4/26
After school today I got the pleasure of walking the donkey, yes not the dog that they have, but their donkey. ( Which by the way I find it very interesting that they don't give their animals any names it's just the 'dog' or the 'donkey' so we also gave the dog a name in shqip.) I am also trying to teach them about animal love because there is a lot of animal cruelty going on around here and it makes me sad. Not sure why that memo along with a lot of memos here were not heard, but again that is coming from my perspective. I told them that I would like to walk the donkey every so often so he can have a break from his short lesh. (spelling?) Let me just say it was hilarious Julie even got on the donkey as we walked down the street. She told me to get on it, but I tried to explain to her that that would be animal cruelty. (ha) I also attempted to walk the dog, but they told me I was crazy. So I settled for the donkey today. After that eventful walk I went with my Dad, brothers, and sister to visit my grandpas brother. He lives about 10 minutes away and that was the first time I had met him. He was a delight. ( He reminded me so much of Uncle Harold, just a ball of fun!) We attempted to exchange some words in shqip and then I began to learn about his kids who were all now living abroad. This is a common thing heard in Albania that most people do what they can to get an education and leave here. ( I guess you could say that is the opinion of some fresnos', not me though I love fresno because it's fresno) I don't blame people for wanting to go see something new and live abroad because all they want is to have better, have better than what they think Albania can offer them. ( Understandable, but the grass isn't always greener on the other side, it's just the way you see things.)


4/27
This morning Andrea and I had the pleasure of giving an informational session in shqip/english for some of the women of the community. We met in the small clinic of Thane and waited for people to show up. I had no idea what to exactly expect except for the fact that I was going to try and get some information across. By the time we had started our talk there was about 11 women jammed into this small room. One was a face I had recognized my neighbor, who has offered to dye my roots! ( Ha!) I was really happy with the way the morning went because I felt that the shqip that I did convey was well received and they were happy to see that I was trying. Poleta was there, our life savor. She is one of the health directions in which her job is working for the Peace Corps and guiding us along our way during PST and hopefully by the end of this period get us to a point where we have an idea of things we can do on our own working in our own individual towns. Our presentation was about thirty minutes giving basic information about breast cancer, risk factors, and self examinations. The actually nurse that works in that clinic was there so she was there to give the women some more information about where they can have an exam. The basic needs that are usually met for someone to at least go to a hospital and get checked out is not the case here. These people can't even get to a hospital because they can't afford the ride there or the visits and most of the time just to expensive so they just ignore the signs until usually most cases are to late.

Language class is beginning to get the best of me as my days go on. And today Andrea and I had to excuse ourselves a bit early and take a walk because I was getting a major headache. My teachers do say that my effort is 'shume meir and I am progressing!" but at times the last thing you want to do is be explained 'cases' which I am not even to sure about in English. When it comes down to it in the end the only person I can blame my skills on is me because with anything it's about effort and practice. And to tell you the truth I have probably not put enough hours into the language as maybe some of the other volunteers right now, but to me spending time and building relations with my Thane family is really important to me now. I believe all things come with time and if I can make some really good Albanian friends then I will gain a tutor as well. ( I will probably invest in a tutor when I move to Fier just so I can have that time to practice since I won't be going to school everyday. ) And of course I know I am being harsh on myself.

4/29
Yesterday I had the most delightful afternoon with my family. I came home after school with the intentions of going on a run, but then it began to rain. Then the power went off. We all were settled very cozy in the living room being entertained by Andrea's behavior. It was nice to just sit with everyone and laugh at the small things. I just love how the kids enjoy being around one another and interacting with their parents on a daily basis. Yes they have their own agendas because they are kids, but for the most part I know they are the happiest when they are sharing time with their family. They have joy written all over their faces. So the rain didn't ruin our beautiful day I then went with my father, brothers, and sister to Cerrik. We got to ride in Dads car because the boys were going to the 'berber' to get their hair cut. While we waited for the boys to finish we had the pleasure of eating ice cream. And boy oh boy was it delicious. After we all enjoyed our dessert we went to an internet cafe because I was determined to teach Julie how to use Gmail so that we could communicate when I leave here. I helped her set up an account and we practiced her logging in, Niko saw what was going on so we set up an account for him as well. I think it's a good way to get used to this technology and help her feel at ease with it all easing her way into this new technology. My brother makes frequent trips to the cafes because that's where all the boys hang out, but it's hard for a girl to just leave her house in the middle of the day and say that she wants to go use the internet, because usually there is always work to be done and that is her job. This is never something that seems to bother her of them it's just something they do because they want to and some might even say they enjoy it this way. They enjoy there duties in the house and find pleasure in that.