That means the 46ish of us--the entire Group A21 who came here and originally met in Miami on Jan. 15, which now seems like about a year ago--all convene for discussion and training in Elbasan, a major city in Albania and the site of Peace Corps Albania headquarters.
First, however, let me tell you about what happened afterward--about 30 min. ago from now, as I write this.
I have described my host family as "aggressively generous." Here's what I mean.
Today in Elbasan I was too busy to eat lunch. Lunch, keep in mind, was just leftover breakfast: an orange, a piece of salami, 3 pieces of bread and 2 pieces of cheese.
So I get home and I settle into my family dining area, and I bring with me my uneaten lunch. I thought I would munch on it casually, as our dinner was about 2 hours away. I explain to my host family that I didn't have time for lunch earlier today. This information was not indicative of a crisis for me.
My host father and mother felt otherwise. They took my piece of salami, split it open, and cooked it on the stove. They gave me 3 extra pieces of bread and a big bowl of soup to have the bread with. They gave me extra cheese. And milk. And olives. With leeks. And cherries. These items were served to me in this home's typical fashion: quickly and relentlessly.
So I eat lunch and dinner, together, all at once. When I finished my soup, I essentially had to beg not to have a second bowl. When I finished my milk, it took quick reflexes for me to slide my hand over the top of my glass, to prevent a refill. "U ngopa" ("I'm full") was useless. Via Google Translate, I was able to communicate to my host father, "please help me eat all this" and to my host mother, "please stop or my stomach will explode!" Tonight was not the first night I've had to use these phrases. My host mother has another bowl of soup just waiting for me somewhere. I'm going to have to use some smooth talking not to have it served to me later. You may think I am joking. I am not joking.
Now, stuffed and drowsy, I present my pics from today in Elbasan. Lots of interesting things...
My group arrived by bus from Kuqan. The other groups (5-6 other groups, I think?) also arrived around 8:30am. Today was the first time we'd seen the whole roster of Group A21 all together in just over 2 weeks. It seemed like much longer, though. We've had an eventful 2 weeks. Many hugs were exchanged, including bro hugs.
And so we explored the city a little bit and had our hub day at Peace Corps HQ. We also had some time to visit a few shops, briefly. Some days I may not have much new to photograph. Today was NOT one of those days. Elbasan is beautiful. There's a shopping and dining area in an old castle--it reminds me a bit of the Tower of London. 4 of us had a coffee break at a cafe on one of the castle towers. I'm definitely looking forward to returning to Elbasan.
I always appreciate a good portmanteau. I wonder if the proprietor is Turkish.
Here we are at PC HQ. Kate, the PC Albania director, is in the magenta and black on the left in the back of this part of our group circle. Kate gave some really meaningful remarks on PC history and the historical impetus for the program. Her words were reinvigorating and a strong reminder of why we're all here. It was great to hear her.
Meanwhile, members of the Kuqan group (my group, if you haven't been paying attention) taught Kate the word "amazeballs" (extremely good or impressive; amazing). That's just the kind of people we are.
Also, our group is clearly the best and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
This picture was too funny not to include. Sorry guys. Please note, however, that Victoria and Colin are very attractive people in real life.
This might be my favorite photo of the day. Note that Genti is still Albanian Batman.
(Michelle is also very attractive in real life.)
Fund.
(The end.)
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