Normal!

I had a conversation with a friend the other day about blogging. “I haven’t written in my blog in over a month,” she told me. “I’m just as bad… I’ll go a month without writing anything, and then post several entries all at one time.” She said her parents would probably be annoyed that she hadn’t written much, which led me to say: “You know though… we can write, and write, and write… but no one will really understand what it’s like.”

I went on to elaborate that there’s no real way to try and describe what it’s like to live here, which I blame mostly on the fact that the things that seemed different and odd to us our first days here have now become to normal to us that we barely notice them. Chickens and livestock running all over the place? Huge holes in the sidewalk? Burning garbage? Extremely colorful houses? Water tanks on roofs? Water heaters in bathrooms? Water schedules? No clothes dryers? Salespeople walking through your village with a bullhorn, yelling that they have watermelon / fish / clothing for sale? All these are things that might have seemed foreign to us at first, but they’ve already sunken into our daily realities, so much so that we don’t even notice them anymore.

We are born in America and raised American, with the whole set of default programming that comes with that. We know how life is at home, but it’s hard to really think about what life in other countries is like, even when it comes to things as small as everyday logistics. So here are a few more things that might not be known:

1. Not every post office accepts packages. My site is so small that I have to travel to another town to get anything. And in general, I don’t think most people get much in the mail. Lucky them, they miss out on all that junk mail and advertising.

2. It’s common for ATMs to not work. Sometimes they just don’t work, but more often than not, they are just out of money. I’ve been told to arrive early in the day to increase my chances. My sister needed to take a significant amount of money out, but when she put the amount into the ATM, it said it didn’t work. When she tried a smaller amount, it did. Sometimes this means you have to try a few ATMs at a few different banks if you’re trying to get money after hours. In general though, the bank service is great and it’s easy to exchange money because of all the money being sent home by Albanians abroad.

3. Lining up. All I have to say is: thank god I spent time in Germany, because it’s good training for lines here. You’ve got to be brave and hold your ground, especially when it comes to that amazing byrek stand that I frequent in Elbasan.

4. WYSIWYG doesn’t always apply. Just because something is on a menu doesn’t mean it’s available. Just because a building is marked as a “bar / restaurant” doesn’t mean it has food. I’ve been to pizzerias that didn’t have pizza before… twice. This can lead to temporary heartache when the thing you really want can’t be had (more on that later).

5. Geography. One of the things that is completely underestimated about Albania is natural beauty. In just a half hour, you can go from miles of beaches to valleys lying between huge mountains. The landscape is green and flat for miles, until the valley floor meets the bottom of numerous peaks. In my first days here, I was most amazed at the land. I’m looking forward to discovering the nature that Albania has to offer.