Yesterday was Election Day.
It began for me at dawn with the 5am call to morning prayer from the mosque across the street - cutting rythmic, romantic, and hauntingly through the clear morning air into my open window. Let me tell ya - this mosque has a bitchin' sound system...
Then it was outward to observe the voting at some rural polling places - the operation of which could put the old-time Chicago or New York political machines to shame, with a guy at each one that just had to be a local party-boss hand-shaking, back-slapping, cheek-kissing four times left-right-left-right every one of the party faithful who was coming back for the third time before noon to vote...
For my Fellow PCOs back in the Washington's 26th Legislative District - you don't know how good you've got it!
Try canvassing polling stations over an area the size of an entire state legislative district - but first call in the Air Force to carpet bomb the roads, because these roads are shit. Throw in drivers who have no idea of right from left, on roads that don't have center lines - or striping of any kind, for that matter. Just keep the wheels on something that vaguely resembles pavement/gravel/sand/rock and you're doing it the Albanian way - just don't forget the horse carts and goat hearders along the way...
And that's before you leave downtown Shkoder!
From the polling places to the vote counting center for an all-nighter that saw only 1/3 of the votes counted - by Albanian hands, of course. The facility was an elementary school gym, packed with partisan observers from all million-and-one of Albanias political parties.
Think "Social Democrats," "Democrat Socialists," "People's Worker's Party," " Working Peoples Party," "The Nationalist Social Party," "The Social Nationalist Party" and of course the we're-not-dead-yet Communists...
Picture a near riot just getting the ballot boxes admitted into the facility...
Picture their equilivant of a County Auditor - fresh from his office at the Rice & Grain Institute - locking nearly a hundred people in for the night in a facility that doesn't have a bathroom...
Picture convincing the guard with the AK-47 to let you go wandering in the middle of the Albanian night looking for a bathroom - only to find the nearest accomidations about a quarter mile away are a Turkish toilet in an all-night cafe's closet...
Turkish Toilet?
Trust me - if you don't already know, you don't want to. Especially if you recently ate something that just doesn't quite agree with you...
Note to Self: never go anywhere in Albania without Toilet Paper...
But it's all worth it to have an Albanian party-hack wish me a "Happy Birthday America" on the 4th of July - and to have my European colleagues offer America condolances to "Get Well Soon..."
Time for a much needed shower, a few hours sleep, and back to the vote counting center to releave some of the "Usual Suspects..."
Take Care - and Happy 229th Birthday,
SPB
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