Peixin—Albania–Week 5

 

I’ve been in Albania for more than a month now. My work at the office is mostly an independent project. Right now, I was finally connected to two customary travel agencies back in China and they both showed their interest in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism. Sadly, I don’t work in the Ministry of Tourism. I’m working in the National Coastal Agency and even though my boss, Auron, is really well connected and influential in government, there’s not much else I can do. I’m still trying to think of ways for cooperation. I’m glad my anxiety level is not as high as a few weeks ago when I was totally disoriented at work. Fortunately, Nancy (Auron’s wife) provided me with a bunch of brilliant ideas and I learned a lot from her. She is very inspirational.

Today I’ve successfully had coffee with someone from AKT (which is the National Tourism Agency) in order to understand their ongoing events and future plans. I thought he would give me a list of Chinese journalists they are planning on inviting to visit Albania; however he told me it’s just the beginning and everything is still floating around. Maybe I am being too pushy. But still, I’m glad I got to understand their way of marketing tourism to Albania and it was great to have a little coffee break at noon. Anyways, I really enjoyed the espresso here. I like the way people sit at the table, having coffee and chatting for hours. It’s very laid-back and relaxing.

In terms of that TV program I mentioned last time, it was a very exciting experience. The first time I ever been on national television doing an interview. I was a little bit nervous but eventually everything turned out pretty well. First, every intern got to talk about their projects in the office and then we walked out on the main boulevard to answer more informal questions like where we visited, what aspect of Albania do you like, etc…

Our group of interns missed the broadcast the next day morning because we were all sleeping…lol. Later on, we saw the stream video online and they did voice overs for all of us in Albanian (except for Eni who is fluent in Albanian). My voice over sounds like a more mature woman in her mid- 20s. Anyways, I liked it. I sincerely wish I could understand Albanian at that moment.

We did travel a lot in the past month. I probably traveled the most since I’ve been here longer than the others. Every weekend we went on trips. Up until now we have visited Kruja, Durres, Montenegro (Ulqinj, Podgorica, Cecinje, Kotor), Shkodra, Borsh, Saranda, Butrint, and Mount Dajti. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it, especially the scenery in Kotor and the southern coastline of Albania from Vlora to Saranda. It was fantastic and breathtaking.

It was on Mount Dajti that we ran into a group of Harvard students here interning in different goverment ministries. (this is the first time I met someone from Harvard). They don’t seem much different from us. There was only one undergrad girl, Halah,  who happened to live nearby my apartment. We hung out last night and visited the mosque together. It’s the first time I’ve ever been to a mosque and I was awed by it’s stunning decoration. Also, this is the first time I’ve seen someone practicing Islamic prayer too. It looks very peaceful yet powerful to me.

On a side note, in the past month my cooking skills have improved so much that I no longer need to worry about what to have for dinner. I’m very glad that groceries here are so cheap so I can buy whatever I want and attempt to make different dishes everyday.