Summer Time Has Arrived

Reflecting on my experiences

I have successfully finished up the school year and completed four weeks of camp at my school  and the local youth center/orphanage. So far I have really enjoyed my time here at site and Lezhe has been more than welcoming. The work I have been doing in my community has been very rewarding. For me the most important thing to see in my students is happiness and motivation to succeed. I'm seeing some progress to this regard and I hope to change as many lives as I can.

These past couple of days have been wonderful. My mom came to visit me in Albania to see me and the area I live in. We had a blast together and got to check out some cool places. Most importantly these places included Gjader, my village. It was great to have her here. She loved to see the place where I work and this beautiful country. Most importantly she loved the people in my community very much. Sometimes it gets a little lonely as the only foreigner in the area and her presence was most certainly a breath of fresh air. I miss my family back home. I guess its only natural to feel like that after not seeing them for half a year. That said, I'm excited to see them again in Italy this August as well as my friends who are coming to Greece very soon as well.

Today I got out of the house for a little bit and took a walk around the village. I must've walked a few miles because by the end of it all I was exhausted. Usually if I'm bored, stressed or just want to have fun here I go on long walks to relax and decompress. Gjader is very unique because it has two old and unused airstrips dating back from the communist era. Today I decided I was going to walk the full lengths of both the strips and around the general area. I started out on the small airstrip first because it is near my house. The small airstrip has many homes along it and has a lot more road traffic (the old airstrip is used as a road). Usually when I walk on this airstrip I go south to the local orphanage or school but today I walked north. On the way north I ran into many different people. Some were herding sheep, others cattle, and goats as well. One thing I took particular note of was house nice everyone was to me along my journey.

The first person I saw was a young boy and his grandmother. They were both sitting along side the airstrip and herding cattle by the looks of it. When the boy saw me he ran over to me and yelled "Jacob!" which nearly melted my heart. Its seems like most of the young kids at the school do this whenever I walk around the village. It truly is so rewarding how much the kids seem to like me. It reminds me why I'm here and my purpose in this country. I love my students here and all I want is for them to be happy and motivated. After talking to the boy and his grandma for a little we parted ways and I continued my long walk down the airstrip.

All the way at the very end of the airstrip I could see a man herding his cattle. After about ten minutes of walking I finally got close enough to talk to him. The first thing he did when I got close was give me two cherries and asked how I was doing. I said that I was fine and just talking a walk around Gjader (all of this is in Shqip by the way). He then proceeded to ask me about my family and how everyone was in America. I asked him about his cows and how much milk they produce for him on a regular basis. None of the conversations get too sophisticated. After all, my ability to form complex sentences and convey sophisticated concepts is limited to an "intermediate low" language comprehension. The man seemed especially interested in the energy drink I had in my back pocket as well as my phone. He kept asking me if I had some Albanian film on my phone and I had to keep explaining to him that I don't have any films on there at the moment. I was wondering if he was asking because he wanted to watch it with me at the time. Only god knows. After that he pointed out my energy drink "B52". He asked me if I liked it and explained that he loves it for the amount of energy it gives him. He asked me if I had B52 back in the states and I explained we didn't and we only had red bull. Again, this is all simple conversation at play here. After a couple more pleasantries and me struggling to understand the dialect of Shqip he was using, we parted ways and I moved on.

My favorite part of the whole hike was sitting by myself on the large airstrip. Along the road from the small airstrip to the big one I was looking around for a place where I could relax and be alone. Once I got to the big airstrip I sat on one of the many concrete blocks there and relaxed. Along the whole airstrip concrete blocks are placed every forty or so meters to prevent airplanes illegally using the airstrip. Anyways, I sat down on that block, cracked my B52 and looked at the countryside around me. I must've sat there for about an hour taking photos, playing music and just enjoying being alone. Today I needed to decompress and that little break from the world really did it for me. Peace Corps is a journey with ups and downs and when you're feeling like you need time for yourself you have to make time for yourself. That said this is the most wonderful adventure of my life. I feel like I have been learning a lot about myself throughout this whole process and what it means to be a good man in this world.

After my long pushim I walked the length of the larger airstrip. This airstrip is pretty much abandoned besides the occasional farmer herding their animals. Along the way I saw one old man herding his goats in the grass between the two sides of the airstrip. Now usually in America you would walk by and pretend that you don't see each other and mind your own business. But if there is one thing I've learned here In this country its that everyone makes time for each other. I waved from a distance and he called out to me. I walked over to him. He was a very old short man. The first thing I noticed when he was walking towards me is that his leg was severely damaged. I felt bad and walked a little faster so that he would have to walk any further than he needed to. He was a very nice man. We started out by talking about where I'm from and what I'm doing here. When I told him that I was a teacher and volunteer. He was very happy to hear that I was teaching here at the school in Gjader. I was surprised he hadn't heard of me before because it seems like everyone in the village knows me since I'm a the only foreigner living around the region. He asked me if I was married, which is a common question, and I explained that I was not and was only twenty three years old. To this he said that he hopes I find a good woman in the future. After some more small talk we parted ways and he wished me safe travels.

The last thing I did before heading home was build a small Cairn out of old concrete stones along the Airstrip. I don't know if it will still be there later on but my hope is that It will be. I built it to mark one of my many journeys throughout my village and region. By the end of my two years I hope to make many more Cairns in the different places I go. To me they symbolize my memories and experiences here in Albania.

Thank you for reading my blog today and I hope you are doing well wherever you are on Earth! Take note of the little things in life. The smallest light in the dark can help you find your way home.