Once again, the early part of the week was not at all busy and Thom had the stomach flu on Wednesday and slept it off all day. Thursday, we headed to Ferizaj for language lessons with Shpresim. We are always there for around 4 1/2 hours as we each have 2-hour lessons. Then there is the 35-minute bus ride each way. It always takes a good chunk of the day.
On Friday, there was a meeting with Thom's ngo and Matt's (the other PC volunteer working on the trash awareness) ngo CEDE. It was here in Kaçanik in the afternoon. After the meeting, we had dinner and Matt stayed at our place overnight. We had a chance to show him a little of Kaçanik as we walked to dinner and then later for coffee and beer.
After dinner, Valon, Sami, Matt, Thom, and I walked to Art Cafe for coffee. On our way, we saw my counterpart, Gazmend waiting for a haircut. He joined us afterward. He still had no schedule for classes even though school starts on Monday. He did tell me we have nine 10th-grade classes and one 11th-grade class and that we would be teaching in the morning shift (from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm). The enrollment is declining at both high schools in Kaçanik and our classes are small.
On Saturday morning, we got up, had breakfast, and walked with Matt out to Guri i Shpum. It was a nice morning and we went up the hill to the restaurant at Guri i Sphum and had coffee. I also got some more rosemary and sage. Matt left around 11:30 am and we had no plans for the rest of the day.
In the afternoon, while I was working on my language homework, Valon called and invited us to a gallery exhibition in Prishtina in the evening. The exhibit was part of an international photography festival put on by a group called Fotoist. Valon knows the man who started the photo festival in Prishtina. There are 11 exhibits in 7 locations during the week of the festival.
The exhibit we saw was the work of one photographer and it was both interesting and educational. The photographer, Barry Lewis, is British and through the course of his career he worked for Vogue and was a regular contributor to Life Magazine, National Geographic, and the Sunday Times. The exhibit was called "Behind the Veil" or "Albania through isolation and transition". His photography documents two visits to Albany: first, when he traveled to Albania in 1990 when it was still isolated from the Western world after a period of Stalin socialism and later Maoism which started in the 70s. He traveled a second time in 1991 after the fall of the one-party state. The photographs captured many aspects of Albanian life including the lack of modern convenience, the work camps, and the spirit of the people in some small mountain villages. It was held at the Lapidarium in Prishtina which is an outdoor archeology museum. I am glad we said "yes" to going when Valon called, because I really enjoyed the exhibit.
Sunday, we went hiking with the hiking group and it was a hike we had done before starting at Guri i Shpum. This time, however; the group was getting ready for the big event next weekend where other hiking clubs will be joining us in Kaçanik to hike to the UÇK sign, the Illyrian fortress, and the Roman Road. Members of the club brought saws and clippers to do trail maintenance and clean up before next weekend. It was a nice three-turtle hike.
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