I left Bajram Curri for the Outdoor Amabassador Conference in Elbasan, that went great by the way. Just at 40 kids from all parts of Albania got to attend the training on leadership and environmental stewardship. The money for the conference was funded by a Peace Corps Partnership grant and all the kids who attended were able to attended, no charge to them. I gave two sessions over the weekend and the kids were really receptive and eager to learn.Anyways, I got a phone call from Peace Corps Saturday evening telling me not to even try to get back to Bajram Curri for at least a week because all the roads are completely blocked. The Prime Minister declared a stage of Natural Disaster in the North of Albania today. We have almost 15 feet of snow. 15 feet of snow. I've been reading all over the news what a horrible winter this is for Europe and now it has snuck it's way up to my back door.. literally creeping closer and closer everyday. I talked to my sitemates and they said it was probably a good thing that I'm not there right now. As of now my plan is just to hang out in the south of Albania, I'm in Corovode right now working on editing the G.A.D. documentary we started. Most of the south of Albania, besides a few regions, is just getting a lot of rain instead of snow.
I read an article that there was an avalanche in a small village of Kosovo, on the border of Kosovo and Albania, that trapped and killed 9 people. The scary thing is that this village is right by the road that we travel to get to Bajram Curri and has probably received almost the same amount of snow as we have. A small girl was saved from the snow pile but her entire family was lost in this tragedy.
I don't know when I'll be able to return back to my apartment, but I only packed for 3 days so looks like I'm going to be marinating a lot or stopping by a market to pick up some second hand clothes. That's honestly small problems compared to what I would be having if I was home.
