One day when I was standing in line with the sufflaqe stand with my Albanian teacher, Ervin, Outkast’s Mrs. Jackson began to play. The group of volunteers immediately began to sing along.
“I haven’t heard this song in years,” I said.
“Here you will find many treasures,” my teacher told me. He wasn’t kidding. I’ve heard songs I haven’t heard in years and seen television shows that I forgot ever existed. Celine Dion and The Cranberries are two of the more popular artists that I hear on an everyday basis at random.
The finding of long-lost treasures here continued the other day. As I opened an individually-wrapped piece of gum, I discovered that it had something in it. What was it, you ask? Printed on wax paper, it was a picture of a very young Sting that must have been taken in the late seventies or early eighties. And he was shirtless in it.
The hunt continues. What else will I find over the next two years?
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Smile like you mean it
I’ve been here for just about three weeks and I am still trying to find my place. It’s hard to arrive on site as a teacher when the school year is almost over, which is something that I hope the Peace Corps will consider in the future. School is over tomorrow, and there haven’t been formal classes for the last two weeks. The students come to school for a couple hours, help clean the school and organize the classrooms for next year, and then leave to go to the beach. While I’m waiting to be productive in my own sense of the word, I’ve taken time to introduce myself and continue meeting people. I smile a lot and am friendly… but not too friendly. Greeting people is very important here, so I make sure it take it seriously. It’s kind of funny because I haven’t done anything concrete here just yet, but people will tell me how nice and good I am. I don’t know how to handle that because compliments make me feel awkward, but I just say thank you. Also, my Albanian is getting good enough for me to start being as silly as I am in English, and I’ve really been making my host mom laugh these past two weeks.
I go to school every day, even though there isn’t any formal work for me. Last week, I spoke to the students of my school and the neighboring 9-year school about offering summer courses. At this point, I have over eighty students enrolled for my lessons. That might seem like a huge roster since there is only one of me, but many students will not show up or will stop coming. I’ve tried to break the students up into manageable groups, but it is not very easy. I’ve spoken with the English teachers of my school about the students on my roster to try and break them up into the appropriate levels. With the students of the 9-year school, I will have them all report to school next Tuesday, where I will administer a brief test to try and organize them by level. Even between the ages of 11 – 14, there are huge divides in linguistic ability. This is largely because some parents send their children to private English courses. Because of this, it’s impossible for me to organize 9-year students merely by age.
I’m interested to see how the students react to me. They have already been exposed to two Peace Corps volunteers that taught English, so they might know a little more about the methods. However, they were surprised to find out that the courses were free. When they could get past that, they were confused when I said there was no course book. I plan on doing lectures and activities completely through the use of the school’s technology: using overhead projectors, PowerPoint-based classes, pictures and sound and video clips. If I’m being giving complete control of the resources, I’d be silly not to use them.
Since last week, I’ve been really busy with lesson planning. I started by making a long-term plan of the topics I wanted to cover, organizing the groups of students and coming up with a schedule, and now I am working on the individual lessons. You have no idea how much work a teacher does until it’s you on the other side of the desk, until it’s you making the plans. Although it’s a bit taxing, I want to create lessons that will interest and encourage students.
Aside from teaching four days a week, from 8 – 11, I’ll spend the afternoons on the beach. My site is really beautiful, even for a person that doesn’t care much for the beach like me. I’ve been there twice this week. I remove my shoes and walk on the edge of the dark sand where the water is just barely touching. I watch the sunset, and am struck with such a sense of serenity as the orange sphere disappears from the pink-purple sky and its last rays disperse over the sea. I can’t stop staring. I love those final minutes of daylight. Aside from working on my tan (!), I’d like to do some traveling as well during the summer. I have friends dotting the country that I already miss terribly. The slow pace of summer work in Albania creates in me a sort of Sehnsucht nach der Ferne. I’ll be getting to know Tirana, since there’s a Fourth of July event at the embassy and a VAC meeting later on. I’ve been elected by the volunteers in my sector to represent them on a committee that works as a liaison between volunteers and the Peace Corps. It involves fielding complaints, working to resolve them and working on policies that effect volunteers. It’s a tremendous honor and I’m grateful that my peers chose me to represent them.
Summer is also a time to think about what I want to do in the long-term. I’d really like to involve the students in staging an adapted play, some music history courses and perhaps a film club once school returns in September. My colleagues and director have requested all kinds of materials for the school, so I will also explore grants and funding options. I’ve already secured a shipment of 30 pounds of donated books and I’d like to continue working on our school’s fledging foreign languages library. Borges, an author who has weighed so heavily on my mind these past months, would be pleased. “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library,” he wrote.
It’s been hard for some people to understand why I am here. “Why are you here?” is one of the most popular questions from Albanians besides whether or not I will marry and Albanian. I’d like to say it’s because I’m just here to help others, but that is only part of the truth. I’m here to help myself, too. There are things that I want to change about myself and things that I know that I need to improve on. I’ve always wanted nothing more in my life to learn and to work hard to become the best possible version of myself. Coming here was a way for me to have an adventure (since feeling bored with my life is my biggest fear) and learn more about myself in the process. Gone are some distractions that may have kept me in a permanent state of veering off the path. I want to experience so much personally and professionally over these next two years; I don’t just want to grow, I want to blossom.
I go to school every day, even though there isn’t any formal work for me. Last week, I spoke to the students of my school and the neighboring 9-year school about offering summer courses. At this point, I have over eighty students enrolled for my lessons. That might seem like a huge roster since there is only one of me, but many students will not show up or will stop coming. I’ve tried to break the students up into manageable groups, but it is not very easy. I’ve spoken with the English teachers of my school about the students on my roster to try and break them up into the appropriate levels. With the students of the 9-year school, I will have them all report to school next Tuesday, where I will administer a brief test to try and organize them by level. Even between the ages of 11 – 14, there are huge divides in linguistic ability. This is largely because some parents send their children to private English courses. Because of this, it’s impossible for me to organize 9-year students merely by age.
I’m interested to see how the students react to me. They have already been exposed to two Peace Corps volunteers that taught English, so they might know a little more about the methods. However, they were surprised to find out that the courses were free. When they could get past that, they were confused when I said there was no course book. I plan on doing lectures and activities completely through the use of the school’s technology: using overhead projectors, PowerPoint-based classes, pictures and sound and video clips. If I’m being giving complete control of the resources, I’d be silly not to use them.
Since last week, I’ve been really busy with lesson planning. I started by making a long-term plan of the topics I wanted to cover, organizing the groups of students and coming up with a schedule, and now I am working on the individual lessons. You have no idea how much work a teacher does until it’s you on the other side of the desk, until it’s you making the plans. Although it’s a bit taxing, I want to create lessons that will interest and encourage students.
Aside from teaching four days a week, from 8 – 11, I’ll spend the afternoons on the beach. My site is really beautiful, even for a person that doesn’t care much for the beach like me. I’ve been there twice this week. I remove my shoes and walk on the edge of the dark sand where the water is just barely touching. I watch the sunset, and am struck with such a sense of serenity as the orange sphere disappears from the pink-purple sky and its last rays disperse over the sea. I can’t stop staring. I love those final minutes of daylight. Aside from working on my tan (!), I’d like to do some traveling as well during the summer. I have friends dotting the country that I already miss terribly. The slow pace of summer work in Albania creates in me a sort of Sehnsucht nach der Ferne. I’ll be getting to know Tirana, since there’s a Fourth of July event at the embassy and a VAC meeting later on. I’ve been elected by the volunteers in my sector to represent them on a committee that works as a liaison between volunteers and the Peace Corps. It involves fielding complaints, working to resolve them and working on policies that effect volunteers. It’s a tremendous honor and I’m grateful that my peers chose me to represent them.
Summer is also a time to think about what I want to do in the long-term. I’d really like to involve the students in staging an adapted play, some music history courses and perhaps a film club once school returns in September. My colleagues and director have requested all kinds of materials for the school, so I will also explore grants and funding options. I’ve already secured a shipment of 30 pounds of donated books and I’d like to continue working on our school’s fledging foreign languages library. Borges, an author who has weighed so heavily on my mind these past months, would be pleased. “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library,” he wrote.
It’s been hard for some people to understand why I am here. “Why are you here?” is one of the most popular questions from Albanians besides whether or not I will marry and Albanian. I’d like to say it’s because I’m just here to help others, but that is only part of the truth. I’m here to help myself, too. There are things that I want to change about myself and things that I know that I need to improve on. I’ve always wanted nothing more in my life to learn and to work hard to become the best possible version of myself. Coming here was a way for me to have an adventure (since feeling bored with my life is my biggest fear) and learn more about myself in the process. Gone are some distractions that may have kept me in a permanent state of veering off the path. I want to experience so much personally and professionally over these next two years; I don’t just want to grow, I want to blossom.
You know you’re not in America when…
You are awoken at all hours of the night and morning by chickens that don’t just cluck, but scream. I have never been around chickens enough to know just how noisy they are. I am learning that they make sounds that I’ve never thought a chicken was capable of.
You have to adjust to the sound of fighting dogs every night.
You hear at least two or three of the five daily prayer calls.
Politicians up for election walk around in the street after political demonstrations with little semblance of an entourage (this is how I completely unintentionally saw Edi Rama in the street. Yes, he is huge in real life).
If you buy something that totals 168 Lek and the store keeper doesn’t have the exact change to give you, they will give you a piece of gum or something small in an effort to make things even. This happens either because there aren’t 1Lek pieces or there just aren’t enough in circulation. The smallest piece I’ve seen is 5Lek, and most of them come from western-style grocery stores.
You can buy a kilo of tomatoes and a kilo of onions for $1.00.
You have to adjust to the sound of fighting dogs every night.
You hear at least two or three of the five daily prayer calls.
Politicians up for election walk around in the street after political demonstrations with little semblance of an entourage (this is how I completely unintentionally saw Edi Rama in the street. Yes, he is huge in real life).
If you buy something that totals 168 Lek and the store keeper doesn’t have the exact change to give you, they will give you a piece of gum or something small in an effort to make things even. This happens either because there aren’t 1Lek pieces or there just aren’t enough in circulation. The smallest piece I’ve seen is 5Lek, and most of them come from western-style grocery stores.
You can buy a kilo of tomatoes and a kilo of onions for $1.00.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Off the Radar
One of the things you’ll have to get used to, dear readers, are the periods of time when I disappear. It’s not intentional, it’s usually do to the fact that I am overwhelmed in some way. The past couple weeks have left me with little time to think; let alone to write.
Cliff’s Notes: three weeks ago, I went to a conference in Tirana with all the other volunteers to meet my future counterparts. Immediately afterwards, I spent three days in my future site doing some assessments and meeting people. Then it was back to Elbasan to finish up training, and everything was capped off by a huge ceremony featuring the US Ambassador to Albania. Two days later, I was packing my bags again and trying not to think too hard about the distance of my friends who were once so close or about how much I’d miss my host family.
And that brings us to now. I’ve been in my permanent site for a few days. It’s such a disorienting feeling, being in Albania for two months and knowing places and people, and then being taken out of your element and asked to do it all over again. This usually involves looking weird and/or doing weird things, and being confused about the most simplest of things most of the time. It’s actually kind of hilarious; if not a little depressing considering the fact that it makes me feel like a child all over again. I’m enjoying unpacking and thinking about staying in one place for (gasp) TWO years and the comfort it will afford me. Getting comfortable is not something I’m familiar with, especially since these last few years have been spent all over the place.
I’ve spent two days at work so far. Perhaps the only real adjustment that I’ll have to make is to the pace of life and the pace of work. Things just go a lot slowly here, and I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing either. As volunteers we have to realize that we can’t come in and immediately implement a zillion projects. Everything takes time. It also takes a lot of coffees to get the ball rolling and getting to know people. All too often the pace of life in America has seemed overwhelming, bewildering even, to me. All we ever want to talk about is business. You spend so much time at work and barely know anything about the person that sits next to you eight or more hours a day. Some aspects about the way we choose (or accept) to do things seem so dehumanizing. Although there are certainly issues with the hours and output of work here, it’s nice to know that it’s not always about being fixated on instant results. As Americans, the Albanian attitude of “avash, avash,” (“slowly, slowly”) might be a little hard to adjust to, but understanding and adjustment are going to be necessary if we want to work within the established system. I’m looking forward to all the ups and downs that will come over the next two years because they will present me with all kinds of learning opportunities.
Provided I can ever get better. I have had a head cold for two weeks. I got some heavy antibiotics and they are assaulting my stomach. Throw in severe coughing that keeps me up at night and it has been a rough couple weeks, healthwise.
Cliff’s Notes: three weeks ago, I went to a conference in Tirana with all the other volunteers to meet my future counterparts. Immediately afterwards, I spent three days in my future site doing some assessments and meeting people. Then it was back to Elbasan to finish up training, and everything was capped off by a huge ceremony featuring the US Ambassador to Albania. Two days later, I was packing my bags again and trying not to think too hard about the distance of my friends who were once so close or about how much I’d miss my host family.
And that brings us to now. I’ve been in my permanent site for a few days. It’s such a disorienting feeling, being in Albania for two months and knowing places and people, and then being taken out of your element and asked to do it all over again. This usually involves looking weird and/or doing weird things, and being confused about the most simplest of things most of the time. It’s actually kind of hilarious; if not a little depressing considering the fact that it makes me feel like a child all over again. I’m enjoying unpacking and thinking about staying in one place for (gasp) TWO years and the comfort it will afford me. Getting comfortable is not something I’m familiar with, especially since these last few years have been spent all over the place.
I’ve spent two days at work so far. Perhaps the only real adjustment that I’ll have to make is to the pace of life and the pace of work. Things just go a lot slowly here, and I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing either. As volunteers we have to realize that we can’t come in and immediately implement a zillion projects. Everything takes time. It also takes a lot of coffees to get the ball rolling and getting to know people. All too often the pace of life in America has seemed overwhelming, bewildering even, to me. All we ever want to talk about is business. You spend so much time at work and barely know anything about the person that sits next to you eight or more hours a day. Some aspects about the way we choose (or accept) to do things seem so dehumanizing. Although there are certainly issues with the hours and output of work here, it’s nice to know that it’s not always about being fixated on instant results. As Americans, the Albanian attitude of “avash, avash,” (“slowly, slowly”) might be a little hard to adjust to, but understanding and adjustment are going to be necessary if we want to work within the established system. I’m looking forward to all the ups and downs that will come over the next two years because they will present me with all kinds of learning opportunities.
Provided I can ever get better. I have had a head cold for two weeks. I got some heavy antibiotics and they are assaulting my stomach. Throw in severe coughing that keeps me up at night and it has been a rough couple weeks, healthwise.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Community Service
Today marked another key milestone in pre-service training: the implementation of our community projects.
During the last several weeks, we’ve received some classes about project planning, needs assessment, and IRB (“intentional relationship building,” or the polite way of saying making friendships that are first and foremost for your benefit). We originally planned on doing a hike, but ending up changing our plans out of practical consideration. Apparently, some parents might not want their children wondering off into the mountains with strangers from another country. Hiking isn’t the easiest sell here either considering the forced activities in the mountains during communist times.
As volunteers, we have our Albanian lessons at a local high school. During practicum, we also taught at the same school. In an effort to give back to our host community and get to know the students better, we opted instead for an activity day at our school.
There was quite a bit of planning involved and we put a lot of thought into what we would do. Luckily we had the support of the school director and translation help from our teachers which made our work a lot easier. We settled on a date and took care of all the arrangements. In the end, we took 60 of the best students and did two hours of activities. We broke the students up into groups and set up different activity stations. After twenty minutes at a station, students rotated to a new station with a new activity. We did face painting, martial arts, English-language games, musical chairs and a balloon toss. The director supplied us with some plants that we planted together.
I was in charge of having students trace their hands and write things about themselves in English. I have sixty hands in my room right now until we try and figure out what we will do with them. They make great reading because they inspire me about the work I will be doing in the future. Afterwards, we did a scavenger hunt. Although we laughed about it in advance, one of the items on the list was 'something living.' We assumed that would mean a leaf or something. Two minutes into the hunt, a few students started chasing chickens. A few minutes after that, the students brought me a stone, a leaf, a flower... and a chick. A live one. I guess they were right when they told us to give very clear instructions during our technical training sessions.
The hard work is now behind us as the weeks of training continue to wane. In some ways, it seems like it has flown by. In other ways, time has dragged. Next week we will go to the capital for a conference. We will meet our future counterparts at the conference, then we will go to our future sites and spend a few days meeting stakeholders and students, teaching classes, and starting community assessments. I can’t wait.
I am very pleased with how our group has performed as professionals and as language and culture students. I was nervous about how the community project would turn out, but I think it’s safe to call it a success. The students are receptive to us. For the most part, they are eager to learn. Although I will really miss my host family, there is a large part of me that is getting antsy to get in the classroom.
During the last several weeks, we’ve received some classes about project planning, needs assessment, and IRB (“intentional relationship building,” or the polite way of saying making friendships that are first and foremost for your benefit). We originally planned on doing a hike, but ending up changing our plans out of practical consideration. Apparently, some parents might not want their children wondering off into the mountains with strangers from another country. Hiking isn’t the easiest sell here either considering the forced activities in the mountains during communist times.
As volunteers, we have our Albanian lessons at a local high school. During practicum, we also taught at the same school. In an effort to give back to our host community and get to know the students better, we opted instead for an activity day at our school.
There was quite a bit of planning involved and we put a lot of thought into what we would do. Luckily we had the support of the school director and translation help from our teachers which made our work a lot easier. We settled on a date and took care of all the arrangements. In the end, we took 60 of the best students and did two hours of activities. We broke the students up into groups and set up different activity stations. After twenty minutes at a station, students rotated to a new station with a new activity. We did face painting, martial arts, English-language games, musical chairs and a balloon toss. The director supplied us with some plants that we planted together.
I was in charge of having students trace their hands and write things about themselves in English. I have sixty hands in my room right now until we try and figure out what we will do with them. They make great reading because they inspire me about the work I will be doing in the future. Afterwards, we did a scavenger hunt. Although we laughed about it in advance, one of the items on the list was 'something living.' We assumed that would mean a leaf or something. Two minutes into the hunt, a few students started chasing chickens. A few minutes after that, the students brought me a stone, a leaf, a flower... and a chick. A live one. I guess they were right when they told us to give very clear instructions during our technical training sessions.
The hard work is now behind us as the weeks of training continue to wane. In some ways, it seems like it has flown by. In other ways, time has dragged. Next week we will go to the capital for a conference. We will meet our future counterparts at the conference, then we will go to our future sites and spend a few days meeting stakeholders and students, teaching classes, and starting community assessments. I can’t wait.
I am very pleased with how our group has performed as professionals and as language and culture students. I was nervous about how the community project would turn out, but I think it’s safe to call it a success. The students are receptive to us. For the most part, they are eager to learn. Although I will really miss my host family, there is a large part of me that is getting antsy to get in the classroom.
Out of the frying pan
On Thursday, I completed my two-week practicum. I taught in three different schools and to several different classes. I also observed a lot, too. I felt relief once the practicum was over considering that we planned classes, taught lessons, and then had language classes all afternoon. It was incredibly tiring. I’m glad that we got the opportunity to do it but I’m also happy it’s over so I’ll have time to focus on other things.
As a group, we were exposed to a lot of different situations that could be our realities once we get on-site. Between the four of us, we taught a few lessons without having the books, without knowing what lesson we were going to teach until we got to the class (meaning we had about five minutes of preparation), minor inconveniences when it came to class planning and communication, and general confusion. Like so many things in life, you plan and plan and then something completely different ends up happening. The other day in language class, our teacher told us an Albanian saying: “God laughs when we make plans.”
But it’s not all negatives. The practicum and the hurdles we had to jump to keep things running as smoothly as possible make me certain that I will be able to do well here. It’s just nice to have some reassurance.
I had a great conversation with my host parents completely in Albanian. It’s hard to express the frustration of having so much to say and having such a limited way of saying it, but sometimes there are just moments of clarity where it seems like you understand everything and can say exactly what you mean to say. It was just one of those moments and I ran with it. It was nice to expand the conversation into something a little deeper. I asked them more about themselves and they asked more about me and my family. I could explain in more detail about my parents and about what my plans for the future are. I could answer their questions about what my expectations of Albania were. They suggested that I stay here in Albania, find an Albanian husband, and teach English in Tirana.
They asked me what is different here than at home. At this moment, I can honestly say I haven’t had to make many adjustments on an epic scale. It goes back to expectations. I don’t even remember having much of a picture in my mind of what it might be like. The first day or so, I was a little shocked because it was all so new. Now it is all normal. The only thing that is really that different is that sometimes we don’t have power or we won’t have hot water. These are incredibly minor things. I’ve been lucky to land in a great family, first and foremost. Although I am tired almost all of the time and too busy to really think about anything outside the professional realm, all of my needs are being met and I’m doing the things I need to be doing.
In fact, morale is so high that during my mid-training interview/review, I was actually told that my “positive attitude” has really been appreciated. At that moment, I had to cover my mouth to hide a grin that could have easily turned into a chuckle. Or an outburst.
As a group, we were exposed to a lot of different situations that could be our realities once we get on-site. Between the four of us, we taught a few lessons without having the books, without knowing what lesson we were going to teach until we got to the class (meaning we had about five minutes of preparation), minor inconveniences when it came to class planning and communication, and general confusion. Like so many things in life, you plan and plan and then something completely different ends up happening. The other day in language class, our teacher told us an Albanian saying: “God laughs when we make plans.”
But it’s not all negatives. The practicum and the hurdles we had to jump to keep things running as smoothly as possible make me certain that I will be able to do well here. It’s just nice to have some reassurance.
I had a great conversation with my host parents completely in Albanian. It’s hard to express the frustration of having so much to say and having such a limited way of saying it, but sometimes there are just moments of clarity where it seems like you understand everything and can say exactly what you mean to say. It was just one of those moments and I ran with it. It was nice to expand the conversation into something a little deeper. I asked them more about themselves and they asked more about me and my family. I could explain in more detail about my parents and about what my plans for the future are. I could answer their questions about what my expectations of Albania were. They suggested that I stay here in Albania, find an Albanian husband, and teach English in Tirana.
They asked me what is different here than at home. At this moment, I can honestly say I haven’t had to make many adjustments on an epic scale. It goes back to expectations. I don’t even remember having much of a picture in my mind of what it might be like. The first day or so, I was a little shocked because it was all so new. Now it is all normal. The only thing that is really that different is that sometimes we don’t have power or we won’t have hot water. These are incredibly minor things. I’ve been lucky to land in a great family, first and foremost. Although I am tired almost all of the time and too busy to really think about anything outside the professional realm, all of my needs are being met and I’m doing the things I need to be doing.
In fact, morale is so high that during my mid-training interview/review, I was actually told that my “positive attitude” has really been appreciated. At that moment, I had to cover my mouth to hide a grin that could have easily turned into a chuckle. Or an outburst.
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