This and That

Random things that don’t fit in any particular entry:

- Speaking about the dangers of living here in a previous entry, there’s something else to add. I tried to turn on my friend’s television and I heard a slight popping sound. The screen didn’t light up. I tried again to turn it on. Nothing. A few seconds later, I smelled something hot. I turned on the light and found the source of the smell: small tendrils of smoke curling out from the back of the television. I’d have to say that’s a new experience for me.

- Remember when I filled out several million forms to join the Peace Corps and my name was spelled wrong on everything? We all know how much I love that.

- I went into a bookstore recently. I’m really impressed with the selection, especially the availability of translated classics for good prices. I was less enthused about the entire shelf of Dreiser. And again I have to ask, “Who is reading this?!”

- I bought a can of peas a few weeks ago to cook at my house with spaghetti. When my family didn’t have a can opener, my host sister’s fiancé stabbed the can with a huge knife and sawed through the top to open it. That is a close second to the first time someone opened a can for me in this country: by pounding a knife into the can using a stone. I appreciate the resourcefulness.

- We have all kinds of tourists staying at our house in the first floor apartment that I’ll live in in just over a month. I recently had a conversation with an Albanian who lived in Macedonia. “You need to tell Americans that we are good, civilized people,” he said. “The best friend of America is Albania.” After a conversation about Iraq and the economic crisis, he was sufficiently impressed. “Stay here and marry and Albanian man,” he told me. Where have I heard that before?

- My friends and I will be reviving the Peace Corps Albania newsletter, which has been dormant for a little bit. I’m hoping that we will be able to make something really great that will serve as a good document to look back on when our service is over.

- Our country director recently sent us an e-mail about rooming assignments at conferences and other Peace Corps Albania events. The reason I mention this is that he told us how, in most cases, everything is random and rooming friends together wasn’t a consideration. I mention this because it makes my friendship with my best friend here, Kate, seem almost fated. We were together in Philly, together in Elbasan, spent PST in neighboring villages, and were together again during the Counterpart Conference in Tirana. It’s kind of amazing to think how frequently we’ve been put together, especially knowing that this was largely so random.

- Something you might not know? There is a Western Union in almost every village, no matter how small. If there isn’t one in the village, there is one within a reasonable traveling distance. Why? Albanians working abroad send massive amounts of money home to their relatives. In fact, it was the #2 source of income in the country next to tourism.