The contents of this blog are mine and do not reflect any position of the United States Government or the Peace Corps.

Monday, March 8, 2010

a broken oath

Friends,

For a long time I have held fast to the idea that blogs, in general, are stupid. Now I have created a blog that I am sure will be just as stupid, to most people, as most blogs seem to me. I have said on multiple occasions that I will never have a blog. Here I am. It is what it is.

What I hope this blog isn't is a place to vent frustrations about how hard the Peace Corps is. Instead, I hope this blog illustrates my service with perspective and grace. I hereby vow not to complain about how the U.S. Government is using tax money to send me to Albania (FO FREE!) to fulfill Albania's need for trained persons, to teach Albanians about Americans and vice versa. I am lucky and honored to be selected to represent my country in this capacity. I will do my best to cope with any challenges or hardships by slugging back glasses of home made plum brandy mixed with tears between bouts of hyperventilation. Go hard or go home.

I also hope this blog will be a decent cultural reference for Americans interested in Albanian culture. Impartiality, we all know, is impossible, but I will do my best to share, in a respectful manner, what I learn about Albania and Albanians.

The name of the blog is, according to the internet, an Albanian saying which is absolutely true if (i) dead wolves are plentiful in your area and (ii) you are holding something sharp or serrated. "It is easy to cut the tail of a dead wolf" reminded me of how all the best idioms are about violence toward dead animals and how easy it is to complain about challenges rather than recognize an opportunity for self growth. I know now that my rants during my early time as a union organizer were naive. In retrospect I should have sent those ideas through the proper channels, done my job and waited to be wrongfully terminated (and later, correctly vindicated). I hope to put this hard won wisdom to work in Albania. Some other names I toyed with for the blog were "Balkans 2: Albanian Boogaloo", "Soft Served Neocolonialism and Friendship" and "Its easy to cut the tail of a dead American Werewolf in Albania."

This blog may include:
  • Shitty movie references
  • A view of Albanian Culture
  • How cool Albania is (it is the clique, dig?)
  • Current events in Albania (news, gossip, intrigue)
  • Pictures worth showing (sorry, no nudity)
  • Explicit language, including how to curse in Shqip (Albanian)
  • Things I miss about America that I can not or have not found substitutes for (Mexican food, I already know)
  • Insights or epiphany's
  • Stories of hilarious kind
  • Self deprecation (me falling down in front of many people, me putting my foot in mouth, me actually coming across a dead wolf while holding a knife and facing the difficult decision to cut or not to cut and if so, a short essay on how easy it was to cut, etc)
  • Other
  • Poetry
  • ?????????
I have to eat some Pad See Ew now. I hope you've enjoyed the first post as much as I did.

peace

John