Day One travels to Albania

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Whenever I travel alone, I really think that there is no easy way.

Day One... long travels planned to get to Albania. LAX thru JFK thru Rome then to Tirana, Albania. In total it's approximately a 22 hour trip. From the very beginning, I should have known that it was going to be a disaster. LAX flight gets delayed by an hour due to mechanical failures on the airplane. They transfer us to another plane and off we go for our flight to JFK. Don't they realize that if we take off late, most likely we will land late? Of course, we do not have a gate once we arrive in NY, but luckily after 30 minutes we find a gate and off we go.

As I'm running through JFK to get to the International terminal, I swing by the AlItalia desk and sure enough I get the special treatment. They were really awesome about getting me through the security lines, but they weren't too awesome at also getting my bags through.

After a long 8 hour flight to Rome, then a lovely 3 hour layover + a strange customs setup in Albania, I'm currently without bags in Tirana. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirana

At that point I did not really know what to do. I was supposed to pick up my bags and immediately head for the bus station to catch a bus to Saranda (approximately 7 hours south of Tirana). Without my bags, I was going to have to wait around in Tirana until they arrived. Lucky for me, Auron, the head of the Marine Research group took a chance and came to the airport to help me out! Thank goodness for him!

He sorted everything out with Albanian customs and we headed to a great lunch in downtown Tirana. We met one of his gorgeous Albanian friends that was a semi-pro volleyball player in the States. At 6'3" she towered over both of us, but she has very interesting stories to share.

Already a great trip with great people! Can't wait for the rest of it!

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