I'm sitting the Puppies Guild office right now, doing finishing procedures. In 28 hours I'm getting on a plane and leaving Shquippery ( Read more... )

In 2nd-year class today, one of the boys tells me, with all the English he can muster: "I have a question." He shows me his book, on which he has gotten his friend to write "Why you don't go to hairdresser?"

Ouch.

There's a whole family clustered around a computer next to me, talking by webcam to a relative in a foreign country. Gjyshja (the grandmother) in a head scarf, everybody loudly talking and laughing at the same time. O modern times!

Wikipedia on country name etymologies. One of the most interesting Wikipedia articles I've read!

Last night Becca and I went to see a series of comedy skits called Mos u laj lakuriq (Don't Bathe Naked). Most of them were either not that funny or just over our heads, but the last one was about an American refugee seeking asylum in Shippery. The guy who played the American did a great job speaking Shqip with an American accent. I don't know ( Read more... )

Here is one of my standby foods, a simple concoction I like to call ( Read more... )

I played Counter-Strike 1v1 with Ergi, the young man who invited me. We played on assault and italy. He killed me about 3 times before I hit my stride and started giving him a real fight. By the end I think our total kills were 10 me, 11 him. He was tough to deal with up close, but in distance fights I had a clear advantage ( Read more... )

At coffee I asked, "In your opinion, who is the most honest politician in this country?"

Bashkimi answered, "The one who is not involved in politics." (Ai që nuk merret me politikat.)

I have a man-date on Friday to play Counter-Strike with young Shipperese men. Wish me luck. My honor is at stake.

After my group's Completion of Service (COS) conference, I was walking fast to catch my furgon out of Durrës when I passed a couple of maybe foreign-looking dudes. One of them said "Mirë?" (a greeting). I replied "Mirë, ç'kemi?" and keep walking. A second later I heard one of them saying in English "I don't think he's [Shipperese]..."