God Bless the German Army

The last few days have been quite an adventure. On Wednesday I realized I was coming down with what I thought was a cold so I rested because we were planning to travel to Puke on Thursday (Remember: " Poo kah"). So I pulled it together and we left Thursday morning to drive 2 1/2 hours in a snow storm through the mountains. Our interpreter got motion sick and we had to stop every five miles for him to puke (English pronunciation). I felt so bad for the poor guy but between the heat from the defrost, the windy roads and the bumpy ride, he couldn't help himself. I had to keep my window rolled down for fresh air because the snow wasn't blowing in to my side of the car.

I managed to work the next two days but on Saturday I became very ill. We arranged for me to see a doctor in Prizren (Kosovo) at the German Army base. (As Matthias put it, "It turns out the Germans are much more flexible outside Germany than they are inside Germany and they agreed to let you see a doctor.") I thought that my cold had turned into a sinus infection but not so. Turns out to be just a very bad cold probably made worse by the wind, snow and freezing condidtions. I'm honestly surprised I've been as healthy as I have thus far. So now I have some heavy pain medication and good decongestants thanks to the German army doctors. On the way there I was having a serious ethical dilemma because the only reason I have access to good medical care is because I am working for OSCE and I am American. I'm not sure if I consider it an extreme blessing or really unfair. Our Albanian driver and interpreter aren't even allowed on the base and they have to go to the Kukes hospital when they are sick, which is pretty crappy. Not sure how I feel about all of this...

So now I am on the mend. It is not fun to be sick when you are in a foreign country. I spoke with Callee on the phone the other day and she asked if I was totally unprepared for how cold it was going to be here. The answer is both yes and no. I was prepared for the cold. I have enough warm clothes and I can be somewhat warm if I wear my parka, long underwear, 3 pairs of socks and gloves both outside and inside. What I wasn't prepared for was to never be really warm. It takes a toll on your body. I have not been able to exercise so all my muscle tone has turned to flab. My skin is dry and flaky and I am finding weird brown spots on my face. My hair is breaking off and my nails have started growing again but with a weird yellowish tint to them. I just generally look terrible. The moral of the story is that if you really want to let yourself go, come to Albania. Nobody here cares and you just stop caring as well.

I was joking with one of the other observers last week. She is from Austria and we are both used to going to the gym and generally taking care of ourselves. We joked that we would tell our family and friends that we would be home 2 weeks later than we really were planning. That way we'd have time to get ourselves back into shape.

No Puke?

It's hard to explain to non-native speakers why this sign is so funny. No one gets why we needed to pull over and take this photo.

This city is pronounced "Poo kah" but of course to us, it's "puke." The sign means that you are leaving Puke and entering Kukes. It doesn't mean that you can't puke in Kukes. Forgive my 14 year old boy humor for the day.

Today we attended another rally for a political party. It was held in the Culutural Palace, which is neither cultural nor a palace. It's an old building with a freezing cold auditorium and broken chairs. Many people were waving these big party flags which created a wind chill factor in the auditorium. We were so cold that all we could do was laugh about it.

Where are all the women?

First, I totally forgot to post that there will be an election on February 18 and my return home date is March 1. It's nice to have real work to do!

I had to observe one of the political party rallies in Kukes. Since my partner is in Germany, I went alone with my interpreter. There were 250 men in the room and nine women. My male interpreter suggested that I would be more comfortable sitting near all the women in the corner. I told him no, I would stay where I was among the men. Several well-meaning men also tried to usher me over in the corner with the nine other women. I smiled and said no thank you.

There is a very big gender gap here and sometimes it is frustrating. The men hang out in the Kafe Bars all day and drink coffee and smoke. When the women come to the Kafe Bar they come in the side doors and take their coffee in the back rooms. I am usually the only woman in the Kafe Bar. This has caused me to ask, where are all the women? Well, they are staying at home trying to run a household with no electricity and limited heating sources and their husbands are in the Kafe Bar smoking 3-4 packs a day.

In one small village we observed all the men in the Kafe Bar and as we drove out of town the women were herding the sheep up the mountain. I started on a rant about women being the ones keeping this country together. Then we passed by an old woman chopping wood while her husband sat on a bunker smoking. It is very frustrating.

The cakes I dream about

Every time we go to Kosovo on the weekends I become very obsessed with getting a cake. There's not really anything like this in Albania. This cake is a small slice of heaven. It is soft and full of cream on the inside. The fruit on the top makes me feel like there is some nutritional value involved. The outside is covered in coconut. I talk about these cakes all the time.

Yesterday Matthias had to go to Prizren to get his airline ticket (he went to Germany for the weekend). When he came back to Kukes in the afternoon he said, "I have a surprise for you." He had brought me a cake. I said, "You are the best partner ever! How did you know?" He said, "You talk about these cakes everyday." I didn't realize I was that obsessed but apparently I am. This is what my life has been reduced to.

You don't believe cows eat the trash? Here's proof

These cows are brilliant! They walk from the countryside everyday at lunch time to eat out of the trash and then they know their way home. This dumpster is right around the corner from our hotel so I feel very flattered that they are eating my garbage.

My driver

I thought you'd like to see a picture of our driver (Astrit) and has family. They invited us last night for drinks and snacks. His wife speaks good English and his kids are so cute. I showed the kids how to fold a piece of paper into a shirt. They thought it was so funny and they were carrying them around all night.

Yes I ate all three of them

Most of you know that I don't really like fish but I have learned to enjoy it. When I see the cows, chickens and sheep eating out of the garbage cans it's hard to want any of that meat. I wonder what the fish eat? Probably the garbage in the lake but what I don't know won't hurt me, right?

The fish is actually pretty good. It comes out of the man-made lake here in Kukes. Back in the 70's the communist government flooded the orginal town of Kukes (it was in a valley) to make a lake for hydro-electric power. The town was moved to a penninsula above the valley. It's not a great location for a city because the fog at this elevation is terrible every morning. Unfortunately the lake is now so low and it is creating part of the electricity crisis. Ironically, Kukes has the most power shortages of any region of Albania and the hydro-electric power is produced here. Since the lake is so low you can start to see islands where the old city used to be. Our interpreter told us that this is very distressing for some of the older residents who remember being forced out of their homes. Long story short (too late!) I eat the fish from the lake.

Communist bunkers

I thought you'd like to see a photo of something unique to Albania. During communist times the dictator (Enver Hoxha) built thousands of these bunkers because he was convinced that Tito (Yugoslavian dictator) was going to invade. They dot the countryside like big cement mushrooms. I finally had the driver pull over in the middle of nowhere so I could take a photo.

We know the elections won't be on January 20 but we are waiting for word if they will be on February 18. It's frustrating not to know but we go on with our work.

Upside down flags, misplaced underwear and an electoral crisis

Every government office we go into here has three flags—the Albanian flag, the European Union flag and the American flag. At first I would always comment on how welcome I felt with my flag there until I realized that it’s not just one or two offices but the American flag is everywhere. We go out into these small villages where we drive an hour up a mountain road on pure rocks and the offices in these decrepit buildings with no heat are displaying the American flag. We went in one office the other day and they had the flag upside down. I think it was accidental but they are so proud to fly it. I wish I could have taken a picture because it was so funny.

At the hotel we have laundry service so we leave our clothes for the maid. She is not very good at identifying whose clothes are whose. Matthias and I always end up having to trade socks after she leaves our clothes. Now he is missing a shirt and the maid has tried to find it in my room but I don’t have it. It’s kind of become a joke because I am the only woman in this hotel so it’s hard to get laundry confused but she manages to confused my cute socks with his. Well, today I ended up with underwear that didn’t belong to me. It was not the highlight of my life to have to knock on my partner’s door and say, “Um…I think I have your underwear.” Thank goodness he didn’t end up with mine.

And finally, the elections, or the reason I am here. The international community (OSCE, US Ambassador, European Union, German Ambassador) issued a joint press statement telling the Albanians that they need to come to some kind of compromise on the election procedures and date or it’s going to seriously jeopardize talks regarding its standing in Europe. At this point I can’t even say who is at fault because I think all sides can be blamed. Everyone is accusing everyone else of stalling, blocking, grandstanding, etc. The newspapers have labeled this as an “electoral crisis” and it is absolutely unprecedented, even with all the chaotic elections that have happened in post-communist countries. And so we keep waiting. Will there be an election and if so when? What will the procedures be? No one knows.

Happy New Year!

Here are two photos for your enjoyment. The one you see with me and my Christmas tree was my attempt to have some kind of holiday cheer in my room. I bought the tree and tinsel at a market for about 2$ and I made the snowflakes myself. When we left for Tirana I gave it to my interpreter for his daughter.

The second photo is my favorite. Since I was in Tirana on Sunday I was able to go to church. It was quite far from the hotel so the hotel got me a taxi driver who sort of spoke English. I then called the Elders and they told him in Albanian how to get there. Then the driver tried to charge me 10$. I told him I'd pay him 7$, which he immediately accepted so I knew I paid him too much. On the way back the guy wanted to charge me $8 but the Elders intervened and in Albanian talked him down to $6. It was an expensive day at church.

Once I got there they were only having sacrament meeting. New Years is the biggest holiday here. One of the Elders translated the service so I got to wear the headphones. I walked in and immediately felt at home. Everyone and I mean everyone (the congregation of about 40 people) personally greeted me, some in English, some in Albanian. I know enough pleasantry words in Albanian to say thank you and hello, etc. It was wonderful to be in some place familiar and really feel at home. I think I burst into tears about 3 times. I sang the songs in English so I was glad I've spent so much time learning the hymns. The branch president, a wonderful Albanian man talked about tithing. I just thought about what a sacrafice that is for the people who live here in such poor circumstances. Anyway, it was a great experience and when I left, everyone came up and said goodbye. I think some of our wards could take a friendly lesson from the people of Albania. I've never been welcomed and sent off by the entire congregation and I am a complete stranger.

So last night we had a New Years Eve party and dinner for the mission. It was one of the worst New Years Eves I've had. I was wishing I could be at Kathryn and Mike's like last year. The food was not good and the music was so loud we couldn't really talk. I paid $60 for this night and the whole night I just wanted to leave. After midnight, the three Americans left. I was so tired and agrivated I led us through the crowded street of Albania and just pushed everyone out of the way. (Pushing is acceptable in Europe, by the way.) People were shooting off fireworks (the kind that are illegal without a license in Utah) and the scariest thing was thinking I might get hit by one and catch on fire. The fireworks went all night and this being Albania, I wasn't sure if it was fireworks or gunfire.

We still don't know if the election will really be on February 18. It won't be January 20th so we have no idea what's going on. Tomorrow we'll make the drive back to Kukes (6 hours) and keep working until we know for sure. If we have to stay until March 1, they will let people go home for one weekend break but that's not practical for the Americans. We'll see what happens.

In the meantime, Happy New Year to all of you. I'll bet Ivan is happy because last night Bulgaria entered the European Union. It was a great day for him and his country.