I have recently returned from the great city of Istanbul. It was a really great trip, I'll tell you a little bit about it. Unfortunately I am bad about carrying by camera around with me because it is a piece, so I don't have any original photos. I'll post some others here sometime later.
We started out in Thessaloniki for a few hours. The original plan was a "tour de force" of some American restaurants like Applebees, TGI Fridays, and Ruby Tuesdays, but we couldn't find them and ended up going somewhere that was probably better. From Thessaloniki we took the overnight train into Istanbul, getting there around 11ish. I was able, though, to visit a few Starbucks in Thessaloniki as well as in Istanbul. I think that this is a sign of a developed country, when Starbucks shows up.
There is a lot to see in Istanbul, being there for only a few days was not enough and I think that I'd like to go back someday to see the rest. I also want to visit the rest of Turkey, along the coast and further East. I have a feeling that Istanbul isn't much like the rest of Turkey... the culture may be a little more convoluted with the tourists and western influence.
I got to see the Blue Mosque and the Hayga Sophia... two things that you have to see in Istanbul. The Hagya Sophia was an old Byzantine church that was turned into a mosque after the Ottomans or someone took the city over. It is huge and has one of the largest domes in the world. It is full of old mosaics, both Christian and Muslim, making for a really interesting mix. I was a little surprised, however, I thought that they would be in better condition and the place overall in a little better condition. Most of the mosaics have not been restored and it seems like there is a lot of work to be done at this point. When we were there the dome was full of scaffolding, so maybe they are doing something there. The Blue Mosque was built later and seems even bigger. The Mosaic work throughout the inside of the building is very detailed and intricate. It is a really beautiful place.
We also visited the enormous grand bazaar and the spice bazaar, two cool things that turn into tourist traps. They are really big. I bought some tandoori marsala. I am not really sure what to do with it though.
We also visited a few other random mosques, all very cool. There are a lot of big mosques. From the Taximi area, one can look towards the skyline on the other side and it is really cool how many marinates there are. The Taximi area is on the other side of the bridge from where we stayed and is more of a locals place. I think that it is the trendy place to live, filled with little shops and great bars and restaurants. I think that next time I would like to stay over on that side.
After I arrived back in Albania I stayed in Korca for a few days. I then had to go to Pogradec to attend the Group 10 language refresher for a committee meeting. I haven't been home for some time and I am really ready to get there and sleep in my own bed... I'll be getting on the bus for Kucove in about an hour in a half and then three hours after that I will be home I hope.

Hail to the Chief!

Yes, the President was here yesterday, and yes I met him. Let me tell you the story...

I went to Vlora for the weekend for John's birthday. We went to the beach on Saturday and then went out for pizza on Saturday night. I left at around 9:30 for Tirana (having to meet outside of the embassy by 2:15) and I kind of barely made it.

He was the first president ever to visit Albania, and the country went nuts. I had to walk through the normally crowded streets of Tirana and they were pretty much empty. I think that there were almost 5000 police in the city brought from all over the country. There was one standing at about every 20 feet along the motorcade routes. The streets were closed to traffic so I had to walk for about an hour in the heat to get to the Peace Corps office.

I did end up making it here in time and even had time to take a quick shower and get dressed. We had to meet at the buses (not air conditioned by the way) and drove out to the airport where they had what they called a "meet and greet." We had to wait for about an hour, but finally Bush, the First Lady, the Ambassador, and John Negroponte (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Negroponte) all came out onto the stage. Bush gave a short speech where he talked about the hope of Albania and that it was an example of "emerging freedom" and he called the Albanian's who work at the embassy here "nationalists" where i think that he meant to call them Albanian nationals.

He then went down the line to shake hands and got to us where we shook his hand and he asked us a few questions. He put on a Peace Corps hat and called Laura over, who then put on the Peace Corps hat and spoke with us for a few seconds. Then we went outside to watch the plane take off, and it was back to Tirana.

Other than that things have been pretty uneventful. I have been staying busy though. School ended on Friday and they have the graduation for the fourth year students on Wednesday. I have been planning a "summer leadership program"for the last week in June... I am a little nervous about that because I think that I got in a little over my head with this one, but we'll see how it goes. I hope that everything will work out alright with it. I know that if nothing else there will be a few participants and I can just stand and talk to them for a week. I hope that it will turn out a little better than that though.

We have also been working to plan the Model United Nations program that will take place at the beginning of September. Hopefully that will go well too... the embassy kind of "dropped the ball" if you will and it is to four of us volunteers to pick it back up and make something happen with it.

Here are a few news links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/world/europe/11prexy.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/10/AR2007061000203.html

And a video:

http://www.cnn.com/video/partners/clickability/index.html?url=/video/politics/2007/06/10/henry.bush.albania.cnn

Its been a while...
I have been gone on and off for a while, but that isn't a very good excuse for not posting regularly. I guess that to some extent I have kind of gotten into a routine and there isn't a whole lot new going on, and at the internet cafe in my town blogger comes up in Italian. I know that there is a way to change that, and I also know that I could probably figure out how to work it in Italian, but I never really want to spend the time on that.
So whats new you ask? I went to Athens to take the GRE. I actually took the test on the 9th, but I was still able to see a little bit of the town. We studied for the test at Starbucks - great idea - and at the hostel that we stayed at - bad idea - but apparently I didn't study enough. I am not too happy with my test scores... they might still be enough to get me into a grad program, but I may consider retaking the test when I get home. It will give me a chance to pay off all of those student loans that are currently sitting accruing interest.
I traveled to Athens with Joey and Kayla, two of my esteemed colleagues here at Peace Corps Albania. We met Joey's parents there who were awesome and it was a lot of fun to hang out with them. We went to the Acropolis and experienced some of Athens dining options. They stayed at a nice hotel with a rooftop pool, we spent part of the afternoon chilling out there after we finished our test. It made me call my own mother to remind her of her promise and desire to come out here to Albania.
After Athens, I came back to Albania for about a week just to leave again, but this time for Belgrade in Serbia. There was an English teaching conference in Belgrade to which I went with some more of my fellow volunteers.
Belgrade was an awesome city reflecting many different periods in it's history. It is an old town, full of old buildings. There are a lot of typical communist buildings, there are modern buildings, there are still shells of buildings from when the city was bombed by NATO in 1999.
We went on a sort of a quest - taking almost two full days - to find the grave of Tito. We had seen it on a map and walked to where we thought it was, but we couldn't find it. We then went back to our hostel and asked the guy where Tito was buried, he told us that we hadn't gone far enough. We probably would have given up, but talking to a woman that evening, she insisted that we visit the grave. She said that he was a simple man, and remembering a greater Yugoslavia, she said that it is really worth seeing. We saw that it was located near the new Albanian embassy, so the next day we set out again in search for the grave. We walked for a long time, my feet were tired, but we continued on. We still couldn't find it. We found an Indonesian embassy, but no Albanian one. We were just about to give up when we stumbled onto a park and a large building. We went up to the building and found a marker (in Serbian) the only word that we could make out was Tito. We assumed, again, that this was the grave. It was kind of a let down.
I walked up to the museum and asked some guys who were sitting outside if that really was the grave. They said that it wasn't and that the museum closed in five minutes so that I should hurry. Behind the museum sits the Hall of Flowers (or something like that) and I walked through it and then through Tito's museum, to finally find the building where he is sort of enshrined. When I finally found it I has a small sense of accomplishment, just because we had spent so much time looking for this place. Looking through the one book that they had in the "guest shop" or more the desk with the old book on it, there used to be special guards specifically to guard the grave, but they were somehow missing. I guess that there aren't as many people who want to harm Tito as once thought. There was just one guy standing there who kind of waved me inside.

Albania!
I celebrated Easter with my host family from training yesterday, and that means that I have a little bit of internet time in Elbasan before I have to go back to Kucove. One thing that sucks about that town is transportation. I am close to Berat which is a bigger city, and I can get busses there whenever I want but that means that I have to transfer in a town called Ura something... I have grown to dispise that town because the only times that I am ever there I am standing on a street corner waiting for a bus. There is one bus from Elbasan to Kucove, but at least the timing is convienent.
Easter was a good time with the family. Like any other event with that family we ate so much food and we drank more than I really wanted to. Oh well, what better way to celebrate easter?
I have been having problems with my water in my apartment, and if we ever talk you probably already know about this. I am really REALLY annoyed by this point. A pipe is leaking in my floor into my neighbors apartment. One month and something like six plumbers later, the problem still isn't fixed. I have finally picked up on the hint that my landlords don't want to fix the problem, which leaves me looking for another apartment. That is going really slowly at this point. I just don't want to have to step down into a lesser apartment, but that may be what ends up happening.
I wont write a long blog today, but I think that this is better than no blog which is what I usually do. I have been thinking that I'll write a mass email here in the near future. Maybe I will post that here too.

I should say though, most of the pictures that I have posted on the fliker link were not taken by me. Credit needs to go to those who did actually take the photos:
Juliet
James
John
Joey
Jeanine
Kayla (I think)
Probably some other people

Its been a while since I have updated my little blogger account here. Internet has been rough in Kucove, something I believe has been stated already, but I'll state it again. There have been a lot of power outages and the Internet cafes in my town don't have generators, so I haven't been able to get to the Internet a whole lot.
We had a Peace Corps conference this week in Durres called our In Service Training. It was a good time with some technical stuff and big group meetings and what not. Durres is the second largest town in Albania and it sits right on the beach. Nobody should really go in the water though because it is dirty and gross, but it is still nice to sit on the Adriatic (?) and look across with yearning for Italy and the rest of civilization. Oh well though.
I am now in the town of Korca, known to many as the Paris of Albania. I guess that after some war the French were the ones to occupy this area and so Albanians will say that there is a French influence in these parts. I dont know about that but it is a pretty area. I went to a nearby town called Bilisht to see my friend and former training sitemate Joey, but he had something to do so I came into Korca today. Korca is one of the bigger sites so it becomes one of the meeting points for volunteer gatherings.
I like to call my town the Texas of Albania because in the summertime it is hot and there are some dwindling oil reserves around the town, but other than that there isn't much there. I have never actually been to Texas, but I feel that I have a right to make assumptions.
Any other updates? School is going well. The term just ended so we had a four day weekend. Our IST was well timed to coincide with this break. I'll be back on Monday ready to teach... or something. I am currently reading a book called the Accursed Mountains. It was written by a guy who trekked through Albania in 1996 and 1997, right before the civil war. It is really negative, he focuses on all of the bad things about Albania and Albanians, but it is kind of funny to read it during this point in my time here because I can identify with a lot of it. I dont think, though, that I'll end up writing a book about this country when I leave.

Hello folks,
I am sitting here in Tirana. With a little bit of computer time I wanted to type a quick and probably short blog.
First off, while I am thinking about it I wanted to post a link with some phots that I posted on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gonetoalbania/

They will only let me post 200 photos which kind of sucks. I found this out after I had already loaded the photos and didn't have time to post more before I left. It will probably be a while, therefore, before I will have the opportunity to post more photographs. I wish that I had taken more photos while I was home, but I didn't.
Home was really great. I think that I wrote about most of the stuff that I did while I was there. I just wanted to reiterate that fact. I didn't expect to see so much family while I was there so that was good. Nor did I expect a blizzard and that was kind of cool too.
The trip back was fine. I made it back to Albania but it was kind of hard to readjust. It was the little things like the lack of power and water, among other things that really hit me and kind of pissed me off for the first few days that I was here. In my town we currently go for ten hours without power (8am to 4pm and then again from 6pm to 8pm). Its really annoying. I had kind of adjusted to the water thing (I usually have it for around 6 hours a day) but it was really annoying coming back to that when at home I could shower whenever I wanted (and in a warm bathroom too). Oh well though, I am currently in the process of readjusting again.
I didn't have a chance to stock up on everything that I wanted to get while I was home, so I am gratefully having my mom send out another care package with some vital items. I think that being home I only noticed the things that I miss here.
I will hopefully continue to post regularly.

Hello from wonderful Greeley Colorado! Its been an exciting trip so far, but time is passing quickly. I think that in some ways it hasn't yet hit me that I'll be returning to Albania in about a week and a half (is that right?)
I have had the luxury of sitting at my mom's computer with all this fast and free internet. The computer still has a few problems like shutting down randomly (it could do so any minute) but at least I can upload things onto the internet!
My flight here was alright. It was really long and then to top it off I got stuck in Washington DC for a few hours. I have been saying that it is a result of my stupidity (30%) and United Airlines being totally incompetent (70%). I missed my flight in DC, and then after recieving a lecture from the woman at the customer service counter was issued a standby ticket. Too bad for me that everybody in Washington DC had decided to travel to denver that day. I waited out two flights and then there was a flight at 9:30 that night that I didn't expect to get onto because they said that it was overbooked by 20 people. Luckily I did make it onto that flight to get into Denver around 1am, but I didn't have a cell phone so I couldn't call my mom to have her pick me up until I made it into Denver. I guess I could have used the airplane phone, but for some reason this didn't occur to me. Anyways I made it home around 3:30 in the am and here I am.

A lot of things have happenned since too. I'll make a list for you:
1) We got a big blizzard, I think it was the second or third biggest in Colorado history or something. That was cool because I was snowed in my house for a few days.
2) I saw my new niece and nephew. They are about 4 months old now and really cute. Jordan is the boy and Lexi is the girl
3) I saw other misc family members like my mom, brother, dad, aunts, uncles, cousins, sister and inlaws
4) My dad had a water pipe freeze and then later burst under his house. I came for the freezing but not for the bursting.
5) I became a Nuggets fan when I heard that Alan Iverson was coming to Denver. Now can we say the words Nuggets and Playoffs in the same sentence?
6) Celebrated Christmas. This one is a given.
7) Ate some great food. This may be what I have been looking forward to the most. Mexican food, christmas type food and everything. Its been great.
8) Heard that Gerald Ford died. Maybe I am a nerd, I won't debate this with you. Gerald Ford was not what I would call a great president by any means. He wasn't even really a president... more just filler material. I still like to see the funerals and the things that accompany a president's death. This is also an interesting time to see random people analyze the presidency. Nobody is going to say that he was a bad president right after he died though.
9) I am going to an Avalanche game tonight!
10) Watched a lot of great TV. I really miss TV sometimes like Seinfeld reruns, the Daily Show and Colbert Report, and the Simpsons. I also watched a little bit o' football. The Broncos beat the Bengals with a fluke, but it made for a good ending.
11) I really wanted to connect with a lot more people, but that blizzard really threw things off. We'll have to connect before I leave though.

Well, thats about all for now. I think I'll get off before this computer shuts down randomly. Hopefully I'll post again before I'm through here.

Hmmm I guess its been a while since I have last updated my blog. I am home in the good ole US of A right now and this internet access is a little overwhelming. I'll post a blog about my adventures in Colorado soon but for now I wanted to post a blog that I had written previously. I probably wrote this blog in the middle of November or the beginning of December. Here ya go!

Thanks for coming to Ryan’s blog. I know that you all have many questions, and I will try to answer them all in the most logical and orderly fashion that I can. And once again, thanks to all of my loyal readers (mom) who like to keep posted on Ryan’s life.
Why did you post two blog entries at the same time? Did you find an alternative internet source?
Please, only one question at a time. I have begun to pre write my blog postings before I put them online. It is in this way that I can ensure a well thought out and fully developed blog posting. I know that you have precious little time to spend sitting at your computer reading about my zany adventures. To answer the second question, no I haven’t yet found a better place to access the Internet. About a month ago the guy at the Internet place told me that fast Internet would be coming to Kucove in two months. In Albanian terms this could mean any time within the next five years. I just hope that I can see the day that Kucove has high speed Internet before I leave the country.
Are you really coming back to Colorado for Christmas?
Why yes I am. I will be in Colorado from about the 17th of December to the 4th of January. I will be able to meet my new niece and nephew as well as to see the family. Anybody interested in seeing me will have to make an appointment in advance. Or just tell me. But I don’t have a cell phone so find a creative way like emailing me or if you don’t want to do that you can find me. Or just tell my mom.
Did you ever get that package from Sarah Martin?
Yes! It arrived earlier this week! I was pleasantly surprised, and thank you everybody who contributed to this effort. I am currently enjoying the variety of delicious and exotic foods as well as the entertainment options and the teaching materials. I think that it will take me a while to get through all of those things, so I’ll let you know how helpful they will turn out to be. I did notice, however, that when things are shipped ground as opposed to air, not only do they take longer to arrive, but they are also thrown into walls and dropped off of forklifts far more often. There were a few damaged boxes and books, and one may say that there was a package of Pringles that can be considered a casualty. I’ll still eat them though.
Did you really read all of those books? You must be some kind of genius!
Yes I did read all of those books, but I wont reference your comment because I am a humble man. This is what happens when you spend a summer in a foreign country where you can barely speak the language, you don’t have a job, you don’t have a television, and it is hotter than the fiery blazes of hell half the time. I sat a read a lot. I also read a variety of other things like Newsweek (thank you uncle Peace Corps as well as the American taxpayers for this reading material), back issues of the Economist (thanks for sending these mom, and I know that it is a conservative magazine, but I like it), and more recently back issues of Harpers (thank you Evan from Skrapar).
Rolling into winter, where my recreational options are dwindling, I think that I will be reading even more. I am a little worried about my book selection. I have some books and other volunteers have books, but I am worried because most people do the majority of their reading during this time. When I go home I will stock up on books that I already have, but you are all welcome to send me books as well (ahem) or any other things like food (ahem) that you think I would want.
Did you ever move into that new apartment that you told us so much about?
Yes actually, I am in my new apartment now. It is really nice too. It is older (50’s communist style) but has a modern kitchen and bathroom. It is fairly unusual for a kitchen to have as much counter space as mine (which isn’t really saying much) and my sink seems ginormous. My bathroom is nice; I no longer have a Turkish toilet (yay!) to drop my soap into. I am also closer to the center of town and don’t live at the top of Mt Kucove (that’s just what I call it, probably not technically a mountain) and walking from the bus stop with a heavy bag isn’t the ordeal it once was. I can now host guests. If anybody is planning on coming to Albania, or would just like to visit Ryan, you are more than welcome. I will even make breakfast for any international traveler. Well, ones that I know anyways.
How is everything else?
Things are going well for the most part. Sometimes I want to kill the students… I mean they really suck sometimes, but I hold myself back. Learning to teach is really difficult and learning to manage a classroom I think is one of the most difficult parts. Especially when you come into a very teacher centered classroom. I am used to classes where discussion is encouraged and classes are relatively small. When I walk into a class with 40 to 50 students and try to get them to talk chaos breaks out. I am supposed to be team teaching but sometimes my counterpart leaves halfway through class or just tells me when it is starting that she will be busy. I then walk into the classroom alone with nothing but the register. I am now learning that it is the most powerful tool I have because I can give grades to the students. I hope that with time I am not just seen as the substitute where, when the real teacher is gone, Ryan comes and they get a free period. You wouldn’t realize how draining it can be. Some days I feel like my job is just to stand in the front of a room and yell because sometimes that’s what I end up doing. Ugh.