Wordless Wednesday: Foggy Morning

Water Water Every Where

Ready to hit the beach

Today is World Oceans Day.  Regardless of where you are, whether it be in the middle of an African desert, high atop an Alpine peak, or at the beach, oceans connect all of us and effect all of us in one way or another.  And as such, the 8th of June is the day dedicated to these massive bodies of water.  And water is everywhere.  Seventy-one percent of the earth's surface is covered with water with the oceans accounting for 97% of the world's water.  Long before there were trains, airplanes, or automobiles, humans were moving around the world via water.  The oceans are home to millions of sea creatures and they also provide vital food and nourishment to the world's human population.  Any way you look at it, oceans are important and must be conserved and preserved.

Today is a day to bring awareness to this important, yet endangered natural resource.  So what did we do to recognize the day?  We headed to the beach of course!  On what felt like the first warm and rain free Saturday in months we decided to head north and explore the beach area around Shengjin.  Located just over an hour north of Tirana, Shengjin is home to both a commercial port and the Albanian Navy's northern base.  It also has the hotels, boardwalks and beachfront restaurants that you would expect in a seaside community.  (It is also home to a large number of oil storage facilities that add to the economy of the area but do little for the pristine beach feel we were looking for).  Continuing with our desire to avoid the commercial beach/boardwalk scene and following the recommendation of a friend, we headed "out of town and up and over the hill" (these were her exact directions) north of Shengjin to an area called Rana e Hudun in search of unadulterated sand.  Fortunately our four wheel drive allowed us to get there and what we found shouldn't have surprised us, but it did.

Set amongst the desolate beach we sought, we found a couple of well developed beach front resorts, complete with row after row of umbrellas as well as the typical half built concrete structures that are typical sights throughout Albania.  These beaches were essentially void of people since despite the beautiful weather, beach season in the Balkans does not start until July.  It was obvious that money had been invested in these properties since they were clean, relatively well maintained and most importantly, their beaches were free of litter and debris.  We continued on until the narrow rutted road dead ended right on the beach.  When we got out to explore the relatively deserted beach (there was only one other family there with a ubiquitous black Mercedes parked on the sand) we were immediately saddened to see that the beach was covered in trash and debris.  In fact, the scene was reminiscent of the one we had encountered during our visit to Cape Rodon last fall.  Household waste, construction debris, and hypodermic needles shared the sandy space with seashells, seaweed, and driftwood.  Despite the off shore fishing nets that would normally attract them, we also noticed a lack the typical birds that live along the shore.  Where was nature in this natural environment?  The entire scene left me feeling a little sad.

But as is the case with many things here, we made the best of it.  We tailgated out of the back of our SUV then set out on a walk along the beach.  Glenn and I abandoned our shoes and carefully stepped our way through the surf.  (Sidney remained shod as to avoid any dangerous steps).  I collected seashells that will be added to our growing collection and even used a plastic bucket that had washed ashore to hold them.  If you avoided the occasional piece of plastic or random shoe (there were a surprisingly high number of single shoes dotting the shore) that washed ashore in the surf, the water was nice.  Whether looking at the rocky hills to our north or the vast sea and distant mountains to our south and east the views were magnificent.  The key was just to not look down at the sand which we actually had to do in order to avoid stepping on any foreign objects.  We were both reminded of a conversation we had had with a hotel clerk in Croatia last year who, upon discovering we were living in Albania, had bemoaned the Albanian trash that was starting to wash up on Croatian shores.  Whether we've travelled north or south along the Albanian coast, we've witnessed this for ourselves.  And given the way the world's seas and oceans connect all of us, this is truly scary.  One country's trash disposal habits and approach to the eco-system can have a negative impact on all of the world's water.  And this is why we must all care about our environment.  We owe it to ourselves, our children, our neighbors children, and the entire world.

Surf walking

Water, Water Everywhere??????

It seems like water is to be found everywhere except our house these days.  We have been in our house for over three weeks and we still can't connect into Tirana’s public water supply.  Someone from GSO stops by the house every day to check on the water levels in our storage tank, and as needed, drives over the pumper truck  to refill it.  I have no idea where the Embassy gets their water but I suspect they are filling our tank from the Embassy’s own water supply.  (I seriously doubt Tirana officials would allow the U.S. Embassy to be cut off from water!). 

Despite the ongoing drought at the Brown house, water seems plentiful in the rest of the city.  Our neighborhood might not be officially connected to the water system but Albanians are resourceful when it comes to getting their needs met. Case in point was the “construction” that occurred in front of our gate last Sunday night.  Two men were chipping away at the concrete and for a brief moment I thought it might be the water company coming to investigate the water problem.  (Since no one seems to wear uniforms or carry identification badges here, it is virtually impossible to tell who is with the City or local utility company).  I thought the men looked vaguely familiar and I soon realized that it was our next door neighbors that were hacking away at the pavement under the cover of darkness.  Within a few minutes I heard the unmistakable sound of water splashing from a hose.  Yes, you guessed it.  Our neighborhoods had hacked into the water system to meet their own needs.  By the next morning the only evidence that something out of the ordinary had taken place was the freshly poured bed of concrete that sat at the scene of the crime.

Our landlord has his very own pumper truck and stops by at least once a week to water our garden.  Actually, he stands in the driveway and tells me in broken English that he "is the best landlord in all of Tirana" while his wife, dressed in her Sunday best, sprays down our entire front yard, garden, and driveway.  While I understand his desire to keep his property looking nice, the sensible part of me says it is just wrong to waste so much water on keeping the driveway clean.  He is not alone in this, since all of our neighbors spray down their driveways and patios on a nightly basis.

A car wash abutting a neighborhood cafe

Many mornings, while I contemplate whether or not I should run a load of laundry, I see streams of water flowing by our house.  The source is yet another Albanian phenomenon.  Car washes are to Albanians what 7-11s are to Americans.  Signs advertising "lavazh" adorn billboards, sides of buildings, and  tent-like structures that serve as car washes.   It seems to me that there are several car washes on every block in this country.  This is true in both the city and the countryside.  A few look like established businesses that are readily recognizable as car washes.  Most, however, seem to be pop-up endeavors that appear on the side of roads, attached to houses, or most commonly, attached to the ubiquitous cafes that fill every street and neighborhood.  (How convenient is it to have your afternoon coffee and have your car washed at the same location?)  Young boys and old men alike stand in the blazing sun hand washing cars with rags and garden hoses attached to water tanks while listening to American pop music blasting on their radios.  

Two neighboring car washes.    

In this post-Communism country that seems to have more late-model Mercedes and BMWs than the Northern Virginia suburbs, people love their cars and take great pride in keeping them spotless.  Yes, there are older jalopies, whining mopeds, and unexciting American models that were sold by departing Americans, but the majority of cars on the roads are German imports that shine as though they were just driven off of the new car lot.  In a country where the average annual household income is just under $5,000, one has to wonder how families can afford such luxuries.  Or maybe we shouldn't think about it too much.....  

Regardless of how people have come into possession of these automobiles, they take great pride in maintaining their appearance and this isn't an easy feat in a country where everything is perpetually covered in a layer of fine dust.  One could argue that car washes are the type of small business that keeps the Albanian economy running. I wonder two things.  One is where do all of these businesses get their seemingly endless supply of water and who is footing the water bill.  The second is whether or not we have enough water so I can wash my clothes.

The Utilities Conundrum

Summer is upon us and the intense heat is only one of the issues we must face on a daily basis.  As is the case in cities and towns across the world, when the heat kicks in, the air conditioning gets cranked up.  Rolling brown outs and even the occasional black out (anyone remember the black out of 2003  that affected a large swath of the East Coast?) are common in even the most highly developed parts of the world. 

Big Blue

During the heyday of communism in the 1950s, hydro-electric dams were built throughout Albania to provide electricity to rapidly expanding mines and factories.  Unfortunately, as Albania sunk deeper into her self-imposed isolationism, maintenance on these structures came to a standstill and we are still living with these repercussions today.  In Albania, rolling blackouts and the corresponding power surges are such a common occurrence that visitors are encouraged to “carry a torch” with them at all times.  We have experienced our share of questionable flickering and sparks flying off of power lines since we have arrived.  Prior to our arrival we had heard that the house was equipped with its own generator but no one could prepare us for the sight of big blue.  Yes, our generator, which really is the size of a VW bug, has its own name. 

During the midday hours I hear Big Blue kicking in at regular intervals.  To date, we haven’t experienced any debilitating power surges but we have all of our electronic equipment plugged into surge protectors to be safe and we are especially glad that we splurged and added a power surge clause to our USAA renter’s insurance policy.   Yes, they offer such a clause which makes me realize that the problem must also be common in places other than Albania.

the main water distiller

The other summer issue we face is the non-potable water supply throughout the country.  Older Albanians refer to it as Hoxha’s revenge, a reference to the Albania’s infamous dictator who ruled Albania with an iron fist from the 1940s until his death in 1985.  A few people will tell you that the tap water is fine to drink and I’m sure that the majority of native Albanians do drink it straight from the tap.  As Americans, we have been warned not to drink it straight from the tap.  Our house has been equipped with not one, but two water distillers (one for each kitchen!) from which we get all of our drinking and cooking water.  (As an added precaution we must soak all of our fruits and vegetables in a distilled water and bleach solution before eating them and we are discouraged from eating any raw fruits and vegetables that we have neither prepared ourselves or completely trust the cooking source.  This includes dining out in most restaurants).  Sidney has always been fascinated with all things water so I am facing the dual struggle of not allowing him to drink any of his bath water (undistilled) and keeping him from exploring the tap on the distiller.  At the moment I’m not having a lot of success on either of these fronts.

The water tank which is all too frequently empty

Before the water even gets into our distillers it must travel a rather indirect path from its source, through the City of Tirana’s Public Works water system and into the water holding tank in our backyard that takes up the majority of our green space.   From there it enters our house and goes into the individual water heaters that supply each of the two kitchens, the laundry room, and five bathrooms or into one of the two water distillers.  This works when there is both electricity coming into the house (hence the generator) and there is actually enough water in the City’s water supply to make this happen. 

As we have already discovered early on a Saturday morning, it is a common occurrence for the water supply to run dry during the summer months.  This is actually a problem for our entire neighborhood but no one told us this.  Of course we only discovered that we didn’t have any water when I went to turn on the shower and no water came out.  When we do run out of water, the Embassy’s water truck will refill our tank but only if we tell them it is necessary.  In the typical Albanian way, there isn’t a gauge on the tank that lets us know when we are running low on water.  Our predecessors had warned us that this could happen and suggested we follow their lead by rigging a fishing pole over the top of the water tank so we can easily gauge how much water we have.  For some reason they took their pole with them when they left and we hadn’t felt a sense of urgency to replace it yet.  We now have water again but have added a fishing rod to the top of our shopping list.  In the mean time, we are on an automatic delivery schedule with the Embassy for twice a week.  There is no word from the City of Tirana as to when the water might start flowing from their taps again.