Panchys return from Albania with many memories
BY MARY LANCASTER
Melissa and Peter Panchy had a hard time accepting no for an answer when they offered a visitor coffee, then offered it again explaining it was decaf, and a short time later extended an invitation to have juice or water. They were unable to help themselves, having recently returned from a year in Albania where family and friends take priority in that culture and good hosts provide generously for their guests no matter how meager their own station in life.

The Panchys returned from a year in Albania in July, but had to postpone an interview about the trip until now because Peter Panchy has contracted tuberculosis and was not feeling well for a couple of months. The family, Nick (l.), Melissa, Peter and Phoebe pose with Luna, a collie they rescued in Tirana and brought home. Melissa holds Otto, the other family dog, who stayed behind when the Panchys left because of airline policy prohibiting pug-nose dogs that cannot breathe well in cabin storage.

When the family - Peter, Melissa, daughter Phoebe, 18, and son Nick, 9 - left for Albania from where Peter's parents immigrated, they were excited yet a little apprehensive not knowing what to expect in a transition from the comforts of Nantucket to a very poor country. They began to see what was in store not long after their arrival.

Peter, who for many years has taught U.S. history, took a sabbatical

from Nantucket High School to teach U.S. history full-time at the University of New York Tirana, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, and also to teach the course on a part-time basis at the Tirana International School attended by both the Panchy's children. Melissa was a teacher's assistant at the school.

The family was housed in an apartment next door to the school and were told they would have a generator provided because the inadequate Albanian infrastructure results in frequent planned and unexpected power outages. The Panchys had space heaters but the generator never materialized and they experienced more than a few cold, candlelit stretches without heat or water during the winter. On top of that, they did not have a car and had to walk everywhere, though they made the best of

that and turned some outings into enjoyable traditions. Peter explained that besides want- ing to visit his parent's homeland and see Dardha, where they lived, a primary reason for the trip was to give him a new slant on teaching. That part of the adventure went well. He learned that the university wants to have an on-going relationship with him and is now considering spending every other summer there. He would like to take a halfdozen or so Nantucket students along to earn college credit and gain an understanding of Albania's emerging democracy.

The children fared well, with Nick making fast friends the first day of school as a third grader. Classes are small; Nick's was a combination of third and fourth graders and totaled 11 students. Phoebe, who spent her junior year in a mixed group of five seniors and juniors, needed a little more time to adjust to the clothes and personalities of foreign, mostly female, teens who also had to abandon their

Both children became very involved in their school activities. Nick was elected president of the elementary school student council and participated in a toy and clothing drive and others to raise money for charities, the homeless and orphanages.

"It made us feel good that we were doing something, but it made us feel sad that all these kids were homeless," said Nick. "We wanted to do more for them."

The student council also raised money to try to aid the Tirana zoo, where animals lived in undersized cages, had no freedom of movement and were diseased and hungry, but the funds ended up at charities because Albanians place human needs far above those of animals.

That philosophy was also evident in the streets where the country's roving feral animal population flock to dumpsters and to trash left out to rot. Nick and his mother happened to notice a tiny, starving border collie on several occasions who took a liking to Nick. One night, she jumped up against his chest. After seeing her a number of times more, the last by a garbage pile infested with big rats, they took her back to the apartment, bathed and fed her and won Peter's permission to have her immunized, name her Luna and bring her back to the island as their pet.

For Phoebe, once the ice was broken between her and her classmates, children of diplomats and business people working abroad, she was glad to be in Albania.

"At times it was incredibly difficult for me. Making new friends was definitely an experience, but I was more than happy to be there," she said, adding that a friend from Nantucket spent a couple weeks there and this summer a Norwegian friend she met at the school visited the island. "It made me a lot more aware of other people's

inspired my interests in international relations and communication. It introduced me to another kind of life. It's hard to be so far from home, but it made a lot of difference in how I see things and view the world."

Phoebe, who has written and edited for Veritas, the island's high school newspaper, became involved in the international school's magazine and used her expertise to help bring a professional quality to the periodical.

All the Panchys found new friends, a deep level of acceptance by the Albanians they met and a fresh perspective on how fortunate they are to be Americans.

"Things we take for granted are so hard to come by in other countries," said Melissa. "I am more appreciative of our liberties and our freedoms - and our electricity."

For Peter, the rewards of teaching people from Iran, Egypt, Libya and many other nations eager to learn and the opportunity to develop new courses he may introduce here gave him great satisfaction. But he, too, said it was the welcoming kindness of the people that touched him most.

"When I was brought up, most of my parents' friends were Albanian and I remember how warm they were. To be in Albania was heartening for me," he said. "Professionally, I brought a lot back to enrich my teaching. Teaching is my life - I think I'm a richer, better teacher from being there.

"Family and friends are very important in that culture. This was great for our family and we made so many friends we really treasure, " he added. "I believe we met friends we consider family that we will certainly see in our lifetime, whether it's here or there - just wonderful people. The people we met were one of the best parts of the trip."

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