Sweaty

I think Al Gore is right. The world is melting. There are certainly no glaciers left here in Albania because if there were, that is where I would be right now. Just laying on the ice and snow.

Gum

I don't particularly like gum. If it is offered to me, I will take a piece, but very rarely do I actually buy gum at the store. Somehow, however, here in Durres it seems to be impossible to leave the grocery store without buying a piece of gum.

First, you have to understand that Albania is a cash society. Check writing does not exist and places that accept credit cards are few and far between. Every purchase, every transaction here is purely cash. The odd thing is, though, that every store seems to be continually short on small change.

The lowest value coin here is the 5 leke coin, which equals about an American nickel. However, most stores never seem to have any 5 leke coins in their tills. Most solve this problem by keeping prices in multiples of 10, but not at my grocery store.

Each time I go to the store, I always seem to need some item that has a cost ending in 5. At that point, I have two choices. I can either look for another item that I might need ending in five, or I can take the chance that maybe that day they will have a 5 leke coin. Every time I take the risk, I get "gummed". After the girl rings up my purchases, she gives me the "Sorry no 5 leke coins today" smile and offers me a piece of gum instead. So, I end up buying gum.

I am not complaining though, cause if I am lucky, the gum has a temporary, stick-on tattoo inside. Now that is something worth 5 leke.

P.S. Somebody from N.Y. mentioned Jack Handy in the comments. My favorite Jack Handy quote goes something like "I really wish my name was Jared. Then when I walk down the street people would say, 'Hey there goes Jared Hammersmith.' Oh yeah, I also wish my last name was Hammersmith."

5 Random Thoughts

First, I hope everyone realizes my last post was an exercise in sarcasm.


The thoughts I have during a normal day are rather strange sometimes. I don't think it is because of me being strange, but I think it is just the random stuff that I encounter throughout a day. For example, here are 5 random thoughts I had today. They are all real thoughts. I promise.

1. Wow, that kid should be careful with that big, rusted piece of metal.
2. I bet that insurance would cover a breast reduction surgery if the woman was having back problems.
3. Soccer is really boring to watch.
4. This fish soup doesn't taste too bad.
5. My shower is pretty gross. I should probably clean it. Ah, I'll do it tomorrow.

Life is weird.

Imaginary Suffering

When I signed up to be a Peace Corps volunteer and made my way to Albania, I expected to encounter the difficulties that come from living in a developing country. The difficulties were part of the reason of why I signed up. I wanted to be challenged, stretched, to find the real me, the side of me that is only exposed when I have to face adversity. Well, today was perhaps the most challenging day of my service so far, and I have to say that the adversity kept piling up and while at times I thought I might crack under the pressure, I was very proud of myself for perservering.

First, I managed to pull myself out of bed at 8:30 so that I could get to Tirana by 10:00 to meet some friends for breakfast. After pancakes and omlettes we were planning to go to the movie theater and see the "Da Vinci Code". We had been waiting two whole weeks for this movie to come to Albania and finally it had made it here. Just our luck, though, the movie is sold out. Not just for the 12:30 show, but for the whole weekend! "No problem", I thought. I'll just head to the office and get some work done on the internet. I make the 20 minute walk to the office, sit down at the computer, and, dang it, the internet is down!! At this point the adversities are starting to pile up and I am really beginning to see the "true me". After hanging out at the office a while, sans connection, we decide to make our way to the block to have some chicken wings. We get to the restaurant, find a prime table, and decide on a 20 piece basket. My mouth had already been watering for about 5 minutes when the waiter comes and, yep, you guessed it, they are out of wings!!! At this point I am really thinking about catching the next flight back to the States. I mean I expected Peace Corps to have some challenges, but no movie, internet, and wings all in the same day! That's too much even for me. The only way I could think of calming down was to head over and get some Chinese food. Nothing puts me in a better mood than an order of curry chicken. Anyway, I am happy to say that I have perservered and that I do feel like I have been changed a little today. I know that the next time I have to face a day like today I will be better prepared.

"Furgon Flip Flop" Revisited

When I posted the story about the furgon, I never really expected all the comments. I guess, in response to the comments, I would say two things. First, I did understand what the driver and passengers were saying. I have been living here for over a year, and I understand the language well enough. Secondly, some comments took the line of reasoning that if it had not happened to them in Albania, then it probably could not happen to me. I do not think I need to clarify the flaw in this train of thought.

I traveled downt to Vlore this weekend for Memorial Day. There were quite a few volunteers there and even some from Macedonia. We had a great time, and the beaches in Vlore definitely outdo the ones here in Durres. This week I have been back here in Durres working on preparations for an Environmental Day activity we are having in Keneta on Monday.

Here are two interesting photos from this weekend.

The first is a Vancouver Grizzlies Bryant 'Big Country' Reeves jersey. For all of you OSU fans. The second is some beach towels the sell here. The first lady has an interesting anatomy.