Productivity

In all honesty, today was our most productive day yet. Emily and I slept sort of late, did a few things around here, and ate lunch. Then we watched an old episode of The Bachelor because it's one of the good English shows we get. lol So that postponed us a little bit, but for a show in English that's actually interesting, we were excited! Anyway, after Kristina got eliminated we left to get stuff done. We had to stop at the post office to mail our voter registration and our requests for absentee ballots. Oh, yes, you better believe we're going to rock the vote! Then we kept walking through The Block area to this cute and very nice French pastry shop.

Let me interrupt myself. I need to take a moment to explain that there are different areas of Tirana. "The Center" is also sometimes called Skanderbeg Square. Skanderbeg is basically their national hero. There is a big statue of him on a horse in The Center. Around the center is the Banke E Shqiperise (The Bank of Albania), the government buildings, the opera house, a park, bus stops, and the National Museum. Those are the main attractions there anyway. We go through this area quite often. Sometimes to catch a bus that takes us to QTU (that's what they call their mall), sometimes to walk to certain places, and basically because it's the easiest way to learn how to get around because it's pretty much literally in the center of the city. When walking to The Block, we go through The Center.

The Block area is the "trendy" area of town. It's a very popular place and is always bustling no matter what time of day. There's also a big market area near there. The post office is over that way too, along with Sky Tower, which has a bar kafe at the very top and it rotates. We've been up there and it's cool at night to see the 360 view of the city in lights. And it doesn't cost a thing to get up there! No reservations, no cover charge, you can just go. I couldn't believe it! Places like that in the States are ridiculously over priced and usually require reservations. So that was cool when we did that. The Block area is also home to Taiwani (pr. Tie-VAHN-ee). I have no clue why it's called that; it's not Chinese or Oriental or anything. But that is the center where there's a two level bowling alley, bar kafes, kafe restaurants, and an outdoor fountain display. Sometimes the fountain even does a little show to music, like a miniature, less dramatic version of the fountains at The Bellagio in Vegas. So The Block area is a fun place to go.

I should also quickly point out that kafes (cafes) here are all over. And I mean all over. Any place to sit and get drinks--coffee, soda, water, carbonated water, wine, beer, mixed drinks, etc.--or where you can order drinks and food is a kafe. The difference is that the ones where you only get drinks are known as bar kafes and the ones where you get food are either bar kafes and restaurant or bar and restaurant kafes. They are found even on what look to me like little side streets. Although, most streets are very old and very narrow and many look like alleys. Tirana was designed to be a walking city. However, now cars will drive on any road regardless.

Back to the story.....We got to The Block area and went to this French pastry shop across from Sky Tower. Emily knew of the place last year and we went there to get a quiet table and work on planning stuff for our classes. We got a ton of work done! We made a pros and cons list about teaching in Durres. There is a possibility that we might not do that so that we can focus our efforts in Tirana. We made a schedule of what needs to be done for the rest of the month. We planned out our year of courses into three 12 week sections. We noted Albanian national holidays and US Holidays we want to observe. We created and listed program goals and made detailed lists for the recruiting process, the registration process, and the orientation process. That took us about two hours while we were there. We had some good discussion and are very excited to work together. We have a meeting with Pastor and Agron on Wednesday and want to be overly prepared so they know our plan and can get on board with us right away. :) We typed it all up when we got home so that it will make a nice presentation at the meeting.

While at the pastry shop we also enjoyed some treats. Emily had something that had apples in it and I had a cherry tart. She had a Nescafe and I had a Pepsi. lol How original, right? ;) I didn't want a hot drink. We'd just walked all the way there in the afternoon heat. It's about a mile to get there. We ordered water a little later on too, but our conversations with the people there were interesting. Our first waitress kept smiling when we ordered in Albanian. She liked that we were trying. We tried this with our second waiter, but he spoke English decently and so he wanted to speak English with us. Fine with us! Haha! Then a lady came over to our table and started asking us, in English, if we worked with a church. Turns out she (and the three ladies she was with) was from the Netherlands and had worked here at a church in the past and in some other places, and they come back every now and then to check on things, but this time they came just to see friends. It was a nice quick little chat.

We decided that since we'd finished faster than we thought, we'd walk around a bit so I could see a few more places and keep working on getting my bearings. I am improving quickly, if I may say so myself. I am, afterall, good with directions. Anyway, we walked past the entrance to Big Park or as it is also called, The Artificial Lake. It really is an artificial lake with a park around it but on the few maps you can find, it's labeled as "Big Park" so that's what I like to call it. Plus, I think it's funny. But really, people apparently don't call it the lake, they call it The Artificial Lake. I think that's funny too.

Then we kept walking. We went to the Sheraton. Why, you ask, did we go to a hotel? Because they have some shops there and a movie theatre so I need to know where it is. Plus, they have some American functions sometimes, especially around holidays so it's a good place to know. For example, they have a Christmas Bazaar in December. They also do things for Thanksgiving, Valentines, Easter, and some other American holidays. The Sheraton is also located right next to Mother Theresa Square. If you didn't know it, Mother Theresa was Albanian. In the square they have a university that is named after her and a statue of her. There is also some music university and another building that has a fake McDonald's. I haven't been there, but when I do, you can expect a comparison. lol After that, we took the bus around town the long way to get back home just so I could see more roads, how they relate to roads I know, and how the city is connected.

On the way home after we got off the bus, we had to stop at the market and Euromax to get some groceries and a toothbrush for Emily. The sad part is that on the way to our apartment, we got attacked by little kids. There are lots of poor people here and some families sit on the streets and use their kids to beg. Others send their kids up to you at kafes with little things to sell or just to beg. It's very sad. But twice today we got kind of attacked by very aggressive children. One kid, when we were walking to the bus, saw Emily's change in her hand that was for the bus. He just kept grabbing her hand and arm to try and get the money and he begged in Albanian. She shook the kid off and kept walking. But on the way home from the market, we both and small bags of fruit. Ahead of us we could see a mom and four little kids, one laying on the sidewalk with no pants on though the mom put them on as we approached. One kid came after me and tried to stick his hand in my pocket to check for money, and kept trying to touch my bag of fruit and ask for it. I just kept shaking him off, kept walking, and kept repeating, "Jo!" (Jo is pronounced like "yo" and it means no.) The kid could not have been more than 5 or 6. Emily had two kids hounding her and ended up giving them one of her bags of fruit. She figured it was better to give them the berries than money, but she didn't want to give them anything. We were advised by many people that as foreigners, people will always beg us more and we shouldn't give anything because they'll remember us. But sometimes you just have to.

So that was our day. Tomorrow our plan is to go to the Stephen Center. It is basically the most American place in Tirana. It's a kafe/coffee house/restaurant/bed and breakfast/worship center started by some American missionaries in 1993. It's named after Stephen, the first martyr in the Bible. Anyway, it's mostly ex-pats and English speakers that hang out there. I'm excited because ever since we arrived, it's been closed. But it opened again today so now I can see it. We're going there for brunch and because they have free wi-fi so we can work on our laptops there as we do more planning and prep work. Plus, then I can get on the internet with my computer and update my Norton Anti-Virus. The trial that comes with a new computer has expired so I need protection. Also that way we can work and type out our stuff at the same time and take email breaks if we need to. ;) Plus, hearing English all around us will be kind of refreshing. Although, I am learning new Albanian words all the time. Here's one for you, it's even appropriate now because it means see you later--Shehemi! (pr. sha-HEM-ee)