Exploring Albania

As I have been living in Albania for a little over 4 months, I have to say that I have probably visited more places in Albania in 4 months, than most Albanians have in their entire lives. I have been trying to visit various volunteers around the country so that I have a better idea of the cultural differences within the country and so I know where to take you all when you come to visit!

The beaches here are definitely gorgeous! So far I’ve been to Durres, Vlore, and Shin-gjin all along the coast. Some of the bigger beach cities certainly have more to do in terms of entertainment and night life, but the beaches are a bit dirtier and the water sometimes less sanitary because they are so populated and don’t have the infrastructure to support large-scale public works when inundated by tourists. So I’m hoping to explore some of the smaller beach towns or places where you can camp on the beach as the summer progresses.

Probably my favorite trip so far this summer was to Pogradec to celebrate one of my friend’s birthdays—she was turning 60!! [so for those of you that have been telling me that Peace Corps was something that you’d always wanted to do, it’s never too late!] Pogradec is located in the south on Lake Ohrid right across from Macedonia. The lake is huge and is right in the mountains, so it’s gorgeous! The beach has plenty of activities like paddle-boating/row-boating/kids rides, etc. It almost felt like I was back at home in Virginia Beach—getting to go the beach every day! We did rent paddle boats a couple days in a row and one day I was convinced that we could see Enver Hoxha’s (former Communist dictator) former palace on the lake. However, apparently his palace was nowhere near the lake and was actually on the river feeding into it…so I guess in actuality, we almost paddled our way into Macedonia. Under the Communist regime there were people who tried to occasionally swim across the lake and into Macedonia under the cover of night….so it was kind of like we were doing that…except in a paddle boat, drinking beers, in the sunshine. Hmmm.

In the evenings the xhiro didn’t start until 10 pm. (reminder…xhiro is the tradition in Albania where everyone puts on their finest and walks around the city at night…usually on 1 main road from around 8-10 pm) This was a nice change compared to Burrel where everyone is pretty much at home and inside by 9:30. However, Pogradec is a tourist destination for Albanians as well (supposedly it’s the city for lovers) so people are on vacation and on a different time schedule. We found an awesome place that had live Albanian music and there was much circle dancing going on. It was sort of like an open beer garden, and there were actually people of both genders and all ages out until midnight! (not very common in other places in Albania) So we circle danced every night, and then found a disco right across the street that was open even later! Needless to say, I definitely got my dancing fix for a little while! Overall, a fabulous vacation filled with beach, boats, beer, good food, and dancing!

This past week I just finished up teaching at school so I have a break from teaching during the month of August. I’m hoping to make it around to a few more places in Albania…there is still much exploring to be done in this amazingly beautiful country!!