Durres

I’ve been assigned to my new site as of today. I’m heading to a coastal city on the Adriatic called Durres, Albania’s second largest city, and I couldn’t be more excited!

I’ve got a position at an NGO serving women’s issues, The Association for Women with Social Problems (AWSP), but I’ll be splitting my time between that and a civil society organization called Civil Society Development Center (CSDC) which, in turn, assists several other organizations with logistical support and general consulting services. AWSP runs a community center for women and children in a suburb of Durres; the elementary school attached to the center has also requested assistance so I’ll probably be involved there as well. In addition, the public library in the city has requested some help for a couple days a month so I’m betting I won’t be at a loss for things to do.

Hmm, living in the nation’s second city…serving a plethora of non-profit clients…why does this sound familiar? If only Durres had an “L” train…

I had a choice between Durres and a smaller town in the south of the country working at the local municipality. I think my program manager was pulling for the other site and I was a little sorry to disappoint her. The small town was a little more of a “Peace Corps-esque” experience and I imagine she (as a lot of people will) has some assumptions about why I chose the big city instead of a rural site. The truth is that Durres was a placement with NGO’s and the town, Cherivoda (spelled incorrectly, undoubtedly), was a placement with a government. I felt that my experience and skills (modest though they are…) would be better matched to the organizations I’m assigned to now and I would be more productive.

The seaside view didn’t hurt though…