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Blogs from Tirana, West, Albania, Europe
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Albania .. a dificil tarefa de dizer Tchau
Published: September 8th 2012Europe » Albania » West » Tirana
September 7th 2012
Resumo: Muitas despedidas num dia so; Coracao apertado; Muitos pensamentos/sentimentos; Estou bem. Acordei cedo para caminhar um pouco. Tirana eh uma cidade bem colorida, bem mais do que eu imaginava. Por causa do comunismo nesta regiao achei que a cidade fosse cinza. Assim, aproveitei para tirar algumas fotos. A nostalgia comecou a bater ai .. estava me despedindo de Tirana. Apos 2 semanas, ja estava me sentindo em casa. Conhecia a moca do caixa do supermercado, a sra da padaria, o moco do cafe, a faxineira do hostel .. e assim vai a lista imensa de pessoas que faziam parte da minha "rotina". Imprimi as ultimas fotos que seriam entregues as educadoras do orfanato. Este foi o dia tambem que 2 processos de adocao foram finalizados. Assim, houve festa de despedida para elas. Que festa de ... read more
September 3rd 2012
Yes that is how our journey into Tirana began. We thought we were prepared leaving Ohrid, we got up early caught the bus to neighbouring town Struga where we would find the bus station that would take us to Tirana. We learnt the worlds for bus station to Tirana and had told our bus driver who found someone on the bus who said he would take us some of the as It was now apparently a bit of a walk out of town. Well the small walk ended up being a lot longer. The man who walked us to the bus station took us to what looked like a main road and said “bus station” whilst pointing down the road. We had been told a ten minute walk so we decided to follow his directions. After ... read more
Albania .. conhecendo pessoas .. sharing experiences ..
Published: August 29th 2012Europe » Albania » West » Tirana
August 29th 2012
Resumo: Conhecendo pessoas incriveis; Aprendendo a tocar Ukulele; Estou bem. Trabalhar no hostel estava totalmente fora dos meus planos. Porem, a minha viagem tomou este rumo apos nao conseguir encontrar acomodacao barata em Saranda, lugar que eu queria ter ficado por mais tempo. Como eu mencionei no ulitmo post, trabalho como recepcionista, garconete, faxineira e fotografa dos eventos daqui (15h as 21h30). Se parar para pensar o quanto estou "economizando" e o quanto "valia" a minha hora de trabalho .. eh insano o que estou fazendo! Principalmente pq sou voluntaria no orfanato das 9h30 as 12h30 e na maternidade das 13h30 as 14h20. No orfanato eu ajudo a cuidar das criancas (0-4anos) e na maternidade eu fico com os bebes 'abandonados' no colo ou brinco com uma bebezinha que tem sindrome de down. Mas meu ponto ... read more
Albania .. 1 milhao de coisas que podemos fazer
Published: August 26th 2012Europe » Albania » West » Tirana
August 26th 2012
Resumo: trabalhando tambem no hostel; descobrindo o que sou capaz .. hehe; Estou bem. "Long Story Short": Uma vez me disseram que todos somos capazes de fazer "1 milhao de coisas". Isso veio quando me perguntaram por que eu trabalhava em banco. E eu disse "Porque eh a unica coisa que eu sei fazer" (2006 - Guatemala). Nunca me esqueci disso. Me questionava todo o momento o que mais eu posso fazer?? Conclusao era que eu nao sabia, mas eu teria que descobrir. Passaram 6 anos e nada mudou muito na minha vida. Continuei bancaria .. ate o momento que decidi tirar este periodo sabatico. Hoje, apos 2 meses de viagem, fiz diversas coisas que eu nunca havia feito: alem de cuidar das criancas no orfanato, fui professora no Haiti e aqui na Albania trabalhando no ... read more
July 6th 2012
Dax warned us. Efore going into Albania what crazy things we would see.... Well, here's what I saw! Creepy dolls hanging from half finished buildings to keep away evil spirits. Some were hand made, but a few were stuffed animals that seemed to be hanging because of some nefarious crime. I even saw a donkey kong doll lol So many donkeys! Donkeys walking alone, donkeys walking alone with stuff on their backs, donkeys tied up, donkeys in road, donkeys being ridden,... Donkeys!! Woman walking with a scythe with a 2.5 foot long blade! Goat crossings and little boys driving them Cars on the second floor of unfinished buildings with no explicable way for them to have gotten ho there Slaughtered goat on the side of the highway Cow tied up outside of a butcher shop Uncountable ... read more
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June 12th 2012
Week 2 My second week here in Albania has been nothing short of emotionally exhausting. On my way to work today I was caught off guard by a man who had some form of mental disability, most likely Down Syndrome, sitting and begging on the street. This is the third mentally disabled person that I have seen who is homeless and ignored by the rest of society. Not only am I learning about women's rights here during my stay, but my eyes have been opened to the problems involving minority rights such as those of the disabled. Today, I visited the first government sponsored domestic violence center in Kamza. We stood and waited outside a large metal gate that blocked the entire center from public view, and when we were finally let in I was ... read more
March 19th 2012
This is a video of our time in Tirana, Albaina. When you open the video, wait for the light grey bar to get all the way to the end before you press play.. .It's 'buffering' or something so if you wait until that's finished the video will play right through without cutting out =)... read more
March 12th 2012
I have been home since August. I should have written this blog some time ago, but I never felt I could do it or I should say, do it right. Fifty months on the road were coming to an end. I knew I had only two months to go and I couldn't see myself spending three hours on a computer. I really wanted to do everything I dreamed of doing before I left. You know, before you leave for the first time, you are making a list of all you want to do and obviously most of it remain undone by the end of your trip. I was at one of those dead ends. For the first time in four years I was feeling the time passing by. I read that time was the last enemy. ... read more
March 10th 2012
Monday 5th March we attempted to hike Mt Dajti.. I say attempted because firstly the cable car to the National Park near the top where we wanted to hike was closed (turns out Monday is not a good day for things being open including Museums, Galleries and cable cars!) and secondly because we got 30 minutes into the mountain (planning to hike the whole way) when it started to thunderstorm and we were in landslide territory, with parts of the path already dropped away, so we decided to turn back. Nevertheless, we saw out first bunker tucked away in the hillside. During the Communist era, which began in 1941, there were 700,000 of these concrete bunkers built by Hoxha to protect the country from invasion. Turns out they pop up everywhere!! Our friend Zhujeta from the ... read more
March 8th 2012
Our travel through the Balkans began in early January, however it is only Tirana that has forced me to start a blog. Perhaps it's the crazy turn of events that continue to fall upon us daily, or the impulse to share information from such an ill-informed country with others that has now convinced me to start a blog. And so here we are. Albania. We arrived in Tirana today with little fuss (yes, unusual for us). It's our fifth day in Albania and fourth destination on the map. We are over the initial culture shock, the realization that bus stations and tourist informations don't exit and we have mastered the Albanian thank you, 'faleminderit' with fluency. Here's to the beginning of an Albanian adventure!... read more
