Signing Off!

This is my last post from Albania. I am so glad to be on my way home in a few hours. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for reading my blog. I think I have amused myself more than anyone else. I've had fun putting it together and hope that it has been interesting.

I put this photo of my boots on this last post because these have been my "Eastern Europe boots." I have worn them on six elections missions over the past five years and I am finally retiring them. I am leaving them here in Tirana and hoping that someone will make use of them. They have been good boots but their day has passed and it's time to buy some new ones.

See you all very soon! Love, Amy

Leaving Kukes

In about an hour we will "hit the road" and head back to Tirana for our final meetings. Last night we took our driver and interpreter for a nice dinner. (We had to go to Kosovo to do this, of course.) They gave us these nice scarves with the Albanian eagle. I told them I would wear mine around Denver because then I would for sure find out if there are any Albanians living in Denver.

I have very mixed feelings about leaving Kukes. On the one hand I'll be glad to get out of here. On the other hand I've made many good friends and who knows if I will ever see these people again in my life. I have made so many good memories here. I hope that Kukes will have a bright future.

Reunited with my former partner

Max Caller (from England) and I were partners in 2005 in Albania. Out of luck he ended up on my team here. It was great to see him again. I sent him to a tough area because I knew he could handle it. We had a good time dancing together at the disco party. (You can see the disco lights in the back ground. Very cool!)

One half in Kosovo, one half in Albania

Whoever took this photo didn't do a good job but this is me with one foot in Kosovo and the other foot in Albania. The snowball fight occured a few minutes later

Goodbye STOs

Our STOs left us today after 5 fun-filled days in Kukes. The adventure started when I picked them up in Tirana and the bus driver took a wrong turn. Trying to get back on the right road (which never happened--we took a back road) took us 90 minutes out of our way. Then we hit snow on the road. I was pretty stressed out but we made it. Our team worked their butts off starting at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday and they worked around the clock in shifts through Monday at 9:00 p.m. when the counting was finished. They were usually in cold rooms where everyone was smoking. Sometimes the smoke was so thick they couldn't see the people counting ballots. That's Albania!


On Tuesday we were able to cut loose and do some site seeing. The mission would not allow us to go to Kosovo so we had a local expert take us up into the mountains near the border to show us where there used to be mines and talk to us about de-mining activities. The scenery was beautiful. There happens to be a pedestrian border crossing and the border police let us "cross" so that those who hadn't been to Kosovo now can say they have. The event ended with us having a snowball fight at the border. We certainly entertained the border police and made some fun memories. No other observer can say the had a snowball fight on the Kosovo/Albania border. As far as I was concerned they deserved to have a unique experience because some of their colleagues are stationed at beautiful, warm beaches in south Albanian.

The day ended with a party that Matthias and I organized for our team and their Albanian interpreters and drivers. We had finger foods, drinks and lots of music. We danced disco and latin for awhile and then put on traditional Albanian music. Our drivers and interpreters showed us how to dance traditional Albanian dances. It was so much fun. As usual, I am the only one not drinking but the most out of control on the dance floor. My legs hurt so much I can hardly walk. I was sweaty and tired but it felt good after not exercising for 2 months.

This was our last team photo before we sent them on their way to Tirana. We had a great group and I consider all of them my friends.

Cows and rallies

This is from over a week ago but it's a great indication of how rural Kukes is. This cow didn't care that 1500 people were gathered in the main square to see the Prime Minister of Albania. He just wanted to get to his trash can at his appointed time. The crowd parted like the Red Sea to let him through.

My team

I thought you would like to see a photo of my team. This is a photo of our interpreter Riza, me (ugh!), Matthias, and Astrit who is our driver.

I am in Tirana for a meeting and to pick up the 18 short term observers who are coming to Kukes. Tonight I had dinner at an Indian restaurant. I also went to the grocery store, which always makes me happy. I am on a quest to find food to cook a Mexican dinner when I get back to Kukes. I found tortillas which was very exciting.

Giant bunkers and sheep on a bunker

Here are more picutres to be filed under "The Bunkers of Albania." The big photo is me in front of a bunker designed for anti-aircraft purposes. They are mostly right by the border with former Yugoslavia. The other photo was too good to pass up. We were driving along and I yelled to the driver, "Stop! I need a photo." This farmer is not letting a cement bunker get in the way of raising sheep. The sheep actually climb on the bunker.

The happy news of the week is that I managed to find a small bottle of maple syrup in a grocery store in Kosovo. It's always an adventure in the grocery store. What will be there this time? What will you never find again? So the last 2 days I have made French toast in the morning and I am so happy. The two Europeans I live with (German and Turk) won't try it because they think it sounds awful. I told them that if they were sure they wouldn't like it that I wasn't going to let them try it. The maple syrup cost me almost $10 and I'm not wasting it on people who won't enjoy it.

Look Mom! There's going to be an election!

Just thought you'd like to see that there really is going to be an election. This poster is reminding people to vote on February 18 and giving them instructions about filling out their ballots.

The other day I attended a candidate forum where the candidate promised that if he was elected mayor, one of the things he would do is keep the farm animals out of the city. He is not happy that they come to eat the trash. My question is: How will he do this? Will he provide free ropes to the farmers to tie up their animals? Will he explain to the cows and chickens that they are no longer welcome? Or will he make the city less of an incentive for the animals by cleaning up the garbage? Hmm...

Election Preparation and Excitement

It's very exciting to see some action surrounding the election. It has been a long 6 weeks waiting for the election to kick into high gear but it's finally happening. Campaign signs are going up all over town, rallies are being held, and the cows are still eating the trash! How exciting!

Here is a list of things we have to check on and have been monitoring the last 6 weeks:

1. The preparation of the voter list. Is it accurate? Is it posted? Are people being left off or removed?
2. Issuing of birth certificates. People can obtain birth certificates as identification for voting. We have to see if procedures are being followed.
3. Meeting with candidates and parties. Do they see problems? Do they think the election is being administered fairly?
4. We have 400 Short Term Observers (STO's) arriving next week. (Only about 20 are coming to Kukes.) We have to hire drivers and interpreters for them and make all kinds of logistical arrangements.
5. We also have to assess the preparations by the local election commissions.

There are lots of other little things we do but that is really the bulk of our work. We have to write weekly reports which is also a huge task. It's so funny here because this country does everything at the last minute. The election is in two weeks and no one seems to be stressed. Somehow it will happen, I'm sure.

A few days ago we went and met with a candidate. We asked him to tell us about his program. He had to pull out his handwritten notes to tell us what he stood for. Matthias and I nearly started laughing. This guy obviously acheived his nomination some way that was not so much on the up and up and he is a candidate because someone wants him to be (and he'll win because of his party.) He has no clue what he's doing.

We also go to government offices during the day and they are all closed, even when the posting on the door says they are open. Where is everyone? You guessed it! In the coffee bar! Usually if we go to the coffee bar next to the government building we will find someone. One government building we went to said the offices were open and no one was there. The sign on the coffee bar next to it said "Closed" but everyone was inside anyway.

I am enjoying my new home in the OSCE field station. I have a nice room that is mostly warm and we have the use of a kitchen. It's nice to be out of Bar Amerika although we are there having these coffee meetings with everyone all the time. I have a new favorite drink in Albania--Kakao (hot chocolate). It's warm and I don't have to keep explaining to people why I don't drink coffee or tea.