A few days ago, I had tried to show Rina That 70s Show. After it didn’t fit in the dvr player I remembered European and American dvrs and dvds are deliberately on a separate platform to combat privacy. I tried to explain to her that my dvds won’t work in the dvr player but she kept putting my dvds in. She finally stopped after her mother told her. After that, I showed her the show on my laptop. Because the show was in English, and admittedly has a ton of innuendoes, she wasn’t that interested in (I don’t blame her) and instead kept shutting and opening my laptop. After that, I started to hide my computer. When I went home to change my clothes my computer, which I had left in hiding under the bed, was on the table. I had a nagging feeling my computer had been used, but my excitement at working out overrode that and I headed out not wanting a long drawn out conversation.
I changed and then left with Kacey who had walked me home. We took the collapsed workout ball, pump and sneakers and left to pick up Katie. We must have looked like quite a site walking around in our muddy shoes (read: leather boots) and workout clothes. Determined to buck the peace corps trend of gaining weight (shocking! Women tend to gain weight in the PC) the three of us headed to Kacey’s house where we blew up the ball and did Carmen Elektra’s Fit to Strip workout.
We pushed the bed aside, turned on the laptop and put out some rugs. Kristine came over to get a movie but instead found the three of us at the start of Fit to Strip attempting to do calisthenics in a small space we carved out near the weed wacker. The sight was too funny for her to pass up. She had just come from a run, so she didn’t join us but she did helped coach us which essentially means every time an exercise came on she said “Oh, that’s a good one!” Let me tell you- Carmen Elektra’s ab workout is no joke! We made it through about 30 minutes before Katie and I got half bored and half excited by it and decided to run. We ran to the cemetery and back, or rather Katie ran and I mostly ran.
No one runs here. No one. Just like no one gets mail. So, the sight of two girls (GIRLS!!) running was way too much for certain people. Most people and animals stopped to stare as us but left us alone that is possibly because every March very disoriented, badly speaking Shqip speaking Americans descend on this little village. But a few people, actually men and boys, felt the need to point and yell at us. More than a few cars that honked at us and then drove back to pass us again. While this attention was a bit unnerving at first, I’ve sort of gotten used to it. However, nothing prepared me for the little sheep that attempted to run with Katey.
It was great to get moving, do some sweating and get the blood going. At the end of the workout, we didn’t know what to do with ourselves. Yesterday, daylight savings time had generously bestowed an extra hour on us, so we finally didn’t have to run home right away. Looking at each other, deciding what to do, Kristine had a wonderful suggestion. She asked if we wanted to see her Donkey. Who wouldn’t? We went to see her donkey, sheep and cow. She warned us the cow was huge, but I still wasn’t prepared for her. Unca is so big that I don’t think she could fit out of the door of the barnlike brick room she is kept in. She also warned us that the donkey was mean (it almost kicked her off on Saturday) but didn’t tell us that there is a fantastic lemon tree on the way to the cow.
My answer to “Whose lemon tree is that?” consisted of her host mother generously getting a broom to knock all the lemons down. It was pretty tight- she wacked it for a second and the lemons came down.
Walking home with the huge workout ball garnered me some looks, but I just kept going home. I really like to say hello to kids who look quizzically at me or follow me to the store but don’t really like to deal with large groups of men at dusk. The children are usually just really curious and excited to try out the one or two English phrases they know “Hello” “What is your name?” “Good Morning”. A few times I’ve tried to respond by saying Molly and “how are you?” but they haven’t yet understood the second part. I know this because when I say “Hello. How are you?” they usually laugh and say “Nuk Kuptoj” (Don’t understand). The men however, don’t speak to me. They just stare. I’m not worried about my safety, but don’t like big groups of men who stare at me anywhere: on my corner in New York, on someone else’s corner in New York, in Chicago or in Albania. It’s nothing personal.
When I got home, I got a bucket bath (VERY needed). It was hot and excellent. I’ve gotten way better at bucket bathing. Third time is the charm. I got out and I offered to help Rina make the salad. Sometime during all this Gjusha and one of Mama’s friends came over. The house felt really full with five women in it- a nice warm feeling.
I was starving from working out and dinner was taking a really long time to cook, so I asked if I could have a tiny (Pak) piece of bread before dinner. I pointed to the bread, but must have asked wrong because I ended up being served right then and there in front of everyone. At first it was a bit weird but then everyone joined me in eating salad, bread and yogurt probably because it was getting so late. Because I made the salad, I made it without oil. Luckily, I had the lemons from Kristen’s mom to season the salad with.
Now, I’m back down. Sometime during dinner, I got a horrible headache. I feel as if the sides of my head are pushing in. It really sucks. I’m going to see if bed helps my situation.
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