Well, we are home today. Got in last night from Tirana after 2 weeks of language school in the big city. It was fun but very exhausting too. Its nice to be home. I will also take off for a couple of days because our stuff is being delivered tomorrow morning-Yahoo!  We get to play house set-up :-).  I also need a break because I was stuck writing a big European Union grant this past month. Between that and the language classes, I could use a break.

While we were in Tirana, we stayed in a flat with Albanian tv. Not that we had time to watch much tv; but the best thing for us to watch was the Olympics. Amazing what you can still understand when you don't know the language ;-) sports works in this case!  Oh interesting tid bit: it has effected our power situation. I guess the Albanians agreed to sell power to Greece during the Olympics so that they would have enough and not have an international embarrassment. I guess Greece has power problems too. (Not as bad as Albania's though!!). This is interesting because the 2 countries hate each other--but hey, money talks, right?!

We also had tons of socializing in Tirana--surprised, right? We met some internationals that party every Friday night, so that covered Fridays. We had a friend come down and visit us from Kosovo. We had evening dinners with co-workers and after work beers; and Jim had a couple of business--meet & greet--type dinners and things too.  So, all and all, not much time for studying language.  But it was fun! :-)

We went shopping a lot too. You would have like that part, Doo. We bought tons of spices and condiments that don't exist here in Peshkopi, liquor (good prices) and maps and books. Spent too much money probably; but hey? we were treating ourselves. We went stereo shopping too but discovered that the prices in Macedonia are much better. Maybe next weekend we will take the trip over there to shop. Now that we have our passports back, we can go there (14 km away). You see, we have been unable to travel across the boarder because for over a month our passports were held up in embassies, etc. getting our working permits. Its a long story; but anyway, its over now and we "are legal!"  So, soon, our next purchases will be a wood stove (we bought wood but has not been delivered yet) and maybe even a vehicle (4 wheel drive of course).  We hear that there is a reasonable size ski mountain about 1 1/2 hours from here on the Macedonia side of the mountain. We will get there more if we had a vehicle, so we are really considering this.  Another reason for buying sooner than later is that I discovered one of my workplace benefits is an interest free loan. It's based on # of years of your contract, etc. But I can get about a 6,500 euro loan (immediate $$) and have 180 euros taken out of my check each month for the pay back. no interest! Actually, even if I don't buy anything, I might as well do it so I can gain some interest somewhere.

In other good news, or "maybe" its good, Jim got a job! It's good in that it was a nice ego-boost. The bummer is that its in Tirana :-(... that's about 5 hours away! (only 100 miles!) So, he talked to them about maybe doing a couple days (or 3 days considering the travel) and we'll see what happens after 1st semester. It's at the NY University in Tirana. They wanted him to be full-time as the Dir of Student Affairs and/or a professor.  Whatever he wanted really--he could/can write his own ticket. Huh? so is he the token American? who knows?; but, back in higher ed, that's what he wanted to get out of ;-(. 

However, the contacts and connections both with this job and with those that he can continue to make in Tirana with international NGOs, has other value. He is really hoping to get someone (an international NGO or private contractor) to expand their program/projects out into "the north" in Peshkopi. (People say "the north" but in our case, its really 'east.') He has not decided to take it yet and told the Director/"Rector" that he needs about a week to think about it and write up some ideas/proposals. There are plusses and minuses, as you can imagine. The biggest minus is the commute and being away from his "honey" ;-) but also the complexity that this will add to our lives. We are discovering that my job is definitely--a real job! So, the workload often follows you home, etc... making life more complicated. We wanted to lessen our complex lives, remember that???  So, having one of us not working or not working much will help. On the other hand, Jim needs to keep busy & feel that he is making a contribution too. He has been "floating" so many ideas (some volunteer, some business, some on his own and some with other locals) that he is also wondering if he should jump on this first solid opportunity or not. And yet, he can also choose to do this for only the 16 week commitment (one semester)--how risky can that be? (depends on the road & winter travel--but that's another story... nonetheless, we’re buying the vehicle & chains).

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