pics

I've posted some new pictures.

Life in Keneta is going well. I have been able to settle into my apartment and my job a little bit. Things are still pretty slow. I am in Tirana today because we have a meeting at the embassy. I will be coming back here on Saturday because the Embassy is having a 4th of July party, and alot of the volunteers are coming up here. It will be nice to be so close to the capital because I will be able to see people when they come up here for business or pleasure.

I've had two major insights in the last week, so bear with me as I try to explain. If you don't want to read it, I understand.

The first insight is that my apartment is stinking NICE. It is completely not what I expected when I signed up for PC. It is actually nicer than anything I lived in during college or grad school. Definitely better than Alumni Village. This is good because the place is nice, but it is also kind of disappointing because part of what I wanted out of PC was to be able to have an experience of living in simplicity. There are certainly other things I have to do without, but I guess God is wanting to teach me something different. Maybe hospitality or humility. Now with such a nice place it is hard to play the suffering martyr role. So, in short, don't feel sorry for me, I'm not suffering.

The second insight came Saturday night about 2 am. Some volunteers had come up to Durres for a birthday party and we were walking back to my apartment. We had to stop along the way so some of them could use the bathroom, and we were sitting on the curb in the middle of nowhere Durres, and there was a man who came by with a broom and a wheelbarrow cleaning the street. When I saw him it struck me that this was the kind of person who is the hope for Albania's future. Everywhere throughout this country there are men who sit in the bars and cafes all day complaining about how there is no work and no money in the Albania. But this guy wasn't complaining, he was out working a crappy job for I'm sure a crappy wage. I understand there is a problem with unemployment and corruption and all that here, but more men just need to get up and do something instead of complaining all day. At least that is how I feel today. Ask me again next week.

Property Taxes

6/20/05
I had an interesting conversation today that I thought might be worth mentioning. Since a lot of what Co-Plan is doing in Keneta centers around legalizing ownership of property in the neighborhood, the topic of property taxes came up in conversation. Come to find out that Albania currently does not assess property taxes. When I found this out it kind of put a lot of things in perspective. Albania, I feel, can currently best be described as a country “under construction”, very much literally, and figuratively as well. Particularly in Keneta but everywhere in Albania the construction business is booming.

There are many reasons for this that I won’t take the time to go into here, but I think one of the many factors is the absence of property taxes. Without the taxes, people are able to acquire land and build without putting a whole lot of forethought into the need for the structure they are building (be it apartments, a retail store, bar, etc.) If the building sits empty for a couple of years they are not out any money because they only have to pay the up front costs to build and not taxes over the coming years. (For example, Belsh, with a population of 2,000, has at least 20 coffee bars.) The institution of property taxes here would not only significantly increase government revenue, but I think it may also curb some of the seemingly unnecessary construction that is going on everywhere around this country.

The interesting part of the conversation came when my Albanian colleague explained what he thinks is the reason for the absence of property taxes. With the privatization of state-owned land over the last 15 years, he suggests that there are many central government figures who have amassed large amounts of land wealth illegally, and that if property taxes were put into place, the true owners of many pieces of land would be revealed. Whether this is the case or not, I don’t really know, but it seems quite possible.

Volunteer Dave!

Well we made it! We officially swore in as volunteers on Wednesday. It was a long, hot ceremony. About an hour and a half of sitting in the sun with a shirt and tie on. Politics in Albania dictate that all of the officials at the ceremony have a chance to speak. So after all the peace corps speakers, the mayor Elbasan, and head of the Elbasan, and the Deputy American Ambassador all spoke. My host dad was able to come which was really good. I think now he finally believes that Peace Corps is a real organization and not a front for the CIA.

Wednesday night we had a final night out as Group 8 before we left for our permanent sites. The night involved too much raki, circle dancing, and sombreros. I'll post the pictures when I get a chance.

I left Belsh this morning and arrived in Keneta about noon. I was alot more sad saying goodbye to my host family in Belsh than I thought I was going to be. There were so good to me in every aspect. I really couldn't have asked for a better experience. Three months is a wierd time to stay with someone because right when you are getting to know them and be really comfortable you end up leaving. That's part of the reason I am glad to be here in Keneta. I know that I will be here for two years and that I will really be able to invest in some good relationships.

I am starting work at Co-Plan on Monday, but really the next three months or so is going to be about more language learning and making connections in the community. Plus the entire country takes the month of August off for holiday, so there won't be too much to do then.

We got tested for our language last week and I tested as one of the top in the group. I am really glad that I have been able to learn so quickly. Alot of it is because the guy that tested first place in our group lived with me in Belsh, so he really challenged me to learn more and we kept our classes at a good pace. I'm kind of at a wierd level with the language. I'm starting to think more in Shqip and it has turned into a wierd kind of Albanglish.

Thanks to everyone who has commented on my entries or sent me emails. It feels good to be able to stay quasi-connected with home. Have a great weekend.

same old same old

Training is slowly continuing. We are having our final meetings this week and will swear in as volunteers on Wednesday. Things have been good, but it is a little overwhelming thinking about moving to a new city and starting over. I have gotten pretty close to my host family here and all of the community of Belsh, so it will be a little hard to leave. But at the same time I am ready to start working with Co-Plan and becoming a part of the community I will live in for two years. I still haven't heard if they have found a place for me to live in Keneta. Hopefully I will find out by Thursday when I move. Otherwise I might be in a hotel again for a while.

This weekend our training group made a trip to Tirana. It was a good time. There is an American restaurant there and I had a hamburger, fries, and an american style coffee. It was a little wierd because the were alot of ex-pats there (missionaries, development workers, etc.) so it kind of felt like I wasn't in Albania. I was going to go see the new Star Wars at the movie theater but didn't have time. I 'll have to try to catch it later.

Happy belated birthdays to my mom, Jamie K., Darcy B., and Melissa H, and happy 32nd anniversary to my parents. Sorry this wish is so late for some of you, but know that I was thinking of you.

I'm posting some more pictures today. Some of the pictures are of Keneta, so you can see my future home. If you don't know how to see the pictures, I put the login in a previous post.

Miserable

Oh man. The last week was Miserable! I got back to Belsh on Sunday night and woke up about 3:30 am with a terrible fever and chills. It felt like the flu and a pretty big scale. I didn't even get out of bed on Monday or Tuesday. Each day I kept thinking it was going to pass, but it never did. Finally after consulting with the PC doctor I got some anti-biotics on Thursday and was completely better by Saturday. It took about a whole week to get well, but the actual sickness wasn't the worst part of the ordeal. The worst part was being sick while living with a host family.

My host family is great and I really don't have too many complaints about my time with them, but they aren't particularly medically knowledgeable. Having the stomach problems that I was, I wasn't eating anything, just drinking water. They couldn't understand this because their solution for every sickness is to eat, and eat alot. So they kept insisting on feeding me fried eggs, fried salami, yoghurt, and other things the whole week. Not my foods of choice for a stomach sickness.

Anyway, I shouldn't be complaining. I'm better now.

This week we are in Elbasan everyday for a final training conference and then next Wednesday we swear in as volunteers. I still haven't heard anything about my living situation in Keneta, so it will be interesting to see what they find.

Other than that, it is starting to get pretty hot here. Once I get to Keneta, I'll be able to get to the beach, so that will be nice.

**To David & Lois, Allyson, and Sue: I'm not sure when you guys are leaving to go overseas, I know some are this month, so drop me a line before you take off. I want to know how to keep in touch while you are serving in your respective countries.