Beginning Reading and Math

Here’s the latest Letter from our
Peace Corps Worker in Albania!

From: Daniel Mc Ginley 3/10/08
To: Mrs. Crouch and students

I am so sorry that I've been slow to reply. I got your email and then headed out the door for about 9 days. I am back at my site now and ready to give you an update.

Work has really picked up. I working on projects at the Bashkia (municipality) that include building a new landfill, updating city security and renovating a history museum. The landfill is proving difficult because we're working with about 10 organizations and 3 or 4
different languages.

We just started work on a play (in English) for the students to put on. It’s a collection of skits from a British acting group. The skits are from the 70's and have a Monty Python touch to them. They are also written for non-native English speakers... big help. We also
started a philosophy club (in Albanian). So far, we have good attendance and lively debates. I just hope that we can maintain interest in the long term. We'll see.

I just made my first trip to another Balkan country. I went over to Macedonia to see 3 cities. First, I went to Tetova. Tetova is mostly ethnic Albanian and I was able to speak Albanian with almost everyone I met. It was amazing how similar the Albanians were there, and yet how drastically different (they don't honk their horns incessantly!).

Next we headed over to the capital, Skopje. Skopje was mostly destroyed in the 60's by an earthquake, and thus it has some of the ugliest communist architecture you'll ever see. It was still an interesting city and we managed to see some cool mosques, baths and museums. Speaking of mosques, I entered my first mosque on this trip... very interesting! Next we headed down to the tourist town of
Ohrid. Ohrid is on Lake Ohrid, a big tectonic lake (1 of only 5 in the world, I think). Ohrid has a lot of churches and is an important place for Christian Orthodoxy.

OHHH, I also ate at a McDonald's on this trip... I always want to go, and I always leave disappointed! I then
headed back up through the south of Albania and got to see a couple cities and I hadn't seen yet. Now, I'm home and catching up on rest.

The other big news... Kosovo declared independence. I went to some celebrations for that. I'm not sure how I feel about the declaration... and I'm really ambivalent about the immediate recognition by SOME Western powers. It’s a tough issue to tackle from legal, ethical and practical perspectives. Thus far, no international organizations have recognized the country. We'll see what happens.
Looks like I won't be going to Belgrade any time soon.

Well, I hope that gives you a little to share with the students. I would like to do another phone call some time soon. Maybe we can come up with a particular topic to focus on for the next call. Let me know what you want to do... but I would love to talk to the students again!

I'll try and get some photos out soon. I'm bad about taking photos...sorry. Thanks for keeping me updated on what's going on back home. You know I appreciate that.

Okay, I was gone for several days, so I have about 20 emails to catch up on. Write me back about setting up another phone call.

Thanks for everything... I miss you guys!

Daniel

P.S. I'm one week from being here for a whole year!