Why did the chicken cross the road?

Today I had particularly excellent animal sightings before I even got to town. I saw: TWO chickens cross the road (via foot), one fly across the road, a donkey and horse. In town I saw another donkey. Check that out!

Kacey and I took the furon to Elbasan, walked around for a bit ate some authentic gelato (3 scoops for 50 leke ($.50).

The weather wasn’t great, but it was nice to finally have a day in which I did nothing. I’m going to add to this blog later, but right now, I’m just going to put up my animal pictures. Note: While I have tried very hard to capture a chicken crossing the road, by the time I get my camera out and turn it on, s/he has already crossed. This is obviously very frustrating, but I finally managed to capture one today. HA!

Help: Coffee is a diuretic and my house bathroom is pee only.

Hurt: We go to coffee during our classroom break every day.

Help: We might switch our break from one ½ chunk to a 10 minute chunk and 20 minute chunk- too short to get coffee

Hurt: I like eating salad for lunch

Help: Part of what got me into this pickle were two overly zealous grocery shopping trips this weekend, in an attempt to eat healthy (It’s not going so well, refer to paragraph 1 line 13). On Friday I stopped a fancy looking EMC and bought 6 tasty yogurts. Think passion fruit and raspberry. I can take these yogurts to school every day for lunch (Help- it’s “free” in that I already paid for it and don’t have to purchase it going forward, and healthy- not doused in oil and topped with salty feta cheese). If I don’t purchase yogurt, or limit my yogurt purchase to one for every other day I would have about 300 more Leke. On Saturday I went to the EuroMax and bought fiber pasta (hurt), cereal for breakfast (could go either way) and crackers (help- with the yogurt they could make a good lunch). Also, I anticipate these foods lasting a while, so I might not have to purchase them during every pay cycle.

Hurt: I like going online to see whose read my blog (Post comments people, Post comments!)

Help: The internet goes out in Shales whenever there is a storm. It’s been out since Tuesday and the owner seems to be in no rush to get it fixed.

Hurt: I’ll always be in Elbasan on Tuesdays and Friday where there are plenty of internet cafes.

Help: Some things I spent my money on do not exist in Shales, like Gelato and individual sized store bought Yogurt, or are onetime purchases, like liquid hand soap and toothpaste.

Hurt: I’ll be going to Shkodra this weekend and will want to buy all the new delicious foods I see.

Help: (Theoretically) I’ll have a better idea of how to budget my money after these 2 weeks. I do not plan on touching any money from America, so I really have no choice.

Hurt: As the weather gets nicer, I can stay out later. This offers me more opportunities to spend money.

Help: Girls are not allowed out after dark and women really do not drink here and not in public, so there is no temptation or really any way to spend money on alcohol which is good for my body and wallet.

Hurt: I need to buy more toilet paper (I find that carrying a role around in my purse is an excellent solution to many of the bathroom problems one might encounter, particularly as the biggest one tends to be no paper) and detergent.

Help: These are not expensive purchases and I can hold off on till Friday to make them.

Hurt: When I am on my own, I will not have fresh bread, cheese or yogurt and will have to shop at the EuroMax to buy my own dinner. Even in Albania the grocery store has proven to be a malicious influence on me.

Help: I don’t want to get fat, so I might be able to resist some temptation, particularly regarding sweets and gelato.

The more I get used to Albania and the better Albanian I speak the less I will get ripped off.

That is my life. As of right now, I foresee being able to live on $3.25 (less than the price of a lattee) for the next 5 days. Granted, this is because I am living for free, with breakfast and dinner included and have bought groceries for lunch. Regardless, writing that I will only spend $3.25 for 5 days seems odd, but good. I’ll let you know in 5 days (when I can afford internet again) how that goes. Hopefully, I’ll be able to report that it went very well. In the meantime, feel free to call. I get unlimited free incoming calls.