On Cats
I have a cat now. My neighbor came to my door two days ago with a box:
"guess what'
s inside" she said
"uhhhh" was all I could muster
... , ...
"oh is it a cat" my sheepish reply, and yes, yes it was.
It is orange and white and meows like crazy. Seriously, skype me just so you can hear this thing go. I came home today to find it missing from its normal spot. It is still very afraid of me so it hides behind a cabinet in the front hall. I looked all over only to not find it. I figured it was somewhere in the house until I realized I left the window open a crack... oh no! But fear not, about 10 minutes ago I heard a loud meow... it's in here somewhere, I just still have no idea where. Unfortunatly the mother also hears it meowing and sits on my patio meowing. The cat still has no name and I am taking suggestions.
On Jews and Albania
I will admit I have had a few chances to mention my religion here. Usually I use it as a standard answer to why I don't eat meat, or why I don't date Albanian (I mean, that is a big part of the reason honestly and it just takes so many fewer words in Shqip). Normally I get 1 of two responses after I answer "Hebreo" to the question of "oh but what is your faith" 1) blank stares because they don't know what that religion is or 2) nods and ok but once again no further questions or responses due to the area of the unknown that it inhabits. Well the other day I went to see an artist and he had me write my last name down so he could give me a book. He took one look at it and replied "oh you're Jewish." I will admit that this took me a little off guard, but don't worry he went on to tell me that there were Jews hidden in Shijak during the Holocaust, and that he really likes Jews. He then gave me a really nice book.
On Daily Questions
There are a few questions which I inevitably get asked everyday (usually a few times) here.
- Do you miss your family? - Life in Albania is incredibly family based. People remain living with their parents until they are married, even after the youngest son is expected to remain with the family. So they are a little surprised to hear that I was living "alone" (with friends is the same as this in their minds) back in the states as well.
- Will you marry in Shijak? - The older men and women are very fond of this question, while the young women tell me absolutely not to do this. I like to tell them I won't because I want to live close to my family, and because of my faith. This prompted the response one time though "Libby is a good and beautiful girl, but she is a little racist." I further explained this answer don't worry. I said "maybe, but right now I just want to work on my career."
- The "mire questions." A list of questions which ALL are to be responded with only "mire": Si je, si jeni, si a kalova, c'fare ben? Yup all mire, and yup all usually asked in succession.
On Working Out
On Pollution
How can you even begin to address all the trash and water problems in Albania (or anywhere for that matter)? Damn regional problems really need to be fixed on the regional scale. It's frustrating right now because I know we're supposed to be working ground up but I would say one of the largest community problems is water and trash. We have a man made lake which was as far as I can tell created as a cheap environmental way to deal with toilet water (that's where our's goes) but there are all types of problems associated with that...Our “landfill” is right next to the river, we have no recycling (although we are interested). But here's the problem. Yes they want to do things about it, but even if we do something here (fix our water) they will still be dumping further upstream, so if we clean our water to move to fixing up the river (that's a large project they want to do) it's still crazy. But yes, I suppose I could start looking further into this. If only I knew more about water systems... anyone? If anyone does know (Dad..) please feel free to send me how to fix up a river, how to better deal with trash, or how to set up recycling. Just saying.
On Feelings
Sometimes I am really lonely, sometimes I feel really guilty, most of the time it's a little hard for me here. I live in a town that has at least 5 places to play pool, and the most common type of coffee bar is a llotto/sports/soccer bar. Now this might mean nothing to you, or it might really explain who inhabits the public space here, I'll give you a chance to guess... that's right men. When I walk to work I don't really see women milling about, there are only men in the cafes, and only men in the flower park. Yes, you will pass women, or see women running errands, I just don't personally see them seated all that often. Not to mention I live alone. I really would like to leave my house more, but to do what? I feel like I can go buy food and other than that what am I supposed to do? I run every now and then but it's just so hot. Also, I always hated exercising in public at home because I feared people would watch and judge me, there it might have been irrational, here it's not. Everyone really is watching me... and judging me when I do things in public. Some days I go to my neighbors house and they have been a great help, but they have their own family. I am going to the beach tomorrow with my counterpart and one of my fellow PC friends. So an explanation of the guilt... well I'm Jewish. But really, I am one of those people to always feel guilty, but here I just feel like I'm doing everything wrong. I wonder if I should be more integrated into the community, if I should be meeting more people, doing more projects, and so on and so forth. I start to wonder if I am making excuses, if really I could do whatever I wanted. And then there are the days that I just feel really tired. I am normally a pretty energetic person, but I am also one of those people who communicates mostly through stories. Well, my Shqip (Albanian) is not really good enough to get the speed and emotions to my story telling I normally have, and my English has to be incredibly slowed down and modified, once again making things difficult. Many days I come home exhausted just from not understanding what is going on around me, and feeling like I have not had a real conversation all day. I don't know, but please feel free to skype me or send me a message. Some times it's just good to talk. Sorry I guess this one wasn't really all that short.
On Cooking
Well I have had more time to cook. Thanks to mom and dad I know have a piece of Ithaca with me in the form of my moosewood cookbook (oh and my kids count tee shirt), and I have been modifying recipes from there and other places to fit what I can buy here. So I will start giving y'all some recipes I have been working on and enjoying.
Green beans + Dill: Cooked green beans with a sauce of: (I used) red wine vinegar, red pepper, dill, sugar, and onions all boiled together. Really I think you're supposed to use sherry vinegar, garlic, and red pepper flakes but I didn't have that.
Good Old Cucumber Salad: Mix plain yogurt, white vinegar, dill, garlic, and slices of cucumber.... Enjoy!
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