I am physically very tired now. I learned how to apply fino yesterday, which is the Albanian equivalent to stucco. Today I put that knowledge to use. Fino is the last coating to go onto walls or buildings before the paint is applied. Fino is mostly composed of a fine, not sandy granular substance mixed with cement and a thick white mixture called gelquere. The gelquere gives the fino a lighter hue, adds and adhesive quality, and also makes the fino less likely to foster mildew. Fino is applied with a half-meter long trowel and each trowel can cover about four square feet of surface. Putting it on is like finishing concrete flat work, only you are standing to face the work instead of facing down.
Somewhere around the noon hour I noticed how low our barrels were on water. With only about four muddy inches at the bottom of each one I said to Visi “Nuk ka uje sot?” (we don’t have water today?) “Nuk ka drit,” (we don’t have electricity) came the reply. “Pse jo? Nuk ka per Fushekrujes?” (why not? Is the problem for all of Fushekruje?) I asked. At which time I looked at the wire which lead to the fresh water pump. “Ah.” (ah) I said. There was no wire to the pump, it had been stolen the night before. I was not surprised when less than an hour later Ardi, the son of Shpetim, our guard, drove onto the jobsite in his fugon. With him was a young man I did not recognize who had our exact cable, with the electrical tape in the same place, mending the same breaks in the plastic coating. Fushekruje is a small town.
By the end of the day, Visi and I had a rhythm for applying the fino. It is a task one can manage without doing a lot of thinking, which provides an arena for small talk and joking with one’s coworkers which is very enjoyable. Like splitting wood with a maul, digging a trench, or hauling debris; applying fino is just the thing for getting out of your head and into the work in a satisfying way.
albaniacalling 