I have finally arrived in my new home for the next two years- Peshkopi. After the swearing in ceremony, I spent the night in Elbasan and left for Tirana (with some other volunteers heading up north) on Saturday morning. The hardest part of my trip was actually getting all of my luggage across Elbasan to the bus stop, but luckily I had some help from another volunteer (which I returned by helping him carry his luggage). We found a furgon (the mini-busses that are the most common form of transportation here) that not only agreed to take 5 of us and all of our luggage to Tirana, but even across Tirana to the place where we would pick up the furgons going north (for a few extra dollars, of course!). This made the whole trip a lot easier, since normally the Elbasan furgons drop of on the complete other side of town and a taxi across the city is nearly as expensive as the trip all the way to Tirana! Once on a Peshkopi furgon, I made really good time getting here, only 4 and a half hours. The trip normally ranges from 4 to 6 hours, depending on the roadwork, the driver, and how many stops are made. I arrived with no problems and was able to get into my apartment and start settling in. Mike, the departing volunteer was still around for the weekend before he departed for a short trip through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary on his way back to the states. Having Mike around was great, as he helped me find my way around town and showed me some quirks of the apartment (taking a shower is a bit complicated) before he left. I have a feeling that I will continue to get questions about Mike for a while yet (Miku iku?- Mike’s gone?). Also waiting for me here is my new site mate, Kenji. Kenji is an English teacher who has been living here for a year. I think that we will get along great. We have already shared a pancake dinner (the first meal I cooked in my new kitchen) and are enjoying my movie collection. Kenji and Mike never really connected, so Kenji is happy to have someone new in town to hang out with.
On Monday, I started work. My primary position is with World Vision, a Christian NGO that does development work in many places around the world. The office in Peshkopi is brand new; it has only been open a few months. I am working with three young Albanian women and a French man. Eventually, the office here will do educational, health and community development activities in the area. Right now, they are just working on assessing the needs and feasibility of projects here. My main job is to build capacity within the office and help them write a major report (in English) about the needs of the area. I am helping with the English of the office team and just getting to know people in town and in the villages. In the coming months, as I meet people and assess the needs of the community, I will probably work on projects outside of my office as they come up. I already know that I will probably be helping out with a Model United Nations program in the fall and hopefully doing some women’s/girls empowerment programs. Peace Corps leaves things pretty open for us as long as we are working on something.
After the crazy roller coaster that is training, it has been nice to take it easy here for the past few days. Having my own space is great. Although it was very necessary for us to live in host families during training, I am happy that I didn’t have to live with another host family here. My apartment is great- it is only a two minute walk to my office, close to the center of town, right next to a mini-mart and two restaurants. I have a private house, which is rather uncommon (most people in town live in block apartments) and the family that I am renting the house from lives across the garden from me. Even though I have my own space, it is nice to have a family around just in case.
Ok, so if you made it all the way to the end of this, I’m guessing that you care about me, so I’m going to put my address here again:
Rebecca Lipman
Laggia “N. Rushiti”
Banesa 33 perballe Hotel Veri
Peshkopi, Albania
Now, after some experience with the Albanian postal service, I am quite convinced that a package or letter labeled: Rebecca Lipman, Peshkopi, Albania, would reach me. Unfortunately the US postal service doesn’t like to send things without addresses. They don’t tend to believe that the address doesn’t matter, since you have to go to the post office to pick things up anyway (there is no home delivery here) and that all is really required is a name and city. Anyway, send me stuff. Like peanut butter and parmesan cheese (send me an e-mail if you want a more detailed list). Letters or postcards can still be sent to Tirana:
Rebecca Lipman
Peace Corps Albania
PO Box 8180
Tirana, Albania
kisses from Albania-
becca
