Lows and Highs

I have almost a full week here with my host family now under my belt. I have a whole new social scene. Every other volunteer, my teachers, and the few Albanians I've met here are nice and smart and kind and interesting and capable and treat me well. That being said, doing this is tough. I don't know how other volunteers are internally handling the stresses of being here. All I know is how I'm handling things.

I'd say there are highs and lows. The highs outnumber the lows. The lows tend to pass fairly quickly. 

I've said before that there are numerous roaming cats and dogs on the street. I've not yet seen any that concerned me as a safety risk, but of course we sensibly don't feed or pet them. A dog followed us around yesterday. Someone named her "Sunshine." Sunshine was cute and our group liked her.

Sunshine followed the 7ish of us for a couple blocks while we walked back from a coffee shop to the school. When we got to the school, we had to close and lock the gate, separating us from Sunshine.

As a result of her abrupt separation from our group, Sunshine emitted the first noises she made in our presence: sad, loud whimpers and little howl sounds. She missed us. Some people in our group got a little emotional. I've never had a dog, but I think I have some idea of how attached people get to their dogs.

When we got back to our classroom, another volunteer talked about how she missed her own dog back home and how it was sad to leave Sunshine and she started to tear up. She wasn't bawling or anything, and she quickly composed herself, but I thought I recognized what she felt in those moments. I'd call it a low. 

Before Peace Corps, I cried very rarely. Since starting PC, however, occasionally I get a little choked up at various times. I always get over things quickly, as the Sunshine-missing volunteer did. I've heard another male volunteer has had similar private moments. For me, the lows are less than once a day, and they are fleeting.

(Sorry, I'm stereotyping males as crying less often than females. I'm still just a small town Iowa kid, and that's the way things are in my world.) 

Genuine Bar/Restorant/Hotel has become a familiar place with our group. We go there often for breaks and for lunch.

As the name implies, it's a bar, restaurant, and hotel. On three floors. We sit on the Bar level. It looks like a club, with a dance floor and tables and couch booths on the perimeter.

Most of the time it's pretty quiet. One time, however, there was a dance party with teenagers. Elvana, one of our two teachers, joined in.

But I digress.

Also, there's no smoking, but I've seen people smoke. I like this little guy:

But I digress again.

More genuine Genuine pics:

Shqip Lesson of the Day: për të fjetur (to sleep)

He is often our server. I don't know his name yet. This pic is too dark, but he and this country are still shrouded in mystery to me, so I'm leaving it.

Nyë kafe. (One Turkish coffee.) It's wonderfully bitter. 50 lekë, 10 lekë tip. Shumë mirë.

Today was/is Saturday. We have half-workdays on Saturdays (I am NOT on a big vacation, I promise). Our classes concluded around 1:30pm. Some people were going on a group walk and asked if I wanted to go. I said no thanks, I'm going home.

About halfway home on my 20 min. walk, I turned around and went to Genuine. It was dead. I asked if they were open all day (thanks Google translator). They were. So I sat down, had a kafe, and relaxed. I took advantage of the free wifi and called my parents. We talked for about 45 min. Then I got on Facebook. Then I browsed the news. Then I contemplated the rest of my weekend, and reveled in the fact that my only plans were a noon hike tomorrow. Fewer plans for a day or so. Excellent. Sip of kafe. I took a selfie. Warm room, wifi, solitude, kafe.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I'm a fan of the author Kurt Vonnegut. He once said this:

"My uncle Alex Vonnegut taught me something very important. 

He said that when things were really going well we should be sure to NOTICE it. He was talking about simple occasions, not great victories: maybe drinking lemonade on a hot afternoon in the shade, or smelling the aroma of a nearby bakery; or fishing, and not caring if we catch anything or not, or hearing somebody all alone playing a piano really well in the house next door. 

Uncle Alex urged me to say this out loud during such epiphanies: 'If this isn't nice, what is?'"

This afternoon was a high for me. Totally.

Pinky UP! I take the best selfies ever.

PS: If you've made it this far, thank you for taking an interest in my activities. I will likey not have as lengthy blog entries in the future. But everything is new and strange here for me right now, and I have a lot to write about. Also, I don't suspect many outsiders are reading this, so please know that it's likely I love you and miss you and I hope that you are well.