"I See God in Every Human Being..."

Village of Thane group: T, Megan, Heather, Me, Eric, and Luke.

This is Group 16 of 34 members at the Hotel in Elbasan.

The Albanian flag flies proudly over many homes here.



Mother Teresa said, "I see God in every human being." Mother Teresa is from Albania, and Albania is where I am serving with the US Peace Corps.  This is my first blog from Albania, so let me start with a few facts about the Peace Corps.

This beautiful Mother Teresa coin was given to me by my first Albanian friend on the plane.  She was SO impressed with the sacrifices we make as PCVs and the work we are doing in her country.





The Peace Corps was started in 1961 by President Kennedy.  It is currently in 75 countries with about 8.073 current volunteers.  There are about current 74 PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) serving in Albania as of this writing. We have 3 sectors in Albania; HE (Health Education), TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), and COD (Community and Organizational Development).  The first Peace Corps Director, Sargent Shriver said, "Peace requires the simple but powerful recognition that what we have in common as human beings is more important and crucial than what divides us."

 

Both pictures were taken from the PC training site in Elbasan. 



You can google for facts about Albania's size and population, so let me tell you other interesting things I've learned.  Albania was listed as the #1 tourist destination for 2013 by Lonely Planet. It's 70% Muslim (although I've also seen the figure 51%); it has no McDonald's; Johnny Depp is a descendant of Albania; Voldemort is from Albania; George Bush is the first US President to visit Albania and they have a street named after him in Tirane; there are over 750,000 bunkers here.  One is in my front yard.

This is the house that I am living in.  The green frames will hold grape vines in season. 

Heather, Me, and Eric in front of my house.



I have been here for about 10 days.  Yes, it is very cold to me, but that is relative, because I am from warm Hawaii!  I have so many blankets on top of me that I can hardly turn over due to their weight.  I still need my long underwear, thick socks on both my feet and my hands and I have to put my head under the blankets. It's probably around 40F at night and 45-55F during the day.  But this is MY story, and I am cold!



Both pictures are Cala Castle in Elbasan. 

I am in a group of 34 volunteers.  We flew to Tirane, then rode a bus to Elbasan.  We have PST (Pre- Service Training) until the end of  May, or about 10 weeks.  It is very intense training in language, culture, and safety, as well as our sector training (COD).  Yes, I am in school again. All day.  Most of our time is spent on learning the language.  The Albanian language belongs to the family of Indo-European languages.  It is one of the oldest languages. Today, it is spoken in Albania and within the former Yugoslavia areas, such as Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and South Serbia. It has 36 letters.

Both pictures are taken near my home in Thane. 

I LOVE IT HERE!  The food is great; a Mediterranean diet of fresh olives, fresh cheese, home made yogurt, tons of great vegetables, fruits, meat, and fresh bread. I am living with a local family during my training to help speed my language skills along. I am near Elbasan (15 minutes) in the small village of Thane of the Cerrick Municipality. Did I mention that Thane is very small?

Mayor of Elbasan with plaque from US Ambassador, "Elbasan, Continue to Lead and show theWay."

 

My family is a woman, Leta, with 3 teen agers.  She has two daughters, Dhurata (20) and Tila (19), and one son (17).  Her husband is an immigrant in Italy building houses.  They grow olive trees and most of their own food. I couldn't have asked for a better family.  They are so kind.  Their house is beautiful, and I live upstairs in separate quarters, so I even have my privacy.

My favorite fast food, Sofllaqe 

It's just so much more than I expected.  Everything is really good.  Even my language skills are coming along so much better than I thought.  I had to acquire two new things; gloves and mud boots.  Mud boots for the long walks in the valleys of mud, and gloves to even hold a book at night!

Genti and I.  He is Albania's Peace Corp Training Manager.  THAT IS A COAT I AM WEARING for those that are not familiar with all these layers upon my body! 

 



The group in Thane is 6 people.  We study together here in our small group 4 days a week.  The other 2 days we take a furgon to Elbasan and study with the big group of 34.  The Albania Peace Corp staff here is great.  The whole experience is very intense and structured.  I sometimes have to pull back a little, take a deep breath, and remember why I am here; Finding Peace Through Service.

It won't always be like this.  At the end of May we are placed individually throughout Albania in both government and non-government (NGO) organizations.  Albania is one of the few places that Peace Corps volunteers are placed in government offices.  So in June, I will have another new beginning in my own house, in a new city, with a new job.  It's a time of new beginnings for me in many ways.

So enjoy the pictures and my stories and let me bring to you my Albanian experiences with the US Peace Corps.



 

Final Days...Making Them Count!



I have ten days left in the USA and then my life changes in every way. I will be in Albania, Eastern Europe for 27 months with the US Peace Corps. I have my movies and my music stored and my endless books downloaded. I have packed my life into two 50 lbs suitcases, which was a very difficult feat. This will be an entirely different experience for me as I will be traveling with a large group of 33 other volunteers (in contrast to my previous solo service trips) into a country I have never visited.  I already know that the hardest part is being away from family and friends. Sooooo....

I will fill the next ten days with everything I love to do and will miss doing. Here we go:

Day 10:  I went to the Houston Rodeo with my son, Jeremy and daughter, Kayla.  They didn't remember that I grew up in Wyoming going to rodeos every weekend.  I knew all about the events, what a "good" ride was, what the judges were looking for, etc.  The rodeo was fantastic. The Tim McGraw concert was after the rodeo. We sang, we swayed, we laughed, we cheered.  Today I was surrounded by 1,000's of handsome Texas Cowboys. How good is that?

Kayla, Me and Jeremy at the Houston Rodeo 

Tim McGraw Concert

Day 9: Today started at 12:30am going dancing at a country bar with Jeremy.  We line danced and did the two step.  He twirled me and spinned me till my head was dizzy!  How awesome is it that a son WANTS to dance with his mama all night?  Tonight I cooked a large spaghetti dinner.  Then we had some surprise company.  Two kids that I used to coach on my swim team for many years came to visit!  The last time I saw Christian and Karen Iglesias they were 13 and 14.  Now they are a very grown up 21 and 22 and are making good life choices.  They remembered me and all the good times we shared and searched for me on facebook! 

With Karen and Christian Iglesias, two of my top swimmers in 2004 when I was coaching in Texas. 

My two sons with their childhood friends Karen and Christian Iglesias.

My Jeremy :)

Day 8: Jackass 1, Jackass 2, and Jackass 3 Movies mean lots of fun and sooo many laughs with Kayla!  I had never seen these movies and I couldn't believe what crazy, stupid things they did.  I even almost vomited at the grossness of some of the stunts they did.  Also today, we went to Dustin's place of work and visited him.  He waited on us and we got to meet his bosses and friends.  We were sure to leave him a good tip :)  After we ate, we got a bike for Dustin to ride to work along the Galveston Seawall.  I cant buy him a cruiser car, but I CAN buy him a cruiser bike!

My son Dustin and Kayla at The Brickhouse Tavern 

God, I love this boy! 

Jeremy riding the new bike home.

Dustin trying out the new beach cruiser.

 

Day 7:  I had to take Kayla back to school.  Will pick her back up in a few days.  Also took a LOOOONNNGGG walk on the Seawall of Galveston.  It was such a beautiful, perfect weather day.  It's Springbreak in Galveston, so even though it is cool, many snow birds are frolicing in the water.  Watched the movie 007 Skyfall with Dustin.

 

Day 6: David (my son) came from Nederland, TX to spend the day with me.  He is in the Coast Guard. David, Jeremy and I rode bikes on the Seawall, then had dinner at the Brickhouse Tavern with Dustin.  It was a wonderful afternoon.  My kids are just so funny and we laugh a lot when we are together.

Jeremy, Me and David riding/skating on the Seawall of Galveston. 

David and Jeremy crossing to the Seawall 

David and Jeremy 



 Jeremy, Me and David at BrickHouse Tavern

 

Day 5:  Sometimes things don't go as planned.  Things happen.  Plans change.  That's what happened today.  It's hard to live up to the pressure of ten good days.  Life just doesn't deliver that many good days in a row.  Today I packed my bags once more and headed to Houston with Kayla.  I am staying my last few nights in a hotel near the Houston Airport in preparation for my departure on Monday.  It was hard to say goodbye. David had to go back to work and I only saw him for one day.  But we laughed.  Remember the laughs and good times, boys.  I'll be back for Christmas.

 

Day 4-2: A few days of relaxation, TV, computer,  and long walks and fitness room sessions. We ate at Subway, my FAVORITE fastfood place in the world. JITB tacos was also on my bucket list.  Kayla and I had a nice relaxing time and spent lots of quality time together. 

 

Last Day:  I got up at 4am to catch a 7am flight from Houston to Philadelphia for the Peace Corp Staging (Orientation).  I have met my group of 33 fellow travelers.  They are amazing.  We had 5 hours of intense information sessions.  Then we broke up for dinner.  I had to eat a Philly Steak and Cheese while in Philadelphia.

 

So begins my new chapter of life, with new friends, doing a new job, in a new country.  My prayers and thoughts will be forever with my children as they face life's difficulties without their mom for so long.  Kids are supposed to go away....not moms. So if you see or run into one of my kids, give them an extra hug and smile and ask them if there is anything you can do to help them.  That's the best way you can support me.  Love to you all  XOXOXO