BRR!! It's cold out here!

Well not much has been going on around these parts. It has turned colder and I'm not enjoying it. Yesterday it actually snowed. And here I was beginning to think that Spring just might be around the corner. Well, hopefully it still is!
I'm having a real hard time getting anything done with any of my projects currently. It's a little frustrating that I have all these great talks with people and they seem motivated to really do some good. A week later, BOOM! No more motivation. I need to come up with a new way of getting people to work with me on these projects. Maybe I need to just break them up into a whole bunch of really small projects so that people will stay motivated till the end. Maybe..
Other than that, I'm hanging in there. I'm a little sad that I didn't get the assistant postition for the new PST starting in March but oh well. I have some other things on my plate so its probably for the better. I will be doing a session on tourism development in Albania so I'm getting things together for that. I can't believe that I have almost been here a year! CRAZY!
Well I have a meeting/party tonight with the Women's Club so that should be fun :) Albanians and their circle dancing is never a dull moment! Tomorrow I might head up to Shkoder for a Carnival party but we'll see what the weather is like.
I hope you are all staying warm!
Leslie

Rain, Rain, Go Away....

It has been raining every day for the past two weeks and after I thought long and hard about building an ark, it stopped! The sun is out and shining and I plan on doing laundry (which will be very exciting!). Anyways, it's nice to finally have some good weather. It's been a long two weeks.
Another happy thing is that I think I have a masive project about to start. When I was back home in September I gave a presentation to my old high school. One of my former teachers was very excited to be able to do anything for me so they held a drive to collect clothes, shoes and school supplies for me to distribute to the Roma children. Their drive went very well and they collected over 20 boxes of stuff. Then it was on me to figure out how to get the stuff to the kids. After talking to some people in the community we came up with an idea....
We're going to build a new kindergarden! It will be just for the Roma children so that they can preserve their own culture while learning Albanian so that they can really integrate into society and have a brighter future then their parents could've ever hopped for. I am very excited about this!
On April 8th, we plan on having a concert in honor of the National Day for Roma Communities. Roma children will sing and put on a short drama. After the concert they will be given things that were sent her from my old high school. The proceeds from the concert will go towards the new kindergarden. To finance the rest of the project I'm hoping to do a Peace Corps Partnership Grant. Basically 25% of the project funded by my community here in Lezha and the rest coming from people back home.
We still have a lot to talk about and we have to figure it out fast. I know that this will be a great project as long as I can get the support I need from my community here and at home. I'm just hoping the sun stays out to keep my spirits high!
Hugs to you all,
Leslie

Oh the Places You'll Go...

Happy New Year's!!!! What a few weeks I have had! My time in Bangkok was amazing. Here are some of the hi-lites... I got to Bangkok and after checking in at my hotel it was off to the hospital for my first appointment. Well the dentist ended up removing my lower right wisdom tooth right then and there! It wasn't too bad except I was awake during it and could hear them drilling and the sound of my tooth cracking. Yuck. The next few days I just kinda lounged around to get used to the time and enjoy the comforts of air conditioning and t.v.

On my first Saturday I went on a temple tour and saw the Temple of the Dawn, Wat-Po (home to the reclining Buddha) and the Marble Temple. My favorite was definitly the Temple of the Dawn. It was breathtaking and absolutely the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! Wat-Po was beautiful in it's own way. The cool thing about Wat-Po was the line of buckets it had to collect 1 Baht coins that people dropped in for good luck. The Marble Temple was also cool and it is also a school for munks. There was a guy undergoing the ceremony to become a monk while I was there. Definitely cool.

On Sunday I went to some of the sights around downtown. I saw the Victory Monument and walked around the shopping district there. Then I went to Siam Center and was in awe at the stores you could find there. Versace, Gucci, Dolce & Gabanna just to name a few... Way above my per diem amounts. I did however enjoy McDonalds (known as McThai in Thailand).

That Monday I had both of my wisdom teeth on the left removed. Again not a pleasant situation as I was awake and could hear it all happening. The pain lasted a lot longer with those two. I didn't do much at all on Tuesday or Wednesday to prepare for my Christmas excursion on Thursday. I was picked up from my hotel at 6 am and we were off to the floating market. Probably one of the coolest things ever! A must see if you find yourself in Thailand. After that it was off to a snake show, then to a handicraft outlet, then lunch on the River Kwai (gorgeous!), then we stopped at a cemetary, and then it was time for what I had waited for - the Tiger Temple!!! We got there in time to pet the tigers before they were walked back to their enclosures for the night. It was awesome! We made one final stop at the World World II Museum before heading back to the hotel for the night. It was probably the coolest thing I could've done while in Bangkok on Christmas and I will never forget it.

The rest of my time in Bangkok was just wandering around and I left on the 28th. I was happy when I landed in Tirana that there wasn't snow on the ground. It was cold, but there wasn't snow. New Year's Eve I spent in Durres with two other volunteers. It was insane!!! People buy fireworks and just shoot them off where ever they feel like it. We had a blast though.

Now I'm getting back into the swing of things around Lezhe. It feels good to be back here and I'm excited for my projects that I have coming up. If I could change one thing it would be having heat in my house but hey now, that's what being a Peace Corps volunteer is all about right? If anything it's making my skin thicker. Alright time to do some work. I hope you all have had great holidays and a great New Year's!

Hugs to you all!

Leslie

Off to Continent 3!!

So I am finally leaving later today for BANGKOK to have my wisdom teeth removed!! When Peace Corps told me I thought they were joking about sending me to Bangkok, but I guess they were serious!! I am totally excited to be able to see Asia and finally get rid of these darned wisdom teeth!

Anyways, I am flying Turkish airlines to Istanbull then to Bangkok. I will get there tomorrow about 1 in the afternoon Bangkok time. Right now they have me scheduled to return on the 23rd but that depends on if I get medical clearance. If I don't then I could end up spending Christmas in Bangkok! How exciting would that be!

I hope that everyone is keeping warm and enjoying the holiday season. I will try to post again as soon as I'm back in Albania. Just in case Merry Christmas, Happy Hanakuah, Happy Kwanza and anything else that you may be celebrating!!!

Hugs,
Leslie

Be Thankful!

I have so many reasons to be thankful this year. I have a house, food, clothes, family, friends, a job and the opportunity to live in another country. It was a little hard to not be with my family and friends this year but I know that they thought of me as I thought of them.
I was very lucky to be paired with a family from the US Embassy for Thanksgiving dinner. I had the best family!! Dave and Cindy Eldrige took Kendra, Bill, Peter and I in along with numerous other Americans, Canadians and some Albanians for the special occasion. There was plenty of delicioius food, great converstaion and heat! I couldn't have been luckier.
My luck continues though as the Eldrige's invited me to stay at their house for the whole weekend. I accepted based on the fact that their house was heated, had a bath tub and Dave is an amazing cook! It turned out to be a great decision and I was sad to leave this past Sunday afternoon.
I am still waiting to hear about my wisdom teeth. I know that they are going to med evac me but its a question of when and where. Hopefully this will all be resolved soon as I am ready to take them out myself with a spoon!!!
Anyways, I want to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving and hope that you all have told those people who you are thankful for, just how much they mean to you. Know that if you are reading this you are one of the people I am thankful for :)

Is It Really November??

So my calender says its November 6th but that can't be right. The weather is still in the 60's and there are flowers in bloom. But then again, my birthday was 4 days ago and there is a new president-elect in America so it must be November.

October was a nice month. The weather stayed warm which was a great treat. I spent some time in Tirana, Durres, Shkoder and Elbasan which was awesome. I didn't get to go to Italy because I decided it was more important for me to stay in Lezhe and plus I wanted to save my money for future trips but that turned out alright. I also didn't go to Macedonia with the Women's Club but that's only because the trip dates got pushed back to November 14th-16th. I got to go to the Elbasan Halloween Party instead though on the 31st which was a blast! People got very creative with their costumes and it was great to see everyone. I was the Energizer Bunny. You know why?? 'cause I keep going and going and going..... hahahaha

My birthday was low key but very nice. The Lezhe gang, Leslie L, and myself had dinner at Besa. Following pizza and beer we had a homemade chocolate cake curtesy of Winifred and red wine, curtesy of Bledar. Yeah that's right we're classy! The best part was instead of candles I blew out a match. It was a really nice night and I have never had such a warm birthday!

The only thing people are talking about now is our new president-elect, Mr. Barak Obama. I am thrilled that he won and look forward to what he does during his term. I am a little sad that I was not in Chicago to join in on the celebrating though. Maybe for the 2012 election....

Anyways, that's about all for now. Hopefully, this month doesn't fly by like October and I will be able to post again soon.

As always, air hugs for you all!
Leslie

I have been a' traveling!

My passport now has 8 stamps. This is from me coming to Albania initially, going home to the US, coming back and then going to Montenegro. My trip home was amazing but I wish I had had more time. I barely had any time to just sit down and relax. It was like I needed a vacation from my vacation. Don’t get me wrong I had a blast getting to see everyone and eating American food! Ok, not to bore everyone but the hi-lites…

-My brother got married on September 20th. It was a very nice ceremony but the unity candle did not light. Bad omen – I think so J I got to meet my two new little cousins, Carlie and Faith. They are adorable! Justin was my date and he was a great sport since the reception died pretty early and we hung out till midnight.

-I got to hang out with almost everyone I wanted to on Friday. We had drinks and went dancing. So much fun!!

-Sunday was Becca day. We had lunch at Noodles and had a photo shoot.

-Monday I spent at Tosa East giving presentations about life in Albania. Not exactly my idea of fun but I got to count the day as business leave so it was worth it. On Monday I also went to the YMCA to say hi and as I was talking with my former boss she says “You know I never took you off payroll.” Then I say “Wouldn’t it be funny if I taught?” and she replies “I have a suit you could wear.” Needless to say I ended up teaching for 2 hours so now I can look forward to a $10 paycheck! Hahaha

-Tuesday was a family day. My mom and I had breakfast and went to see Mama Mia! The sing-a-long edition. It was amazing! We had dinner with my dad at Cheesecake Factory and then my dad and I went to see Wanted, which I remember watching being filmed in Chicago. It was pretty awesome too.

Wednesday I had a tearful good-bye with my mother at O’Hare as I headed through security to head back to Albania. The flight wasn’t too bad. There were good movies playing so the time went pretty fast. Ardi was supposed to pick me up in Tirane but he had work and couldn’t so I ended up taking buses back to Lezhe. Because he didn’t pick me up it also meant I didn’t get to Montenegro for the Madonna concert. It was super sad L However, he made up for it by taking me on Saturday night and then we spent Sunday walking around seeing the sights of Budva. It was gorgeous!

Other than these last two trips I can’t think of anything too important to catch you all up on. It looks like I might be going to Italy for the weekend of the 18th of October just for fun with Kendra, and I might be going to Macedonia for the weekend the weekend of the 31st with the Lezhe Women’s Club. We’ll see how things go I guess :)

Air hugs for you all!

Leslie