Europe Trip Part 1 - Albania

Getting There -

I left Indianapolis Wednesday (May 23rd) early afternoon and arrived in Tirana, Albania at 1:00 Friday (May 25th) morning. Wow. The flight delays and multiple flight connections were quite extraordinary. Just a few things that stuck out: the 8-hour flight from Chicago to London. My seat was in the very back of the plane right across from the bathroom and right next to a large man with superbly smelly feet (he took his shoes off). Also, unexpectedly having to combine my two pieces of carry-on into one piece in London because they only allow one carry-on (purses count as one). I had to throw some stuff out so I could combine the two. In Milan I had to unexpectedly purchase a return ticket from Tirana to Milan because one apparently can't go into Albania without proof that you are planning on leaving Albania. This actually turned out to be a good thing, but at the time I was a little preterbed. But the very highlight of getting to Albania was exiting customs in Tirana, walking into the main part of the airport and seeing James' smiling face awaiting my arrival. It was all worth it, now.

Meet and Greet -

I'm so impressed with how James has settled in and made himself an integral part of Berat. It's a gift of his, to easily make meaningful connections and adjust to life's unusual circumstances. I met so many of his wonderful friends and can see how much they truly enjoy and appreciate him.

Albanian culture is similar to the Arab culture in that they love to visit. Dropping by unnanounced for a coffee is the norm. And drop by we did. We visited James' language tutor, his host-family, his co-workers and several other of his friends. Usually the visit would consist of me being introduced, me smiling and nodding when they would look at me and talk, and James prompting me to say some key Albanian words, such as "mire", "falemenderit," "po," or, when leaving, "Mirë upafshim." It felt like I was back in Jericho again, visiting family I didn't know very well, listening to them speak Arabic while I smiled a lot. It was great. James did an awesome job of translating, though. I was thoroughly impressed with his grasp of the language and grateful for the interpretation.

I was also able to meet a lot of the other Peace Corps volunteers in Albania. They all seem like a great bunch. Katie, James' site-mate in Berat, was leaving for vacation in Amsterdam two days after my arrival, so we had a party the day after I arrived so I could meet her and everyone else. Katie is awesome; very gregarious and superbly positive. I was glad to meet someone with such great energy and glad she is in Berat, keeping James company. I also met David and his family, who are equally awesome. They were all very hospitable and warm during my visit. They even did a few loads of laundry for us despite having plumbing problems (need some more hair to fix those pipe, David?).

Activities and Fun -

While we were in Berat, in addition to visiting a lot of his friends, we also visited the high school's English class so the students could "interrogate" me. Basically, I told them my story and then they asked me a lot of questions. One of the things that was a big self-esteem booster for me is that they kept asking me if I played sports. After I told them that I occasionally play softball, they kept asking me about other specific sports; "Do you play tennis?" The teacher told me later it's because "I'm so fit." I had two other people on two different occasions mention that I look very fit. Wow! How awesome. After gaining almost 20 pounds inthe last two years, that was really wonderful to hear. We also visited the old castle in Berat. It was fun to explore and see the sights.

And then our next country was Montenegro, part 2 of the Europe trip story....