Week Four

Breezeway next to the Orthodox Church in Elbasan

 Well, we are finally here, basically half way through training. In some ways I feel like I have never had a life before this experience. I think it is mainly because I am not staying for a vacation but for two and a half years. Most of this week was spent at our volunteer shadow site, observing a volunteer in action. The visit meant we were all away from our training routine and host families, as well as our other class members. It was nice to see the country, get a feel for what lies ahead, and to get a bit of a break from the grind of pre service training. This entire experience has been like being in finals all the time to be honest, with all sorts of information, projects due combined with basic navigating in a foreign country. Our ultimate exam of course will be the day to day working with the natives in various capacities. I have my ideas, but one needs to realize that the needs of the people may be different than what I think would be helpful. As always, we shall see.

Orthodox Church in Elbasan

After our site visits, the Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy in Albania came to address our class at the hub site. While I love my country, I am often quite ashamed of her behavior on most occasions, especially after our last selection of a president and the ensuing hourly catastrophes that have followed because of his selfishness and ignorance. Listening to our career diplomat in Albania address our class, talk honestly about what is going on through the embassy, I became quite proud of the spirit for which America stands. At least in Albania, this spirit as a force for good is certainly in action. I wish everyone could see and understand what we are doing in terms of diplomacy, it is so important in our modern ever more connected world.

The Chief of Mission covered the basics of what a US Embassy does, how diplomats are chosen (mostly on merit and experience and a certain percentage are political appointees) and how the Peace Corps is a vital part of soft diplomacy and service to our nation in ways that the professionals can not perform. He also gave his insights on what were the major challenges of Albania.

Kings Mosque in Elbasan

After the fall of communism and the ensuing upheavals, it seems that the judicial system was basically non-existent. Through study, intelligence gathering and observation, the US has decided the best way to support Albania's success economically is to help to repair the legal system. This has been done in no small measure by replacing corrupt judges, assisting municipalities in creating functioning court systems, and police in terms of training. The thinking is, if there is a judicial system where civilians feel they can get justice so as to stop corruption in terms of business, the health care system, police and so on, then investment can come in and create a stable economy. Such an environment will inspire the natives stay put. The assistant ambassador felt very hopeful for Albania in general, and told us as Peace Corps volunteers, we can help create initiatives to make the social service system more effective, and be a vital force in person to person diplomacy for America.

My language is slowly, I mean at a glacial pace compared to my youthful classmates, improving. I am not sure what is going on, but ever since I arrived in Albania, I am moving slower in general. With all of my personal turmoil in the last few years, maybe it is just part of my own recovery. I can not move fast these days, it is physically impossible for me to rush at anything, even brushing my teeth. But I feel calmer than I have felt in years. 

Protestant Church in Elbasan, across the street from the Kings Mosque

I continue to make discoveries each day in terms of culture, people and places to visit. We had a training experience this week where the volunteers visited religious institutions. Each house of worship was built in the 15^th century, suffered terribly during communism, but now is thriving in peace and cooperation with other faiths. I hope to delve further into the history of Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Islam and Baktesh history and current practice in Albania. The houses of worship are all basically next to each other in Elbasan, and are quite friendly and cooperative with one another.

I learned from my site visit volunteer there is a road within the Castle walls of Elbasan called “The New Road” where the Apostle Paul is said to have walked on his missionary journey. Again, I hope to delve further into this history, but it did give me  goosebumps to be walking in Paul’s foot steps. It also shows how ancient this land is in terms of civilization and the formation of Christianity. Maybe the Albanians have been through so much, exploring religious strife and conflict which has a several thousand year proven track record of being a bad idea, isn’t so attractive anymore. The Muslims here are what we in California would call quite mellow. Women were allowed into the Mosque, no problem, the Imam had one of the kindest faces I have seen in a long while. The Orthodox priest spoke only of peace, cooperation, of how all religions are friends and working together for the betterment of the community. What ever the cause, it gives me great comfort and peace to be in a place where religion takes its proper place, as a foundation of cooperation for the betterment of humanity. As I watch the bombings in various parts of the world on the evening news, radicals driving through crowds of tourists or bombing prayer services all in the name of something they call their religion, it feels good to be here in Albania where religious strife and extremism is simply not an issue.

The gardens next to my host family's house

After training on Saturday, I treated myself to lunch with a fellow “vulnetare” as we are called here, in a restaurant inside of the castle. It was a glorious spring day, warm breezes and puffy white clouds after several days of rain. The waiter thought we were from England, which I thought was nice. It was fun to order off a menu and enjoy regional specialties in such a setting. I am cooking supper for my host family on occasion, which is entertaining for us all and gets me to discover food items in the markets and shops. Everything is unbelievably delicious. The local honey tastes like vanilla, and the vegetables are full of flavor. I made my host family meat loaf and mashed potatoes, which were quite a hit. 

We get our permanent site assignments in two weeks. Until then, we are working on assignments, lesson plans, language and culture lessons. I watch Turkish and Indian soap operas with Albanian subtitles in the evenings with my host family, and try to figure out the plots. The music usually gives the story away without language. The Turkish shows have more instrumental music, while the Indian is full of chanting and singing, so even if I can not figure out the vocabulary, the gazes of the actors and the tempo of the music help convey the general plot. It is interesting to see how people live. I look forward to the next chapter as they say, in my training as well as assignment.