If you read about Albania, you will learn that education is valued, a large percentage of the population holds a college degree and nearly everyone speaks 3 or 4 languages (Italian, English, Greek and Russian are the most prevalent). Over the course of 2 years, we have had an opportunity to observe the educational system… Continue reading The Value of Education
What happens when the government spies on its citizens and recruits individuals to monitor and report on each other? Living in Albania has given some insight to that. In the past under Enver Hoxha, there were approximately 50 years of totalitarian control. During this time, citizens were recruited to spy
We have tired on several occasions to describe the transportation here, but a verbal description just does not capture the experience and so it has been delayed and delayed. But what would a blog on Albania be without discussing the furgons? We must try. What is a furgon?
Albanians have a very strong view of what men do and what women do. The men sit in the locales and drink coffee, beer and raki while the women do everything else. This seems to be a hold-over from the days when the men were responsible for protecting the family and village. Now, as they… Continue reading Gender Issuses
The Durrës Library – the portal to knowledge One of the best assignments Carol has here in Durrës is her 6 hours a week at the library. Her responsibilities include sitting at the main desk and handing out newspapers to the old men that come in to read and then collecting the newspapers when they… Continue reading Library Award
After one and a half years in Durrës, the newness of having the Americans around is wearing off and it is interesting to see how relationships change. Some have realized we are not the traditional NGO types coming with bags of money and have moved on, some have started telling us their initial views about… Continue reading I Spy?
At the museum, Criss helped move some of the artifacts from the third floor down to the first floor. These boxes and crates hold the findings of this summer’s (2007) excavation of the amphitheatre.
A couple of weekends ago, a Fest Lojë banner appeared at the cultural center. As we asked around town about it, we were told high school students from Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Greece were coming to Durrës to compete in games, singing and dancing. Our understanding was this was a one day event on Thursday.
One of the real joys of working in Albania is the time we spend with the Albanian staff. Other than the country director and the country program manager, the rest of the staff at Peace Corps are locals. The other day the English program manger was in town to talk with the new volunteer and
It was unavoidable. Criss had to go to Tiranë for a meeting at the Peace Corps office. It was a 2 day meeting so he was there 2 nights. Normally, a chance to see other parts of Albania are welcomed, but in July,