Today was the last day of work for me on the Fushekruje church jobsite. The power went out in our neighborhood at the college some time last night. The power goes out about once every other day, and so I didn’t think much of it. This morning, however, I found myself waiting for a break in the rain to begin my walk to the bus stop. I planned my exit of the school gate perfectly, getting rained on for the entire duration of my walk. The rain coming down seemed cold, and the air was cold. I thought a few minutes on the bus would provide a venue for all of the water in my clothes to evaporate, but the bus is more of an incubator than anything else. I was going to be wet today.
By the time I got to the jobsite, Visi had already set two of the posts for the fence around the children’s play area. He and Pirin had been working in the rain up until the moment of my arrival, and then the three of us took a few minutes to stand under shelter. Albania is just like the States, except there really isn’t a way to get dry after you’ve gotten wet, and today I found that once I got cold, the cold stayed with me. During our coffee break, Visi had difficulty getting his hands to operate an ink pen.
At lunch time, Pirin went to his house. Visi and I went to Cafe Bushi to meet Sajmir. Sajmir has been working in Puk for about two months now, and if it weren’t for this weather we are having, he would have been pouring concrete today. He looked good, fresh, happy, strong, clean, rested, and relaxed. He seemed surprised to hear that I was leaving in two days. I think my departure snuck up on everyone. Sajmir made me promise to say hello to everyone in my family. He told me that if he were to come to Amerika, that he would treat my family like they were his family, because he considers me to be a member of his family now. It is good to have family.
The temperature got down to 3 degrees today, which is somewhere below 40 degrees in the States. On the autostrat, waiting for the fugon at the end of the day, I was complaining in English, which is how Visi knows that something is really bothering me. “I didn’t know you had cold like this here,” I said. “This is the Mediterranean, you don’t have any business getting this cold.” I said. Visi was looking away, not wanting me to see that he was crying. He let me board the next fugon alone. I don’t think he wanted to ride home beside me. I think he needed to say goodbye to me then and there.
There is no easy way.
albaniacalling 