Working Abroad: Albania & Moldova

Albania's location in Europe

My latest travels took me to Albania and Moldova.

Albania is a small country in south eastern Europe that shares a border with Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Greece. It has coastlines on the Adriatic Sea to the west and the Ionian Sea to the east. If you've never heard of the Ionian Sea before, that would make 2 of us.

Due to a hectic first 2 weeks, I was not able to get out of Tirana and see much of the countryside. Normally this is how a trip goes for me. I get to see a lot of the airport, office and the inside of my hotel room.

I am happy to report though, that the people of Albania were warm and friendly. I was told that they like Americans so for once I didn't mind identifying myself as American while I was there. The IT Specialist, Iris, recently had surgery to remove her entire stomach but managed to soldier on at work despite the obvious discomfort she was in. I'd be out of work for 3 months if that was me.

Moldova's location in Europe

I'm writing this post from Chisinau, Moldova. Moldova is located in between Romania and Ukraine. The people of Moldova speak both Romanian and Russian, neither of which bears a resemblance to Samoan.

To get to Moldova from Albania, my teammate Graham and I had to fly via Vienna, Austria thanks to the Fly America Act, so instead of a 2 hour flight between countries, it took us 18 hours to get from A to B. Normally I would complain about something like this except Vienna is a world class city that I have only read about and seen in movies so I was happy to use the layover to tour the city.

I will be returning home in a week and I am looking forward to rejoining Rach and Maddy who I miss terribly. Next up is Mongolia and China in October.

St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Austria

At the entrance to the Old Orhei cave monastery

Here we go down and into the mountain

The caves emerge on the cliff face overlooking a river 200 feet below

A functioning chapel in the caves

I can tell you Samoans would never have survived living in caves this small

People trek to the top of the mountain to pray and leave money at the base of this cross

I couldn't go further than this because I was wearing shorts

My gracious host and tour guide, Andrei Rusu

By a water well in a small Moldovan village near Orhei

Not an uncommon sight in the rural Moldovan villages, a horse drawn cart

Working Abroad: Romania & Bulgaria

If you come from my side of the world (i.e the South Pacific) then you would be forgiven if you needed to look up a map to find out where Romania and Bulgaria were. That's what I did when I found out I was headed for Bucharest, Romania and Sofia, Bulgaria for my latest assignment.

A map of Southern Europe

My first stop was in Bucharest. What did I know about Bucharest before I landed there? Try nothing at all! I should have done a little research about the place because the history of the city is quite impressive.

Remodeled in the late 19th century by French and French-trained architects, the city features large neoclassical buildings, fashionable parks, and even its very own Arc de Triomphe on the elegant Soseaua Kiseleff, an avenue longer than the famed Champs-Elysees and home to the city's mansion district.

Bucharest is laden with historical charm - from the streets of the Old City Centre, which are slowly being restored, to the grand architecture of the Royal Palace and the lush green of Cismigiu Park. The city also claims a large number of museums, art galleries, exquisite Orthodox churches and unique architectural sites.

Nicolae Ceausescu's legacy, including the Parliament Palace (formerly called the People's Palace), which at 3.76 million square feet stands as the world's second largest building after the U.S. Pentagon, provides an interesting introduction to the dictator's megalomaniac vision.

The Arc de Triomphe in Bucharest, Romania

Apparently Bucharest is also known as Little Paris for the many tree lined boulevards and French inspired buildings. We drove past the Arc on our to and from the airport and it was pretty impressive.

The view of Bucharest from my hotel room

I didn't get to see much of the city while I was there, which was a pity because I doubt if I will ever have the chance to see it again.

Downtown Sofia, Bulgaria

After spending 2 weeks in Romania, my colleague Jim and I headed for Sofia, Bulgaria. Sofia was founded over 7000 years ago and is littered with ancient ruins that go back to Roman times and beyond. I had a chance to walk around the city and see some of these ancient walls that existed during the time of Christ.

The Church of St. George, dating back to 4th century

The Church of St George is an Early Christian red brick rotunda that is considered the oldest building in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It is situated behind the Sheraton Hotel, amid remains of the ancient town of Serdica.

Built by the Romans in the 4th century CE, it is mainly famous for the 12th-14th century frescoes inside the central dome. Three layers of frescoes have been discovered, the earliest dating back to the 10th century. Magnificent frescoes of 22 prophets over 2 metres tall crown the dome. Painted over during the Ottoman period, when the building was used as a mosque, these frescoes were only uncovered in the 20th century.

I head home tomorrow via Frankfurt. I can't wait to be reunited with Maddy and Rach, it's been too long. After a few days rest we intend on hitting the road for a 7-day road trip that will lead us through Philadelphia, NYC, Niagara Falls and Pittsburgh.

Working Abroad: Morocco

My job with the US Peace Corps involves a lot of travel. Too much travel if you ask me but it is interesting work. I get to meet our overseas staff, work with counterparts and see places I would have never otherwise seen.

Waiting for a taxi in Rabat, Morocco

Morocco marks the first of many work related trips this year. After Morocco, I will be going to Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, China and Mongolia. This is going to wreak havoc on my bowling game, which is in bad enough shape as it is.

Server training with Azeddine, the local IT Specialist

Morocco is one of our biggest posts in the region, boasting 42 staff members and over 270 Volunteers. My job involves 'refreshing' or migrating the old computer system to a new system over a 2 week period which includes training staff, the local IT Specialists and mentoring colleagues.

Team dinner with the Country Director (far left), PCMO (2nd from left), AO (middle)

This trip was unique in that we were a contingent of five instead of the usual team of two. Normally I'd say that five was three too many but the new system we deployed is still in its infancy stage and needed a lot of extra work. I hope it improves significantly before we push it out to the rest of the region or I will lose a lot of hair this year.

Peace Corps Morocco office turtle

One of the cool things about the Morocco office is that they have 2 turtles roaming the compound. This is a photo of the larger of the 2 turtles.

The blue Petite taxis of Rabat

Each morning and evening is an adventure in the form of a ride in Rabat's blue Petite taxis. Not only are these taxis small as their name suggests but I swear these drivers have death wishes. I've had more near death experiences in 2 weeks than I've had in a lifetime. I'm exaggerating a little bit but you get the picture. And I thought DC drivers were bad!

Training the backup IT Specialists

This trip is almost at an end, I'm scheduled to return home in a few days. Whoever came up the phrase, "There's no place like home" knew what he or she was talking about. I can't wait to see Rach and Maddy again. I better do some shopping soon, returning home empty handed won't go down too well with my 7 year old.

In El Salvador

I arrived in El Salvador yesterday via Miami. I haven't had a chance to take a look around yet but at first glance San Salvador (the capital) seems to a nice place. I wish I could speak Spanish though! I'll be here for 2 weeks then it's off to Nicaragua for another 2 weeks then back home to DC on the 7th of July. Missing my family already!!!

Lalovaea Visit

I went to visit the old house at Lalovaea today. I was hoping that Neta and her husband had an umu ready for toonai but no such luck. So I had to make my own luck and bought an umu from the Fugalei market, some wahoo, mamoe and some koko samoa. My kind of lunch! When we left Samoa Neta didn't have any kids but not three years later, she has 2 kids with another on the way. The house at Lalovaea is looking very old & tired and should be repaired or demolished soon.

Amataga, me and Neta's son Kevin in the faletaavale

Alofa and her brother Amataga

Kaga Makangka on the stairs in Mama's house

Neta with her pepe fou

Neta's eldest son, Kevin

Guatemala Trip

My latest trip was to Guatemala and Belize. My colleague Brett (who is a bit of a photography buff) was kind enough to share some of the pictures he took while we were there.

One of the many volcanoes that surround Antigua, Guatemala where we stayed

The street that leads to the hotel in Antigua

Leading the staff training session

At the panaderia (bakery) in the morning

Conducting the Volunteer training session

Working with Victor, the local IT Specialist

Setting up machines on the weekend

In the server room with the local IT Specialist, Victor

One Down, Two To Go

I'm now in Maputo, Mozambique on the eastern coast of southern Africa after completing a 2 week stint in The Gambia in West Africa. Mozambique is a former Portuguese colony and Maputo, the capital city, has a distinctly latin american feel to it. Everyone speaks Portuguese, the radio stations are all in Portuguese and all the tv stations (save good ol' CNN) are all in a language that makes no sense to me. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm in Africa not south america.

The weather here is great this time of year, it's their winter so on most days it is around 18C, which as Rachel can attest, is perfect for me. I hear that in DC the weather there is hot and humid, approaching the 40C mark. Not good.

I haven't had the opportunity to take many photos of Maputo so far but hopefully by the weekend, work will have slowed down enough for me to get out and see some of the sights around the city and take more pics.

My colleague Sakib Khan walking the streets of Maputo.

Me in front of one of the many high rises in Maputo.

Another view of Maputo.

At the Pirata restaurant waiting for lunch.

Street vendors carrying their wares Africa style.