First week of shkollë!

Wow, this week has gone by so fast. Yet it feels like I have been here in Albania for so long! It’s amazing how close all of us volunteers have gotten in just a week! I feel like I know most of them so well, especially the other four living in Kuqan with me. 

So this is the basic schedule of a volunteer: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday (morning only) is for Language classes at the local elementary school in our village. Tuesday and Friday are HUB days where all the volunteers travel to Elbansan to meet as a group and to go over logistic stuff and technical training.  But, we are always busy! When some of the current volunteers told us that PST was going to be the hardest and busiest part of our volunteer experience, they weren’t kidding! But it’s a good busy. If we’re not studying the language or sitting in meetings, we’re hanging out with our host families and learning about the culture. There’s never a dull moment!

Language classes are my favorite! I’m learning the language so much faster than I expected, especially since I knew coming here that the Albanian language is unlike any other language in the world. I know how to ask the basic questions like “How are you?”, “What’s your name?”, “Where are you from?”, “How old are you?”, etc. Plus, I know how to respond to these questions as well! Ask me anything outside of that and I’m lost! haha. But it’s only been a week. I’m sure I’ll get there. :)

The school we have language classes at.

Language Class

Part of the language classes involve doing different projects and activities to learn about the culture and to put our language skills to the test. One of my favorite activities that we were assigned to do this week was to make a community map of our village so we can familiarize ourself with our surroundings. So, on Wednesday, Laurel, Emilie, Lawrence, Ian, and I all went walking around our village, tracking our steps and the places we saw on a piece of scrap paper.  Along the way, we got to introduce ourselves to different people in the community. We met the people at our favorite little market in town, Emilie’s host brother (who had been out-of-town till now) at another market, and we introduced ourselves to a few of the people that work at the municipal building (which we struggle, yet successfully did in Albanian). We also passed by many community members that we had perviously met like Lawrence’s host mother, Laurel’s host brother, our host grandfather, and a few of the neighborhood kids that we had chatted with before. At one point, while looking for the church, we were being followed by a family of goats.  When we moved, they would move. They, and the two young boys that were their owners, followed us all the way back into the hills of the town, while advising us on which paths to choose so we didn’t end up going on to private property. It was quite funny. 

Cindy and Emy, our host family's nieces. :)

After we had trekked around the entire village (which took less than an hour, it was so small), we all headed to the cafe/restaurant that Emilie’s host family owns. We go there so often that we have officially claimed it as “Our Hub."

Our Hub!

While deciding how to put the map together, Laurel and I thought it would be pretty cool to make a computerize version of the map. So Emilie and Ian drew the hand-drawn map while Laurel and I made different icons and roads on our laptops. The drawn map took like 20 minutes, whereas the computerized map was taking forever! But Laurel and I didn’t mind. We were actually having a blast. And as soon as we were finished making a building or a car, we would think of more and more details that we could put into it. Laurel’s host brother, Vasili, who was running around with Ian while we were doing this, occasionally would pop his head over, correcting us on our mistakes in colors of buildings or placement of stores, speaking in all Albanian of course. It was very cute! By the time the map was all finished (which we continued to work on a little each day after that), we had a full map of Kuqan with color-coded businesses, houses, cars, fruit trees, chickens, goats, sheep, and the one donkey on the side of the road near the school that we have named Gomar (donkey in Albanian). It was a masterpiece! 

The one donkey in our village that we have named Gomar :)

Our map was the hit at our gallery walk on Friday! Everyone clapped for it! Laurel and I felt so honored yet kinda dorky since we put so much pride into a silly, little map. haha. It was so much fun though! 

For security reasons, I’ve edited the map so that it doesn’t show our exact locations but I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Another part of language class that I absolutely love is the daily coffee breaks we get. Most of the time we go to our HUB at Emilie’s family’s restaurant, but we have tried venturing out and finding a new place. But the coffee we get is really good! I remember traveling around South America and having instant coffee everywhere I went, but here, it’s the real stuff! However, unlike in America where you can go to Starbucks and get your Venti or Grande size Latte, here in Albania you only get one size; that is, basically a shot of expresso that is placed in a teeny, tiny coffee cup. The first time I got it, I drank it in one glup. But I’ve learned that Albanians can spend an hour or more just sipping on this size of a coffee! I couldn’t believe it. I guess how they see it is the act of drinking coffee is more about socializing rather than getting your caffeine fix. Something I’m definitely have to get us too. Or, I guess, I’m just going to have to socialize a lot! haha.

After just a week, I can see the difference in my speaking and understanding skills. It just makes me even more excited and anxious to learn more of the language.