Summer is officially over here in Pogradec…It was remarkably and uncomfortably hot here the past few weeks and I was vocally counting down the days until fall. In fact, it has been hot enough here that my professional dress attire at work has taken a turn for the worse. I have been telling people: “Jam gati për dimër,” meaning I am ready for winter. In response, my Albanian friends have employed scare tactics on me…perhaps so that my wishes and hopes do not induce an early winter, but maybe also to prepare me for what is in store. First they say that there really is no fall here but that we move quite rapidly into a persistently cold winter. Then, they keep asking me if I have a wood-burning stove. The answer is no. Instead, I have this electric heater, which might be nice because I will not be at risk for accidentally burning significant portions of my skin. Unfortunately, it also means my electric bill will probably exceed what Peace Corps allocates to me for utilities and it will do a very bad job at keeping me warm when the electricity is out. Well, one of the old ladies that lives on the first floor of my building told me that last week summer was over. I was not sure if I believed her at the time because it was still hot. Now I believe her. It is actually cold here at night and it is raining today for the first time in a couple of weeks. Ahh…the joys of not sweating around the clock. Cold or not, I am looking forward to this perk. My friend Bruna took me shopping to buy a wonderfully soft, cozy, and warm blanket that will be my favorite possession this winter. What she failed to tell me was that when girls buy these blankets, it signifies they are preparing for marriage. Oh my….

This Saturday will mark my 24th week of living in Albania. That means I am approaching the sixth month mark of my service….one half of a year and one quarter of my entire service. This realization puts a lot into perspective for me. I have to really get my rear end in gear so that I can graduate from George Washington in a timely manner. Unfortunately, I realize that I am too idealistic and ambitious when it comes to my culminating experience project (thesis) that it will be impossible for me to implement unless I simplify a bit. It also means that I need to move into preparation and execution modes for applying to medical school. The combination of these stresses and the continuous process of adapting to a new country and culture propelled me into the culture shock/depressive stage. The newness of Albania wore off and I was disillusioned by a lot of things, including work ethic in the office, gender norms, lack of Mexican food, etc. Fortunately for me, I have incredible site mates and a wonderful Peace Corps family that brought me back with positivity and excitement.

Most of us are gearing up for the busy work schedule we anticipate (which means we could quite possibly be setting ourselves up for disappointment) once school starts again on September 6th. There are the last minute trips visiting other volunteers and enjoying the final stretch of circle dancing for the summer. As Pogradec volunteers, we have been quite fortunate because other volunteers want to visit our beautiful site and us before summer is over. Two weeks ago we had an influx of volunteers that came to attend the beer fest in Korça, which is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Pogradec. The beer fest was a great opportunity to reunite with other volunteers, drink $0.50 beer, eat incredibly delicious shish kebab chicken, and explore a new city. They had live music that ranged from head banging rock music, to hilarious covers of corny American music, and Albanian rap music. I loved the slogan of the festival: Gjithmonë ka një vënd për një birrë! (Always has a place for a beer).

At the end of the day, the beer festival was such a blast because of the good company I was with…

Last weekend Brad had a couch surfer from Spain stay at his place. This guy heard of a place in the mountains of Pogradec called Kabash that had beautiful waterfalls. Of course we decide we had to go check it out. We did not know where to go and tried to ask some of the natives along the way. They tried to direct us to the furgons that would drive us there and when we told them we wanted to hike there they proceeded to think we were out of our minds. So, we were left to follow our instinct in our eager search of the esteemed waterfalls. We decided that the best approach would be to follow the river up the mountain figuring it would lead us to our destination. On the way up, we noticed that the river became increasingly polluted. No matter how long we live here, the trash always disappoints.

We also had to walk through a Roma community, which I particularly enjoyed. I think the children are beautiful and I even got some fantastic high fives, which left some stinging. Also, the kids were the most helpful in pointing us in the right direction to Kabash. The only scary thing about this area was the known presence of stray dogs. Matt and Brad had hiked through this area before and were followed by barking dogs the whole time they were there.

The Spaniard was petrified of being attacked by a dog and picked up the biggest rocks he could find to use as weapons in case of an attack. He freaked me out by his paranoia so much so that I even found a rock myself. Luckily, the dogs could have cared less about us and our limbs were spared.

The trail led a lot to be desired as we approached the waterfall. In fact, there really was not a trail at all and we had to channel our inner leapfrog as we hopped from rock to rock back and forth across the river. Only once did I accidently miss a rock and nearly fall into the river (don’t worry, it was not very deep). Thankfully, though unfortunately for him, Brad was close enough to me where I could grab him and save myself. We finally arrived at the waterfalls and though they were not as big as we were expecting, it was a beautiful site.

We also heard of a church nearby so we decided to hike up some more to the church. Finding the church also revealed an actual trail that we decided to take on the way down. It was an especially refreshing trail considering the route we took up to Kabash. It also came with one of my favorite views of Pogradec.

This past weekend we had some more special company in town and decided to hike back up to the church and have a picnic. I agreed only on the condition that we found the trail we used on the descent the previous time and Brad agreed. He said he would have no problem finding that trail. During the initial part of the hike, we found a trail but it kept going up and did not really resemble what we remembered from the previous weekend. We looked around and realized we were significantly higher than the church. We found this little path that headed down and so we decided we should probably take it in the hope that it would lead us to the appropriate trial. I almost feel that it was not a trail at all but instead a dense forest of pokey trees and bushes. After swinging through trees, climbing through bushes, falling on my butt, and receiving numerous lashings from tree limbs we made it through the forest miraculously at the church. At this point we were all drenched in our own sweat and exhausted from the adventure we had. But, we had a great lunch and found some fresh cold water along the way.

Finally, I know I am in Albania when the lokali (bar/coffee shops) only let guys go upstairs if there is a girl with them. We suspect that it provides opportunity for making out in a turp (shame) – free way, though I have yet to observe said behavior. Anyway, it is a good thing I am here for my site mates and the other male volunteers because I can be their wing girl (well, except for Steven). When they want to meet a pretty Albanian girl I can go with them so that they can have access to the girls’ hang out on the top floor.

I do admit that it is fun checking out the girls. I am learning a lot about my site mates by their preference in the ladies. Also, I

can observe the interesting and intimidating Albanian fashion scene.

This is the coolest toilet I have ever seen on the beach…

I was recently told that I have been doing an inadequate job when it comes to updating my blog…thank you for your continued interest in my Peace Corps experience! I will make a concerted effort to update more often!

I am taken aback by the fact we are already in August. I have been thinking about what a whirlwind my life has been, especially in the last year. One year ago, I was about to begin my last fall semester at GW and I was worried beyond belief about where Peace Corps would be sending me. It honestly does not feel like a whole year has passed and that I have officially been in Albania for 5 months now. In fact, this will be my 21st week.

During pre-service training we were told that as health education volunteers the summer months would be incredibly slow. A substantial portion of health education in Albania takes place in the schools. Therefore, during summer vacation our counterparts often take their “pushim” or vacation time. I have been very lucky to have an eager and passionate counterpart that has continuously sought out opportunities for us to provide family planning education to the surrounding villages. Recently, we have expanded our education to include breast feeding and using uninterrupted breast-feeding as a form of birth control. My coworkers make fun of me about how much I study Shqip, but the truth is that it is completely worthwhile because I am able to actually understand the women’s comments and concerns and it helps to better understand where education is needed regarding family planning. Last week, one of the women got upset that we were talking about condoms because she said they were only for Africa. On one hand it is promising that she knows what condoms are and that they protect against HIV/AIDS, but it emphasizes how important our health education is going to be in order to counter the misunderstandings and assumptions about the various family planning methods available.

In addition to my work at the Directorate of Public Health, I have started volunteering at Nehemia. My time at this organization has already proved to be fruitful in allowing me to meet more members of the community, get health experience on home visits with the nurses, and get some education experience by helping out in the kindergarten. The home visits are incredible, to say the least. The patients that Nehemia visit are unable to seek treatment at the health centers in the city or need continuous treatment by a caregiver. All patients apply for the home visit program and then are visited by a social worker. If they are eligible for the services, they will be entered into the program. These home visits are so exciting for me because I get the chance to observe provider-patient communication, bed-side manners, I get to learn more about health conditions and treatments, and it gives me an opportunity to enrich my passion for medicine.

Language classes have also resumed for me. Twice a week Brad, Matthew, and I have language classes with a professor that worked with the previous Peace Corps volunteers in Pogradec. At first I thought we were starting off with too basic of information…but today I was struggling. On some days I can get a pretty good grip of the grammar, but today it showed me who was boss. Otherwise, I know I am progressing well with the language. I no longer feel a pressing need to bring my dictionary with me everywhere I go. I was also able to purchase Internet for my apartment and communicate with the installers without a need for a translator or that trusty dictionary. Though, that does not mean I understand everything. I have realized that if I am tired, the Shqip-speaking part of my brain becomes completely non-functional. I have also acquired a skill that allows me to fully block out sound of people speaking Shqip when they are speaking too fast. In this circumstance, it allows me to preserve my self-confidence because as the speed of the conversation increases, it begins to sound like one continuous, unrecognizable word and then I do not understand. Still, I am eagerly looking forward to that day when I am “fluent.”

With work, volunteering, and language classes, I find my weeks to be pretty full before they even begin. My weeks are never too busy, though, for taking in the sites and enjoying my time here in Albania. Ever since we moved to Pogradec, my site mates and I have wanted to visit a beautiful village called Lin that is located right over the mountain when you first approach Lake Ohrid from Elbasan. As you can see from the view, it is enticing…

We had heard that there was a very nice and generally unpopulated beach there. So, we thought we would be adventurous and see what Lin had to offer. We got to the village and just walked straight along the main road. We kept our eyes out for the beach and were not seeing any obvious sign of a beach beyond the private beach visible along the houses. Along the way we saw some spectacular sites.

Before we knew it, the road led us to a hiking trail. We were in beach attire, meaning I was wearing a summer dress and flip-flops, and Brad was carrying our beach umbrella. But, we were determined to find this unpopulated beach we read about in the tourist book. We should have been suspicious because the book also mentioned that if we were interested in the village’s history we should seek out an elderly man that would be more than happy to tell us about Lin. Who knows how long ago our tourism book was published and whether or not that man still lives in Lin. Anyway, we decided to hike into the unknown. We kept going and going. In the distance there seemed to be a beach, but we never reached it because we were dismayed by the seemingly endless marsh. Fortunately, Brad was proactive and climbed through the bushes to find a way for us to reach the water. What he did not know at the time was that the bushes were stinging nettle plants. After learning they were stinging nettle, I made the wise decision not to inflict stinging pain on myself all over my exposed skin. So, I left the boys and tried to find a less risky entry point to the water. I found a path with less plants, but still got a little bit of a sting by that terrible stinging nettle. Even after all of this I did not jump in and enjoy the lake. I was mortified by the presence of snakes on this side of the lake and I could not get over the abundance of algae. The view alone, however, was worth it all.

On the way back out of Lin, we noticed the beach was on the opposite side of the road when you first enter the town. Oops.

We have also been pretty active in Pogradec this summer. There was recently a concert of sorts in the center of the city. They have this American Idol/ So You Think You Can Dance competition for adolescents and the top youth went on tour throughout Albania. It was a pretty entertaining concert if you like blaring loud music that literally vibrates everything within (at least) a two-mile radius, lip singing, non-choreographed group dancing, and a continuous reminder that Albanians do not have a personal space boundary. But at the end of the night, we had a great time. We were able to enjoy some dancing with great company. I would like all my devoted Pepsi drinkers to take note of their sponsorship of the event.

The end of July also brought us Connie’s three legitimate birthdays. It’s true, she has three and she is not even being greedy about it. According to her birth certificate, her family’s recollection of her birth, and the medical records, she has three birthdays: July 26th-28th. The first night we all went out to dinner. The second night we went dancing at Euro Korca, which is a hotel along the xhiro (boulevard where people walk back and forth) that has a dancing stage set up outside where people circle dance. For the longest time Connie promised us that they had circle dancing there but we never saw it. Now we believe her and it was an absolute blast. We danced and danced and danced. We were even able to keep up with the faster songs. There was only one instance where Connie lost her shoe and I thought I was going to have to forfeit the dance for laughing so hard. I never thought Peace Corps was going to be this much fun. We also noticed that the women do this impressive shoulder shake. It is not the shimmy, because I can do that. But it is a movement of just the shoulders at a rate that I do not think I am capable of in this moment. I hope to acquire this skill before my service is over. It will be an inherent part of my perceived success.

Finally, I took my own mini-pushim and traveled back to Belësh to visit my host family. They invited me to a wedding in the village and so it was a perfect opportunity for me to go back to my “Albanian roots.” The road to Belësh from Elbasan was newly paved. Before, it was the bumpiest road I think I have traveled up to this point in Albania. It was most certainly unpleasant on those days we were traveling back from Elbasan with five of us shoved into the backseat. As soon as I got to the door, my host mother ran down the stairs and gave me a great big hug. I immediately felt at home and had almost forgotten how important that feeling is. My host father’s aunt was over for a visit and so I met her for the first time and she gave me more kisses than I have ever received in a greeting. The baby, Ansila, has grown so much in the 10 weeks since I moved to Pogradec. She is smiling now and I was elated with all the goofy faces I got to make for her to smile. Eventually, she started to smile at me every time I looked at her, even if I did not make a face.

My host mother’s sister, Gerta, also came into town from Durres. She stayed in Belësh for the first two weeks I lived with the host family. She became a really close friend and it was wonderful to spend more time with her as well.

The wedding itself was a blast, as is to be expected at an Albanian wedding. The wedding was in the village at the place where most weddings are celebrated there. The bride was my host father’s cousin. Weddings are such a big deal that his brother working in Italy and his brother working in Greece both came back with their families. As such, we had quite the wedding party.

Of course, we engaged in circle dancing. One of the servers that remembered me from when I lived there told me “bravo” as we were leaving because I guess he was surprised that I could circle dance. I did miraculously forget to mentally and physically prepare for the terribly loud music that is associated with every Albanian wedding. I am not sure how I could have had such a lapse in judgment. Unfortunately, our table was right next to the speaker and I seriously thought my ears were going to bleed by the end of the wedding. Luckily for me, my hearing is generally still in tact.

Now time for the “I know I’m in Albania when…” segment:

• Students in the high schools are taking an exam for entry into the university and all my coworkers are sending text messages to students to give them answers

• The mother that asked me to marry her son came to our office to tell me about all the benefits her son would bring to my life and offered me the proposal again

• I ran into a coworker that just retired while walking home one day and she looked down my shirt to see whether or not I have been going to the beach

• I was literally kidnapped at work because they said I was working too hard and needed a break before I got too tired.

• I have officially received my “rite of passage” into the Peace Corps Volunteer family by having had giardia…

I have been living in Pogradec for over a month now. At this point, I am officially considering myself to be a Pogradecare. Apparently this is coming off to others as well, but this is starting to complicate matters because when I meet some new Albanians I have to argue with them about how I am not Albanian but am fully American. Sometimes they take this to mean I am Albanian but happened to be born in America. My solution is to say that I am American but Albanian at heart…they think this is cute.

The last couple of weeks have been particularly busy, but enjoyable. I will just share the highlights to spare you from my own overindulgence of reflection. Two weeks ago I was invited to travel to Tirana, the capital, to assist a presentation being made by Peace Corps at the Institute of Public Health. One of the group 12 volunteers put in a lot of work and time to prepare the presentation she gave (entirely in Shqip) on making lesson plans for a group of health educators (including many of our counterparts). Traditionally, the health educators review the information available to them and then regurgitate the information in their lesson. Our responsibility as health education volunteers is to enhance their capacity to plan for a lesson that is more interactive and engaging. The golden standard for health education right now is to prepare a lesson plan that identifies target population, goal, objectives, materials needed to conduct the lesson, a comprehensive outline of the lesson, then revisiting the lesson plan after the lesson to make a reflection of what worked well and what did not, and making any modifications where deemed necessary. I am trying to study these words in Shqip so that I can relay this information to the nurses in my unit. Wish me luck.

While in Tirana, I took advantage of the opportunity to explore. I have decided that my sense of direction is only fully functional in Tirana, for some reason, because I was able to find my way around the city with no problem at all. I was so proud of my ability to find the Peace Corps office on my own the first time given that the only other time I had been there was on our tour of the capital. One of the best parts about Tirana is that they sell avocado. That’s right, avocado! The next time I go to the capital, I am going to bring another bag to be filled with avocados. I will proceed to make guacamole and freeze it for strategic consumption over time. Another unique characteristic of Tirana, and this country in general, is the colorful painting on buildings. Along the “river road” there are many buildings with the most colorful and interesting paint jobs I have ever seen. Apparently the mayor provided funding for the beautification of the city and this is at least one of the outcomes.

And this is how much Albania loves America…

Work-wise, things have been progressing along and we have been productive. The director wanted us to focus on family planning this month and so we have been traveling to the villages around Pogradec to talk to women there about the various contraceptive methods available to them. Albania has a “Planifikimi Familiar” emblem that is placed on all clinics where contraceptive methods are available for free. For the villages, these family planning clinics are within the community health centers but the cities typically have their own separate family planning clinics. One of the villages we visited had this family clinic located in a classroom at the local kindergarten. In general, the resources in these clinics are very limited. The villages are on a water schedule and so during the day, working hours, there is no running water. As such, the expected normalcy of hand washing by health professionals in the US is not thought of much here. These village clinics do not have the capacity to run tests or to use basic diagnostic tools for complicated health matters. Instead, the patients are referred to larger clinics. First, it seems they are referred to specialized care centers here in Pogradec. Afterwards, if the medical condition is serious, the patient is referred to Tirana. Of course, many families cannot afford to travel to these cities let alone afford the prescriptions and tests they will have to pay for. Back to family planning…it has been an interesting project for us. Many of the village women have not been exposed to modern contraceptive methods or are unaware that they are available for free. The women get so embarrassed during these lessons, especially during the condom demonstrations. Sometimes they start laughing uncontrollably (sometimes even to the point of crying) and other times they turn bright red. At one of the villages this week, Qibrie was giving the condom demonstration and of course the women were laughing. At this same moment, the donkey right outside the window started making its ridiculous noise, which managed to make the situation even more awkward for the women. I thought one woman was going to fall off the chair because she was laughing so hard. We are going to continue focusing on family planning through August, including having a project on the beach where we set up a booth and give family planning education. Qibrie envisions having a seriously oversized condom to draw attention. I am not sure what I think about this idea so far…

I have also established a working relationship with another organization operating here in Pogradec, called Nehemia. It is a German, Christian organization that is quite impressive in terms of the reach it has with education, social work, medicine, and even religion. It is really an honor to get to work with this organization. Last week I was invited to attend an organizational event in Peshkëpi, a village just outside Pogradec. Nehemia was celebrating the inauguration of their mission house and a community center there. This community center will be a space for the community to have their meetings and cultural events. Also, the organization will run a soup kitchen out of it during the evenings. Nehemia also operates a school and a medical clinic there. All of the employees were so nice and welcoming.

For the rest of July, I will be working at Nehemia in Buçimas once I get off of work, another village just outside Pogradec, helping the social work department with their summer projects and events. At the end of July, I will move to Pogradec to work with Amarotan, the Roma school. At this school they have a very well developed social work department and they provide medical care to the students, whch I am particularly interested in.

I have a very important introduction to make: last week we had a new addition to Team Pogradec. Brad, a volunteer from my group who was previously assigned to another town, was moved to Pogradec. He will be teaching English which means we now have all the Peace Corps sectors in Pogradec (community development, health education, and teaching English as a foreign language). Brad was moved from his previous site because they did not have adequate housing for him and his site mate there. I personally think he got a pretty good deal out of this whole ordeal because Pogradec is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and he has some great site mates, if I do say so myself…

On a fun note, I have just experienced my very first birthday and Fourth of July in Albania. My birthday was great. I had to work during the day, and afterwards I had dinner with my site mates and Steven at Connie’s house. The food was delicious, as always, and I even had an Albanian cake with candles. It was a special birthday because of the company I had, so thank you all for making it so memorable.

For the Fourth of July, my site mates and I decided to walk to Vila Art, which is the place where Enver Hoxha, the previous communist dictator, used to go for his vacations. Connie said the only authentic part now is the chimney in the main house, but that is ok for me. Now, it is a primary tourist attraction of Pogradec. Essentially it is a park with beautiful flowers, trees, ponds, boats, and swans. We decided to relax, drink a beer and eat French fries in honor of our holiday. Connie even brought some peanut butter with crackers as an American treat. It was pretty dang amazing…I guess I am missing peanut butter more than I let on, which is interesting because I did not eat a lot of it when I lived in America. I guess you always want what you can’t have. On the way back, Brad took us to a place where he saw a sign for hot dogs. We all thought they would not really be hot dogs, but in fact they were!

So, it looks like we celebrated the Fourth of July appropriately. Oh, and we even had fireworks! On July 3rd, a beach bar had its opening night. Given there were so many of us interested in seeing what it was like, we decided to go. At exactly midnight they had fireworks! We pretended they were for us and for the Fourth of July.

When I look back at my experience so far, I think I am starting to get so well adjusted to life in Albania that I no longer take notice of the things that stood out to me in the beginning. As such, I am deliberately trying to take note of the occurrences and observations I have which remind me I am in Albania:

• The adolescent and young adult males walk around with what we affectionately call the “çuni roll.” This is where they pull up their shirt so that their belly is hanging out. Apparently this is their preferred method of cooling off but makes me laugh every time. Could you imagine if I picked up this habit?

• The local government ordered road spikes to be inserted into a road that leads to the city center as a way to enforce the one-way rule. First, the spikes are metal so when you are driving over them, they make this horrible clanking noise. It would be terrible if you lived on that corner because I am sure you would hear it at all hours of the day. They also did not put a sign telling people that if you are going the right direction, the spikes will go down with no problem and your tires will not be damaged. Some drivers stop and wonder whether or not they should go over them. Other drivers will come and honk which only flusters the driver in question even more. Now, some people have put these wooden planks over the spikes so that they no longer make the clanking noise and so they can drive the wrong way (I am sure). I noticed today that the wooden planks have nails sticking up which probably will manage to pop some tires no matter if they are going in the right direction or not.

• This week, the laboratory at the Directorate of Public Health, where I work, has been testing beer for their content.

• Water problems have continued in my apartment. This time, I have droplets of water that are falling from the ceiling in my bathroom. They usually appear in the evening and persist until the morning. At first, there would be one or two drops but they would not disturb toilet activity. Now, the water droplets have extended across the width of the bathroom ceiling, which means that I am experiencing potentially poopy water droplets during all toilet activity that takes place in the evening and morning. I will not lie; I have waited to use the bathroom facilities until I get to work just to avoid the icky water. I have communicated this problem to my landlords, but they say it is not their problem, that it is the problem of the residents above me. Pieces of ceiling are falling these days…I have a serious fear I will die on the toilet when the ceiling falls in on me.

• There is an overall resistance to change and work here. People complain regularly how there is no work, even at work. But at the directorate when I propose that we do a new summer project or event, I hear that it is impossible, they do not have enough resources to make anything happen. Maybe this is the case, I have never held a summer event, but we will never know if we do not try. Speaking of work, I have also observed how it is acceptable for the men to be intoxicated off of raki (the local alcoholic beverage) at any hour of the day.

• I have received serious marriage proposals at work and on the street. Today for instance, I was walking with Qibrie and we met one of her friends. She was asking about where I am from, what I do, and the usual and so I was responding. Then she got very serious about how she has a 30-year-old son that she wants me to meet. Qibrie just started laughing and told her that I am already taken because she has a 25-year-old son for me. There was even one time where women at a garment factory interrupted the presentation on blood donation to offer their sons for marriage. Now Qibrie is even teasing me about marrying the new psychologist in our unit….interesting.

The last two weeks were quite eventful, including water explosions, my first Albanian wedding, a lot of work, and fun time.

My second week at site started out really promising. School was wrapping up for the spring signifying that the Education and Promotion unit was frantically trying to finish up all the health education it could do at the schools before summer break. The last topic to cover was drug education, including peer pressure. My counterpart was unsure of how to plan the lesson and so I took that as an open invitation to propose a more interactive activity. To ease her into the idea of activities as part of her promotion work, I proposed a role-play for the students that would emphasize the life skill of overcoming peer pressure related to drug consumption. She liked the idea and allowed me to draft up two scenarios – one that demonstrated a student overcoming peer pressure and refusing drugs, and one that demonstrated a student that succumbed to peer pressure and accepted a drug offer. She liked them both, said “I love you,” and before I knew it we were having the students doing the skit during the lessons.

Unfortunately, not everything in life can continue to go so well. One evening I was finally at home and relaxing when it was as if life said: “Not so fast!” Before I knew it, I was enduring my first water explosion in the kitchen. The pipes burst under the kitchen sink and in the blink of an eye my entire kitchen was flooded with water. I am not sure I ever have jumped up off the couch so quickly but I had to because I had no idea where to turn the water off and so I had to run across the hall to ask for help from the neighbors. It is actually comical now when I think back because I was so freaked out that I could only say: “Kam problem i madh me ujë” (I have a big problem with water). Luckily, they were able to help me right away to turn off the water to the kitchen and shuttle buckets of water onto the balcony. My landlords came by the next day to check out the kitchen and to identify what parts they needed to buy for the repair. Life wanted to test me one more time that night, around 2 am. I woke up from a dead sleep to the sounds of another, more aggressive water explosion. This time, the problem was in the bathroom. At this point, I run straight into the bathroom to confirm my worst fears and also because this is where I have to go to turn off the water. As soon as I stepped foot into the bathroom I was completely drenched with freezing cold water because it turned out that the pipes were exploding in all directions imaginable. I tried to turn off the water but it is so tight that really you need pliers to get it to turn enough. I had no choice but to wake up my neighbors, again. It was so sad because they were also in a dead sleep. This explosion was a little bit more serious due to the amount of water coming out. There was even a pipe in the hallway that burst so their front doors were also in jeopardy. Luckily, one of my neighbors brought a pair of pliers and we were able to turn off the water enough to where we could relieve the remaining pressure by keeping the bathroom sink running. I am happy to report that it has been about a week and all water problems have been remedied.

Later on in the second week, I was able to attend my first Albanian wedding! I love learning about the Albanian wedding traditions because they are quite complex and deliberate. From my understanding, there are generally three weddings – one for the bride, one for the groom, and then one joint wedding.

Matthew and I attended the wedding of our friend Alda (the bride’s wedding), whom we met the very first weekend we lived here in Pogradec. Matthew had been worrying a little bit more about how the dynamics would be once we got to the wedding, if we would be able to figure out what to do, and when to do it. I, on the other hand, was completely nonchalant and excited about even getting the chance to go to a wedding. Apparently I ought to have been a little more concerned because when we got there, the room was full and we had no idea where to sit. Everyone just looked at us. Fortunately, that was the most awkward moment. We just sat down at a table and they started serving us loads of food. We went over to “Gezuar” (cheers) the bride and then I think people felt better about whether or not we were supposed to be there.

The music and circle dancing were the most noticeable features of the wedding right off the bat. I have heard from other volunteers and even Albanians that weddings have very loud music. Some volunteers were smart enough to cut up earplugs so that they were not noticeable in their ears…unfortunately, Matthew and I did not think that far in advance. At times my ears actually hurt. It was funny because when there was a break in the music, it sounded like we were in the ocean. The dancing was incredible, though! There was a group of younger girls that liked to circle dance. They noticed us watching intently and invited us to dance. So, we joined the circle and we were on our way! They were pretty impressed with our skills, but I did not have the heart to tell them that my counterpart practiced the dance with me just before I left work. We did not dance the whole time, because certain dances were reserved for the family. As the family members would circle dance, other family and friends would come up and throw money at them or place the money on their forehead or on the top of their head.

The wedding party had a lot of little helpers that would dive down to collect the money and would run to the bag where the money was being collected.

For the most of the wedding ceremony, only the bride’s family and friends were in attendance. The bride’s immediate family went around and greeted every person there. Her brother told Matthew and I that he could tell right away we were American (I thought great, are we that obvious?). Luckily, his sister told him we were coming and he was looking out for us. About three-quarters of the way through, the groom and his party arrived. The bride’s party all lined up and greeted them as they made their way into the building.

I thought it was really interesting. It was the way for the bride’s family and friends to welcome the groom into their family. At one point, the bride and the groom got on top of a table. Alda’s grandmother also got up there and presented him with gifts. After the groom and his party left, we continued to dance for a little bit longer. Then the party ended, which was good because my feet could not take dancing any longer in mini, non-Albanian sized heels. Overall, it was an incredible experience. It was so much fun going to the wedding and meeting the family in the way we did. I hope I will be able to keep in touch with Alda and her brother because they are back in the US. Maybe we can have a reunion when I am finished with my service here.

At the end of the week, I had seven volunteers stay with me because we were all attending the Gender and Development conference being held here in Pogradec. I was happy to see so many of the other volunteers again. I know it had only been about two weeks since swearing in, but we were all so used to seeing each other everyday during training. The conference was interesting. I think that there were too many cooks in the kitchen with so many extra volunteers eager to get their hands on something. There were seven girls that attended the conference from Pogradec. I did not have a chance to meet them prior to the conference, but I was really elated to see how bright and passionate they were. I am hoping to keep in contact with the girls whether or not our activities are GAD related. While in Pogradec, we made sure to have a little fun as well. I have been secretly wanting to jump into one of the many boats that line the lake but have been too chicken to do it on my own. Thankfully, Katie was there to cross off one of the activities on my Albania bucket list.

One of the other items on my Albanian bucket list was to take one of the paddleboats out on the lake and go swimming. I am happy to report this has also been accomplished. Matthew, Katie, and I hopped on paddleboat 13 as a sort of tribute to our Group 13 volunteers.

After swimming, laughing, eating watermelon, and learning how to get back on the paddleboat from the water (a technique we like to call beached whale), we were ready to call it a day. That is until we saw the seesaw. I am pretty sure the children thought we were crazy, but then they were also more excited about this part of the playground after they saw how much fun we were having…

After this our batteries were recharged and we were back to work. Katie and I headed to Permet to meet with some of the other health volunteers working in the South. Catherine had planned a seminar for us to discuss a project for collaboration. The intention is for all of us to create a health education video that can be shown each month at all of our permanent sites. This would give us eight full months work with a new health topic that has never been covered previously by the Peace Corps. I appreciate the guidance and support the group 12 health volunteers are giving us with this opportunity and I am excited to have such an intense project to start off with considering that the summer months have a tendency to be a little bit slow for health volunteers because schools are out for the summer.

Permet itself is also a very beautiful town.

It is known as the city of roses. Before I got to Permet, all the women at the office were telling me about how many roses there are in the city. When I got there, however, I did not really see too many flowers. I learned that after 1997 there stopped being so many roses. Most Albanians I have encountered do not discuss 1997 too often because it was a really difficult year for the country. There was a civil war that broke out and six Permet residents were killed.

Finally, a tradition in Permet is to hike up City Rock, which of course we had to do. When I first saw this rock, I was a little worried that we would be scaling the wall. Luckily for us, there are stairs that lead you all the way to the top, albeit stairs that are a little wobbly and slanted. But, the view from atop the rock is worth it because you can see all of Permet and the surrounding area.

Random event for the week: I received a call today from a Peace Corps staff member (which always worries me a little because I wonder what they are calling for). She said that she had a weird call for me because there was a woman from the DC office that wanted to talk to me. So, I say OK. It turns out she works at Peace Corps headquarters in DC with the Private Sector Initiatives. She is traveling in Albania right now to learn about some of the Peace Corps Partnership Programs being conducted. She is the sister of one of my sorority sisters back in Colorado. It is such a small world! I have to say that it meant a lot to hear from her. I feel I am in good hands now that I know she is working at headquarters and a call from a fellow Coloradan always makes my day!

At the end of my first official week in Pogradec, I am feeling content and confident that I will be able to realize my full service in this city. My first week was nothing but productive - I was productive nesting in my apartment, productive in establishing relationships in the workplace, productive in cooking for myself, and productive in terms of exploring my new home.

One of the most consistent pieces of advice I received from returned Peace Corps volunteers was to make sure you make your house your own as quickly as possible. I employed this tactic and was surprised by how quickly the space felt like my own. I rearranged some of the items left in the house and created a picture wall of my friends and family that have inspired me over the years. So, whenever I am having a rough day, I’ll look at my picture wall and be ready to go again. Here are some pictures of my house and the view from my balcony.

Work is definitely going to be a unique opportunity and challenge. I am no longer intimidated by the fact that no one in my office speaks English, but am learning how to catch on quickly and/or pretend that I am. Really I am getting quite good at writing down words I don’t know and looking them up later. Qibrie also finds it especially exciting to teach me a few random new words everyday and then she will test me on them the next day. Those are definitely the words I study every night! For example, mornica is goosebumps (because I have them almost all the time in the building) and çorape is socks. We did three antismoking lessons in the middle and high schools in the first week. For each one, I did my sponge demonstration that we used during our practicum in Belesh to demonstrate how difficult it becomes for the lungs to exchange carbon dioxide with oxygen after being exposed to smoke. Sometimes it is amusing because the male students do not think I can understand Shqip right now and so they will say inappropriate comments, to which Qibrie will yell at them, or to which I decide to respond and startle them. My name in Shqip is spelt Stejsi and they often find it hilarious to start calling me Strejsi, which just so happens to mean stress. I hope this is just a coincidence and has nothing to do with my character or my tendency to stress about things...I mean, how could they know this already? The students keep this job interesting and I am looking forward to all the experiences we will have with them.

Cooking has also been quite interesting. It is not like I never cooked for myself before, but chips and salsa and Mexican food are not so easy to come by here. As such, I am learning to broaden my horizons out of pure necessity. The first thing I made was tarator, a traditional Albanian salad. It is actually pretty simple, it is made with yogurt, grated cucumber and leek, and some olive oil. Then I decided to get really fancy and bake my own bread. Theoretically it is not too difficult, but after I already prepared the dough, I realized that my oven does not actually have a dial so I can never know what temperature the oven is at. Unfortunately, that meant my bread came out especially yeasty. Maybe I’ll just stick to vegetable soup and rice dishes.

Another piece of advice we received as we became official volunteers was to be sure to get out of the house every single day. Thus far I have been able uphold this piece of advice and have gone out on new adventures. Every time I go out I think of it as an opportunity to meet someone new. The first weekend Matthew and I met this girl that is from Pogradec but has been living in Wisconsin for the past 11 years or so. She has returned because she is getting married. She invited us to her wedding the second week of June and we quickly accepted her invitation. This will be our first Albanian wedding and are both perhaps too eager to engage in some circle dancing fun. I also met a 12 year old boy named Mario that works at the coffee shop with wireless internet. Since we started going there, he has been communicating in both English and Shqip to us but always hesitated because he did not quite know what we spoke. Yesterday we both realized that the other speaks English. Let me just say that this kid is incredible! He has been teaching himself English. They start teaching English in the schools here in grade three, but he wanted to learn before that and taught himself. He was two full classes ahead of his peers by the time it was offered to him. Because he is so far ahead, he goes to the library to read the English books there. I asked what kind of books and he said chemistry, physics, and math because those are the only kind of books that are available. He wanted to show me some of the essays he has written in his English class and I was really blown away. Not only was his English impressive for a non-native, 12 year old, he was also expressing deep philosophical perspectives that I am not even sure I could write about in English. Then last night after dinner we went walking along the lake with the only intention of buying these delicious doughnuts that we know all too well are keq për shëndet (bad for health). This was a success but we also stumbled upon a concert in the city center. They lip-sang Albanian music and there was even a stand-up comic (we did not understand but elected to laugh when everyone else did). I love these random moments more than I can say.

Over the weekend my site mates and I went to Korca just to visit a new city. We went to the open market there which is far larger than what we have in Pogradec. Luckily I was able to find more knock-off undies!

Korca is a beautiful city. This church is newly built and stunning to look at. Also, the school here was the very first school in Albania.

Here are two of my favorite views in Pogradec: (I am not sure why I love the peeing fountain but I think it is hilarious!)

Though there have been many wonderful experiences as an official Peace Corps volunteer, my first week also had some downsides. My apartment gets especially quiet sometimes and it gives me too much time to think about how I miss friends and family. I do not think this feeling is ever going to get better with time. I think it is going to be an ongoing challenge that is unique to this type of experience. Also, I experienced the first set of rocks thrown at me by youth. I first read about this behavior in the invitation material sent to me by Peace Corps and we all heard about it during out Pre-Service Training. However, I never experienced anything like it in Belesh and I just did not think that it was as common as they always mentioned. At first it is a sad feeling, but then you have to realize that it is not a personal attack; they just do not know who you are and it has never been a behavior that has been reprimanded. Connie has been asking the kids outside her apartment building “did you throw rocks at my friend?” That will teach ‘em!

I am looking forward to the next two weeks, but they are going to be quite busy. At the end of this week, there is a Gender and Development conference that will take place here in Pogradec. Young girls from around Albania will be coming to this conference to learn about gender issues, body image, the environment, leadership, etc. We have a Gender and Development committee in Peace Corps Albania that allows volunteers to create and run Gender and Development groups at their permanent site. There has not been a group here in Pogradec, but I am hoping to get one started. In fact, one of Connie’s co-workers really wanted some young girls from Pogradec to attend this conference and so she distributed the application and permission slips. We have had six turn them in already and I’ll be getting to meet them tomorrow. This seems to be the perfect way to start a group here! Another good thing about the conference is that it means other Peace Corps volunteers will be coming into town. I will have a house full, but I think it will be a blast! Then early next week the health education volunteers working in the south of Albania have been invited to meet in Permet to work on a project together. It involves the development of health education videos that have been translated into Shqip for subtitles. I was so excited when I found out about this opportunity because it will allow me to use some of the communication and social marketing skills that I have hopefully acquired from graduate school and I think it is a fantastic way for us to collaborate with each other!

We have been in Albania for 10 weeks now. This past week has been one of the most exciting and yet most emotional weeks for me. Everything we have done during our Pre-Service Training has contributed to our eligibility to swear in as official Peace Corps volunteers. We have worked tirelessly on our health projects, Shqip-speaking ability, cultural adaptation and relationship building. I have been thinking about whether or not I have changed over these 10 weeks and if so, in what way(s). I know that I most certainly have changed, but it is difficult to pinpoint how right now. One thing I know for sure is that my life has been greatly touched by my new friends and family.

My host family has been such an important component to my experience thus far in Albania. I think it is amusing to remember how I was so nervous to meet them for the first time that my hands were shaking and I could hardly even muster any of the 10 words I knew in Shqip at that time. Now in only 10 weeks, they are my family. Last week, they took me to the village where my host father grew up. There, they dressed me up in traditional clothing that my host gjyshe (grandmother) made by hand. I hope you can tell from the photos just how beautiful the clothes are. There are so many intricate layers to an outfit. There are pants, a skirt, a long sleeved shirt, a belt, an apron, a vest with embroidery, and two veils.

My host mother also got dressed up in the traditional garb. She kept joking about how she is a modern woman and so the traditional garb is a bit too interesting for her.

It was so much fun and a fantastic way to wrap up the home-stay experience together. I am especially appreciative for how willing the entire family has been to help me learn Shqip and learn about Albanian culture and traditions.

On May 27th, all 50 of us swore in as official Peace Corps volunteers. This was certainly one of the most exciting moments I will have as a volunteer. I am proud of how far we have come in these 10 weeks and I am excited about all the potential we have with our projects at the permanent sites. The ceremony was great, albeit a little sad because it forced me to realize how finite our time is together. I have made so many great friends with the other volunteers and with the staff, but now we are all dispersed throughout the country.

We were lucky to have both the mayor of Elbasan and the US Ambassador to Albania partake in our swearing in ceremony. The mayor said he always asks for Peace Corps to send all of the volunteers to Elbasan because he knows that we are all motivated to get things done. The US Ambassador, John Withers, talked about how when Peace Corps was started, many critics said the organization would never last and that the model would be ineffective. Well, the organization has endured and done so successfully. Next year, Peace Corps will experience its 50th anniversary and I think it will be an incredible honor to be serving during this time.

Earlier in the week we learned that two representatives from our group 13 would be able to give a speech during the ceremony and the catch was that it was to be completely in Shqip. After a round of rock-paper-scissors, Nathan and I were granted the opportunity to give the speech during the ceremony. Contrary to popular belief, we did not coordinate our ceremony attire.

Luckily, we were able to write the speech in English and then have one of the language teachers translate. That gave us more time to practice saying the speech in its entirety. And by practice, I mean that my host parents probably knew my part by heart by the time I actually gave the speech. It was a high pressure situation because first and foremost, we wanted to describe our experience and extend our deepest gratitude to the host families, community members, and staff members that have made this experience so special and that have equipped us with the skills we need to be successful volunteers.

I was scared that my voice would crack or I would be so nervous that I would not be able to pronounce the difficult words. Somehow, I was able to suppress these worries and it went well. Ok, there was still one word that I could never pronounce properly despite repetition and a strategically implemented foot stomp...After my first paragraph, my host mother stormed the stage and gave me a bouquet of flowers. It was an amazing moment for me and it took nearly everything I had not to cry. Good thing Jan came and held the flowers for me. During the speech, it was reaffirming to hear the audience laugh at our jokes and applaud our series of “thank you.”

Apparently we were also on the news. The media came to our ceremony, I think in large part because both the mayor and the US Ambassador were there, but they showed us giving part of our speech. Katie’s host sister saw me and they texted me about it right away. Then as I was saying my goodbyes in Belesh, one of the restaurant owners told me he saw me and was so proud! My counterpart’s husband here in Pogradec also watched us on the news. Too bad I never had a chance to see, but maybe it is better that way :). At least now I am spared any potential embarrassment.

The worst part about actually swearing in was the fact that it meant we had to say goodbye to all the people we have grown so close to in such a short time. If you’re reading this, you probably already know that I am horrible with goodbyes and have a propensity to cry. Well, there was no difference here. I cried when I said goodbye to my “pasty white Belshians” and to my host family. I am trying to be positive, though, and remember the fact that I have been so lucky to meet such incredible people. I am excited about being able to share this entire Peace Corps experience with them!

I am now settling into my new apartment in Pogradec. Nesting has been going well thus far. Yesterday I was able to go to the outdoor market and pick up a lot of items for the kitchen, which will be fantastic for when I decide I am hungry enough to start learning how to cook. My neighbors are already pinching my cheeks and kissing me more than I am comfortable with, but I’ll adjust eventually. I found tabasco sauce yesterday which pretty much was a hallmark experience. Tomorrow is the first day of work and I am excited, nervous, continuously crossing my fingers (and toes) that I will be able to communicate at least to some extent, and hopeful for everything we will be able to accomplish through our collaboration.

Cool experience of the week: I felt my first earthquake! Well actually there were three small tremors. Matthew and I were making our way to Pogradec from Elbasan and we had to wait in the furgon for about 45 minutes before it filled up enough to make the drive. Being in the furgon allowed us to feel these tremors because it absorbed and transferred the shocks pretty fantastically.

Love and miss you all.

So much of the Peace Corps process is waiting (sometimes patiently and other times not so much) for information about being nominated to serve, then waiting for medical and legal approval, waiting for the invitation to serve, waiting for the departure date, arriving in country and waiting to hear site placement and job description, then finally waiting to get a good idea of what you actually got yourself into. Now, with two weeks left in pre-service training, I finally have a fairly good idea of what a day in my life will be like as a Peace Corps volunteer in Pogradec, Albania.

Last week we had our counterpart conference and site visit. The counterpart conference took part in Durres and it is where we were able to meet our counterpart, or the individual(s) we will be working with for our primary projects at our permanent site. I have heard about some great experiences with counterparts and also some bad experiences, so I was nervous going into this first meeting with my counterpart. The only things I knew going into this first meeting was that my no one at my organization speaks any English and that my counterpart was maybe apprehensive about taking on another volunteer. Needless to say I wanted to make a good impression...

All of my worries were quenched after that initial meeting. Qimbrie (pronounced Chimbrea) seemed very warm and interested in working closely together over the next two years. She gave many hugs, high fives, and pinches during our conversation. She was impressed with my ability to speak Shqip, and honestly so was I. That is not to say I understood everything she said, but at least I could grasp the topic of the conversation. She said that over two years, we will laugh together, cry together, eat together, drink coffee together, and do a lot of work together.

The next day at the conference, we had a series of presentations that would help prepare both the counterparts and students for the work that we would be doing. We had to practice putting together a lesson plan for a health education topic of our choice. This is when I actually started to get worried because she was not slowing down her Shqip so I was having a difficult time understanding and I did not feel that I was able to impress upon her my ideas for the lesson. I tried to turn this potentially stressful interaction into a positive learning experience because it gave me the opportunity to see what her typical lessons are like. From there, I can start to supplement it with additional information, activities, and interactive lessons for the population. The trainees also presented three activities we gave during our practicums. One group presented an activity they did for drinking and driving education, one group presented a demonstration that can be used to show youth what is in a cigarette, and my group presented the sponge and straw activities we did for our antismoking education. From my experiences, and especially with the practicum, these activities really engage the audience members and hopefully this makes health education more fun which means they are more likely to adopt healthier behavior changes.

Matthew and I left pretty immediately from lunch to go to Pogradec for the first time with Qimbrie and her husband. It was a fairly long drive from Durres to Pogradec, but the view was incredible. Pogradec is located on the south side of Lake Ohrid and there is a point in the drive where you come up to the top of the mountain and can see the lake for the first time. Honestly, it was breathtaking.

We stayed with Connie, a group 12 volunteer that has been living in Pogradec for one year. It was fantastic to finally have all of team Pogradec together! The first night, we went out to xhiro (walk) along the lake. In some cities in Albania, people will xhiro back and forth along the boulevard and I am elated that Pogradec has a pretty lively xhiro.

Not only is the view spectacular, but also that water slide looks incredible! Apparently the water slide only worked the first summer it was constructed and never again. Good thing they have three Peace Corps volunteers now...we’ll assess our resources and make the slide operable. It is for the betterment of the entire community, I am sure.

I was able come into the office everyday during my site visit. I appreciated this opportunity because it allowed me to become comfortable with the work environment and get an idea of what actually goes on at the Directorate of Public Health. The Directorate is located on the second floor of this building. The first floor is the kindergarten (which means easy access to the kindergartners for health education messages). I’ll be sharing an office with both Qimbrie and Rajmonda (my counterparts) so we will be able to work closely together on all projects being conducted by the education and promotion unit. The first couple of days consisted of me being introduced to people at other organizations and institutions we will collaborate with. I was able to visit the hospital, dentist offices, specialist centers, the women’s clinic, and the children’s clinic.

There is ample opportunity in Pogradec for health projects and I am elated with the potential I have in this placement. While there, we had four health education sessions with students. Two were on sexually transmitted infections and the other two were antismoking. For the antismoking lessons, Qimbrie asked me to do my sponge activity which I did gladly. I am happy she wanted to incorporate the activity into her lesson plan. It has provided a great starting point for us to begin introducing informative activities into the original lesson plans. Though, I will admit that the classrooms were often in a state of chaos. One of the teachers was literally beating the desks with her hands or whatever she had within reach to quiet the students. On a bright note, I am pretty sure my Shqip improved considerably during this site visit because I could only communicate in Shqip with my coworkers. I cannot wait to be able to understand everything they say and to be able to communicate my thoughts.

Another great part of the site visit was getting to see my apartment for the first time. My communist block apartment is located on one of the main streets away from the lake. It is on the fifth floor so in the remaining two weeks I have before I move there, I will be deliberately building up my stamina so that I can lug my luggage up all the stairs. It seems like a pretty good place. I have two rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom with a western toilet. My balcony also gives me a spectacular view of the city and the mountains. I’ll be living right here...

Finally, we could not have a site visit without a little adventure. We tried to explore the city as much as possible. We tried to find the Gabi (gypsy market) that we knew was near my apartment. We turned the wrong direction but came across these great views:

We also went on a hike to get a top-down view of the city. This is definitely not where I expected to be living when I first applied to Peace Corps...but it is completely amazing.

I will go ahead and apologize now because you will probably see a bazillion more of these types of photos over the next two years. I just find it so beautiful and I cannot get enough of the view.

One of the parts of Pogradec that I appreciate is the abundance of art. Pogradec is known for the artists it has and also for being the source of inspiration for other artists. As you walk around the city, some of the people have painted their doors and gates beautiful colors as a part of a creative city project. I think they are wonderful and I hope to see as many of them as I can.

In the center of the city there is this beautiful art display. I am not entirely sure at this moment what the display signifies, but it provides a splash of color to the city. Around this display are plaques on the ground that pay tribute to artists from singers to authors. Mostly they are Albanian artists, but then there were some familiar artists, too, including the Beatles and ABBA.

Then along the lake there are these statues that are interesting, though I do not know much about them right now.

Further down the lake there is this fountain with a boy literally getting ready to pee. I guess this is not as alarming in Albania as it was for me because I even saw several old men walk up to the lake shore and pee. At this point, though, I’m thinking that this peeing issue does not detract from the beauty of the city as long as I can continue to overlook it.

Random event of the week: I have been Jackie Chan-ed. Throughout training they try to prepare us for any potentially adverse interactions we can have with the locals. One common issue is getting rocks thrown at you (which I am happy to say has yet to happen) and the other is getting racist remarks said to you if you look different. Asian people are told to prepare for getting a Jackie Chan comment said to them and it has definitely happened to volunteers and trainees. Well, apparently some of the boys in Pogradec think I am Asian because they yelled Jackie Chan at me as I was walking by with Qimbrie. I even got some karate motions.

We are in the middle of week 7, which means I have officially been out of the country longer than ever before. It also means we are quickly approaching the end of Pre-Service Training. As such, we have met some important milestones in our Peace Corps career and are about to reach several others.

Last week we finished our practicum, which consisted of giving three health education lessons of our choice. We had two practicum lessons back to back last week so it was a busy and stressful time preparing for those lessons. I am proud to report that I gave my part of all three lessons in Shqip, thanks to the editing of my host father and language teacher.

For the second lesson, we discussed anti-smoking with a 7th grade biology class. Going in, we wanted to not only educate them as to why smoking is bad for all of our health, but also to give them practical life skills to withstand peer pressure and make decisions for themselves. In the beginning, Joe discussed the biology behind how smoking leads to the many adverse health outcomes. We had so much fun preparing the visual aid for this section - Joe smoked a cigarette through the cotton inside a maxi pad to show the nastiness of what a person smokes. The kids all cringed when they saw it...hopefully they remember this!

After the education portion, I did a demonstration with sponges to represent how a damaged lung from smoking is less able to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide compared to a healthy, non-smoking lung. During this demonstration, Katie had them breath out of a straw. After I was done, Katie had them do 30 jumping jacks. The kids loved this activity and it was able to convey the message of this is how it feels when you have damaged lungs from smoking. We concluded our practicum lesson with the life skills portion. Joe has been smoking for the past five years, so he was able to honestly tell them about how difficult it is to quit and why it is so important to quit. Finally, the students split into groups and presented on ways they can overcome peer pressure to smoke cigarettes.

We had so much fun giving this lesson and it appears the students had a great time too considering they pleaded us to stay and do more activities. Actually, we were supposed to give this lesson to one 50 minute class while the other group from Belesh was supposed to give their lesson to a different 50 minute class, either before or after ours. Unfortunately, the director changed his mind and we ended up having to give both of our lessons to the same class. We only had about 20 minutes to give our lesson in the end, but it taught us a lot as Peace Corps volunteers in terms of expecting the unexpected and being flexible enough to withstand pressure and changes at any point.

The next day we had our final practicum lesson on hypertension for community members. This lesson was to take place at spitali (the hospital) and was coordinated by the director there. The other group from Belesh did their final practicum lesson on food safety and we had 30 minutes each to deliver the lesson. Though our practicum lessons were pushed back a half-hour, there were no major obstacles to deal with like the previous practicum. Going into this practicum, we knew the topic was substantially drier than hand washing and anti-smoking because there are not as many activities to do. So, we solicited our creativity and came up with ways to involve the participants. We did some basic education in the beginning of our lesson as to what blood pressure and hypertension is. We used a balloon to explain the force being applied to the wall of the arteries as the heart pumps blood through the body.

We wanted to emphasize how important diet and exercise can be in mediating hypertension. So, we used audience participation to organize various foods and physical activities. It worked really well and the nurses and doctors there were definitely engaged. Then I presented a hypothetical person called Zonja Zemer (Mrs. Heart) that had hypertension and described her behavior. The participants then described what she could do to reduce her blood pressure. Then, to emphasize prevention, we represented Zonja Zemer when she was younger and had normal blood pressure so they could identify what she should have done to keep her blood pressure within the normal range.

Overall, the practicum lessons went really well. I found it to be a very empowering experience (though I am not sure all the trainees felt this way). For me, I was able to prove through this experience I can do an entire presentation in Shqip and I have the resources, creativity, and flexibility to have a productive and successful lesson with my counterpart once I am in Pogradec. Poleta, our health technical coordinator, told me I was fluent, but I know she was lying a little bit since I had to read off of my notes, meaning I only partly knew what I was saying.

Besides lots of work, I have been learning how to cook. I told my family I am not a good cook, and they practically interpreted that as I do not even know how to cook. My gyshe (grandmother) told me she is worried about how I will be able to eat when I am living on my own. So, she has been putting me through a series of trainings so that I will be able to cook for myself. The best part was cooking byrek, which is a traditional Albanian dish which is a fried pastry made of phyllo dough. It is filled with a variety of innards, including cheese, tomato and onion, spinach, potato, fasule (beans), and meat. We made the potato kind. They roll each of the layers of phyllo dough one by one so it is quite the process. I am slow at the rolling part, but got good enough by the end of our byrek that I was no longer tearing large holes in the middle.

Last night consisted of no work! My host mother, father, and I went out to have “coffee,” which meant a beer. We got to go to the restaurant where people go to have the wedding reception. This was where my parents had their wedding reception last August when they got married. It was really nice to get out of the house and just enjoy the time I have left with the family. Here are my host parents at our “coffee date”:

And here is a picture of part of my host family. Sili, Lubjana, Gyshe (usually lives near Durres) and Arjani. Usually, Arjani’s mother lives with us, but she is visiting her children that work in Italy right now.

Random outcome from being in the Peace Corps: Serious freckle acquisition on my nose. It has become noticeable to other Americans and Albanians alike. I am not sure how I feel about this.

We are officially past the half-way point of pre-service training. After this week, we will have only four more weeks of PST. Actually, the time we have left here in Belesh is less than four weeks since we will be at our counterpart conference in Durres for one week and then visiting our permanent site for a weekend.

In the meantime, I am really enjoying my time here in Belesh. I am trying to savor every moment I have with my host family and trying to take in as much of this beautiful village as possible. I love how every morning just before school my host father will ask if I am well, if I slept well, if I had any dreams, and when I will return home. Upon returning home each day, the family asks if I had lunch since I learned early on that every restaurant here in Albania does not actually serve food. Instead, some serve only coffee or tea. I enjoy waiting for the other trainees outside of the school in the morning and afternoons and having the kids come up and talk to us. Though, now they are starting to get tricky and quiz us on their names…We know all the best places to get byrek, ice cream, pilaf, and salads. On days when I have to study or have homework to finish, I think it is fun to run up the stairs of my house as fast as I can before the kids call me out to play. Overall, I love the sense of connectedness and comfort here in Belesh. Everybody knows everybody, or is even related in some way. This means it somehow gets back to the family that we eat ice cream every day! Though I may be a little sad to leave Belesh, there is no doubt I will be returning to visit several times over the next two years.

Peace Corps has managed to keep us especially busy as of late. We are currently completing the requirements for our technical practicum. For those of us who are health education trainees, we are required to teach three health topics to three different populations, including: hygiene and hand-washing for first graders, anti-smoking education for seventh grade biology students, and hypertension for community members. Last week we successfully completed the hygiene and hand-washing lesson. I gave the education portion of the lesson about what germs are and how they are spread. The most important, potentially surprising, and empowering part was that I was able to do it all in Shqip. Good thing no one else knew it took me about three hours to write and edit my talk. In the end, Darina, the Health Education Coordinator was pleased with our lesson and the kids had some fun, too.

We will be giving the remaining practicum lessons this week on Wednesday and Thursday. Hopefully they go as well as the first one did, but any successes or challenges we have will all be important as we prepare for our service.

Since the practicum requires a lot of time and energy, we have been sure to supplement our work with fun and adventure. Every Saturday in Belesh, there is a pazar (market). My family does most of their food shopping for the week here at the pazar. They also have clothes, furniture, music, and any other random assortment of goods you could imagine. Usually, we are in school on Saturday so we have never been able to attend the pazar. Luckily for us, we got out of language class early on Saturday and so we all took a stroll down the pazar. My favorite part was observing all the knock-off items, especially when they are spelt so wrong! Here are some of the undies I stole a picture of:

I wonder how Calvin Klein feels about this? It is a bit difficult to see in this picture, but there are also some Versage (Versace) undies. It is just fantastic!

For me personally, the best part of our weekend was the adventure we took to the bunkers. Many of us wrongly thought that the bunkers were used for protection and safety during wartime. Instead, the bunkers were put into place (some hundreds of thousands of bunkers, that is) throughout Albania in the 1970s to enable mountain-based guerrilla warfare to be implemented in the plains when necessary. Essentially, they represent Albania’s strategy at that time for protecting itself from foreign invaders. During our time here, we have seen bunkers that people live in and also one newly constructed house that has actually been built over a bunker. Anyway, just before you enter Belesh is a series of bunkers that I have wanted to visit since we arrived and the time came where we were finally able to do so!

These bunkers represent an important historical component to what it means to be Albanian today and I am so excited to have had the chance to visit some so closely. Apparently there is another series of bunkers in another direction from the village center that we may visit this coming weekend.

The random event of the week was actually a painful one. We toured the hospital in Elbasan last Friday and as we were exiting the hospital, I walked straight into a cactus. It was along the wall in the entrance of the hospital. I guess I was too busy talking away to notice the cactus, but then again who puts a cactus in the entrance of a hospital? I had pokies in my jeans at the knee. I tried to remove as many as I could but before I knew it we were off to our next site and so I had to deal with a handful stuck in my skin until lunch. I am happy to report removal of all pokies was a success. Lesson learned!

This Friday was the day we had all been waiting for. Ok, some of us waited two years to even find out we were coming to Albania, but that is beyond the point. Friday was one of the days we will never forget among all of our Peace Corps days because it was the day we found out our site assignments. For the last couple of weeks I have occupied my anticipation by developing various theories as to where I would be placed. All of them were completely wrong and I could not be happier. I will be moving to Pogradec (pronounced Pogradets) at the end of May to begin my service as a Health Education volunteer (assuming all goes according to plan and I swear in on May 27th). Go ahead, google Pogradec, Albania!

We were all so excited to receive our placements! Finally, so much of the unknown that comes with the Peace Corps is starting to go away. Now we can really figure out our approach to the tasks we have been assigned. They shared the big news by calling each of us up one at a time and revealing our location. They also had a huge map projected on the wall so that each of our pictures would appear at our site.

The only thing I knew about Pogradec at the time of my announcement was that Albanian youth go there to get it on with their partners. In Albanian culture, it is not appropriate for youth to date as we do in the states. Therefore, if they have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, they do so secretly. Pogradec is often used as a site where the youth can get away and, well, be together.

Pogradec is located in Southeastern Albania right along the border with Macedonia. In fact, from the city center in Pogradec, Macedonia is approximately 5 km. As luck would have it, Pogradec also has a huge lake called Lake Ohrid. Apparently, this lake has been formed by tectonic plates and these types of lakes have very unique species of fish living in it. The loch ness monster also lives in a lake formed by tectonic plates which means I will not be found taking a dip in Lake Ohrid during my service. Because of the scenery in Pogradec, it is a tourist attraction area and there are currently numerous efforts to continue to advance tourism there. Again, you are welcome to visit anytime…

I was elated to find out that I will have two site mates (at least for the next year). Connie is a current volunteer in Pogradec working in Community Development (COD) and has one year left in her service. She has actually been in Elbasan this past week helping with our pre-service training and was present when we received our site announcements. Once I received my placement, I introduced myself and immediately she gave me a great big hug and said “I’ve been waiting for you.” I think I am just as excited to have a current volunteer in my site as she is excited to have just any volunteer in the site. Also joining me in Pogradec from our group 13 is Matthew, he is also a COD volunteer. I am not sure how I got so lucky to have such great site mates, but I will certainly take this with a tremendous smile.

Introducing my group 13 site mate, Matthew:

I am only the second health volunteer to serve in Pogradec, and the first female health volunteer there. I have been assigned to the health education and promotion unit under the Directorate of Public Health. In addition to working within Pogradec, this department also works with rural health posts surrounding the city to provide health information to nurses and village residents. My counterpart at the Directorate is Rajmonda who is a nurse. I will also have the opportunity to collaborate with other nurses, epidemiologists, school personnel and community members for our various projects.

Here is the tangent for the day: In Albania, I have come to appreciate the completely random things that happen on any given day. Friday morning as we were all arriving in Elbasan, one of the other trainees sent us a text message saying there was a bear by the castle. To be honest, we sort of thought she had lost it. But, it was completely true! There was a man who was walking a small bear around on a leash. He wanted people to pay for the photos, but I have a rebellious streak and tried to sneak some free pictures (therefore I apologize for the poor quality).

Love and miss you all.

My third week of living here in Albania has been quite exciting. In retrospect, the elements that comprised this exciting week all revolved around some form of meet and greet. Last weekend we all departed our host families for a site visit with current volunteers. I got to travel up north through Albania to Kukes, which is one of the two northern most sites where current Peace Corps volunteers are serving. Actually, my group going to Kukes got two volunteer site visits for the price of one.

We left Belësh early Saturday morning to meet the other trainees who were also traveling north in Elbasan so we could travel to Tiranë, the capital, together. We arrived in Tiranë around 11. Unbeknownst to those of us traveling to Kukes, the first bus leaves Tiranë at 10 and the last bus leaves at 6. So, we were in store for a seriously long day hanging out in the city. Luckily for us, the current volunteer helping other trainees get on the bus to their sites lives in Pukë, which is on the way to Kukes. To break up the day, we went to Pukë and got to visit with the two volunteers that live there. One of the volunteers has successfully applied to and been accepted to medical school while serving here in Albania! I am hoping this is a sign that I, too, will be fully capable of accomplishing such a feat from Albania.

The four of us heading to Kukes boarded the bus at 9 pm. The Pukë volunteers explained to the driver that we do not really speak Shqip and we do not know where Kukes is so he said he would tell us when to get off. Thank goodness because the bus was going to Kosovo, which is off limits for all Peace Corps volunteers. We made it to Kukes and went immediately to bed. In the morning we went on a stunningly beautiful hike that neither words nor photos can bring justice to, though I will try both. The trail we hiked on was called “the bad stairs.” Jennifer and James, two of the three current volunteers in Kukes, work with a group of youth there called Outdoor Ambassadors so we also had a small group of Albanian youth that hiked with us.

Once we got as far as the majority of the group wanted to go, there were a small handful of us that wanted to go just a bit further to capture more of the view. My sense of adventure has been heightened (probably because I am deliberately trying to enjoy my Peace Corps experience to the fullest) so I decided to hike on along the supposedly narrow part of the trail. In actuality, that part of the trail was easier than some of the parts we had already passed and the benefit of the view was well worth it!

Later that evening, we went to a place called Bar America where we could get extremely delicious ice cream and go to the roof of the building to see all of Kukes. This is definitely one of the bigger sites where Peace Corps volunteers live in Albania.

One of the interesting things I learned about Kukes this weekend was that during communism, a dam was built that ultimately flooded the old Kukes. The lake you see in this picture is actually over old Kukes. They say that when there is little rainfall, the lake recedes enough where you can actually see the roofs of buildings. The Kukes you see in the previous picture is referred to by inhabitants as the new Kukes.

Kristen, another trainee, and I went with Jennifer to the places she gets to work, including the health center and the women’s center. At the health center, we got to meet the counterparts she works with on a daily basis because they are the conduit through which her work will be sustainable. I valued this opportunity to meet her counterparts because this is really the part of my service that I know so little about. I also very much enjoyed meeting with the director of the women’s center because they serve women who are victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. The director was very open to our questions so we were able to learn a lot from our meeting. Judging by the visceral reaction I had from the meeting, this is an issue I am very passionate about and would be interested in working with a similar organization at my permanent site if there were one. Jennifer admitted that because the director is so progressive compared to the norm for women in Albania, her reputation has been tarnished within the community. From my point of view, it would be an honor to work with a woman who believes so much in her work that she is willing to tarnish her reputation for the sake of progress.

For our last night in Kukes, we prepared completely homemade Mexican food and I am nearly positive I have not been this excited to eat in a very long time. I was in charge of making tortillas! Let’s just say this task was a little stickier than I had anticipated, but now I know I can do it and will probably live off of tortillas once I am at my permanent site.

Overall, I had a fantastic weekend in Kukes, even despite the 10 or more hour commute it required. Too bad there is no chance of me being assigned to Kukes because they already have health, community development, and teaching English as a foreign language volunteers there.

On Friday last week, we were lucky enough to get to meet and hear from the US Ambassador to Albania, Dr. John Withers, Jr. I was impressed and excited to hear how enthusiastic he was about the work Peace Corps volunteers are doing in this country and how interactive he is. He described how when he travels to various sites throughout the country, he tries to meet with the volunteers there if his schedule permits. He also said that though he is the official Ambassador, we are all ambassadors at one of the most important levels – the human level. He will be swearing us in as official Peace Corps volunteers on May 27th.

This is a picture of our Peace Corps Albania Country Director, Hill Denham and the US Ambassador, John Withers, Jr.

On a different note, one of the characteristics of Albanian culture which Albanians pride themselves on is their hospitality. We have certainly faced many examples of this hospitality in our three short weeks here. Today we had lunch at a local restaurant in Belesh (a gyro with french fries inside). We decided ice cream was a necessary addition to our lunch and when we were looking at our options, the owner gave all three of us free scrumptious ice cream cones. Then we went for a walk through Belesh, actually on a road past my house that none of us had been on. We passed by a woman named Liri who invited the three of us in her house to visit over drinks. I have to say, it was entertaining to listen to us try our Shqip and to see her understand maybe 30-40% of what we said. It was one of the greatest encounters we have had while here in Belesh. Unfortunately, not all Albanians depict said hospitality. While we were walking along the very edge of the road, two guys on a motorcycle drove especially close to us and one hit me in the back with his fist as they drove by. Another man on a motorcycle stopped after and Joe and Katie said not good in Shqip while I decided it was a better idea to curse up a storm. Anyway, I am fine and will now flinch every time I hear a moving vehicle (including horses) nearby...lesson learned.

We find out this Friday where our permanent site will be and I am elated and nervous to find out!

One of the best parts about being in another country is having the opportunity to learn about a different culture. I am hoping to share some of the Albanian cultural traditions with you as I learn about them. When we arrived in Albania, many of us noticed there were dolls of various shapes and sizes hanging on most houses. For some, these dolls brought up thoughts of voodoo. For the rest of us, we were simply wondering what their purpose was.

I have learned these dolls are hanging on the house to ward off the evil eye given by a passerby. The evil eye could negatively impact the health and safety of the household. Some people also wear a distinct necklace to ward off the evil eye.

Some parts of adapting to Albanian culture have been confusing. One, which I knew of in advance, was that our shaking of the head ‘no’ is ‘yes’ here (as is a side-to-side motion) and our nodding of the head ‘yes’ is their ‘no.’ I have not been able to appropriately shake my head yes or nod my head no consistently, so my family always confirms with a 'po' (yes) or 'jo' (no). I tried to explain to my host sister that in the US, our meanings are the opposite. After this, I tried to be Albanian and she tried to be American and we were still confused!

The other confusing part has been using the local currency. Here, they use the lekë. The ratio is approximately 100 lekë to 1 US dollar. After communism, the lekë changed by a factor of ten. Despite the change, people still say the price in old lekë while actually meaning for you to pay in new lekë. For instance, a tea usually costs $50 new lekë. When you ask how much it costs, they will say $500 lekë. Therefore, not only do we have to think about the numbers in Albanian, but we have to always be cognizant of whether or not they are telling us the price in old lekë.

Everyday, I am so grateful to be in such a beautiful city. I came prepared to the Internet cafe today so I can share some pictures of my temporary home. This lake is just across the street from my house, which is great because I have always wanted to live near a lake.

Finally, all of the female trainees here in Belesh went for a walk around our village after class yesterday. We are always eager to get some form of exercise because we are in class during the day and then usually in the house from 5 pm and on.

This weekend I will be going to Kukes, Albania for a volunteer visit. There are four trainees going to Kukes to visit current volunteers that are assigned there. From what I know, Kukes is up north and is very mountainous. My family said it might take me 6 or 7 hours to get there. I am excited to see what a day in the life of a current Peace Corps volunteer is like and to see a new city. I am afraid I will ask too many questions of the current volunteers, but I will need to take advantage of the opportunity!

PS - there is a boy, maybe 10 years old, smoking next to me in the Internet cafe.

I have been living in Belesh, Albania for one week now. In some moments, it feels like just yesterday I got here. In others, it feels like I am in a whirlwind. We have been pretty busy with our Pre-Service Training. Mostly, my favorite part is learning Albanian. I am now speaking a pretty horrible combination of English and Albanian (Albanish)...but I have hope that I will soon be able to speak sentences that are greater than 3 words. I never thought I would be so happy having my host family understand me when I say "I am full" or "I have to go to school now."

Speaking of host family...they are great! My host mother (who is actually younger than me) had a baby three weeks ago, so I have enjoyed getting to see such a cutie-patootie every day. My host father is one unique, incredible man. Luckily, he speaks English quite well so he has been helping me to understand and learn new words every day. He is a lawyer and does a lot of work with Albania's Blind Association. Though this may come as a slight surprise, I did manage to get myself in trouble with my family. On Fridays, we have to travel to the "hub" (Elbasan) to have training sessions with the rest of the trainees. After lessons this Friday, many of us decided to walk around and we ultimately ended up getting a beer. It was such a blast and we enjoyed the opportunity to have an unsupervised moment to relax with the other trainees. We ended up leaving around 5 PM, but by the time we rode in the furgon back to Belesh, it was 6:30 PM. I walk in the house and the entire family, including my little sister, were shaking their finger at me. My host father said it is not good to be late in Albania. Lesson learned. By the way, everyone watches the Albanian Big Brother here religiously!

After living with a host family, it is hard not to notice the distinct gender norms here. Women stay in the house cleaning, cooking, tending to the garden, etc. The problem here is that I do not really fit this female norm...I burnt the rice a little today. Maybe this means they will never ask me to cook again? The men are the ones that leave the house to work, have coffee, and, it seems, to stand along the road. My host sister says women don't go out! I have experienced the unwanted attention and slight harassment a woman can attract when not conforming to these gender norms. Luckily, I have incredible site-mates that are always looking out for each other. I take this as a lesson well learned...as a woman in a country with such distinct gender norms, I need to get it out of my head that I can enjoy coffee with my friends when I want. Nonetheless, I am so happy to be here every morning when I wake up. I cannot wait to learn more Shqip (Albanian) so that I can actually have a conversation I understand and I cannot wait to learn more about this country and its culture.

Finally, I am currently undergoing an unwanted detoxification from my chips and salsa addiction. I think about eating chips and salsa more than is healthy for any one person. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. The food here is delicious, though. Mom and Dad, you would be proud of what I am eating. Dishes with liver and intestines are delicacies. So, if you happen to miss me, even in the slightest, please eat some chips and salsa on my behalf!

Arriving in Albania seems like such a whirlwind in retrospect. Staging in Philadelphia went really well. We discussed expectations, anxieties, and got the opportunity to meet some of the other volunteers we will be in country with over the next 27 months. From there, we started the interesting journey to Albania. Honestly, the hardest part so far has been carrying my all of my luggage. I should have known how hard it would be since my backpacking backpack literally knocked me over the night before I left Colorado. Because I never learn a lesson the easy way, I decided I was ready to go and was somehow stronger than ever. Amazingly, I made it all the way to Elbasan, Albania. Elbasan is located in what is essentially the belly button of the country. On the drive here, we saw stunning mountains and even a small glimpse of the Adriatic Sea coast.

We have been kept quite busy since our arrival. The Albanian Peace Corps staff has been incredible. I feel lucky to be working with such a prepared and engaged staff during this Pre-Service Training (PST) period. We are officially Peace Corps Trainees now...if all goes well, all 50 of us will fulfill our requirements to swear in as official Peace Corps volunteers on May 27th. Cross your fingers!

One of my favorite parts of PST so far has been the language and culture trainings. I am so glad I started to learn Albanian before I arrived because the lessons move so quickly. I have to say that I have never been in a language class with such effective teaching methods. I have always heard that Peace Corps language programs were quite reputable. So, I am valuing this opportunity to experience it first hand. They use a combination or repetition, student led activities, songs, and short assignments. I have learned that greetings are one of the most important parts of interacting with people in Albanian culture. Good morning is miremengjes, good day is miredita, good evening is mirembrema, and finally good night is naten e mire. It has been quite entertaining to watch all of us say these greetings to both the Peace Corps staff and to the hotel staff here. Tonight, we were able to learn a traditional Albanian circle dance. It was so much fun and I truly hope we get to do this as frequently as possible. We were also able to walk around Elbasan during our breaks and I would like to share the incredible view I get to see each day with you.

We are leaving Elbasan tomorrow afternoon to go live with our host families. I have always thought that meeting them would be one of the most nerve-wracking experiences I would have as Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV). Surprisingly, I'm pretty calm and collected about it right now because I realize they are my immediate insight into the culture, language, and my ultimate experience. Also, I have come to accept the fact that it is going to be especially awkward at first because they wont be speaking English, and I can only ask them how they are so many times before it becomes disruptive. I know my host family lives in Belesh (pronounced Belsh) which is about 28 km from Elbasan. The description I was given of the town says it is an ancient residence near a beautiful lake. Unfortunately, the lake's ecosystem is being damaged because of pollution and general lack of policies which protect the environment (not to mention inability to regulate the regulations). They also said there was an ancient temple to Athena where residents threw gifts, including dishes, into the lake. I will be the first volunteer to live with this family during PST which I think poses more of an opportunity than a challenge. I will be excited to share more information about living with my host family. While living there, we will come back to Elbasan a couple of times each week in order to have training sessions as a whole group. PST proves to be rigorous, but I know it will prepare me for my two year service.

Hope all is well at home. Love and miss you.

Mirë se vini (welcome) to my blog! I owe a sincere thank you to all my incredible family and friends for encouraging me to pursue my life’s goal of serving as a Peace Corps volunteer. There have been instances where I questioned the feasibility of taking 27 months off of my career path to volunteer or worried about leaving those I love for such a duration. Fortunately, steadfast encouragement and inspiration from family and friends have solidified my passion of service, learning, and opportunity.

As you know, I will embark on a highly anticipated journey to Albania (Shqipëria) in one month. I am excited to endure all the challenges, opportunities, and experiences that await me. When I first started dreaming of the Peace Corps, I had the unrealistic idea that by serving I would be able to change the world. I have grown up a bit since those high school day dreams and now approach my impending service as a chance to experience small successes. I feel lucky to be pursing this experience as part of my graduate education and I fully intend to utilize the academic lessons, personal experiences, and high self-standards to be the best I can personally be in my role as a Community Health Educator.

I came across the definition for “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” - atoning for educability through delicate beauty. I feel this definition is applicable to experiences I will have in Peace Corps. Of the returned volunteers I have encountered, they all say their service was one of the best experiences of their lives. It is anticipated I will conclude my 27 months by having learned valuable lessons from many delicate and beautiful interactions, experiences, and challenges. Finally, this song describes the power of a word. In this sense, it is through my attempt at a blog that I will be able to capture my life-long goal and keep you all up to date on the notable happenings along this journey. Your influence has greatly contributed to the work I will be doing and I am eager to share these moments with you (as well as perhaps entice you to take a well-needed vacation to Albania).