We made it! After long hours of travel and inservice training, we are finally here and are adjusting well to our new lives in this wonderful country. There are 38 other volunteers here with us in this group who will be working in teaching English, public health, or community development (like us). Seven of us are living in the town of Peqin (pe-CHEEN). The two of us are living with a wonderful family who has welcomed us with good old Southern hospitality – too much food, lots of conversation, and lots of hugs and kisses.
The family is made up of the parents, Merita and Naim, who own and operate a “fast food†shop just off the town square. They make sandwiches, one of which is called a hamburger, complete with catsup and mustard, with French fries – in the sandwich! They have 3 children. Kadri is 19 and goes to university in Tirana during the week but comes home on the weekends. He speaks some English and was here when we arrived last Sunday and helped carry our bags and translate our introductions. He is studying something to do with electricity, but we’re not exactly sure what yet. They have a daughter, Zyra (pronounced Zu-rah, but they mostly mostly call her Zuriah), who is 16 and is a high school student. She is taking the advanced math and science courses as she wants to go to university to become a doctor someday. Then there is Sylvio, the 11-year old son who has really taken a shine to us. We think he likes having some more playmates around!
They all work very hard operating and owning the shop. Merita and Naim get up at 4:00 am every day to make the bread for the sandwiches they’ll sell that day. Zyra and Sylvio go to school at 8:00 when we do and get out about 1:00. Zyra comes home to do housework and Sylvio usually goes and helps at the shop. Merita and Naim share shifts at the store, but Naim usually closes. He gets home about 8:30 pm when we all sit down for dinner around the television to catch the latest in the soap operas, the variety shows, and quiz shows. Carol helps Merita prepare dinner and practices her Albanian and Merita practices her English. Carol also help with clean up of the dishes. Lately, Merita has let Criss help with the dishes, too. She calls him Mr. Criss, and stops everything when he comes into the room. Carol is slowly breaking her of that custom!
We’re not usually done with the dishes until about 11:30 pm so it’s a long day, especially when you’re trying to communicate as we do. Merita is very friendly, though, and has welcomed us as family. She says it is like having another big sister in the house (I’m older than she is). She comes from a family of 11 children and has 40 nieces and nephews! We’ve met a few of them already, and will soon meet her mother who also lives here in Pechin.
We have eaten plenty of food, mostly traditional Albanian dishes that Merita and sometimes Zyra prepare – lamb stews, soups, fish, greens with eggs, home-made bread, lots of fresh fruit and salad. Our family is very health conscious so everything we have is fresh and delicious. They all drink bottled water here as the tap water is not good in the town. We have only to go across the street to a little shop to buy our water (when we need extra) and the woman who runs that shop loves to help us. Everyone in the town knows we’re here, obviously, and are very friendly as well as curious about us. And everyone is connected to everyone else so word gets around fast. There are only about 8,000 people who live here.
One of our first assignments was to walk around town and draw a map of the town. Well, we had no sooner met when along came “The Posse†– Sylvio, his friends, and another volunteers’ family’s boy and his friends, all boys, all between about 8 and 14. We really had fun as they took us places we wouldn’t have known about on our own, and we met quite a few people along the way as well. The kids were on spring break this past week, so have been able to be with us just about anytime they want to. At least the boys, that is. The girls mostly stay home and help with housework. And they keep a very clean house here so there is always something to clean each day.
We’ve taken the group out and played Ultimate twice, which they caught on to pretty fast because they all play soccer. There’s a nice soccer field and stadium right down the street from our house. The first time we played there, one of the kids opened the gate from the inside and let us in. Sure enough, about an hour and a half later an adult showed up and kicked us off the field and said it’s only for the town’s soccer team to use (of course). We have since gotten permission from the mayor to use the field whenever we want to, as long as we arrange it with him. Apparently, he and two other business owners in Pechin sponsor the local professional men’s soccer club. We may even get to go to a match next weekend. But he wants to arrange our seating because he says the fans can get a little rowdy – reminiscent of a Duke-Carolina game, I guess!
The weather has been beautiful so far. Nice days, cool nights. It’s very quiet at night, except for the roosters, who think the sun comes up at 2 am. We’ve gotten used to them, we think, as we don’t even hear them anymore. Of course, we’re so tired at night anyway, we think we’d sleep through anything at this point! We only have internet access on the days we go into Elbasan, which is Tuesday afternoons and all day Thursdays. The family has dial-up access which they have offered to let us use, but we think it’s best not to abuse their hospitality.
They have lovely garden, and at the time that we write, two truckloads of dirt are being delivered to them. It sounds very much like home, but it is all so very different. We have everything we could possibly need – hot water, a toilet that flushes, our own room with a double bed, use of the washing machine – but it’s hard to describe how different it is yet how comfortable it all is. Most of the other volunteers stationed here with us in Pechin have it very nice as well. However, almost all of us agree we do not have as much privacy as we are all used to, and that is taking some getting used to. As a group, we have enjoyed the ability to go out together and demonstrate American culture – eating together in a restaurant at lunch, taking our coffee breaks together, sitting out in the Cafes together in the afternoons while the power is out (all the men come to the town square and walk up and down the street and socialize at the cafes while the women stay home and work). They have never had Americans (or many foreigners except missionaries) come live in Pechin so many have said they are happy to see us here demonstrating the American war of life. Apparently, it is strange to them, but they are not offended by it. We hope, for the women, that a little of it rubs off!
We’ve only been here a week and we’re told that this is the honeymoon period. We are off to a good start, however, and hope that as we struggle to learn the language, things will remain as good as they are now. We aren’t able to post any pictures yet, but will try to do so soon. We miss all of you – especially all of you Raleigh Racers out there – and think of you often. We love hearing from you when we can get email, and hope you’ll be patient with us as we try to figure out the ins and outs of staying in touch. SugarBuzz people – you’d better stay in shape, the Posse’s just getting started! We’ll chat again soon…
Carol and Criss