Today began slightly early. We met ready to discuss our readings at 8:00 A.M. sharp. I am not a morning person, so this was quite a hard morning for me, especially after the long day yesterday. Berat is beautiful though, and our hotel overlooks the city, so it's worth it. Our readings today focused on international organizations like NATO and the European Union. We also discussed how a country can have free markets and not be a democracy, as China demonstrates in a case study. After our forty five minute talk, we were lucky to go to Dr. Bego's grandma's apartment for some homemade Albanian sweets. We had baklava, dried figs, and plenty of fresh fruit. Her grandmother and aunt welcomed us into their home and the hospitality was fantastic. I did find one thing strange, however. Her grandmother lives on one of the higher floors, so you must take the stairs to get there. Seeing as her grandmother is ninety years old, she can no longer take the stairs to get up or down. There are no ramps or elevators, and you would never see this situation in the United States. One of the things I chose to further investigate is how the Balkan Islands, mainly Albania, deals with minorities. Although elderly people may not be a minority, no signs of ramps or elevators is a sign that the city is not handicap accessible. The city here is rocky, and the streets are bumpy and uneven, so it must be really hard for anyone with any disability to get around. This helps me understand some of the problems this city faces with minorities, such as disabled people.
After our visit with Dr. Bego's grandmother, we went to her aunt's work place and met the mayor. Here we learned about welfare programs which helped address my minority question even further. For example, one thousand families receive around forty dollars from the government monthly. That is not enough money to buy groceries, pay bills, and take care of a family. Something else highly interesting is that off the one thousand families, twenty percent of them have a woman as head of the household due to divorce, widow status, or other reasons. This is a problem in the United States, but it shows how women don't have the same pay as men, nor do they have the same opportunity for better jobs. The mayor also talked about his budget for the city which is only four million dollars for a city of 75,000. Apparently, Hastings College runs on a budget of around the same amount, so this is quite shocking considering a city has a lot more expenses and people to consider for. The mayor's main focus is expanding the city for tourism. Considering the city is 2,000 years old, many people obviously want to see Berat, but accessibility issues make it hard.
After our brief discussion with the mayor, we were lucky to get to see a facility for people with disabilities which once again answered my curiosity about minorities. At the facility, they have three groups for children, teens, and adults. Each has different activities and curriciulum to suit the group. The people at the facility usually go home at one everyday, but interestingly enough, they also have live in apartments there. Something else I found interesting is the people that help at the facility are state paid. This strikes me as unusual because when I went to a similar facility in the Dominican Republic, it was volunteer based and owned by a couple. The children also lived there full time, since many of their parents couldn't afford to raise them.
We did three more activities after our visit to the facility. We went to a castle (photos below). While there, we went to a museum of a church in the castle, and after that, we went to a museum that was created like a pre-Communist house. That was one of my favorite museums we have seen so far, mainly because it was interactive.
It's weird the weekend is here. Tomorrow we might get our hair done like Albanian women. All of the women here usually look flawless and well kept. It'll be exciting to see what they can do to my hair which I hardly brush. We also are going to a dance club with Glenny, Dr. Bego's cousin. We are all way excited for this. As I write, Tia has just gotten out of school and probably about to go to basketball practice. Mom is probably about to watch The Ellen Show. Usually in an hour, she would call me to tell me Dr. Phil is about to start. My friends are all about out of class at Hastings, and my friends in Superior haven't even started yet. I'm not homesick by any means, but it sure is bittersweet to leave the country.
P.S, the internet is too slow to add pictures. I'll try again tomorrow.
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