Hobbying

For Joyce's birthday Stella and I made some things for decorations. I'm sort of an avid pinterest user using it to organize projects for the home, activities to do at home, cooking, traveling and posting my own blog. I believe in being a great tool but also a giant time sap. So, I try to use it effectively and work through doing the things I'm looking into. Here's one such experience. It was a fun gathering of the deep south.

Other fun things with Stella. :)

My Big Solo Trip

“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again- to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.” 

― Pico Iyer

A solo 5 am return from a night out, was what greeted my first morning of my extension leave trip. Scrounging for a spot on the floor, as the couches were covered by my fellow volunteers crammed into my dear friend's house, all of us here for the final night of the Korca Beer Fest. I'd escaped here earlier in the week (#textedout), on the second day of the fest in order to get away from the consistent hordes of visitors in Saranda and the obnoxious heat that stifles everyone's ability and drive to do anything. Korca was cooler, literally. People from all of the groups and even Macedonians were coming together, some of us for the first time to meet, drink, fight, drink, dance, eat, cry, cook, and bumper car (#FF- Bumper car in British English is Dodgins). But this trip began on my last night, and my first day of my trip.

First of all, dear readers you may be wondering why I took a big trip in the middle of my service. Peace Corps suggests/requires that volunteers extending take a month off, and technically then have 13 months longer. As a year extender, I received a third of my readjustment and air flight comparable to returning home. Plus, I threw in a little savings from Grandma and Grandpa Brandes. Admittedly, I wasn't the best college student and believe that education can be found in different manners.

While traveling, I learned quite a bit about the places I was visiting through free tours with knowledgeable young people who had lived in the area their whole lives; visiting museums of art, history and culture; and seeing the churches, city, architecture and the people first hand. Sociology, geography, urban planning, theology, and endless other topics were brought to mind throughout the trip.

Well… as you may recall I’ve been back a few times, three times actually, to the Unites States.  This earned me a joke award at my group’s close of service conference, for person who attended the most weddings in America while in service. Ya, I did and they rocked. Thanks M&D.  I’m not avoiding home, I just wanted to do something else. I signed up for Peace Corps to get out and see the world more and this was the right time to do so. Like Peace Corps, I want to consider that this trip is something I’ll share, which can be inspirational and enrich our lives.

Inspirational, was definitely what it was for me.  Once off on this trip, there was no worrying about deadlines, PC drama, and all the other things that usually compound into problems. Time was spent just being, just enjoying life in whatever way I wished. Being solo just made it that more special and interesting. The raki bar in Sarajevo during the rain, climbing the hill in Dubrovnik, this road vs. that one, these were my decisions.

Saranda Children's Home Art Program Post #1

When I came to Albania I was leaving working at an art gallery and a nonprofit's social enterprise re-use craft and raw materials store. I had been surrounded for a year by creative people, a pretty open-minded environment, and a surplus of art stuff. Arriving in Ksamil my grand ideas reflected this past experience. I wanted to inspire people to bring art into this beach village and re-take the government destroyed buildings. Big dreams that I see coming forward in the new volunteer, Ivy, now.

But these dreams didn't work out for me. I didn't quite find the niche because it wasn't really there. Art is not the most common idea in Albania, and even less so in this village. This would not just be hey let's talk to someone about doing something and they link you with the right people and it all comes together. It was going to require changing perceptions as well. Changing the mentality people had towards non-revenue activities that are a bit out of the box.

Still seeking ways I could make something happen, I researched the orphanage online and made contact in summer 2012. Starting small, I became a bit of a pack rat and gathered an excessive amount of plastic bottles and we paper mached and painted them. It was my first introduction to the home and the point at which I fell in love with these kids and started to see what possibilities may be. With two English speaking staff members, and a plethora of other active staff members, I knew this would be where I could make it happen. Several months later, here is what we have accomplished so far. Now that my big extension trip is ending, more and more will be taking place and further updates on the group's progress.
My friend's post about the opening. 

Uroj (for G14) by Sarah Collier

Uroj (for G14)
by Sarah Collier

hope you are adjusting OK

to life back in the USA

miss you here in Shqipëri

wonder often c'po bëni

G16 is here, G14 is leaving

life continues as strings interweaving

a return to known or unexpected

to find your life redirected

now in a different place

with a new meaning of peace

teach them how to dance

believe in a second chance

sot është gjithçka që kemi

por patjetër nesër do të shihemi

you can do no wrong

sing to them a new song

vazhdo dhe kalofsh mirë

sometimes wish you were still here

two years and some change

then as days rearrange

measure things small and great

koha iku ngadalë por sa shpejt

uroj gjithë te mirat edhe sukses

nga ketu kur jam në mes

Spring Update

This blog is far overdue for an update. In my last post from January 15th, I was rather blunt about what was going on. Things were changing and it was a little difficult. I found myself living on the edge of a dormant, spiritless village in a big, beautiful, cold and lonely house. I had returned back to Albania after a lovely rendezvous in America to be reminded that the situation that was facing me was still there, that the drama of mistakes and the unhappiness of my previous assignment was still staring me in the face, just as it had been for about 6 months to.. my entire service in Ksamil.

The short resolve to this story is that I fixed it.

I wasn't going to live my life that way any longer. Finally, the fact that my assignment and expectations for myself weren't being met needed to be addressed.  I don't need to legitimize or badger this topic any further. Remembering a conversation w/R and the joy I felt when I worked at the Children's Home in Saranda; I decided that if I was going to dive into this work there was no turning back and that I'd need to fully commit.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. What spurred this crazy change from hey, I'm leaving and moving on with my life to let's stay another year and do awesome things?

The change was kicked off in February with a visit from Julia Swanson. In this month I explored, celebrated, immersed myself in friendships, and figuratively (sometimes literally) ran through the streets of Albania.

January 2013

I've attempted to write a new blog entry for a while. It's not that I'm not doing anything... completely. It's that.. life is slow and the news isn't the great highlights that summer can bring. Winter is.. showers twice a week, seeing my breath in my kitchen as I write this, cold, bleak and dark. I have some snipets from starts that I'll try to bring together to give an idea of how I would sum up the past few months.

A few things have been experienced- loss, hunger, and struggle. I have lost Ryan, our kitty, and my mind at times. I have hungered for creative inspiration, food, friendship, and help. I have struggled with independence, Albania, returning home, the cold, and making the right choices.

A dramatic change has been a sudden ascension into being single and independent. At long-last Ryan suddenly returned to America at the beginning of November and by the end of the month I made the decision that it was best to be on my own for a bit. My number one support network, he knows me and my PC service best. But it was with the good intentions of getting to the point that I may be achieving right now.

Sometimes in the past months, I have spent my PC stipend foolishly. There is a really great book called Living Poor, A Peace Corps Chronicle by Moritz Thomeson. It is completely not what life of Peace Corps is like now, but it's a really interesting read about how it was. So yes, Living Poor Albania 2012 was nothing, comparatively. It's beans and rice, finishing off anything that may have come in a care package. I know it's all my fault to have spent foolishly while in the capital or perhaps traveling too much. At times we do say, I really can't wait until I'm no longer poor, though.

Coming home reminded me that poverty perhaps for me is only a temporary ailment. That those I left behind in my village, even if they are a cun looking for a wife in order to get a green card, are in a very different situation. And going home, I was overwhelmed by the wealth that is every where.

I appreciate immensely the generosity shown to me while home by my family and friends.

I've been continuing work with the orphanage. We won a Friends of Albania grant to pay for sewing equipment and materials for a program with the kids. Writing letters to organizations that might be able to provide some assistance for heating costs has yielded us a donation of 200 liters from the Red Cross! Yes, writing letters works!

Since I've gotten back from the amazing shock of the US, I've made some small steps. Independence is still a rather new territory for me, but I'm exploring it. I've refrained from drinking alcohol this month so far. I've had only one glass in 15 days.

With Tani's help, the gas heater is set-up. It requires a rock to hold down the gas release button. But I'm not too bad off with heat. I've grown rather comfortable and accustomed to several layers of clothes, being sure to always wear slippers, and making a nest in my big empty bed.

I guess the gist of this blog entry is that I'm getting by. That some exciting things happened that upset the balance for a bit and that I continuously go through everyday trying situations like.. waiting for the bus, lack of water after 5 pm, and regular power outages. Now, I'm just trying to keep going and keep trying.