Gjuaj! Gjuaj!

Earning some street cred.

This is the direct translation that my favorite waiter in the Hotel typed into Google translate after he challenged me to a basketball game, him and Gerti against Eric and myself. Yesterday I told him that I was going to play basketball at with all the boys and he simply said, in Shqip, “you’re too fat to play basketball.” This is where I decided to act like I didn’t understand and told him to come watch if he didn’t believe me. He snuck out of work for a split second, obviously enough time to see me play and today he was talking about how I could dribble or “tremblim” between my legs and did motions of shooting at made the “swish” noise. This was all very flattering and then he decided I cant be that good because I’m a girl and the proceeded to challenge me to a game, all while waiting tables and shit-typing (crap talking into Google translator that he could beat me), which was pretty impressive considering he was doing it all at once.

After my run we went down to the basketball courts like we do most nights and met him to play. I felt like I was at the Fulton YMCA in high school trying to earn my place playing basketball with kids who had never played organized basketball before; and even though I was on the team at school I still had to beat them for them to think I good enough, then when or if I actually did beat them it could screw me anyways.

We ended up adding some players to both our teams, the regulars, and even though it wasn’t what he wanted, my team did in fact beat his team…. Twice.

Dancing feet

Traditional Northern Albanian dancing at the "Sofra Dardane 2011"

Traditional Northern Albanian dancing at the "Sofra Dardane 2011"

Koman ferry ride

Tonini's boat we rode from Koman to Fierze.

Loading dock where we caught the ferry

The view from the dock...

Sa bukur... view from the ferry

They thought I was a tourist.. apparently this is what tourist like to do.

Almost in Fierze on the end of our long weekend!

The View from Theth..

Thethi is one of the most remote places in Northern Albania and has been isolated from not only other Albanian cultures but the world as well. It is nestled in between a circle of the Albanian Alps, one that includes one of the tallest in the country. Garrett and I took the estimated 6.5-hour hike from Valbona to Thethi this Friday. We actually made pretty good time and arrived in Thethi in 4-hours and that includes a few minor setbacks. The trail was very well marked by a group of volunteers in 2009 so the trail was very easy to navigate and the scenery was breath taking.

Once we arrived in Thethi I was really surprised at how many tourist were in such an isolated area. This area has been closed off to Peace Corps Volunteers since Albania reopened to having volunteers since communism collapsed. Many locals were shocked when we told them that we were going to Thethi because of the past but it is an area that is heavily frequented by tourist now.

Returning to Bajram Curri was definitely relieving and it actually feels like home and I’ve only been here for a few weeks.

Most of Northern Albania is Catholic.

The river in Thethi.

Garrett and I in Thethi, he's not much of a picture taker.

We made it to the top!

After 2.5 hours hiking straight up the Alps we made it to the top! Such an accomplishment and a breath taking view!

Here's some views from the top:

On the hike to Thethi...

Passing through Rragam

S'ka sock.

This is after swearing-in, same Target dress, same dark Korce beer, one long borrowed sock, one short borrowed sock, same cardigan earlier in the day, just trying out an Albanian picture pose. 

German boy band?..apo jo?

These four gentlemen have sparked many of conversation in my room. Since my house is fully furnished some of the decorations have been left up. We're not sure who these guys are, what they're doing now or why the guy on the left is wearing a puppy shirt. We've named them, renamed them, made up their life stories, remade up their life stories and wondered why they part their hair down the middle.

Here are some other furnishings left in my apartment:

This is my doorbell. The button is on the outside of my apartment and when you ring it, they tweet.

A meal fit for...

…two American’s living in the mountains of Albania.  Last night, Eric and I made the equivalent of a Waffle House meal. Hash-browns, shelf-milk and of course, ketchup. The shelf-milk really made the meal because I had no idea how much I was craving the milk…probably the calcium.

Shelf milk eshte shume mire.

After two weeks in Bajram Curri I feel myself actually getting into a routine, which is nice. Right now, work in the Bashkia is slow because they’re transitioning from their current mayor to another mayor. S’ka problem, sepse unë kam shumë shumë punë takoj shumë Shqiptarë në Bajram Curri. I have met a lot of the community members and have started trying to integrate into the community as well as I can. I think meeting people and understanding the community here before I try to help or work is probably a good idea because it will help me understand more on what they need or want as a community.

Most of my meals at home look something similar to this...

So far I really like living here. A lot has to do with the beautiful run I take almost everyday into the Albanian Alps to the base of the Valbona River. Everytime I go down there I expect it to be gone or something because it’s almost too beautiful to be true. I’ve also been playing basketball a few days a week and it’s awesome. I never expected to be playing basketball that much in my community and I don’t hate it one bit. My bed is still one of the most comfortable places I’ve been in Albania, aka I sleep pretty dang good. The Turkish toilet isn’t as big of an issue as I thought it would be…it’s scarier than it looks.

Peppers for you, peppers for me.

After swearing-in in Elbasan my host mom and dad helped me unpack my bags out of the trunk of their car as we said our goodbyes. There was one bag in the car I didn’t recognize as mine and just as I was about to claim it was theirs they handed me the bag and it was filled to the top with specs from their farm!

I had no idea what I was going to do with all these peppers and so I began handing them out as snacks to other volunteers. After that I still had about 50 peppers. I took them up to Bajram Curri with me and today, week 2, I have just finished all of my peppers. I am SO glad they gave me them because I have been able to cook so pretty good stuff with those peppers. Sautéed peppers has been my lunch many of times and it’s helped me save up some grocery money from this month. I bought some peppers last night in the market… but they’re just not the same as my host families. They called me yesterday during lunch to see how everything was going in Bajram Curri and my conversation with a little like the blog post before but it was so good to hear from them though. 

The first meal I cooked in my apartment, specs in the sauce.

C'kemi?

This is the normal greeting in Albania, translated to English:

Person 1: Good Afternoon!

Person 2: Good Afternoon! How are you?

Person 1: Good! Very good. And you?

Person 2: Good! What are you doing?

Person 1: Good! Very good. How are you passing the time?

Person 2: Good! What’s up?

Person 1: Nothing! What’s up?

Person 2: Good!  Very good. What are you doing today?

Person 1: Nothing. How are you?

Person 2: Good! How are your passing the time?

Person 1: Good! Very good!

Person 2: Good. See you later.

Person 1: See you later! Goodbye.

Person 2: Goodbye!

This conversation could happen between family members, best friends or complete strangers… usually for me it’s complete strangers or co-workers. 

Gingers & mountains..

My two favorite Gingers.

More views from Valbona

Traveling to Valbona has opened up my eyes to how beautiful that this country truly is. There are so many opportunities for tourism and I can't wait to start working in this part of Albania. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever traveled to and is absolutely breath taking. This summer is probably going to be spent a lot at the river and in Valbona, I hope.