Enroute to Elbasan

After 5 going away parties and not having to buy dinner or lunch (and many breakfasts, too), for more than a month, I left Idaho for two weeks of travel to visit friends and relatives around the country. On March 16 I reported for Peace Corps Albania staging at the Holiday Inn in Philadelphia. I consider it another benefit of my Peace Corps service that it made me take time to visit some important people that I may not have seen in years, but because of age or health I wanted to see before I was physically unable to visit on short notice for the next 27 months. Talking at length with my 93 year old uncle in Annapolis or my 89 year old aunt in Florida made me appreciate the first person contact with my parents and those who have known me since I was born. There was also the chance to see other good friends and family one more time before I left. It was a good trip even though a good part of it was spent at bedside in a hospital.

Staging was part orientation and part group bonding. 2 days of travel by bus to JFK, plane to Munich and then to Tirana and then bus again for the 40 mile, but 2 hour drive to Elbasan brought the group to Pre Service Training. This is 10 weeks of orientation, program, language ad culture training.

There are 34 volunteers in my group. These are divided into health education, teaching english as a second language and community development programs. I am, obviously, in health education. Being a government program, first order of business is paper work. Then there were immunizations (I only needed typhus thanks to the travel medicine program back at St. Lukes in Boise). Now there are safety, culture and, most important, language programs. The first 4 days are at a hotel in Elbasan (a town of about 125,000 in central Albania). In case you think I am living high on the hog, I share a room with 2 other volunteers, one of whom is a world class snorer. It reminds me of my experience in the Air Force more than 40 years ago. The techniques I learned then to fall asleep next to a buzz saw, have come in handy. On Saturday, I will be assigned to a host family in Thane, a suburb of about 1200 about 10 miles outside of the city. My host family is a builder, his wife, their two teenage sons and a grandmother.

The program, so far, has been very well organized and the teaching techniques interesting. It is both fast paced and interactive. The language program is the most intense I have ever experienced. They use team teaching with two instuctors trading off in rapid fire -vocabulary, pronunciation, application and exercises. We get coffee breaks every couple of hours. They drink a lot of coffee in Albania. I feel right at home.

The group is mostly young, recently graduated people. They are extremely impressive. Most are from top notch schools and have a variety of degrees in subjects like engineering, architecture, environmental science, anthropology, political science, etc. They are a talented and literate group. I can't remember the last time I have had such interesting discussions on Russian literature or environmental design with young adults. They are also great help with dealing with computer or cell phone issues. One has been accepted to medical school at Tulane but has delayed attending for Peace Corps Service. Another is planning to apply. Both have interests in international health. In case you think they are all bleeding heart liberals, at least two are planning to apply to the FBI when they return to the US. There are two married couples. Several have had former Peace Corps or other international volunteer experience and a few are of the Peace Corps group that was evacuated from Georgia amid the violence there last year. It is a lot more impressive that these people have put their lives on hold to volunteer while their peers get a leg up in what is likely to be a very competitive work environment when they return home. It is enough to give me great confidence in the next generation of Americans.

I have heard that the idea of the Peace Corps gelled when JFK was met by 10,000 students at 2 AM at the University of Michigan during the 1960 campaign long after the media and local politicos had gone home. He asked them if they were willing to give their country two years of volunteer service and the positive response was overwhelming. That spirit appears to be alive and well.

In case you are wondering, there are 4 or 5 older volunteers in our group, depending on how you define "older". I think I am the 3rd or 4th oldest. We, as a group, are not nearly as impressive as the youngsters, but I trust they will help us along.

It is also interesting to reflect on the financial aspect of the Peace Corps. I have done other volunteer work where I had to raise my own money for the project and even had to give 20% to the sponsoring organization. Peace Corps is volunteer, but does support those in the program at a level consistent with the community in which they serve. This runs about $20,000 a year per volunteer. This is about 1/40th the cost of deploying a military service person overseas. When one adds in the veteran's benefits, more than a hundred Peace Corps volunteers can be deployed for the cost of a single soldier. Clearly they have different missions and their is no equitable comparison of their service, but it did occur to me.

Mirupafshim, for now.