We have been told time and time again that Albania is a 'coffee culture' and that business meetings usually happen over cups of coffee instead of in the office and you must become friends before people will even trust you to work with. This came to light to me, very brightly, this past week. After attending the celebration for the warrior, where over half of the town was at one time and where I was circle dancing, all at once, with the mayor, my counterpart, my land lady, my office mates and my neighbors, I woke up the next day and it was like a switch flipped. People that I had been casually talking to since I arrived in Bajram Curri, all of the sudden had a different spark in their eye when I talked to them. I finally got that meeting I had been waiting almost 3 weeks for with the mayor to discuss progression of the logo designs.. It was really like a different Bajram Curri... same friendly people, but I felt like more of a part of them than ever before. Next week will be my 6 month anniversary from being in Albania. Sometimes it seems like way longer than that and sometimes I feel like I got here yesterday. When I think about how much I've learned, experienced and seen since I've been here my head starts to spin. This is truly a once in a lifetime experience. To be thrown into a culture and it's either your sink or swim. So far, I think I'm treading quite nicely in the deep end of the pool.
Thursday
From circle dancing to business meetings..
We have been told time and time again that Albania is a 'coffee culture' and that business meetings usually happen over cups of coffee instead of in the office and you must become friends before people will even trust you to work with. This came to light to me, very brightly, this past week. After attending the celebration for the warrior, where over half of the town was at one time and where I was circle dancing, all at once, with the mayor, my counterpart, my land lady, my office mates and my neighbors, I woke up the next day and it was like a switch flipped. People that I had been casually talking to since I arrived in Bajram Curri, all of the sudden had a different spark in their eye when I talked to them. I finally got that meeting I had been waiting almost 3 weeks for with the mayor to discuss progression of the logo designs.. It was really like a different Bajram Curri... same friendly people, but I felt like more of a part of them than ever before. Next week will be my 6 month anniversary from being in Albania. Sometimes it seems like way longer than that and sometimes I feel like I got here yesterday. When I think about how much I've learned, experienced and seen since I've been here my head starts to spin. This is truly a once in a lifetime experience. To be thrown into a culture and it's either your sink or swim. So far, I think I'm treading quite nicely in the deep end of the pool.