Site assignment and more

Greetings everyone: This was a big week: language, observations, teaching, observations, language, observations, self-study, language, observations, culture, and (wait for it) our site assignment! That last bit is at the bottom of the post.

Last Tuesday was my day with the students in Ymer’s class. My first class teaching Albanian kids! It was a lot of fun and I could tell they had a pretty good time – I did too of course. Teaching in Albania is going to take a bit more thought and consideration than I had expected. It’s not so much the English since my students had a pretty decent handle on the language. But there are nuances with both cultures that I really need to mindful of so things don’t get “lost in translation” (as one of the volunteer/evaluators notes below) – like using a bumper sticker to illustrate a point and then getting sidetracked when I realized that the kids may not understand the purpose of one (haven’t seen any around here). My whole tangent was an absolute waste of time and served no purpose – little things like that.

For fifty minutes the class went pretty well and then train-wrecked for fifteen minutes more as I tried to cover all my material. OK. A teaching mortal sin: sacrificing student learning on the altar of a teacher agenda (it was a misread on my part since I finished earlier than I needed). Nonetheless, I know better than this and I seldom made time-management mistakes in the states – Ymer downplayed my concerns after class (what a nice guy!) and told me later that the students were hoping I would be assigned to the university so they could take classes in the fall term.

I know some of the PC volunteers also read this blog. Also, if others looking into PC service are like me before and after I applied, they got on the web looking for blogs from volunteers to get some sense of what the work was like. So….I decided to post an evaluation on the class (warts and all) for any that might benefit. I asked my small group to give me an evaluation and Jo’s was precise and short enough that I thought I’d post hers.

(Thanks, Mike, for your twelve-page, single-spaced, time-notated review – seriously, it was a work of art, and with his permission I may send it off for publication! I may have to edit: e.g., “Sh**, Bill, WTF were you thinking!!” – OK, I’m joking – Mike told me this week he doesn’t have to post a blog since I share mine with him and he shares with his 2200 friends.)

All the evaluations were incredibly helpful. The topic of the lecture was “Critical Thinking, Culture, and Communication.” Here are Jo’s comments:

Class was very enjoyable – thank you.  

Some points to ponder:

·        Time management (I wish you could have finished)!

·        Avoid saying “understand” so much. Students may be too shy to admit that they missed something.

·        Watch the idioms; EFL learners don’t always get the meanings and get confused; same for colloquial English.

·        Be careful about using too much humor – as with idioms, humor gets lost in translation.

·        Students enjoyed your lecture – they all paid attention to you.

·        Excellent way of introducing gender inequality! Very impressive.

·        Love the part about prejudice and ethnocentricity – but I saw a problem when you were joking about America being the center of everything; I don’t know if they understood your very subtle sarcasm.

·        Tempo of the class was great – seamless flow of information.

·        Very good visuals – excellent power-point presentation.

·        Your English/speaking was very clear and easy to follow.

Jo is going to be a teacher/trainer – working with and observing secondary ESL teachers, and in the course of her two-year

Hangin' with Jo in language class

assignment, giving evaluations for improvement. I’ve had a few teaching evaluations over the years but this one was the most helpful and certainly the most meaningful. Jo served in the Ukraine a number of years ago as an ESL teacher (I may have mentioned this already); this might be her first assessment as a teacher/trainer – my first class; her first evaluation – BAM!

 ***

The next day when I left the university a few kids caught up with me and invited me for coffee. I was headed for the hub for a language class. Made an executive decision (I am with the Peace Corps, right?) and opted for a great opportunity to visit about the school and of course got some of their feedback on the class. I’m getting used to explaining what I do in Albania but these kids already knew since they’ve had Peace Corps volunteers at the university. They asked if I was going to be teaching at the university; I gave them the names of the universities where I thought a volunteer would be posted: Tirane, Korce, Vlore, Durres, and Elbasan. I told them I would find out on Friday. The next part was really cute. You remember with kids the night before Christmas? What time do we open our presents? This one student leans forward and say, “What time will you find out?”

 ***

The next two days after my class we observed at the university, at another high school, worked on language, and our practicum. I was headed into Elbasan Thursday morning. The guy next to me started talking to me and his English was pretty good. He was just returning from Greece that morning. He lived in Elbasan and was visiting his family after picking fruit and vegetables for three months. Alda and I walked for a couple of blocks together and then I peeled off to get my shoes shined with Toni (pic a few posts back). It was good to see Toni and after the shine I was on my way. I crossed the street and Alda came over to me and invited me for coffee. He was sitting at a lokal when he saw me. I was headed to the university to put in an extra hour or so of study but I had been thinking of Alda’s situation – no work here, bounce back and forth between Greece and Albania, holy hell. So I passed on study. Alda moved his bags from one chair and I sat down. We talked for another half-hour or so. It was another story of many I have heard – no hope.

You kids will recall some of the things I told you about Grandpa Dalton’s time during the Great Depression. His dad, your great-grandfather, was the postmaster in Mena, Arkansas. There was a break-in at the post office after closing and great-grandpa was killed. That left just grandpa with a mom and five other brothers and sisters. It was a tough time. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1930 and the next year he created the CCCs – or Civilian Conservation Corps. By the end of the thirties grandpa was old enough and he joined the CCCs; he said it was the first time he could remember getting three meals a day. Anyway, the CCCs built roads, bridges, improved park lands, etc. It put millions of young men, age 18-28, to work. The point of this Martin Moment is that the CCCs give them jobs, food, and money (like the rest of them, grandpa sent money home to the family every month)  – it also got this cross-section of young men off the streets. In 1997, seven years after the fall of communism, there was a revolution in Albania and the Peace Corps program was closed down because of the political unrest. The force behind the violent revolt was this same age group of unemployed young. Roosevelt likely averted a revolution in America during the depression with his New Deal measures and specifically giving the hopeless and dispossessed young men something to do instead of, like in Albania now, sitting around doing nothing. I am fearful that it will get worse before it gets better, I hope not.   

***

OK. Friday all the volunteers came to Elbasan for a training day. Everyone was anticipating the site announcements. I understand that one year they made the announcement at the beginning of the day and because of all the excitement and some placement disappointments (which I find difficult to understand – or have any sympathy for), the news has been switched back to the end of the day. Nonetheless, the day was filled with a just-below-the-surface energy. Two years is a long time for most of these kids and certainly they wondered where they would be: on the coast, in the mountains, in a big or small community, the whole thing.

Earl Wall, the country director, brought the envelopes with our site assignments. I wasn’t too concerned since the university placements were restricted to the major cities. However, to a degree I was hoping to stay in Elbasan since I have made friends with a number of the locals and I’ve spent a bit of time at the university observing classes, meeting faculty, and taking coffee with students. The room was a bit tense, everyone was waiting, and I couldn’t help myself (note my impish smile): “Any chance we can take a ten minute break!” More than a few responded with a loud and appalling “no!!!” But most of the group got the joke. Pretty damn funny. 

My envelope read, “Elbasan – Alexander Giovanni University” – outstanding!! My good friend Mike is at the university with me. I posted on his FB that his assignment was expected: he’s been watching my butt since Philadelphia and the PC staff realized that it would probably be good to have a minder in place to keep an eye on me. Another good friend, John, is also here working with a tech school – two great guys. I’ll be working with Ymer – he's president of the Albania English Language Teachers Association and I'll act as a Peace Corps liaison to that group. My university counterpart teaches history and works in Balkan studies (more on a later post). 

After the announcement we met at a local outdoor bar and toasted our good fortune. I called my host family and Sardi with the news and they were pretty excited that I was going to be close.

Unfortunately that was the one day I forgot my camera – bummer – I’ll gather some photos from some of the other volunteers and post them later. It was pretty good. Metesh got his dream spot working with a youth group in Vlore, right on the coast, and Nate will be working at a university in Korce – beer capital of Albania – he’ll like that!

***

Quick story: I got home late Friday after the celebrations and two beers (one and a half too many for me). Another face in the living room which I assumed was another family member. Sali introduces me and this guy starts talking to me in Shquip (Albanian). I start fumble-butting my way through: “Une jam nga Amerika. Une jam vulnetar i Korpusit te Paqes…mumble, mumble, mumble.” And then he says, “Pretty good. Your language is coming along.” I start beating on the guy, laughing, everyone’s laughing. Jon lived with my host family the year before and came back for a visit. Very, very funny! He repeated the words I've heard a number of times: “Don’t sweat the language, you’ll get it.”

With Jon, Sali and Renato

***

Yesterday when I got into Elbasan I grabbed my usual first coffee of the day at the park restaurant and let Bledi and the guys know the good news. Free coffee! On the walk up to the hub I greeted Edmond, my street vender friend. His first words: Tirane? No. Korce? No. Durres? No. Vlore? No. And then a big smile…Elbasan? Yes!! And then I got mugged! He immediately went over to his goods and gave me some kind of charm and said “Gud luk, Billi.” I got a half a block away, still smiling and laughing, and went back for the photo. Super moment.

It’s going to be an amazing two years. Later. XOXO

More photos when I have time. Headed out to a neighboring village for some kind of festival - will know when I get there!