Berat

This post has been a long time coming. Partly because I didn't have the pictures I needed to complete it, and partly because I think I was putting off writing about my last weekend getaway. My time in the Balkans is sadly coming to a close :(  It was the perfect mixture of exercise, relaxation, city, and fresh air that we managed to fit into a regular weekend. The city of a thousand windows is an easy sell.

So many windows. We started counting and then we realized there were more on the side we were on!

We left for Berat right after school and drove the two hours there fairly easily. Finding our hostel was a bit more difficult since the directions led us on foot from the bus station, but we arrived in the car. (I'm one lucky girl, I know.) Once there I knew we were going to have a fantastic weekend. The staff at Berat backpackers hostel were kind and welcoming and immediately showed us a map, pointing out locations and restaurants we would want to visit. After claiming our beds and using the restroom we were off to see the castle. The hike up was exhausting enough, but short, and well worth the effort. The castle of Berat was one of the biggest I've seen in Albania, and the views of the mountains were perfect for the evening sunset. The lights came on halfway through our time exploring, and  though the trip down was a little scary and difficult, I was happy with our decision to visit that night. Post hike, we were feeling extremely famished, so we headed to the number one rated restaurant in Berat, Mengalemi. The food was disappointing, but satisfying enough. For about 10 dollars I was able to split a salad with Cortney, devour a main course of stuffed peppers and complete the meal with ice cream and 2 glasses of wine. Halfway through our meal, Cortney was kind enough to invite a woman dining alone to join us.

Castle

Sophie, from Switzerland, was visiting a friend in Berat and had spent many years back and forth watching Albania change. She had some very interesting views on all of the politics, and the development throughout those years. After saying goodbye, we stopped at the market to get some water and headed back to the hostel.

My night was filled with strange dreams of foam parties and rafting (don't ask), but overall I slept very well.

The following day was one of the most interesting I've had in Albania. We left at 8:30am after realizing our car was parked behind a weekend market. We had to ask a truck to move for us, and had quite the hassle getting on the road. The "very nice" road was one of the bumpiest I've ridden on, and there were several points where I thought I might throw up.

Eventually, after calling the man in charge and getting misinformed directions from him, we made it to where we needed to be. We snuffed down some byrek, put on our wet suits and hopped into a few jeeps to make the trek to where the rafting  trip would begin. This trip was also awful, but luckily the fact that I had just eaten helped a bit and we made it without problem. Once there, we still had to spend time waiting for another group to arrive. Shortly after their arrival our guide proceeded to give us our safety instructions, and to explain each of the 5 cues to us (forward, backward, left backward, right backward, and everyone inside.)

All ready to go!

Our group of 5 got placed with 2 random people even though the smaller rafts were clearly made for a group of 5. I was quite confused. I also received a broken paddle at first but ended up switching with Eva about 5 minutes down the rapids because otherwise the sides were uneven with 4 paddles on one side and 2 on the other (we were already a paddle short.) Luckily the man who was without a paddle had a waterproof camera with him. These are mostly his pictures.

Such a beautiful sight!

The nice thing about the trip was that it was just the right amount of difficulty that you were able to enjoy the beauty of the cliffs and enjoy the amount of exercise you were getting.  We were also lucky enough to stop several times to look around. At one point I had the privilege of a very safe cliff jump. It wasn't very high and I was wearing a life jacket and helmet.

Me, Eva, Bobby, and Gill in front of the first waterfall

We also got to walk under a waterfall back into a small cave. This was quite overwhelming and the water was very cold, so after this I wasn't able to warm up and the trip got to be a little much toward the end, as my hands were numb and white. Luckily the beauty around me was able to help me have strength for the last portion of the journey even though I was freezing cold.

Walking under the second waterfall. I'm pretty sure I'm the girl out swimming in the deep water. 

At one point, the canyon was so narrow that we had to push our boat through. It was amazing to me that the water was not flowing super fast at this point, and our guide explained to us that the water was extremely deep, and that if it wasn't the water would be flowing quickly and would be very dangerous.

Paddles up, time to push ourselves through the canyon.

We could tell we were getting close to the end of the journey when we started seeing trash all along the sides of the river. I was glad that further out there was no trash and that our guides were super knowledgeable about the preservation of nature(they went around several times to make sure they got all of the trash from our snack.) Leave no trace!

Beauty!

Upon arrival back they provided a small barbecue snack of french fries, veggies, and lamb. The lamb was particularly good, however after our hard workout we were still hungry. After driving back to Berat we headed to White House for a dinner of pizzas. The evening consisted of showers and an early bedtime.

We spent the following morning hanging out at the hostel. The rooftop porch was just what we needed to relax our muscles and soak up some sun. I was also lucky enough to get my hand on a guitar for a brief 5 minutes (after that they hurt.) I only remembered about 7 chords, but I was able to play and hum along to "Oh My Sweet Carolina." It felt great to hold an instrument. I may have to invest in one in Jakarta. We'll see.

This was our morning

A brief drive was followed by a tour of the Cobo Winery in Berat. This is a family owned business, and I was excited to finally go on a winery tour since I believe Europe is the place to do it. The man who did the tour was the same man who makes the wine today (his grandfather started the company) and he was very sweet and kind to us. As it turned out the same group we went rafting with was doing this tour as well. They, of course were in a hurry, so after sampling all the wines, eating some delicious homemade olives, bread, and cheese, they quickly left to go to Durres for lunch.

Storage

We took our time. I had 2 glasses of the most expensive wine (the reserve) and even enjoyed/purchased the walnut raki. During the last part of our time there we had a fantastic conversation with the man concerning his opinions about Albania, and their transition into freedom. I would describe him as a progressive, who had the right ideas about what Albania should be doing: perserving their heritage and culture. This country tries so hard to be European/American, but they aren't and that is what makes them special. You can go anywhere and find people walking in heels, shopping in malls, eating at expensive restaurants, and driving cars. But you can't go anywhere and almost get in a car accident with a donkey(did I forget to mention this?), or hike up to a castle, or sip on walnut raki.

Vineyards

Overall I'd say Berat was one of my favorite experiences in Albania, and was the perfect last Albanian trip before I head home.

Përmet

After being sick all week (3 day week) a 4 day weekend was just what I needed. I woke up super early on Thursday morning to head to the bus station to catch our bus to Permet.  I spent the majority of my time on the bus blowing my nose. The main goal was to get all the crap out so that I could breath in all the fresh air that any city but Tirana, Durres, and Elbasan have to offer me. After having the luxury of renting cars and going at our own pace for all of our trips I wasn't sure I'd be happy on the bus. I wouldn't go as far as to say I enjoyed the bus ride, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. For about an hour of it I had to pee like no other, even though I purposely wasn't drinking a lot of water. Luckily Adam was kind enough to ask the bus driver to stop for me and I ran into the gas station and peed. (No bathrooms on the buses here.) While in there I also happened to break the door of the stall and I thought I'd be trapped for quite some time, but I easily got out. At one point on the journey I looked out my window and noticed we were about an inch away from the ledge that was separating us from the rushing river. I closed my eyes, turned to Robert and said "That wasn't a close call at all. It's fine." He immedieatley started hysterically laughing at which point I told him, "sometimes you just have to lie to yourself and pretend everything is going to be okay." I may have to start living by this rule more often.

We stopped in the small village of Këlcyrë to do a quick hike up to the local castle. I was pretty hungry by this point (and in need of something to drink) so we went to a restaurant where, of course, Adam knew just about everyone. Adam lived in Përmet for two years and would often do work in Këlcyrë as well. After sharing 2 chickens, a salad, some bread, and some of the best fries ever, we looked outside and noticed it was pouring rain. So we ordered another drink. Halfway through, it quit raining, but by the time we had finished, it had started again, so we decided to suck it up and go for our hike in the rain. Along the way, Robert stopped to buy himself a very nice umbrella at a small local market. The hike up started fairly easy, and there were enough switchback that we were able to make it up the mountainside, and to the castle without any major issues. Along the way we pointed out all the shoes we found, and wondered to ourselves why there was so much trash on the trail to a deserted castle.

The next 20 minutes was spent exploring, climbing on, and probably ruining the castle. Part way through our explorations my camera decided to stop working (I assume due to an extreme amount of moisture) and overall there wasn't much to see, so we headed back down to continue our journey to Permet. The trip down was a bit more difficult. Firstly Mr. Robert's newly purchased umbrella was shed into pieces by the wind. Then we decided to take a "shortcut" or more better phrased as a fun slippery slide down a muddy mountain. Eventually, we made it down and after Robert showed the people at the store his umbrella they were kind enough to give him a new one for free  :)

Our next stop was just a short cab ride, on a partially finished road, away. Upon reaching Permet and Adam's in-law's apartment we were very kindly and warmly greeted by his mother in law. She quickly offered us some candied walnuts (so sweet and good) some candied oranges, some dried plums, and walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts, along with some champagne. Adam translated all of her questions and our answers about where were from, and our families. She just kept bringing out more items until we couldn't handle anymore. She agreed to meet us for dinner at her sister or brother's restaurant at 7 and we headed out for an evening coffee at one of Adams favorite places. The reason we decided to go there was because they have 50 lek (50 cent) hot chocolate. I quickly took advantage of the situation and ordered a hot chocolate and an espresso and poured one into the other. I love black coffee, but every once in awhile I enjoy a mocha. It is impossible to find a place that serves them, so you just have to make them on your own.

Mocha!

The walk to the restaurant was short, even though it was on the other side of town, and as we walked Adam pointed out important buildings in Permet. We were kindly greeted by the owners (part of Adams family) and were offered the warmest spot right next to the fire. They cooked our chicken and pork chops right over  some fresh hot coals, and served them up with some delicious veggies, bread, hot cheese dish, homemade wine, and some cinnamon and honey covered apples. All of this only cost us $5 each.

Homemade wine, which was delicious. 

Shortly after finishing our meal we began the walk back to the apartment, planning to stop to get food for our 10 mile hike the following day. Unfortunately all the markets were closed and we figured we wouldn't be able to hike ten miles if we left after the market opened the next morning  because it would get dark before we'd be safely down from the mountain. Going on trail that isn't well marked in the dark didn't seem very plausible or smart.  We also figured we couldn't hike 10 miles without food, so our super awesome plan was out.  I was a bit bummed, but realizing that the hike would be done in the cold and rain made it a bit un-appealing anyway. We planned, instead, on doing a short hike nearby, and headed home, at which point Adams mother-in-law pulled out every single blanket, towel, and pillow in the house to make sure we were comfortable. I slept like a baby for 10 hours, and was super glad I didn't have to wake up at 6am to start hiking. Vacation is about having fun, but it is also about relaxing.

Waterfall with trash.

Breakfast was a cheese and hot-dog like calzone from a Greek bakery, followed by a quick coffee nearby. The market was opened so we stopped to get some food for our lunch and headed toward the mountainside to hike to a nearby, and very old church. Along the way we had to pass over a flowing river, which led to a stop for a beer at Mr. Roberts request. Luckily for us, there was a nice unfinished concrete building for us to escape from the rain, for our 30 minute beer stop. Then we continued up the mountainside, passing another small river, and a mudslide. I'm not sure how Robert managed to get over the mudslide so easily, because after I made it across with his help, my pants, and part of my jacket were covered in mud. After this, the hike was a bit easier. We passed a gorgeous, trash filled waterfall, and eventually made our way to the courtyard of the church. Here we stopped for a delicious lunch of crackers, cheese, bake rolls, tuna, dried fruit, chips, and gin and lemonade. After all, we were on vacation.

Arches overlooking the gravestones.

Our lunching area plus some of the fresco

Adam went to go ask the key holder to let us in, while the rest of us explored the gorgeous fresco on the outside of the church. The plaster the fresco was painted on covered some very interesting stone, and I like to marvel at how old this stone probably was, considering how old the fresco on top of it was. Insane!

Door with the peeled back Fresco revealing the very old rock. 

Adam came back to inform us that they wouldn't let us inside and we were debating what to do next when the key holder came and let us in. She must have had a change of heart. The church was gorgeous. The walls were all covered in paintings and I was surprised how well I was able to see considering it was all natural light on a cloudy day. The sunlight roof was gorgeous. After 10 minutes we had explored enough and headed home. The trip down the mountain was much worse than the trip up. I basically had to ride down the mudslide and hope that I wouldn't get washed away in the mud covered rocks. Once we all arrived safely at the bottom we headed to get some pilaf, followed by some more delicious mocha to warm us up.

skylight and beautiful paintings. 

Home was met with a quick nap for a boys and a warm shower, followed by some music and reading time for myself. After our siesta we were ready for some food, so we headed out for some pasta and macaroons, followed quite quickly by us calling it another early night and heading home to pass out.

Our first furgon ride! 

After the bus ended up taking 6.5 hours (it was supposed to take 5), we opted to take the furgon home. I've heard some pretty bad things about furgons and assumed it would be fast, scary, and packed inside. The ride home was quite interesting, starting with our driver being stopped by a cop. We assumed they would want to check the van and possibly our bags, but instead the driver went and poked his head into the trunk of the cop car for about 3 minutes. He then emerged with a wrapped parcel that looked similar to the shape of a human arm. He quickly threw it in the trunk on top of my bag and after a brief examination we saw blood and felt something frozen. Our conclusion is that it was a goat's leg, but one can't really be sure. Mostly, I was just nervous it would thaw and drip all over my bag, and that the stench mixed with the crazy driving would be too much for my tummy to handle. Lucky for us, after a shaky ride through the unfinished road we dropped the parcel off in Tepelene.

The gross package on top of my bag....

Surprisingly I had no stomach issues whatsoever, thought I kept my stomach full, and my mouth chewing on gum the whole time. My biggest complaint about the furgon is that I was sitting right next to a speaker that was blasting the loudest 90's and pop music you can imagine. I tried to drown it out with my iPod, and was partially successful after Adam kindly asked the driver to turn it down. What is it about this country and terrible music? Overall Led Zeppelin, McGuinness Flint, and Ryan Adams did a fantastic job of making the ride bearable, and pass quickly. It was ironic that on the way to Permet I talked with Scott and Robert about how when I drive I always want a good song playing in case I get in an accident, die, and it is the last song I ever hear. So many songs were perfect for this particular thought on the way home. Before I knew it we were home and heading to get some Jimmy's Pizza!

You can play this song at my funeral, as you dance around me while enjoying some IPA.  The thought that came to my head while I was scared of dying in a furgon crash on the way home: "I don't want no one to mourn beside my grave."

2nd world country

When I first applied to a job in Albania I was given a very brief explanation of what I was signing onto. It was explained to me that this country was still developing. What exactly that meant, I hadn't a clue. I knew there was power, fairly clean water, internet and all the basic necessities I needed for survival. But if it wasn't a 3rd world country, and wasn't yet developed, what was it?

"2nd world country" isn't a term we hear about much, so I'm going to attempt to write a blog post in which I describe what it is, at least in the terms of Albania.

The Power:  The power in Albania is pretty good, especially in the newer buildings. Since moving to my current apartment I have had the power go out 4 times, but all times it was restored with in the hour, and didn't affect me much. While we visited Saranda we had almost a whole day with our power out. This was a bit more difficult because we had no running water, (it runs on pumps controlled by electricity) no way of charging our electrical items (still not a big deal, )and no working lights. Luckily phones here come with what we refer to as "the albanian special." Flashlights installed on the end of them allowing you to make your way to the bathroom as needed. We also quickly purchased some cheap candles and created an evening of romance including wine and reading. My biggest complaint about the power shortages would be when I'm teaching. My school is lucky enough to have active boards (basic version of smart boards.) However when the power goes off we have no boards at all. This makes it very hard to teach math, and spelling. I've found myself being very flexible in my teaching, which is actually quite an awesome quality to have as a teacher. Especially considering it was my main weakness during my year of student teaching. Another major concern is the powerlines. Not only do they dangle down forcing me to duck to avoid being severely injured, they are also mangled together in an extremely crowded jumble on poles.

This isn't even close to the worst power line. 

The traffic: Everyone here owns a car. It's not a second world country thing, it's a communism thing. People weren't allowed to own cars until 20 years ago. It's a symbol of freedom. Tirana is a small "big city." You can easily walk around the whole city in a few hours. So fitting a car for everyone who wants to exercise their freedom is nearly impossible. The second world problem is that there are hardly any government regulations on them. Most of the people who drive have never been to driving school. They fail to stop at stoplights, they park on sidewalks meant for pedestrians, motorcycles drive on the sidewalks, and they certainly don't follow the speed limit, or yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. They also can't understand that sometimes traffic has to stop, and whenever they are stopped they honk an excessive number of times. What happens if you break the law? A police officer will flag you down using a pole with a circle on the end (at least in our experience.) If you don't stop for him nothing gets done. As you can imagine there is basically no reason to follow the law.

Don't fall in now....

Renting an Apartment: The apartments in my building aren't all owned by the same landlord. Each apartment has a different landlord. Thus if something in my apartment is wrong (the toilet is broken) I call my landlord and he basically does nothing about it. No seriously. Nothing. My toilet has been broken for 6 weeks. I've mentioned it to my landlord twice and he says it is no problem. Let's also talk about the lack of addresses here. Albania just started to get street names a few years ago. I have an official address, but the likelihood that I would receive mail at it is limited to none. My electric bill has arrived one out of 2 times. Also because of this issue, I have to keep a little book that they stamp when I go to pay my electric and water bill. No online service here. I have running water and electricity, which I'm very grateful for, but paying the bill is such a big task. I have to go to the electric building (nearby) during the weekday, before it closes at 3. I work during all these hours, so I have to leave work early. Then I have to go to the water place to pay my water bill. This is quite far away and also not open during hours I'm not teaching, so there is another afternoon of prep time gone. Also when you wait in line it is just like the traffic. Everyone else is first. So a lot of the time people cut in line. Luckily I've learned to block everyone with my elbows.

The Pollution: Trash is everywhere. Albanians have no idea what is happening to the environment. And don't get me started on the plastic bags in the stores. I purchase one thing and they insist on giving me a bag. I go to the market and buy one pomegranate and several apples. I put the apples in a bag and carry the pomegranate  I expect them to put the pomegranate in with the apples after they weigh it. No way! it goes in a separate bag and then the two bags go in another one. For real??? I also would like to mention how poor the air quality is around here. Because of all the cars and the disel they burn I am unable to run. The one time I ran I ended up severely ill and coughing up black crap for 2 weeks. I was advised not to run again and so I haven't. I'm going crazy here! A recent quote from my lips: "It is such a gorgeous day out! I'm going to go home, open up all my windows and let in the fresh air (this sentence was just hardly finished, as I started laughing.) Let me rephrase: I'm going to go home and open up all my windows to the wonderful smell of exhaust. It's gonna be great!"

The water: Apparently the water here is drinkable. Now that I've been here for almost 4 months I will drink a glass of it every few days, but I still don't trust myself drinking it all the time. Apparently the water is stored in tanks on the tops of buildings. Thus, it is sitting out in the sun (especially in the summer.) Therefore if there is one small bacteria in the water, and the water sits in the heat and sun all day long, the possibility of the bacteria multiplying, is great. I spent my first month in this country with terrible stomach problems like any other i'd ever had. I think I can blame it on my stomach trying to get used to the water.

The gypsies: Saddest part of living here. I wish there was something I could do. So many times I have had a gypsy child come up to me and beg for money. And yet I know that if i give this child money it is just going to go straight to their "pimp."

:(

The organized crime: Apparently "nothing here happens by mistake." This is what was said on our way down from the highest mountain as we overlooked a huge forest fire. It was part of organized crime. Seriously? Ruining beautiful things for the benefit of a few people. Stupid. I guess I don't know much about this one, except that it runs our country.

ruined forest.

The shopping: I read about the fresh food markets before I arrived here and was very excited to do my fresh shopping everyday. What a task it has become! When you go to the market they expect you to purchase a large bag of everything you get. I'm only one person, therefore I only need 5 apples, one head of lettuce, and one tomato, not 8 tomatoes and 4 heads of lettuce. Also many of the small markets don't carry everything I want. Granted they have everything I need so this should be enough. They are starting to get some super markets here, but it seems each one has it's own special items. For example I have to go to Conad if I want greek yogurt, but I have to go to Euromax for my peanut butter and Gingerale. If I want oat milk (I can't stand regular milk here as it is filled with chemicals and I'm used to drinking it almost straight from a cow) I have to go to Rossman. And don't even get my started on the search for good mustard and Jameson. As far as clothing goes there are several malls, but most of the clothes in them are expensive. I purchased one item (my winter coat) for about $90, which is more than I have ever spent on an item of clothing in my life. Even my prom dress only cost me $32. I've found a few great thrift stores, which are fantastic, except for the European clothing sizes. What is a 32? is that the equivalent of a 6 or 8? My shopping for boots was endless, because everything I liked didn't exist in my size, and everything in my size was ugly. I've learned that if you find something you like at a decent price you just buy it.

Me and Cortney after a great trip to the mall. 30 minute walk to the center, 30 minute sweaty crowded bus ride there. Then the same trip home, only with packs and bags to carry. 

The Men: Awful. "He was very kind until he got drunk. Then he became Albanian."- The words my friend used to describe a man who I was originally meant to be set up with. Everyone assumed when I left that I would meet the man of my dreams, fall in love, get married, and never return. Wrong. Trying to pave your way through the dating culture of another country is much more complicated than I thought, and thankfully about a month in I realized I definitely had no desire to do so. I've heard far too many comments about what Albanian men expect their wives to be. Let's just say Albania is a little bit behind on the women's rights issues. When I complained about paying my water bill (see apartment section) another teacher commented that when he told them he worked during all the hours they were open, they told him to, "get a wife." The expectation of women is that they cook, clean, take care of the kids and do just about everything. They are seen as an object that men own. I'm not saying all Albanian men are like this, but it is definitely part of the culture. I can't even post some of the comments I've gotten walking down the street. Mostly because I refuse to re-live them.

So this sums it up. 2nd world countries are survivable, but a bit intense.

The Amazing Couchsurfing

So this is one of those blogs I've been meaning to write, but have been putting off for some time. Why do I want to write it? Mostly to inform the confused people out there.

When I first informed my mother I was inviting a random person into my house to sleep she sounded a bit worried and asked me how I knew I'd be safe. Then I informed her a bit about couchsurfing. Since then, I have gained even more experience (still minimal) and I'd like to talk about how awesome this site it.

I was informed about couchsurfing last spring when me and my brother were trying to plan our trip around Europe. As we looked at hostels we noticed the prices were super expensive since it was around Christmas. Someone informed us of couch surfing and so I looked into it and signed up for an account. No one ever contacted me when I was in Minnesota, other than to invite me to play ultimate frisbee and out for a large group vegetarian dinner, but after arriving in Albania the site came alive for me. I talked first, to my friend Scott about his experiences and decided it was worth a shot.

I started small, by posting a discussion in the Tirana group about the film festival and inviting others to attend. To my great luck, Malwine responded saying she would like to come with and we planned a meeting place. Malwine easily adjusted to our group and became a fantastic friend. I have shared many delicious baked goods and a couple of deep discussions about my past and future with her. She also ended up moving in with my co-worker.

One night Scott invited a guy who contacted him on couch surfing out for a beer with us. And boom. Joe entered our group bringing a bit of a flare and a crazy/ silly side with him. I was beginning to miss sarcasm. I'm sad to say that he will soon be leaving our group to go back to England :(

Scott hosted quite a few people and I was lucky enough to meet them and learn about couchsurfing from them. I just loved talking to people about their travels and their countries of origin. And then, eventually with enough encouragement, I started hosting. I haven't had many experiences, but I've enjoyed them all. I've yet to have a single bad experience, and I feel as though with each couch surfer I've opened up a bit more. Over winter break I finally got to surf, both with my brother and alone. In Ghent we stayed with a very nice man who showed us out to a great bar. In Amsterdam we stayed with a guy who didn't care that my brother broke his glass (long story.) In Berlin we stayed with a guy who went out with us, offered us breakfast, helped us plan our day of sight seeing, found us a way to watch the packer game and let us stay an extra night. In Munich we ended up staying with a guy who had overbooked a bit. 11 people were crowded into his small 2 bedroom house. We slept on floors and took our turns showering. It was a new years eve party in and of itself, and it was great fun to try and listen to 4 conversations in 4 different languages. In Italy the man showed me how to get to the airport and treated me to a dinner out at a nice seafood restaurant.

The night me and my two best friends were all hosting people. 

How does couch surfing work you ask? Let me tell you: You create a profile(similar to facebook) including information about yourself, you experiences, your couch, and most importantly references. People will search for you in a database based on your location. If they want to come to the city you are in, and stay with you, they contact you with a message about why they want to stay. The more personal they make it (ie: I love bluegrass music as well! or something you can relate to) the better. I generally like the people who are very honest and open. After they message you, you can read about them on their profile. Most importantly you can read the references other people have left for them. Then you can accept or decline their request.

Out for beers in Ghent (I hadn't showered in a few days)

The major benefits of couchsurfing? Mostly meeting new people. Often they will tell you awesome stories about their lives and sometimes it seems as though your friendship was written in the stars. Some people will cook for you, or bring you gifts, and others will offer you information about their culture. There is a lot to be learned from people. My favorite guests/hosts are the ones who create or share music with me. Also, as an aside, I guess it is free. And that can be cool.

The downfalls: sometimes it can restrict your life a bit as you have to plan around it. As a woman I have also noticed that many of the men can be a bit into "just meeting for a drink" in the wrong kind of way. I've been told I'm sexy way too many times, but this is why the reference system is great. No references, no way. I can simply decline your request and move on with my life.

About half of the group we stayed with in Munich

Overall I recommend you look into it. If you are unable to host, don't fret. You can join a group in your city that will help you find ways to connect with other surfers. Usually you can find people with your same interest, or people who are want to meet up at various restaurants and bars to chat about life. It has been an amazing ride so far, and I'm looking forward to my future experiences.

Gjirokastër

Checking out the mountain view on top of the Castle

I spent the first night at our hostel in Gjirokaster rolling over, not wanted to get up out of the warm bed to pee. To say I was a bit chilled would be an understatement. Yes, I was freezing almost the whole night, which is quite a different feeling for Albania where I am usually sweating. We decided to set our alarms for 8:00 to get a usual start on the day. The guy who runs the hostel also happens to run a café, so the first thing we wanted upon waking up was a warm coffee from his café. It was the perfect start to the day, a double macchiato, and a bit of raki. I mean, we are in Albania, after all, and Raki is part of the local breakfast.

Courtyard

Then we headed to the huge castle, filled with gorgeous views and mossy stone. The castle was first built in somewhere around the 12 century, and was added to many times, but the most famous renovation was made by Ali Pasha in the early 1800’s. There were many large tanks from the days of war, along with an awesome airplane and beautiful clock tower. There was a sign when we entered that told us not to stray from the path because parts of the castle were dangerous. We, of course, completely ignored this sign and went wherever we wanted.

The Italian aircraft that was forced to land in Tirana was brought here as communist propaganda. This reminded the city of the threat to their lives.

During this time we paused several times to take some contemplative pictures of each other looking at the misty mountains. Honestly, I took way more pictures of the mountains than I needed to, but I just can’t even believe how gorgeous they are, and can’t fathom how I ever lived somewhere so far away from mountains.

The clock tower

5 minutes of our time was spent trying to take a timed picture of ourselves jumping. We failed and eventually decided we were hungry enough to head to a local restaurant to eat what was probably some of the best pizza we have had in Albania.

Our jumping picture

Then we took a quick break back at the hostel, and quickly headed out to explore the other parts of the Old Town. The walking included constant trips up and down the stone paved road, several tries at finding Ismail Kadare’s* house, and a trip to a very abandoned house that Corntey and Scott decided to purchase and make into a starter home/bed and breakfast. Along the way one nice man put on his shoes, left his house and showed us to the path directly leading us to what we assumed was Kadare’s house. Another nice man stopped and offered Brain and I a ride to wherever we wanted to go. These are just a few of the many examples of Albanian hospitality. 

Ismail Kadare's house

We kind of wanted to go see the aqueducts, and noticed that our time of daylight was running out, so we headed up the mountain once again. The aqueducts must have been a lot further than we thought, because part way up we turned around and decided we wanted some coffee. Since good food is so hard to find here we decided to head back for a second round of pizza and beer, which was once again delicious and cheap. We stopped briefly at an internet café, and got an earful from the owner about communism, freedom, and some sort of speech about how everyone is a dog. It is quite possible that he was drunk, but this was okay with us since he allowed us to use the internet for free.

Exploring the streets of Old Town 

Every time we went back to the hotel it ended in a bit of cuddle time. For some reason it was colder inside than it was outside. Eventually Cortney and Scott were able to convince me to put back on my boots (not my bra though) to head out for a whiskey. I quickly noticed that me and Cortney were the only girls in the bar, but I sipped my whiskey, and may have led Cortney to become a bit intrigued by the flavor. We had a nice talk and decided it was time to head back and push our beds together so we could cuddle for the night. On our way out the door we ran into the man who kindly showed us to Ismail Kadare’s house earlier in the day. We offered to purchase him a drink and headed to a bar just down the road. Once again we were the only girls in the bar, and when I ordered a whiskey I got a very confused look and a few questions. We talked to Bledi and his cousin about the history of Gjirokaster and they showed us a video of some traditional Albanian singing. They also, of course, insisted on purchasing our drinks for us. After mentioning we were interested in seeing Enver Hoxha’s ** house Bledi agreed to meet us for a morning coffee, and to show us where it was. After arriving back at the hotel we did push our beds together and snuggle, but I still didn’t get much sleep because Cortney and Scott are blanket hogs.

cuddle buddies taking a nap

The next morning we were able to see the house of Enver Hoxja and still head out by about 10:00am to make it home by around 2. At one point on the trip I thought back to my road trips in MN and missed my crappy gas station coffee and chips. Then after thinking about it I decided when I go back home I’m going to miss my macchiatos and Albeni bars.

Enver Hoxha's house

*Ismail Kadare is a famous Albanian author. We love his books.

**Enver Hoxja was the Communist Leader of Albania for 41 years.

100 vjet pavarësi

100 years of Independence celebration in Vlore!

Today was Albanian’s birthday. 100 whole years of independence! Congrats! We of course had school off (5 day weekend) so we wanted to plan a trip somewhere cool. Cortney’s friends Tim and Brian were coming in from Seattle, so we wanted to spend some time in Tirana, but also wanted to make the most of our vacation time. Many options were tossed around, Kosovo, Shkodra, Berat, and Girokaster to name a few. After considering our time we opted to do Girkaster, and to make a few stops on the way down. We headed out of the city at about 7:30am, and made our second stop (first to pee) in Fier to see the ruins of the Greek city of Apollonia. Upon arriving we noticed that once again, to our luck, there was no charge to get in. We all shared a delicious stout and some peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast and were shown around by a very cute dog we later named Tuna (explanation later.)

After first mentioning the “pastoral scene” and noticing a table in the middle of nature Tuna showed us strait to the columns. It was quite clear that they had done some recent work on the columns, because there were some added red bricks, which we concluded probably weren’t around back in the day. Courtney and I stopped to take our picture in the theatre, similar to the one we took in Butrint, and we took a few Christian rock band photos of the whole group together. 

The columns of Apollonia

We continued to explored and found an amazing view of the mountains complete with acres of farmland and grass in the valley. Whenever we go anywhere we are amazed at how much nature there is in comparison to Tirana. I also paused to take some pictures of the church with some amazing clouds as a backdrop. 

Cortney enjoying the fresh air and gorgeous view

Church, complete with the usual beautiful clouds

By this point in time I was in need of a serious coffee, so me and Scott headed to the café to grab some coffee and some breakfast beer. We were soon followed by Cortney, Brian, and Tim. We also ate a small snack of fruit, granola bars, and corntey’s favorite runa and bake rolls. Scott and Cortney couldn’t resist giving the adorable dog some Tuna as a payment for the way she had shown us around. Thus the insanely adorable dog became knows as Tuna. It was a great breakfast and we were once again surprised that it was only 10:00 in the morning when we were ready to leave, and head to our next stop.

Just enjoying some coffee and a beer in the middle of this field. What's up world? 

Next on our list was Vlore, including Independence Balcony, where the Declaration of Independence was signed by Ismail Qemali 100 years ago. Traffic in Fier was a bit slow, and we kept seeing this hitchhiker along the road. He was walking as fast as we were driving. The cars sped up on the highway and time was moving fast. Of course the traffic was terrible once we got outside of Vlore, and we were stopped on the highway, so we opted to park on the highway and walk the 3km to the center of the city. On the way, as usual, we started craving ice cream, so we stopped at a market to get some and upon walking out of the market we saw our hitchhiker. He made it there at the same time as us. How crazy! So Cortney said “hey there” to him and we ended up hanging out with Kevin while we were in Vlore. 

Independence Balcony way back when

There were no signs telling us where the balcony was located, so we stopped to ask. One teenager told us we couldn’t get there by walking, so we started to lose hope. But we figured we had just walked 3km and something had to be happening, so we kept going. There was a ton of live music, and dancing and it felt a bit like MN on a gopher football game day. We stopped to look at the statue of the 6 most important figures in Albania’s freedom, and then moved on to look for the balcony. But no matter how hard we looked we just couldn’t find it, so we decided to give up and walk the 3km back to our car. Cortney decided to try one more time and went up to ask a cop. He quickly pointed to a balcony nearby with an Albanian flag on it. We had already seen this balcony, but thought it looked nothing like the picture we had seen on the coke cans. 

The balcony now. I see no resemblance....

I quickly snapped a photo of the boring view and we headed back to our car. Scott quickly got us on the road, however we were soon stopped in some 4 lane traffic (on a two lane highway.) We were pretty much in the same place for about 90 minutes. We would sit for 20 minutes and then turn the car off, then traffic would move about 10 meters, and then we would sit still for another 15 minutes, turn off the car, and then traffic would move forward 20 meters. People kept getting out of their cars to walk around and we kept hearing our favorite Albanian song.

Eventually we realized everyone was going to Tirana, where we came from. Luckily about 10 minutes after the cars started moving at a generally slow pace we were able to get off the road to Tirana and on the road to Girokaster. Thank god for going fast. At this point I was getting a terrible headache from not eating a real meal all day long.

Enjoying the traffic jam. Hey, does anyone know what an Albanian flag looks like?

Previously we had drove through Girokaster and Tepelene, and come across a restaurant that looked super delicious and equally relaxing. Eventually, after another hour of scary driving in the rainy night, we made it and ate a delicious meal of fish, fries, salad, and bread. Once we arrived in Girokaster we easily found our hostel, and paid our 2000 lek each for our hostel. The hostel was cold inside, but we knew we could survive since we had our own bathroom, which was to remained locked at all times, for unknown reasons. After a short break we decided to head out to explore a bit by night. The roads reminded us a bit of Ohrid, hills filled with stone, but a nice difference from the busy Tirana roads. I stopped at the market to purchase some tuna for a meal the next day (our go-to easy meal) and we purchased a bottle of wine to share for the evening. I sit here listening to bluegrass, sharing a bottle of wine with a few new friends. Brian and Tim feel like long lost soul mates to our group. I have had a fantastic independence day :)

We made it to Gjirokaster! Cortney thinks this should be our rap album cover. 

Through a new set of eyes

The majority of this post will be in the form of pictures. Today me and my fellow teacher Scott decided to walk around some parts of Tirana we hadn't really visited. We began with a little morning croissant, and coffee from one of our favorite bakeries.

Breakfast: chocolate filled croissants and espresso/machiato

As far as tourist and sight seeing goes, Tirana has little to offer. It can almost all be summed up in the Qendra (center) where the famous statue of Skenderbeg, the clock tower  mosque, museum, and opera house all reside.

The opera house is decorate with our banner for our 100 years of freedom, celebrated in the end of November. This view shows the opera house, the clock tower, the mosque and Skanderbeg Square all in one picture. Behind me is the museum. All in one area.

But there are of course, many strange and beautiful things to see around the city if you open your eyes and explore. We walked to the center and continued down a road we had never traveled on. This road gave us many interesting pieces of art in the form of graffiti.

Interesting, to say the least

Distorted double headed golden eagle.

Now that is what I call art.

The music lover in my loved this one.

The further away we got, the more strange things seemed to get. We saw many markets run by chinese people. Perhaps there is a china town in Tirana? We also saw some christmas trees for sale and I saw the first black person I have seen since I arrived here. There was also a very large, crowded market full of clothing and shoes for sale. This market reminded me of the markets we visited when I was in Honduras.

Christmas trees and the first black person I've seen in Albania

Market

After getting a little lost we ran into the man made river. This is probably the stinkiest river I've ever smelled in my whole life. We've always wondered where it started, and as it turns out, it starts at a huge pile of trash and a sewage dumping area. Oh Tirana.....

These random uncovered holes are everywhere. You have to really watch where you step.

The start of the river

The day ended at 1:00 when we decided we were finally hungry enough to split a burger at Stephen Center. I took several pictures of interesting buildings along the way as well:

The "manners building." I named it that because Je Lutem is please, Faleminderit is thank you, and Me Falni is I'm sorry. It was covered in "Kind words and actions" as we say at school. 

This is some famously old bridge, over grass. Why?

Loved the clouds today. Here is the clock tower on the way home.