I ♥ Spring

Winter is long and cold unless you live on the equator.  I don’t, nor do I live in a northern society with warm furs and big fires.  I live in a place that doesn’t freeze and rarely gets snow.  However, I refuse to say it’s not cold.  I live in a concrete icebox.  It’s cold all the time precisely because it’s rarely freezing.  Down in southern Albania we use little electrical radiators that keep people in a six to eight inch radius warm, perfect for one very sedentary person with a blanket.  Thus, at home I live as a hopping/shuffling mobile sleeping bag burrito or under an unzipped sleeping bag draped over the radiator.

Winter affects all aspects of my life.  I shower less in the winter.  I hate to impart too much information, but getting naked in the cold induces cartoon-like exclamations.  I've heard cold weather has driven volunteers  to sleep in their clothes or to sleep with their clothes in order to avoid chill-inducing apparel in the mornings.  The good news is we take coats off for bed and bathing, so coats cover wrinkled day-old clothes well.

The permeating effects don’t stop there.  Volunteers have been diagnosed with trench foot.  Yes, you read that.  One volunteer walks with chemical heating pads in her boots.  The cold has even affected my perspective on entertainment.  My first winter I watched a movie where someone walks inside and takes off a coat, and I’m screaming, “Don’t do it!  It’s cold inside!”  In fact, on sunny days it’s colder inside than it is outside. 

Why am I telling you this?  Winter is over.  I could have completed volunteer service without anyone knowing about my winter hygiene.  (On my behalf, my hygiene improves in warm weather, and I always brush my teeth.)  You have the privilege of reading this because I want you to know I love spring.  I love it a lot.  It became my favorite season after my first winter in Albania, that time between freezing and burning when everything is perfect.  When I landed in Albania for the first time in March a presumably Albanian passenger said, “That’s my green,” looking out the window.  Albania does have it’s own special green, and it’s worth celebrating. 

When you're ready for winter to end, celebrate the vernal equinox.  I celebrated it in Gjirokaster this year with other volunteers.  The day was that momentous.  We didn’t light bonfires and dance, but we did picnic and teach some students how to play American tag football.  I'm still waiting for it to warm up just a little, but Monica, my site mate, and I took a walk to photograph cherry trees this week.  Spring is here, and I couldn’t be happier.