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.