has been at site for one year already.  Getting to know her is fun and she is really willing to help me integrate into our little community.  She also has some really good ides for projects and is excited to have someone to work on them with.  Right now, we have a youth group that we are running and are meeting students several times during the week to practice english and study for the SAT's. There is enough to keep busy for now.

This weekend I am going to another site in Albania.  Erseka is in the south-eastern part of Albania.  On the way I will stop in at my host family for a visit.  It will be nice to see them again and get a homemade meal!  When we arrive in Erseka on Saturday, we are going on a gorge hike with several other volunteers.  Should be really great scenery, and I am excited to see some of my friends that will be coming in for the trip that I haven't seen since our swearing in!

FYI..I have posted several new albums on Flickr Photos.  Follow the link that I have set up on this page, and take a look.  There are many more to come...they are just slow to load.

Summer has definitely come to Berat!  It is getting into the mid-high 90's everyday, and with no air conditioning, that is hot.  Thankfully my best albania roommate Jamesi (who is in route back to America today), left behind a great way to keep cool.  On the top of my roof is the best place to be in the albania heat...my swimming pool!  Stephanie and I blew it up and broke it in for the first time in summer '08!  It's great!  There will be many a pool party had here in the summer months to come!

Took a few pictures with the family before I left for Berat.  I love my family!  They are amazing!!!

Really glad to be at my new home in Berat.  I moved from my family in Belsh on Saturday morning and my cousin drove me to Berat, which is about a two hour drive.  It was really hard to say goodbye to my family that took such good care of me during my first few months in country.  However, I know that I will be back to see them soon, maybe sometime this summer.

Along the way we stopped and ate at a fish restaurant.  It was the first time that I have had fish during my time here in Albania.  I was not nervous about it because I was with my cousins and I knew that they would know the good fish from the bad fish.  You have to be careful here about which lakes you eat fish from because so many are not very clean.  To my surprise the fish came out as the WHOLE fish...head to tail.  I felt like I was on Survivor Island!  I ate it, and it was actually really great.  Very light and not too oily.  The hardest part was eating around the bones!  Those suckers are little.  One thing that I have learned, is that Albania is no place for picky eaters!

I arrived in Berat on Saturday afternoon.  James, the volunteer that has worked in the bashkia the past two years is still in town, although he leave Albania for good on Sunday.  He is helping me get settled in and I am asking him tons of questions.  He has been a great resource.

I think that I am going to like it here in Berat.  Not a lot of work right now, but I am getting to know the people and the town and I know that with time the project ideas will develop.  My house is great.  I am going to out up pictures soon.  It is really big, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen.  It has a washer, but no dryer.  Those are pretty rare in Albania.  James has kept it in good order, so it's been a good transition.  Just waiting to get unpacked until after James heads home.

At the "office" for the first day.  Things are slow, but I am meeting people.  Most of the Bashkia speaks Shqip, so I know that mine will be improving.  I will also get a tutor in Berat to help me get better at the language.  "Avash, Avash"...Little by Little!

 So...It's official!  I am now a Peace Corps Volunteer.  Our swearing in ceremony was great.  The Mayor of the town we trained in was there, all our training staff and teachers and the Ambassador of the US in Albania was there, too.  He did our actual swearing in.  Greg and Courtney did a great job delivering a speech that they wrote all in Shqip. At the end of the speech they asked, "Ju Jeni Gati?", to which all the volunteers replied "Gjithmone Gati!"  At the end we all stood up raised or right hands and took and oath that we would defend the US constitution and serve as god PCV's!  My parents came as did many of the other volunteer's families.  The auditorium was pack! We had a little reception for the people who traveled in to town to see us and then it was all over.  I am still going to go back to my host family tonight for one more night, and then I depart in the morning.  However, lot's of the volunteers will be departing from Elbasan early saturday and this is the last time (for a while) that I will see them.  It's sad to say goodbye, but I know that I will be making visits to their sites soon!  Once I get to site I will post pictures of the whole ceremony.

                                    Our Belsh Group and FamiliesFor our last days together with our families we celebrated and thanked them with an ice cream party at our favorite ice cream hangout in Belsh.  We all had such great families and we were sad to have to leave.  They were all so great at welcoming us into there homes and helping us get adjusted to the language and culture.  They will all be missed as we leave for our new homes!

Only 10 more days until we move to our permanent sites!!! I am really excited to be going, but so sad to be living my best friends, who are moving to different cities!  It's going to be weird not seeing them during the week.  It will be fun to see how things begin to develop in Berat.  Exciting times!!!

Big Congrats to the Shallas crew for on the success of their all girls volleyball tournament.  After 6 weeks of practicing with the girls and planning the big tournament day, everything went off without a hitch!  Stephanie and I made 100+ snickerdoodles (they all came out.  I have redeemed myself), lots of volunteers came from other sites to support, the mayor's of Shallas and Elbasan both came, and the girls had a great time, they didn't want to stop!  Way to go guys!!!

Thanks to our group 10 PCV's, we had a great cookout on Friday complete with real hamburgers and hot dogs!  We even had Lays potato chips! It was great.  Everyone got to the hang out and we all unrolled our sleeping bags and slept on the floor of our training managers home in Elbasan.  It was awesome to have a little taste of home.