What is "Clean"?

I used to think I was a very clean person. I had some obsessive-compulsive behavior concerning cleanliness as a kid. Like refusing to walk on my bedroom carpet with shoes on. Even now, I am generally pretty good about keeping things uncluttered and neat. If I can see dirt on the floor I clean it up.

Sometimes cleaning can be therapeutic for me. Doesn't it feel better to live in a clean space? I considered myself to be above average when it came to cleaning. That was before I moved to Albania. 

Food Mishaps

One of the two questions I am asked most often about Albania is, What is the food like? (And just in case you're wondering, the question I am asked most often is, What language do they speak in Albania? The answer: Albanian, which is unrelated to any other language. It's in a class of its own!)

Back to the first question.

Familiar to Foreign

I have been in Albania for a week now, and I have not begun to scratch the surface of new things to learn and experience. Simple things that I took for granted every day in the States involve a great amount of thought and room for mistakes. The mistakes started before I even arrived in Albania!

For starters, the language difference posed problems on my layovers. I was terribly thirsty by the time I reached the Vienna airport, but someone left their bag unsupervised causing half the airport to close down until they made sure the bag had no explosives or whatever else they checked for. I sat on the outside of the crowd of people for about 45 minutes, hoping I understood the situation correctly despite understanding few of the people around me, and super paranoid that I would miss my next flight. Finally, the crowd began moving through the entrance, and I went on my way to find my gate.

At the Bank

The other day I went to my bank to open up my debit card for use in Europe. I sat down in the cozy little waiting area with couches and chairs of various shades of green. Then a teller stepped out of her cubicle and asked if she could help me. I followed her and sat down in front of her desk, where I explained that I was about to move out of the country and would need to open up my card for use in Europe. She affirmed that of course I could and then began typing on her computer. I noticed she had a very slight European accent.

Confessions from Fourth Grade

A couple weeks ago I watched a story on the news featuring the new One World Trade Center building in New York City. Workers had just erected a spire of several hundred feet in height, which made the building the tallest in the Western hemisphere. The new building is built to withstand car bombings and jetliner impact - arguably one of the most impressive and "safe" buildings you could be in. The top building executive addressed one of the biggest questions asked concerning the reasoning of this project.... Why rebuild the World Trade Center, and why would people want to live and work in it after what happened in 2001?

I can't recall his exact answer, but one word he used stood out to me: pride. People want the attackers to know that they refuse to cower or live in defeat. The World Trade Center is a U.S. symbol of its world power, that American ideals are above all other ideals. Re-erecting the demolished World Trade Center and investing so much money and effort into making the building better than before makes a deliberate statement to the world. Maybe it gives Americans, especially those who suffered personal loss of loved ones, a sense of retribution. I don't personally know anyone who lost someone on 9/11, but surely there would be lots of very different opinions and feelings about the new building. I am far from qualified to say what this project means.