Today was both a beautiful and productive day. The sun was out and it’s considerably warmer than the typical rainy 40’s and 50’s since I had arrived. It seems that Skanderbeg square is the happening place to be on Saturday mornings. There were all kinds of people, merchant tents, and even a marching band out there.
I was able to start catching up on some US projects that have been lingering, and to those that I still have some pending items with, know that I am working hard to get them completed. Besides working and a little admiring of the day, I went for another run but decided to give my knee a few days off after today. Somehow the lock of my door decided to have a mind of its own and stop working despite getting a new card made. It was kind of funny at first but I had to wait around in my room for awhile before it was fixed.
Josh really made my day today because he put together a little video with pictures of the two of us, as well as photos of my family and friends. It really touched me and I’m so glad that he put it together for me to be able to watch whenever I get lonely over here. The background music was a great song – “Never Far Away” by Rush of Fools – which was written by the band for their families when they’re on tour. The lyrics were really fitting:
I close my eyes and try to see
See you right in front of me….
…. It’s like I never left at all
And all the world feels so small….
….Oh, oh, oh, oh, you’re never far away
From me.
So to Josh, my family and friends: Even though I may be miles away, you’re never far away from me.
Phil Blog Albania
The rest of this week has been going well. I started to get a little stir crazy working inside a lot, so on Thursday, I took a walk around and snapped a few more photos:
This pyramid is nearby the government buildings. It was originally built by the communist dictator to be buried in, but now it houses a bar and a TV station.
Here is a close up view of the mosque nearby
The mosque is the one that I can hear during prayers five times a day – usually starting around 5am, and spaced throughout the day from there. Besides Muslims, there are a good number of Orthodox Christians and Roman Catholics here. They all seem to exist in harmony without any religious extremism or discrimination.
My body is finally getting used to the time difference and a normal sleep pattern again. After US daylight savings last weekend, I’m 5 hours ahead of everyone in the Eastern Time zone, so don’t be alarmed if you receive emails from me at strange hours. Though I will admit that some would probably say they already received late night emails from me even before I ended up over here!
I’ve been doing a decent job of going to the gym to run and lift weights, which is also helping to adjust. I think I need some new running shoes because my knee is starting to give me some problems after getting over a pulled heel muscle a few weeks ago. Still, it feels good to exercising again!
Phil Blog Albania
I just got back from a 2-day detour on a business trip to the Ukraine. I had a great view flying over this part of the world especially of the small villages and towns in the mountains. In Austria, there were lots of windmill farms, which I’ve never really seen from above before.
Once again, I didn’t take any pictures (really wishing I had the iPhone or BlackBerry Storm with a camera on my phone right about now) so I cheated and snagged a few stock photos below. The architecture was beautiful in the capitol Kyiv – an interesting mix of West and East. I even got to see snow in the morning though it was just a few flakes here and there. Overall, it was a quick trip, but great to see another new city.
Old building reflected from glass wall of new office's building in Kyiv
Monument of Bogdan Khmelnitsky and Mikhailovsky monastery, Kiev, Ukraine
This was clearly not taken during the winter! Lilac bushes with Vidubichi monastery, Kiev, Ukraine
Phil Blog Ukraine
Over the weekend, I’ve spent a lot of time with the folks I’ll be working with on the campaign discussing the website and online efforts, but also just getting to know each other.
We’ve eaten at a few decent restaurants where I’m starting to get a sample of the Albanian cuisine. I had meatballs on Friday night, which were good but nothing like my Mom’s. Yesterday, I had a traditional chicken and stuffing meal, similar to what we have at Thanksgiving, along with some Albanian cheeses and different pepper appetizers. While at this restaurant, I wish I had my camera because the restaurant is by a large park and a herd of sheep went grazing by my window. I’ve heard a few stories (good and bad) about eating bear meat, so I’ll have to give that a try before I leave.
As you can probably tell by some of my photos, the traffic here is interesting to say the least. No one really abides by the lanes, meanwhile stop signs and traffic lights almost seem optional. It’s not just the drivers though – pedestrians walk out in front of cars anywhere on the street instead of at cross walks. I’ve been in a taxi that comes within inches of other vehicles in roundabouts or pedestrians crossing the street. It’s a little nerve racking at first but somehow they don’t actually have that many accidents in the city. All in all, I thought South Florida traffic was bad, but it’s not even close.
I’ve started working on some new website designs, which would be coming along nicely if I can just shake off this “designers block.” That’s the extent of my weekend. Nothing too exciting – just getting settled in.
Phil Blog Albania
I just wanted to write a quick note to say that my flights were uneventful and I made it safely to Albania. Here is the great view from my hotel:
This is the view from my hotel in Tirana. It kind of reminds me of Denver or Colorado Springs with the mountains in the background behind the city.
Another shot with some mountains in the background
This is Skanderbeg Square or just "the Square" to the locals. It's a main part of town that is supposed to be closed to pedestrians only in the future, but it doesn't look like that will happen anytime soon when you look at the traffic.
That's the Opera House right on the corner. And right behind the Opera House is a mosque which sends prayers over a loud speaker I can hear in my room a few times a day.
Another shot of Skanderbeg Square
Phil Blog Albania
For all my years working with the web, I’ve never consistently blogged, but fortunately, that’s about to change. That’s because I’m about to embark on an amazing new opportunity that has inspired me to write about the daily happenings in my life for my friends and family.
Tomorrow, I’ll be traveling to Tirana, the capital of Albania (the country just north of Greece), to work on the online operations for the parliamentary elections at the end of June 2009. This is really my first time overseas, unless you count my short stint on a Caribbean cruise after the 2008 election, so I’m really looking forward to experiencing new culture, cuisine, people and places, but also learning about political campaigning and public policy in another part of the world.
The most exciting part is that I’m coming in with a blank slate, which means there is endless potential for the campaign’s online efforts. The eternal optimist in me hopes that we can encourage more civic engagement and maybe even foster a new relationship between online citizens, their government and political parties. But even if we only reach half the potential for use of the web in this campaign, it will at least cause those in the political process to think about their future political campaigns in a whole new light.
I’ll be blogging about my experiences in Albania, new media techniques, Florida politics, technology policy and much, much more! Feel free to leave a comment, as well as follow me on Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for your support!
Phil Blog Albania
