America- for reals this time

So what is the most surreal thing that you can think of doing a few hours after landing at home for the first time in over two years? How about your 10 year high school reunion? Yeah, that would be pretty strange.

I was on the ground less than 24 hours when I headed to the West side for a blast from the past. A year ago, I didn't even think that the reunion would happen much less that I would be home for it. When I got the invitation in February, I was surprised. As far as I know, no West High class has had an official reunion since a least 2003, and I didn't really have faith that the class of 2000 would pull it out. But wonders never cease and our intrepid head girl got all organized and put it together- from Texas no less. I was hoping to have a couple of days to rest, but because of our travel delays, I ended up with less than 24 hours in Denver before the reunion. As a consequence I was in a bit o' shock and a bit o' jet lag.

The reunion itself was nice. There were not too many people there, since there is an a bit of a catch 22 involved in event planning- the more people that come, the cheaper the tickets, but since the tickets were going to be expensive less people came . . . Anyway, it was not super well attended (maybe 30 people out of a class of 300), but it was nice nonetheless. Many of the people there had been following me on facebook and so knew some of what I had been doing, but it was really the first time I got to go through the 20 questions about my last two years (with a few more for the other 8 since graduation).

With the reunion out of the way, I got ready for the main event, the real reason I came home and another totally surreal experience Nichole's wedding.

Regular readers may remember in my pre-PC days (there was a time before Albania?!?!?) that I lived with my friend Nichole for two years. We had been best friends since high school and when she finished college and moved home, we decided to move in with each other. For most of the two years, things were great and we had a great time. Right at the end, things sort of fell apart and we had a bit of a falling out- I won't go in to details, but just say that it took us some time to get back to ok. But we did, get back to ok that is. And when she announce her wedding plans, I decided that this was an event that I didn't want to miss. I know that she would have understood- I was going to be in Russia or some such place, but I didn't want to miss it. I have missed a lot of things in the lives of people I care about since I left, including about a million weddings (or at least 8) and several babies being born. I didn't want to miss this one and I
also hadn't been home in two years- I missed America.

The wedding was actually about four days of different celebrations- bachlorette party, rehearsal BBQ, ceremony and reception. This wasn't really a traditional wedding in some ways- like the rehearsal BBQ and the fact that the reception was at a brew-pub on a Thursday. The ceremony was very Nichole with lots of singing and readings and her and Daryn (that would be her husband) who are both religious scholars obviously had a lot to do with the ceremony. I was not a bridesmaid, which was probably for the best since her colors were yellow and red and I don't look good in yellow- instead I wore a purple dress that I found while my mom and I were stuck in Amsterdam.

The first few days home were a bit crazy and now are a bit of a blur. I guess I had a little culture shock- big moments I remember are seeing my sisters daughters (who have started to become like real people!) and driving again and then coffee, coffee, coffee (and also food, food, food-kind of like Albania when you come to think of it). For a good week, I avoided grocery stores of any kind- and when I finally went in one I had a clear mission- chicken, which actually was hard- do you know how many kinds of chicken there are?!?! But besides these kind of physical shocks, it
was kind of an awkward amount of time- three weeks. It was enough time that I started to get used to things again and got to see most of my friends. It was enough time to eat chipotle, to see a bad movie in 3-D and to have a few days to relax. It wasn't enough time to feel quite normal again. I wasn't working and at some point you hit a wall about what to do everyday. I of course left getting ready for Russia and Asia until the last minute. I was busy, but there was no routine, so I know that it's not like normal. Before I had too much time to get bored though, I was getting on a plane for Moscow- and I made it on the first flight out- no getting stuck in DC!

Dasme!

Since most of my close friends here are either already married or in high school, (and thank god I'm not going to their weddings yet) until this weekend, I had only been able to go to one wedding in Albania (in my first summer, my language teacher Ola), so I was really excited when I found out that one of my coworkers, Marijana would celebrate her marriage right before I left Peshkopi. An Albanian wedding is pretty similar to what I imagine many wedding celebrations around the world- lots of food, drinking and dancing. Usually, an Albanian wedding will be at least two parties, one for the bride's family and one for the groom's family. As far as I understand, unlike in the American tradition where there is a "ceremony" with the exchanging of vows, rings and kisses, usually in Albania there is only parties and the official marriage (signing of the marriage certificate) is done privately. This wedding was a little bit special because the bride and groom are Christian, so they did a sort of modified Christian ceremony with rings (but strangely no kissing . . . hmmmm). Other than that, it was basically like any other Albanian party, in other words, circle dancing.

The Valle Shqiptare, or the traditional Albanian circle dance has it's equivalent in many other Balkan/Mediterranean countries. You find it in Macedonia as the Ora and Greece as the Choreia and even in Jewish tradition as the Hora. The dance can range from simple to complicated and slow and easy to a jumping heart racer. The most basic form involves the repetition of a few simple steps- basically, step, touch, step, cross. The first few times you try, you find yourself staring down at the floor in front of you trying to stay on step with the person you are following. After a while you are finally able to look up and enjoy the dizzying effects of the dance. In Albania, every region or town has their own traditional valle. Many of them use the basic step, but a few, like the high spirited Valle Kuksi (from the northern city of Kukes) includes a running jump step that only energetic youth or very experienced dancers should attempt. My favorite is probably the Valle Kosovari because the music has this great drum beat that I just can't resist. I love the way that the circle dance involves the whole community in the dance together. At the wedding, each dance was taken in turn by a different group; the DJ would announce "this is the turn for the Uncles of the bride on the mom's side" and that part of the family would rise up and dance. By the end of the night, no matter who's turn it was, most people joined the dance. You would think that going around in a circle would get old after a while, but somehow it doesn't. Somehow, it's just comforting to be part of the circle and part of the community that formed it.

Dasme!

August is wedding season. All of the young men come home from working abroad to find themselves a pretty young wife . . .

I attended my first Albanian wedding celebration last week. The Albanian wedding is actually a nearly weeklong celebration with complicated rituals. There seems to be a combination of old Albanian traditions combined with new Western traditions. There are generally two separate (large) parties for the bride’s family and then the groom’s family and then possible several smaller parties. The bride’s party is first (usually on Wednesday or Saturday night). Some members of the groom’s family (but not his parents) come and dance and then leave. The next morning, the groom drives across town with a caravan of friends and family and “kidnaps” the bride. The groom’s car is decorated and the caravan honks loudly so that the whole town can celebrate the wedding. In the past, this was done on horseback, and instead of honking, the escorts shot guns off into the air, so every time I hear the honking and am annoyed with the noise, I’m just grateful that they don’t use the guns anymore. That evening, the groom’s family hosts the main party. Again, members of the bride’s family come and dance and then leave. From this point on the bride lives with her husband (if he is the youngest, they stay with his parents). Most brides have adopted the Western “white dress” and may even do a more Western ceremony or combined party.

We were invited to one of the smaller party for friends and extended family. It was sort of like a combination bridal shower/ bachelorette party as it was only for people that know the bride, and the groom wasn’t even there. Even so, the bride dressed in an elaborate white dress and then changed into an equally elaborate red dress (I don’t know the significance of the red dress, if there is one). We danced (mostly in the traditional Albanian circle dance style) late into the night.

Destination Wedding (or the Wedding-moon)

I wasn't sold on the whole "Destination Wedding" thing. Mostly because it was going to be pretty expensive to travel to Mexico for a week and I'm trying to save my pennies right now. I almost didn't go- my original departure date for PC was Feb 15. After thinking about it a lot, I decided that I would regret more not postponing and missing my cousins wedding than I would regret postponing and spending the money to go to Mexico. So far I'm right. I don't know what my assignment would have been had I left in Feb instead of March, but it wouldn't have been Albania. I'm still nervous about Albania, of course, but the more I learn, the more interesting it becomes. And I really needed a beach vacation. And I'm really happy that I got to spend some QT with my fam, especially my Aunt and Uncle that I don't see too often. And I'm excited that I got to meet my cousins in-laws and actually got to know them a little bit because they are now part of my family (and they rock). And I'm really glad I didn't miss the beautiful wedding on the beach. So I get it. Destination Wedding, it works. And I got a tan, so yeah for that. :)



The bride and groom with my parents and me

The view from our cabana (no electricity, sand floor but right on the beach!)

busy week. . . but what's new?

Wow, I have had a really busy week. It started with the wonderful wedding weekend (look at that alliteration!) of my best friend, Rachel. I got to be a pretty, pretty bridesmaid: get my hair and nails done, wear a dress that actually doesn’t suck (except the dinosaur zipper) and be there for my oldest (as in I’ve known her the longest, not that she is really old) friend. And I got to hang out with all her cool friends that I really love a lot (specially my bm buddies). Anyway, yeah for best friend’s weddings. Fun.

Other fun things this week: kickball, mahjong, cooking club, field trips and buntport.

So let’s talk about Buntport. If you’ve never heard of Buntport, don’t worry, you will. I believe that some day, the Buntporters are gonna be big. Like Monty Python or the Kids in the Hall or some other famous funny people. For now, Buntport can only be experienced in Denver (or occasionally at fringe festivals around the country. What is Buntport? It is more than a theatre, more than a warehouse . . . Buntport is an experience.

The current show is Moby Dick. It was hilarious. Moby Dick funny? Funny and wet. And great. You know the basic story of the Big White Whale: crazy sea captain, obsessed with killing the whale that ate his leg, ends up killing his whole crew except Ishmael who survives so he can tell the tale. So how does Buntport make this classic tale new and original and great? Their inventive use of props, sets and costumes, their superb acting, wonderful writing and fantastic style. Everything they do is completely Buntport, yet always completely original. I’ve never been bored at a show and that’s not a comment that can be made about very many theatres. Plus, I kinda have a crush on one of the actors. So that helps. I love Buntport. And you should too. If you are in Denver, go see them. If you are not in Denver, come to Denver so that you can go see them. Seriously. Love it. Also, go see trunks and starship troy. Really, do it. I’m not kidding. I’ll see you there, Ok? Awesome.