Meti në Shqipëri

I’m officially no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer. I’m going back to America tomorrow, for the first time since March 22, 2007. Two years has gone by quickly, and it’s hard to express and digest what I’ve harvested from this experience. I have become comfortably numb. On the eve of my departure, here are some of the things bouncing around in my brain.

- Working on the archaeological excavations in Durres were some of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life.

- Albanians litter. Every age, gender, education level, and socio-economic status – they litter. On the beaches, in the fields and on the streets, and in the hills.

- There is some truth to the Albanian expression that says: “America is work-work-sleep. Europe is work-play-sleep. Albania is play-play-sleep.”

- Humor is the highest manifestation of language.

- Albania is a surprisingly LOUD place. Dogs, roosters, construction, cars without mufflers, rooms without carpet, loud conversations, and clarinet music all contribute to the cacophony.

- Crossing the street in Albania is exactly like being the frog in that video game “Frogger.”

- In Albania, shaking one’s head side to side means “yes.” I never got used to that.

- Peace Corps is a government bureaucracy

- No matter how comfortable I felt, there was always a background stress that came from living in a foreign place in a foreign language and a foreign culture.

- It will take two generations for Albania to flush out the historical and cultural obstacles to its progress. A simultaneous challenge will be to hold on to the those things which make this a good and special nation.

The End. Goodbye.

I completed the Skanderbeg Castle trifecta this week. The Albanian hero Skanderbeg built/rebuilt these three castles on hilltops in the northwest of Albania to defend against the Ottomans in the first half of the 15th century. Each was about 30 km away from one another, and by lighting signal fires, they could warn each other of attack. They are built on the ruins of older Roman and Illyrian fortifications. Each has a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside.

Lezhe, where Skanderbeg was buried

Rozafa Castle in Shokdra

The signal tower of Kruja Castle

Hey remember me? I used to post blog entries on this site. Then Baby Nephew Luke arrived, and I’ve been real busy what with the feedings and changings and such. I mean in a cyber/virtual sort of way.

Today, I was invited to hang out at “Mini-Culture Day” for the new Peace Corps trainees in the town of Librazhd. The trainees and their host families prepared some American and Albanian food and we hung out to chat, eat, and dance. Somehow, maybe as the “veteran” volunteer, I got the job of giving the “Welcome/Thank you” speech to kick off the event. I was offered an interpreter, but I figured that I’d be a sorry excuse for a Peace Corps Volunteer if I couldn’t give a one-minute speech in Albanian after two years here. No one gasped or burned an American flag, thereby meeting my standards of a successful speech in a foreign language. It was a good note on which to begin the end of my service next month. Here’s my tip for giving a speech in a foreign language: repeat the same grammar structure, just stick in different vocabulary. For example “You taught us how to eat. You taught us how to drink. You taught us how to live like Albanians. You are our fathers. You are our mothers. You are our sisters and you are our brothers.” They thought I was frickin Demosthenes.

I also learned that the plural of “babai” (father) is “baballarët,” which is kind of like if the plural of “cat” was “catwigumpilala” instead of “cats.”

This is my brand new (March 6) nephew, Luke Charles. In Albania, they’d say “T’ju rroje!” which means “long life.” Congratulations Becky and Kurt! One of these days, the boys will see their uncle…

I just realized that the word “Accommodate” has two ‘m’s. That just doesn’t look right to me. I’ve also had a problem with the word “independence.” I used to spell it with an “a” as in “dance,” because that’s what independent people do, as we will see tomorrow when Kosovars celebrate one year of independence, much to the chagrin of Russia and Serbia. (how’sthatforarun-onsentence?) Gezuar ditelindjen Kosovo.

My penence for not posting in so long is to choke my way through 30 seconds of Albanian for you.
CLICK TO LISTEN

Here’s the translation:
“I have spent my time well here in Albania. I have one small problem: my stove doesn’t work. Yesterday, I tried to fix it, but it still doesn’t work. I don’t know why. But it means that it’s very difficult and very slow to cook dinner. The weather is a little cold – 5 degrees (C), and I think (I hope) that after two or three weeks spring will come with very nice weather. Goodbye!”

I learned this new word today, and shall use it in a sentence: The Balkans are populated with irredentists.