British Council kids, Istanbul, and some serious modifications in behavior

Ahh, my friends, another great couple of weeks.  Newspaper and fall preparations for class-to-class face-time are moving along pretty well. Temperatures in Elbasan have been bouncing a few degrees on either side of a hundred so I’ve been trying to slip up to the Panorama Resort a couple times a week just to cool off – which is just as well: the streets empty from 1:00-5:00pm and I cringe when I think of my electric bill from running the air conditioner (yeah, I have an air conditioner!). Well, let me bring you up to speed. A rather lengthy post, but futures are going to be spotty until school starts - the pictures are pretty cool. 

***

I was able to spend a couple of days with a British Council English Language Camp in Tirane – kids from about six to twelve years old. It was a blast. I basically assisted the teachers in place and on the second day I brought my guitar along and taught the older kids a song and with the younger ones we did some composition. OK. British Council, but I’m with the USA Peace Corps, so I decided to go with Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.” By the time we got through the vocabulary and the imagery of the usual two verses the kids had a pretty good picture. (One of my Peace Corps buds commented that knowing me she was surprised I hadn’t opted for Arlo’s “Alice’s Restaurant” – funny…I was shocked that this newly minted BA had even heard of it, “Well, my dad is almost as old as you!.” Funnier.)

I was a bit at a loss with what to do with the second, younger group since their English was not quite as solid. I suggested that we write a song and one young lady (about nine years old - to my upper right on the group pic above) said she had one that she’d been working on. It was an absolute crack-up. The refrain went something like “Ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, I’m walking along the way.” By the end of the hour we all had written a complete verse and the kids were really belting it out. My little rock and roll buddy, Ardi (on my right in the pic stream above), closed out the session with a killer rendition of “Ten Little Sausages Frying in a Pan.” Hilarious. It was my final day and we were all sad but promised to get back together again next summer. BAM!! 

***

The next day I flew off to Istanbul. It was a short hour and a half, but getting through the Passport Control took nearly twice the time! It wasn’t so much the red-tape (a two minute wait at the Visa window and forty euros was a snap) but it seemed like I picked the most popular moment of the decade to drop in – I bet there were one thousand people in three mega-lines which trailed down the hall for another fifty yards. I flew in about 11:00pm and finally checked into the hotel after 2:00am. Holy hell.

My good stateside friend, Nelson, set us up at the Doubletree-Hilton right next to “old town.” Istanbul is amazing…my first trip, and I plan to make it back a few more times over the next few years. It was just a weekend so there wasn’t a whole lot of time, but after getting up rather late on Saturday, we hit the Hagia Sophia. The lines were long, but to our assistance came Omer. He got us tickets and walked us straight through.

I’m familiar with the history of this church, which the Emperor Constantine dedicated in the 4^th century, but the pictures do not do it justice – and neither do the ones below. Now, Nelson, Yen, and I failed to follow the first rule we learned as kids when our parents took us to the fair, Disneyland, etc.: “If we get separated, we will meet right here –and don’t move!” OK. Within twenty minutes I got separated from Nelson and Yen – now seriously, Nelson was as much at fault as I was, but with the pair of us it was predictable. We scheduled a bit more than an hour – an hour and a half later I’m still looking around, no Nelson, no Yen. I go out to the coffee shop just in front of the entrance and wait another hour. (No, my PC phone does not work out of the country – well, unless I add international on it, and no, I didn’t.)

The emperors of the east would stand on this stone for state and religious ceremonies and this is the view.

I went to the booth where we rented the audio guides. No, two had not been turned in. WTF. I looked around some more. Nothing. My passport is collateral. I went to the guy in charge of the booth and said that I would have to leave and that I would figure out what was going on and have to pick up my passport the next day. Get this: the guy took my one audio, gave me my passport back, and said that if my friends had left without turning theirs in, I could just bring them back the next day. Seriously? I walked up to Omer’s Turkish Carpet store (the ticket thing, we guessed, was a bit of good will in exchange for taking a look at his store – his business cards had a map on the back – cool). No, Nelson and Yen had not come by, but please sit and have some tea! Which we did – he didn’t try to sell me anything, just a nice visit about our families, life, and Turkey and America! It was really quite pleasant.

I headed back to the hotel. No Nelson, no Yen, no message. A stranger in a strange land, knows neither the language nor the currency – but the room is paid up until the next day! Nelson connects shortly – all the time I was waiting and looking, he (the history nut that he is) was still in the church! He had finally gotten the organization of the audio map down and started over at location one – didn’t want to miss anything! What a crack up! They hit the audio booth about a half hour after me, and Omer’s about fifteen minutes later!

***

We had about forty-five minutes to make the cruise up the Bosporus that Nelson planned for the evening. Well, we got to the docks late, grabbed the wrong boat (which we really didn’t discover until we got dropped off). But Nelson had planned this so well that we hit another ferry to our connection, regrouped, and had a wonderful trip to the mouth of the Black Sea and enjoyed an outstanding evening fare. 

What a great experience! On the way home we met a wonderful couple, all of us a bit sauced by now, and when we parted their company they stood at their disembarkment waving us good-bye. 

A very crowded train-ride home and a late, great night. Another 1:00am excursion.

***

Got up late the next morning – Turkish coffee is pretty damned good, too! And then off to the Blue Mosque before I catch my late afternoon flight back home. We wandered the grounds a bit until another local came to our aid and showed us a quicker way in – the lines we saw were long. We thought he was a guide of some sort, but again, he owned a shop and invited us to look at his wares after our visit – pretty much standard procedure we gathered. We gave our regrets but he still pointed us in the right direction and explained the process.

We donned traditional clothing (gratis), removed our shoes, and entered the mosque. It wasn’t as crowded as I expected and the place for all its immensity enjoyed a sublime serenity and reverence. We weren’t there during the regular times of prayer, hence our admission. The last time I had felt like this was when I woke Abby up one morning in Rome (she was about ten at the time) and we rushed to the Vatican Museums early enough to be in the first dozen or so to get in. We walked briskly to the Sistine Chapel (ignoring all the works, which first-time visitors paused to look at on their casual way) and got to the chapel nearly solitary in the middle of that great work. My visit to the Hagia Sophia was a bit like that – but while the ever-growing crowd of tourists in the chapel came to resemble a noisy reception, the mosque was different.

Nelson, Yen and I finished off with lunch, I bid my farewell, and headed back to the hotel for my bags and a trip to the airport. Until next time. 

***

Back in Elbasan. Now, I’m fond of telling kids, students, colleagues, volunteers, strangers on the street, etc., ad nauseum, that the toughest thing to change is one's behavior. Well, I needed to make some serious changes.

For one thing, I’ve been ignoring my language study – I’ve fallen into the typical habit of simply counting on my friends here to deal with my English (and they’re pretty damn good at it). But that wasn’t going to cut it and my language tutor, Megi, is close to losing patience with me. So, back at it with study, flash cards, exercises, the whole thing.

The second and third changes have to do with my health. Pretty sure I mentioned that I am down from 225lbs. to 195lbs. – never thought I’d ever see the other side of 200 again! This has nothing to do with a healthy diet or any other healthy regimen. In fact, I am more tired an un-energized than I have ever been, my old knee surgeries are sore, I’m not sleeping well, and smoking almost a pack a day – this is not good. (No, I have not quit smoking.) As many of you know, I really don’t like to eat – don’t like taking the time, and I'm pretty much limited to fruit and caprese, but evidently one cannot survive on watermelon, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese alone. Most of the kids enjoy the local fast-food eats: primarily byrek (kind of a baked pastry or pie filled with vegetables and meat), flija (again, another type of pie – but really a stack of crepes filled with cheese), and souvlaki (grilled meat and vegetables served in pita bread – basically, the Albanian hamburger). 

Pretty good stuff, but neither can you live on fast-food alone.  

I had to cook for myself. I know, you are saying, “No sh#%!!!” Well, I haven’t had to cook for myself in years – maids, kids, and all that. I admit to being the slowest in the language convoy here, and I’m even worse in cooking for myself. The volunteers have a couple of Facebook sites: one for communication and basic venting and another strictly for food ideas. These entries give you an idea of their culinary level:

Nate: I made ranch dressing mix. No biggie.

Megan: It's my understanding that there are plenty of grape leaves around. They are so easy to pickle…

Bonnie: Can anyone tell me what type of store I will find charcoal in?

Suzanne: Harissa Cake! Hilary, this is the same semolina cake they serve at the Syrian restaurant Oriental Magic in Tirana.

Mike: Made this gem tonight: It's a succulent Albania hand-grabbed potato with palm tenderizer. It's topped with a whole in-ground caramelized onion. (WKM: As Paul remarked: “Michael you're killing me. You have a picture of you holding a raw potato like a gun, with half of an onion on top. What is it?”) 

Jessica: Real talk: raw potatoes are so good. Throw some salt and pepper on those puppies and you've basically got raw potato chips.

Bonnie:  Raw onions are also pretty yum...don't forget the raw garlic!!

Kelsey: Byrek - it's what's for dinner!

Suzanne:  I haven't tried this yet, but tomato, black olive, and feta fish packets seem like something easy that matches up with what's in season.

Bonnie: Lemon zucchini muffins: I used baking powder and 5 day old unpasteurized milk (looked like buttermilk to me and I didn't get sick).I think they're good...I'm waiting for my taste tester to arrive.

Paul: Arugula salad with tuna, tomatoes, spets, & onions!

Allison:  There is a recipe in here for pickled watermelon rind if anyone is game to try it out.

Bonnie: This is some serious cookin' right here. On the menu: Stuffed mushrooms, peppers stuffed with geeze, sausages, cole slaw, roasted okra, and bananas foster for dessert...obobo.

With Nate, Bonnie's official taster

Suzanne: Tastes better than it looks! Kungull stuffed with djath dhe veze, plus a bunch of other stuff. 

Bonnie: Can you say Indian tacos?

Alex: Made the zucchini lemon bread but it didn’t really rise so it is more of a cake than bread. Could probably blame it on the fact that I just threw the ingredients in a bowl without measuring.

Nicole: I tried to make the Gnocchi last night, it tasted okay...but think it wasn't 100% right. I am not the best cook. (WKM: I feel your pain, Nicole.)

Bonnie:  I want to make Cherry rice pudding!

Hillary: For all my bakers out there! (WKM: and tips!!!)

Allison:  Today I made banana nut bread. It turned out well, at least that is what Ron said! So, I will post what I did.

Darcel (back in the States) to Mike: A little motivation to hurry up and figure out your mailing address. (WKM: Darcel sure knows how to inspire!)

Lucy: Whoever can help me make some decent fasule gets an awesome high-five from yours truly. Please and thank you. (WKM: Kevin, Cristin, Natalie, Lucie, and Allison all immediately respond. Dan chimes in: “Buy it from the store and claim it as your own.” Dan, I am your biggest fan.)

Suzanne: Here is my take on the tomato/watermelon salad Alison posted not long ago.

Bonnie: Something to do with the spinach (when you can find it). I'm fairly confident this would work with frozen spinach too.

Allison: This is one of my favorite summer salads. And perfect right now while watermelon is so good (and cheap).

Pretty good, huh? And a final comment from our Group-18 cooking guru, Bonnie: “Cooking is like art...We all have an inner artist and we all have an inner chef.”

***

As you can see, a bit of friendly competition…indeed, some serious cooking! But, alas, a bit too enthusiastic for me. Nonetheless, bombarded, as it were, with PC reminders that the stove has more facility than just boiling water for my morning Earl Grey tea, I decided to give it a shot – I used to know how to cook spaghetti (though my first noodles last night came out like paste). My conservative goal is three hot dishes a week – we’ll see.

I know, pretty funny in comparison - but looking for my "inner chef"

 ***

My final behavior change is to get back to the gym after a six-year absence. I had been pretty good at this for about fifteen years, though I needed a trainer to make sure that I showed up. Evis (the pharmacist) and Andi (his cousin who navigated my optical) introduced me to the gym located across the street and through the small park from my apartment. Megi and I hit the Roma market for some tennis shoes – size 12s tough to come by. We scored a great pair that look like a throwback to the 1930s, ten bucks…perfect! I met Juxhino (“Gino”), and the rest, I'm hoping, is history. Back on track for three days a week ($25/month!). Our first session yesterday gave me evidence that my muscles haven’t completely atrophied! BAM!

OK, why am I the only one smiling??? "Tell me one more time, how many minutes? Seriously????"

Checking to see if I have any flexibility...Juxhino doesn't seem any more impressed than my future work-out buds...

I love these shoes!!!! "Excuse me, I'm with the Peace Corps..." I'm going to have the PC Medical emergency number printed on the back...

***

Oh, yeah. No wedding in Durres for me. Instead of the evening reception, which I thought, it started at 10am – and to go to 4pm, or eternity, whichever is longer. I was up for a few hours in the evening and had steeped myself for raki, dancing, raki, and more dancing. But as it happened, a 9am commitment in Elbasan which would put me into Durres in the late afternoon and had to cancel. Maybe I’ll get another chance.

So, munchkins, that’s it for now. The summer looks to be uneventful. Going to get away for visits and I’ll post those as they happen – but pretty much Albania will be quiet until school starts. Later. XOXO

***

News flash: as I am literally writing out my last words on this blog entry, with the concentration it deserves, I notice – peripherally – that my apartment is developing a cloud formation. Strange. A split second later the apartment is filled with impenetrable smoke. I had turned my leftover spaghetti on low – but went the wrong way on the dial, scored a ten instead of a one!!! John (remember, the PC Elbasan Warden, charged with our safety?) came over with a fan; fuses blown; reset; back to normal…including my regular fruit and vegetables for dinner. 

The more recent next to an earlier disaster...the beginning of a collection...

Oh well, changing behavior is tough – if it was easy everyone would do it….

PSTIII, glasses!!, a breather, some down time, and back at it...

Our final two weeks of Pre-Service Training ended about a week and a half ago. I have to be candid and say that after five weeks at my permanent assignment, going back to these meetings just about sucked the life out of me. It was great to see all the staff and volunteers again, but after some solid work on all those things that I hope will define my PC experience, more meetings on how to do it were simply suffocating.

Genti opening up our first PST III session - "It's great to have you back -  who is this guy taking our picture?"

To make it even worse, on the second day of PST I got out of the furgon from Thane back to Elbasan (the “hub”) and heard a click; I looked around, a lot of people were getting out. A few blocks later I realized that the click was the sound of my glasses hitting the ground – I was wearing my sun-glasses at the time. I must have been a silly sight looking all over for the glasses. Alas, no luck. To my rescue, Evis, my pharmacist friend, connected me with his cousin, Andi, and I got lined up with an optical shop. Andi would not entertain the idea of me going on my own. He and his friend, Arlind, took me to the shop, explained what I needed, and (I think) negotiated a fair price for the American volunteer. The PC cautions us to bring a back-up pair, but since my glasses were progressive lenses (expensive) and I had never lost or broken a pair of glasses in fifty years I thought I’d save some bucks. Ironic, huh? The PC will replace regular tri-focals but I’m used to what I’m used to. A week and a half later, the day after PST ended (!) my glasses show up (all the lenses in Albania are ground in Italy! A great business opportunity.). Plus, what would cost $850 back home was only $275 here!!

"Say ahhhh...." Andi, me, the optical guy, and Arlind

So, the rest of the PST III I suffered through with either my sunglasses (not as cool as you might think) or without – headaches by mid-day, which I used as an excuse to go truant. Now, a few (more than a few, if I’m honest) of our meetings were quite useful. One in particular, on the struggles of the Albania LBGT community was very powerful – it reminded me of the horrible (and sometimes tragic) experiences that some of my friends went through forty and fifty years ago in the States. It also reinforced my understanding of where Albania is in its efforts to come out of its long isolation. I shared with the volunteers (in a far too emotional manner I fear) some lines that I had just read in Solzhenitsyn’s The First Circle: “What is the most precious thing in the world? It seems to be the consciousness of not participating in injustice. Injustice is stronger than you are, it always was and it always will be, but let it not be committed through you.”

Alex: "Seriously, Wally! Why are Nate and Jessie smiling? What are Mike, Jo, and Adrian thinking about? Did Prime Minister Edi Rama finally get back to Cristin? Why does Randolph always sit in the back?"

"Bill! What do you think?" "The hat looks like it was made for you, Paulie." Nate and Mitesh having a serious PST moment.

Will, Silke, Tom, and Wally reflecting...

Spacing with Randolph - truth be told, I was the bad influence -  Wally and Sarah, you can see, still tuned in. The Senior Warden of Elbasan, John, explaining the finer points of CPR to his Junior, in a rare moment of focus.

***

 Midway through our PST III, the volunteers cut lose for some serious down-time: good conversation and rock and roll. Mike, my fellow volunteer here in Elbasan, and I arranged with Duhanmire (our friend/owner of the local Karaoke club – remember? his name means “smokes well” – well, really “good tobacco”), to open the club up on Sunday afternoon for our group. Mike did most of the heavy-lifting and I was the MC/crowd-control officer – a great time.

"Erik! Pier! Is this the song we picked?? Oh yeah!!"

Diane and Brian: "Mike!! You punker!!!"

Yes, you recognize Miles, our keynote graduation speaker...sizzling!

"Holy hell, guys!! That's not how you sing it!!!"

And dancing!! Will, Silke, and Bonnie

Erik, Will, Randolph, Dan, Justin, Silke, Paulie, and Will...tribute to good times!

We celebrated the end of PST and had some funny moments with Iris, a birthday gift for Alex. We sat at the Glasgow and set Iris up with a cigarette and a beer at a table by her/himself for the benefit of the locals passing by (Mike's brainchild).  Quite amusing. She elicited shrieks and photo-ops for Albanian Facebooks. 

Iris!! Really you had to take the last fry? I hear you, what in the hell is that Volunteer Reporting Form all about??

With Randolph, Mike, Dan, Diane, Catherine, Alex, and...Iris

A couple of days later Mike, Barbara and I continued the decompress at a local resort: a fine time with good food, beer, and poolside service. I am writing this blog entry even now at poolside! Disclaimer: Again, mine is NOT the typical PC experience – I just got the luck of the draw to be posted to a university site – I’m not complaining.

***

So, after the PST interruption and probably too much leisure, back to work. The web-paper proposal is moving along. My new friends at the University of Utah have responded incredibly in offers of assistance. The in-class exchanges set for the fall term have been well-received here and back in the States. I’ve been working on my preps for the fall, and I just got final word that teaching my own class in the spring has been approved (International Relations – So cool! seriously, how much damage can I do?)!  

This last week, Ymer and I met with Cristin and Ogerta (Cristin’s counterpart and Ymer’s vice-president in ELTA – Albania English Language Teachers Association). We’re going to schedule small conferences in Elbasan, Tirane, Korce, and maybe a few other locations like Durres and Vloore – this on top of the October annual conference in Skoder. It looks to be a very productive year. 

With Ymer, Cristin, and Ogerta (check out my new, almost Buddy Holly specs)

***

Also, this last week we had final exams at the university. Ymer invited me to sit in for a written final in the Economics Faculty and oral exams in the Languages Faculty. There is an allowance for student to retake the final if they fail their regular course-ending exam. This might be the following semester or the next year. To give a sense of some of the student attitudes, one of these students sat before Ymer and me and simply stated that he did not prepare, but that he needed a passing grade in order to immigrate to Canada. I have no clue regarding the connection, but I was incredulous. I said, “So…even though you did not prepare, you would like a passing grade in order to emigrate?’ “Yes.” “How much do you want this grade?” “I really, really, want it.” I couldn’t help myself – I looked at the student, and then to Ymer “Well, professor, since he really, really, wants it, I think you should pass him.” The student thought I was serious; Ymer just chuckled and allowed me a Martin Moment: “My friend, if this is truly that important to you, how about coming back after you have prepared, pass the exam when it is offered again, and I will congratulate you on your successful efforts, and wish you bon voyage?” He smiled wistfully, said “falemenderit” and left…another moment at the university.

***

Well, that’s about it for now – which is perfect timing since my risotto primavera just got here.

This next weekend I head off to Istanbul for a holiday visit with my good stateside friends Nelson and Yen – thanks to the PC staff for the hall-pass! Then I have a week with a youth camp sponsored by the British Council (an ELTA partner), and a wedding for a near relative of Sali and Rezarta (my host family). Oh yeah, Alex opened up a relationship with the local Rotary Club here, and I’m going to follow up on that. 

What a smile....until next time, "Th–, Th–, Th–, Th–, That's all Folks!"

....and my best wishes to all of you. XOXO