Don't worry, I don't feel bad. I've been doing other things.
However, I just made a list of eleven blog entries that I'd like to write before Christmas, assuming nothing interesting happens from now until Christmas break, which comes in less than two weks, so I thought I had better get started! Plus, I'm supposed to be working on an assignment, and if you know me, you know that that's when I get lots of (other) work done!
What have I been doing that has made me too busy to write, you may ask. I've had a few pretty full weeks, but I've also been busy doing not too much - taking care of myself: mind, body, and soul. It's been a long time since I did that. And as much as I love you all back home, my focus has been on investing myself in people here.
So, let's rewind to the first week of November. During that week, none of the students spent the evenings and nights at the school. The local students stayed at home, and the non-locals were placed with various host families. As far as I know, not a single non-local student was excited about this "cultural experience". And as far as I know, every single one of us had a fantastic week! We were all stretched and challenged in different ways, but each of us built new relationships, learned new things, and felt good about investing time and love in other people.
I became pretty excited when I found out that I would be staying with Valter and Manjola - a husband and wife who are also students! They live in a village that's about a five minute drive from town. Manjola and I are the same age, and we had already started building a relationship. Manjola knows a little bit of English, and Valter makes up for his lack of knowledge with his enthusiasm! They live with Valter's parents who know no English at all! While most of the other students were relieved that their hosts spoke English, I was excited about the challenge of trying to use more Albanian to communicate.
It was such a special, memorable week. We spent many minutes watching Christian channels on the TV (in whatever language they happened to be in), waiting for a Bible verse to appear on the screen. Whenever one did, we would excitedly look it up and read it to each other - me in English and Valter in Albanian. Sometimes we switched roles, just for fun! When the power went out, we just took turns calling out verses instead. I tried çaj mali - mountain tea - for the first time. It's an herbal tea made from a flower that's just found in this area, up on the mountain. Manjola slaughtered me in Chess, and Valter lost many rounds of Spoons in such an animated fashion that it left us catching our breaths from laughter.
It was such a blessing to share their home for the week, and I pray that I was a blessing to them also.
Sadly, I don't have any pictures of Manjola and Valter. You'll have to settle for a group one - you really haven't any choice!
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| Udhekryq Class of 2012/2013 :) |
Perhaps you'd like to meet everyone:
Starting from me and heading to the right: Visi, Fiona, Lydia, Manjola, Natasha, Mitat.
Front row, left to right: Andrea (my very good friend and our RA), Zak, Rozela, Valter, Elisa, Zhuli, Caleb, and Mario. (Only Sonila is missing.)
And one more, just for fun:
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| Zak, me, and Fiona being generally ourselves at our Thanksgiving feast |
Well, that's all for today, since I am, after all, supposed to be writing an assignment.
A couple random facts:
There's been snow on the mountain top a few times now, but today, sleety rain turned into snow during coffee break. For some reason, it was exciting... I'm pretty sure the excitement will be completely gone tomorrow morning and will remain gone for the rest of the winter.
You rarely see cash registers in here, particularly here in Erseke. Most stores just have a notebook and a pen, and they just jot down the prices of your items and add them up. It would be a tedious process at Superstore or Costco, but not here. The stores don't generally have much, so no one comes to the 'till' with a full cart. Not that there are any carts. The other day, I went to the grocery store hoping for yogurt, but they didn't have any.
The money is in a shoe box or a drawer. It's a pain if you need to buy something but you only have large bills from a bank machine. Stores often can't give change for a 1000 or 2000 Lek bill ($10 or $20).
For the record, Jo... tis the season for snow and ice. In fact, it's long past that season, as I have not seen a temperature warmer than a high of -10 C since early November, and we're now averaging highs around -20. And I stepped out this afternoon and thought, "Wow, it's gorgeous out today!" I even thought of running out to the shop in a t-shirt. The thermometer informed me that it was indeed a balmy -20. I neglected to wear a toque about a month ago and went out for a while to do some things with the dogs... got my first frost-bite experience. Your skin crinkles and cracks, just like when you get a really bad sunburn! Although the WeatherNetwork insists that we have only accumulated 66mm of snow, I know much better. There have been at least a handful of heavy snowfalls, and white debris floats from the sky almost daily. It's been stacking up since sometime in late October. The sun only peeks over the horizon sometime around 9:30am right now, and there's already a golden late-afternoon glow by 2:30pm. But it's gorgeous and crisp and clean, especially on sunny days when the sun reflects off all the white surfaces. The trees are coated in a heavy layer of snow. My dog loves burrowing in the snow, and generally comes trotting back to the house with white snow powdering her nose, telling me that I should be very proud of her for kicking that squirrel's butt. Stroking her back right now is like putting on a pair of lamb-wool gloves because her coat is so thick. It's cold enough that the snow doesn't melt & freeze onto the roads most days, so driving conditions are fair or good most of the time. Every day, I drive over the Peace River, which is about 425m across at the bridge. It's a sight to behold! Now that the river is frozen over, the ferry is shut down for the year, and the ice bridge is up and running. Next time I go down to Peace River, I think I'll go that way. In each season, the river has a different kind of charm... the ice jams in the spring, mist and many colours in the fall, the clear reflection of all the green trees in the summer, and the clean shine of the snow and ice in winter. Driving is something else... there's nothing too extraordinary about the scenery. It's just vast spaces that seem unadulterated, untouched. I can drive for miles without seeing a house. Just wild, resilient forest for mile after mile. And then some fields that mark some Mennonite family's farm. The quarter section I live on has never been cleared. Never ever. The underbrush is most beautiful in the fall... not only do the trees get colourful on top, but the underbrush transforms into shades of red and orange. And we have some really really great people up here. We make as many excuses as possible to have supper, or tea, or beer or a glass of wine, or cinnamon buns with people at our house or theirs. With the cold outside, I just can't get enough of warm soups these days too. Potato bacon soup, cream of broccoli soup, corn chowder, curried roasted squash apple pear soup. Mike & Jen gave us a big bag of potatoes from their garden, so that's why all the chowders are on the list these days. And I'm eating some of the carrots from your garden too! If I want to go out, then I can head south to La Crete (if I want to hear Low German or English), or just across the river to Fort Vermilion (where I might hear Cree, Beaver, a few other languages, or English). The sign at the liquor store says that if you piss on the property, you'll be banned from the premises (Fort Vermilion). The scrolling text on the pump at the gas station says "Did you know our wash bays are open 24/6?" and alternates with the text of Isaiah 40:30-31 (La Crete). Add to that the many maritime Canadians from Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia who migrated here for work, and it's a veritable cross-cultural salad bowl. You should come visit!
ReplyDeleteHow's that for a sales pitch?
Jenni
Wow. That's pretty convincing....
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem is that I'm in Albania right now, and it's a pretty expensive trip from here to there. So, maybe when I am back in Canada, I can come and visit.
(PS - My Cree is pretty rusty. Is there much Albanian spoken up there?)
Love you!