Trip To Elbasan

As the days go by I'm increasingly enjoying my early bedtime and village life. I love my walk to Shales every day. The mountains are simply breathtaking. The bright colorful housing doting the landscape looks unreal sometimes. Today, school wasn't even that cold. Spring is coming and everything seems so bright and eager.

I woke up at 6:30, had a potato pancake type breakfast (I'm not exactly sure what it was, but it
was pretty fluffy for a potato pancake). Anyway- I ate way to much (as I usually do with delicious friend foods when I allow myself near them) because it was just so good. I mean, how often are you going to eat hot fluffly potato pancakes in the morning?

Out schoolroom window, we could see the children hoeing and gardening, skills that I would love to learn. School was short as we had to head in to the Peace Corps PST office Elbasan to meet up with the 28 other volunteers to learn more about safety and security.

Everyone seemed to being doing really well, which was great to hear. We were left on our own for lunch, and I got to eat with 3 other from 3 different sites which I really enjoyed. I loved hearing about each person's really different site. The host families and sites encompass such a huge range of living conditions and people it's hard to make any generalizations. For example, I am pretty much the only person with a bucket bath and "pee only" toilet. The shower situations range from constant hot water to bucket baths to showering in the laundry room using the showerhead and drain in the center of the room to hot water during certain parts of the days. Likewise, the housing ranges from urban areas to farms big and small. One volunteer that I know of has already milked a cow (how exciting- I want to do that!!) and one has seen a goat skinned (I do NOT want to do that). I would love to learn how to make the bread my host mother makes every other day and need to learn how to ask my house mother about that, and really want to learn how to plant the garden.

Lunch was followed by a really long lesson (or seminar or forum) on diaherria. No joke. For 2 hours we learned really everything there is to know abou diaherria. How you get it. What it's symptoms are. The different types (yes- there are types). How to avoid it. What to do when you get it and so on and so forth. I, obviously, have my own bm issues due to my toilet situation, so I did not find the statement "you will all get diaherria" very encouraging. Diaherria indoors is much better that diaherria out doors and that is all I have to say on that subject.

Health (or more accurately sickness) was followed by more safety instructions. We then had to head back as it was getting dark and the roads are relatively unsafe in the dark. I had to check something on the internet first, and then headed back with Kacey on one of the last Forlongs to go to Shales. By the time we got here, it was almost dark and certainly unwise for me to walk alone. Kacey suggested that we ask her "Babba" or host father to walk me home, which he generously agreed to do. Kacey came with, and I arrived at my house safely. It was great to meet him and so kind of him to make sure I got home safely.

At home I was greated with a three buckets of hot water. I took my second bucket bath in the center of the bathroom and felt way more successful. This time, I even went for a shampoo. It was very refreshing and I do think I am improving.

Dinner started with a huge spinach pie the size of a large pizza pie. Yes- it was just as delicious as it sounds. Unfortunately, I cheated. Monika (the homestay coordinator) already told me they had baked it for me because she had visited my home today, so I knew I the good news. I tried to be as excited and surprised as I could, because I was even though I had a heads up. Rina (my host sister) had baked it from scratch and had obviously put a ton of effort, work and care into it. So, in all, we had a pretty healthy meal of bean soup (remember from yesterday), spinach pie and bread.

I ate as much pie as I could and then tried to ask about mail- sending mail, getting mail, the existance of mail- and had absolutely no success. I looked the words up in the dictionary but that didn't seem to work either. In all fairness, my shqip still sucks and when I asked the language teacher she was also confused. She just said yes, there is mail, no mattar how many times I asked. I am guessing, therefore, that I have to change the way I ask. Maybe tomorrow I will bring out the letter I have been trying to send for 3 days and point to it. I think I might have better luck.

Anyway- it's 9:26 and the chickens have gone to sleep. My host mother went to sleep at 8 and I think it's about time for me as well. Going to sleep early is kind of exciting! A new, healthier me.