4-5 months of news, but not really

Much has happened since my last update (August was it?). I’ve reached a point where much of what I want to write in this blog is like trying to explain an inside joke. That being said, here’s a blog-

New years is approaching and kids are throwing M-80’s all over the place and the concussive force triggers car alarms. Couple that with multiple nightly death rattles due to a staggering increase in canid on canid violence and you have the auditory offspring of the green zone and a dog fighting ring. I don’t notice it much anymore, but maybe that’s because I’m too cold to notice much else. It’s cold enough in my apartment that when I go outside I’m surprised that it’s that much colder.

The hot water line in my kitchen has sprung multiple leaks so I’ve been doing my dishes with water from the shower over my toilet. I’ve moved into my living room to conserve heat/ energy costs and to avoid smoke from a woodstove operating below my bedroom. My carbon monoxide detector hasn’t gone off so maybe I’m not being poisoned.

Nothing has really changed other than the temperature. The counterpart Peace Corps fixed me with was fired in August or September because she didn’t hold the correct qualifications. This was both a positive and a negative. At times she was supportive of my ideas and at other times it seemed like she was actively working against me. The director and assistant director of the health center are both supportive of my ideas, but because of their other responsibilities I don’t get as much face time with them as I would like.

I have a few side projects brewing with my sitemate. We are working on creating a radio station that will be staffed with college and high school students. We are also trying to start/continue an environmental education club for high school students.

I’ve learned enough of the language that I feel comfortable arguing with people. The only downside is I end up arguing with people while sharing the same opinion. This happens a lot at work. I’ll understand 70% of what someone has said and then throw in a “but…” only to find out I’ve just repeated what they’ve explained. I do a lot of repeating what I think people have said and making up examples to make sure I actually have a clue. In my defense, people at work don’t slow their speech at all. I know I’ve gotten better at reading non verbal clues. There are times when I have no clue what someone has said, but I end up guessing what they’ve said. I probably rely on this skill too much. When this gambit fails I end up looking stupid, but I’ve become so accustomed to guessing wrong and or just not understanding what someone has said that looking stupid is as natural as being cold or showering with pots and pans.

I had thanksgiving with the Marine unit that guards the embassy in Tirana. They were great hosts. I had some American beer (coors light!) and they hooked up a great spread; turkey, glazed ham, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, salad, cranberry sauce and cornbread. Earlier we played a football game against the embassy staff and marines. Needless to say Peace Corps won 6-4. My quarterback rating was around 110 (by calculating it I’m exposing myself as having placed far too great an importance on a game of touch football). In reality I just chucked it up and let the receivers make me look good. It was a muddy sloping field and our defense came up big down the stretch. The nail in the coffin came when you know who connected with on a deep post pattern with dat dude who kept his nerve and made a handsome sliding catch in the end zone. Needless to say off-season training has commenced. A winter mini-camp is planned for February (closed to the public).

Today I went on a walk and ended up in a village speaking to a man taking his three cows and one donkey to a natural spring. He invited me for coffee and so I went to his house where I was given raki, an orange, a chocolate, an apple, two pockets full of walnuts, and an offer to stay for dinner/the night (it was getting dark). This is something I really should do more often. Walk to a village, meet a person, and burden them with feeding/housing me.

His son had stayed in America for three months last summer on a work/travel program and the certificate of completion was on the wall of the living room. The son now works as an English teacher in another village. We might play some pool sometime. Who knows.