We got a dog on Saturday. As early as our ride in from the airport on Tuesday, Paula and Wakie told us about a puppy that their neighbors on the Ridge had rescued. ("The Ridge" is Rilindja Ridge, and embassy-housing compound. It looks like a well-done Virginia subdivision, and many of the embassy families with children live there.) Other embassy personnel sang his praises as well. We met the puppy on Friday, took him home Saturday night, and renamed him Cooper.
I'll post a photo once I have internet access from home, but to describe him, he has short dark gray and white fur, with a mottled nose and a circle around one eye; he may have a little bull terrier in him. He came to us mostly housebroken, but he nips a lot; my hands are covered in scratches, and I've been working on showing him who the alpha dog is. (Clearly, the jury is still out.) We have started the training, however, and fortunately, despite his taste for human flesh, he has been good with the neighborhood children. And, as my family will understand, he has a hake.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Next Day
We woke up early. Abby headed off to work at 7:30 AM, and I left the house around 8:30 AM. The plan had been to buy a newspaper, spend an hour or so sipping an espresso at one of the kafes, and make my way leisurely to the Embassy to check e-mail and otherwise see what was going on. Then I wouldthink of something else to do (all of our books and other household goods still being in transit, I don't have a lot of options). And after 6 hours of walking the streets of Tirana and sitting in cafes, I realized something very important: there is a big difference between leisure and indolence, and if I don't find regular work soon, I'm going to go out of my mind.
Arrival
We arrived in Tirana at about 11:30 AM Tuesday after an uneventful flight out of Dulles International Airport. After collecting our luggage, we were met by our sponsors from the embassy, Paula and Wakie (Political Officer and Management Officer, respectively), who brought us to our house. The house is furnished, and there was a welcome kit with towels, dishes, etc., and Paula and Wakie had done some basic food shopping for us, so we were well-enough situated to start.
After looking around, Abby and I set out into the heat and dust of Tirana to look for some lunch. We discovered quickly enough that the bar-kafes that line the streets only serve alcohol and coffee; they aren't cafes. After walking for about 20 minutes, we ducked into the first sit-down restaurant we found that was open and looked decent, and shared a kebab with marinated cucumber. Then we walked back, and took a short nap - we were exhausted.
At 7:00, Paula and Wakie picked us up and we went to the Presidential Hotel for dinner. The temperature had cooled down, so we ate on the rooftop. We enjoyed the lights of Tirana until the black-out - KESH, the electric company, has been imposing 6-7 hour black-outs daily. Between the dependence on hyrdroelectric power, the heat, the drought, the increased load from air conditioners (which Albania did not have in abundance even a few years ago), and the faulty infrastructure, the system cannot support the load. The government had promised that there would be full electricity available in 2007, but there has been little progress on this front. I'll probably write more about this later. At any rate, the major hotels and restaurants (and the embassy houses, fortunately) have generators, so we were able to finish our meal in ease and then drive home, and serenaded by the hum of the generators, we went to bed.
After looking around, Abby and I set out into the heat and dust of Tirana to look for some lunch. We discovered quickly enough that the bar-kafes that line the streets only serve alcohol and coffee; they aren't cafes. After walking for about 20 minutes, we ducked into the first sit-down restaurant we found that was open and looked decent, and shared a kebab with marinated cucumber. Then we walked back, and took a short nap - we were exhausted.
At 7:00, Paula and Wakie picked us up and we went to the Presidential Hotel for dinner. The temperature had cooled down, so we ate on the rooftop. We enjoyed the lights of Tirana until the black-out - KESH, the electric company, has been imposing 6-7 hour black-outs daily. Between the dependence on hyrdroelectric power, the heat, the drought, the increased load from air conditioners (which Albania did not have in abundance even a few years ago), and the faulty infrastructure, the system cannot support the load. The government had promised that there would be full electricity available in 2007, but there has been little progress on this front. I'll probably write more about this later. At any rate, the major hotels and restaurants (and the embassy houses, fortunately) have generators, so we were able to finish our meal in ease and then drive home, and serenaded by the hum of the generators, we went to bed.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Immersion Trip: Day 9-10
Today, a group of us went to Berat, a castle built between the 13th and 15th centuries. It reflects the culture of the time insofar as it includes both a mosque (now ruined) and a church, the Church of St. Mary, which includes many famous Albanian icons. The town of Berat is known for having thousands of "one over another" windows, as the photos attest; it also turns out (I just learned while checking out the Wikipedia entry) that Shabbatai Zevi, the 16th century Turkish Jew who declared himself to be the messiah and led a mass movement before being forced to recant, is buried there.
We then stopped in the Gobo Winery on the way home to sample wine and walnut raki. The wine wasn't bad, but the walnut raki was a clear reminder that walnuts contain iodine. I suppose it cures what it doesn't kill.
Day 10 was essentially a continuation of Day 9, since we never went to bed - we watched television until 3:30 when the cab came and took us to the airport. The airport was fairly busy at 4:00 AM, since the flight to Vienna is popular and there aren't many options for getting out of the country. We got through security easily enough, although strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, the airport security did not identify the oversized bottle of saline solution that I had accidentally packed in my carry-on luggage. However, they did confiscate the bottle of wine Abby had purchased at the Gobo Winery. Our teacher, who had met us there along with her 85 year-old mother-in-law, urged Abby to go back and get the bottle of wine, and we'd drink it there. We passed on the offer.
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We then stopped in the Gobo Winery on the way home to sample wine and walnut raki. The wine wasn't bad, but the walnut raki was a clear reminder that walnuts contain iodine. I suppose it cures what it doesn't kill.
Day 10 was essentially a continuation of Day 9, since we never went to bed - we watched television until 3:30 when the cab came and took us to the airport. The airport was fairly busy at 4:00 AM, since the flight to Vienna is popular and there aren't many options for getting out of the country. We got through security easily enough, although strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, the airport security did not identify the oversized bottle of saline solution that I had accidentally packed in my carry-on luggage. However, they did confiscate the bottle of wine Abby had purchased at the Gobo Winery. Our teacher, who had met us there along with her 85 year-old mother-in-law, urged Abby to go back and get the bottle of wine, and we'd drink it there. We passed on the offer.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Immersion Trip: Day 8
Today we went on the Hash. The Hash House Harriers is an international running club, organized primarily wherever there are English-speaking ex-pats, although there are many non-English-speaking adherents. The point is to follow a trail laid out earlier in the day by the "hares". The trail is marked in chalk or flour (D.C.'s clubs discontinued their use of flour after the anthrax scares post-9/11) and it includes false trails, turnarounds, and such.
We set out early on Saturday morning and took the Durres Road out. Today's group was impressively multinational - represented were Albania, Australia, China, Egypt, France, the Netherlands and the U.S. The traffic was a mess - the two roundabouts were jammed as was the highway itself. Rruga Durresit, one of the major roads out of Tirana, is intersected with another major roadway a few kilometers out of town. (Notice how I use the European system of distance? As if I could estimate a kilometer ...) Thus, traffic is nearly at a standstill, and people will drive on the sidewalks, the opposing lanes, whatever, in order to get to where they need to go. It's entertaining. (The situation is not helped by the politics: at one point, the national DP/local SP - I forget which - built an overpass to clear up the rotary traffic; the local SP/national DP tore it down.
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Eventually we escaped the traffic and drove off the highway and into the hills above Tirana. The scenery is truly splended (Abby took the photos). After the preliminaries, we were off, running and bounding along the mountain trail (and perilously close to the edge at some points), jumping roots and rocks and looking for the flour markers. Then we ran down the mountain face and into a green valley, across a stream, and then up the next mountain ... or, to be more honest, many of us began walking up the next mountain (besides those who were smart enough to start at hiking pace). S'është lehte fare. I eventually got separated from the lead group and then joined another group, and we talked as we made our way down the mountain, and past a herd of goats grazing in the valley. I was half-expecting to see Heidi, or Julie Andrews with a guitar.
The day ended with a visit to the Chicken Shack for lots of cold beer and freshly killed, roasted chickens.
Immersion Trip: Day 7
Good Lord, I am the worst blogger ever ... today's June 3 and I'm still on April 20.
Today we visited two outdoor markets. The second market is the village market (Treg Fshatari) where they had the most amazing food - gorgeous fruits and vegetables, and fresh meat. You know the meat is fresh because the butcher puts the skinned head of the unlucky donor on the counter ... Note the old-fashioned scale in the second photo.
Today we visited two outdoor markets. The second market is the village market (Treg Fshatari) where they had the most amazing food - gorgeous fruits and vegetables, and fresh meat. You know the meat is fresh because the butcher puts the skinned head of the unlucky donor on the counter ... Note the old-fashioned scale in the second photo.
I spent the rest of the day meeting people, and then went to the Marine House for happy hour where I met more people. The night ended with dinner at King's House, this time with all sorts of ex-pats. This is a weekly event. In addition to us, there were people from Bulgaria, Finland, England, and probably some other countries, but we didn't meet everyone, and after the raki I probably wouldn't have remembered anyway.
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