Our last few weeks in Albania were spent wrapping up my teaching year, spending time with friends and visiting a couple of our favorite spots in this wonderful country we called “home” for four years.
A group of teacher friends participated in a “Sip and Paint” which was new to me but (I have come to find out) a fairly common friend activity around the world. I am not artistic in the least but I could follow the step-by-step directions that the teacher provided. It definitely exercised a different part of my brain!One last view from our apartment complex as I headed out on an early morning run.My favorite place to go at the end of my weekend runs.I never tired of the random pieces of artwork that seemed to pop up throughout Tirana. These sculptures were made by French sculptor, Richard Orlinski and appeared during French Culture Week in Tirana. As I may have mentioned before, the prime minister of Albania, Edi Rama is an artist. You can see the artistic influence throughout the city: in the architecture of the buildings, in the many murals and in displays like the one pictured.This was my favorite fruit and vegetable market. There were probably 7 or 8 markets similar to this within a 5 minute walk of our apartment. The produce was always inexpensive, fresh and seasonal. You can see the cherries in the left foreground of the photo. Cherries were the seasonal fruit in May and June. Later it will be pomegranates, then figs, then citrus and so on. In America, I often think it is harder to eat healthy because of the cost of produce and the easy access to processed and fast food. In Albania, eating healthy was easier.A view of Albania’s national hero (Skanderbeg) from the 1400’s. This statue overlooks the square in Tirana. In the background is my favorite skyscraper in Albania. It is green, blue and brown to represent the sky, water and ground. If you got up close you could see the recycled colored glass used on the outside of the building.
We took one more trip to Kruje to visit the castle, museum and bazaar. My cousin, Ann was one of many visitors we took to Kruje because of how it helps explain the history of Albania. Plus it is a great place to buy souvenirs!
A friend and I took an Albanian cooking class before I moved back to the States. There were eight people in the class from the UK, Germany Canada and the US. It was a fun group to talk with. I especially liked hearing their comments about taking a holiday in Albania. The cooking class ended with our host serving us some raki as seen in the photo. Raki is a traditional fruit brandy that is typically as strong or stronger than vodka or whiskey with an alcohol content of 50%. It is a staple of Albanian culture and is often served with coffee. Also, it is very common for it to be homemade. You can even buy a home distillery kit at the local hardware store.BrushettaLakror/ByrekTave Kosi We were given the recipes for everything we made and I am really hoping I can figure out how to make some of it here at home.This is a dear friend of ours who taught art at Albanian College. Dan is an excellent teacher and a gifted artist. The two pictures he is holding are pictures he painted for me as a good-bye gift. The painting on the left is titled Shqiperia which is what the Albanians call their country. We call their country Albania while they call it Shqiperia. In the same painting Dan included views from my two favorite cities in Albania; Berat and Theth. You can see the photo of the mural above on the right. Tirana has lots of murals and this was my favorite one and is called “A Mother’s Love”. I took many photos of the mural over the years we were in Tirana and said when we returned home I was going to frame one of the photos to hang it in our home. Unbeknownst to me, Dan painted a picture of the mural as a gift. I will treasure both paintings for a very long time.When Randy returned to Wales to take a weekend timber framing class, two friends and I took an overnight trip to the Albanian Alps in the northern part of the country. Here we are on our way to the small village of Theth to do some hiking. This was probably my fifth or sixth time to take this trip. I truly do love the mountains!Can you see the almost perfect reflection of the mountain in the water?Our first hike was to the Blue Eye. Don’t you think the color of the water is stunning!?!?Our guesthouse for the nightBreakfast the next morningThe second day we hiked to Grunas Waterfall, passing by this charming stone farmhouse on the way.My lovely travel companions are from Japan and the United States. One of them teaches kindergarten and the other teaches first grade.
Wandering around the village of Theth…
Some of the kids even wanted to stay in for part of their recess so they could ask more questions. So cute!My students were always coming up with science related questions that I could not always answer. After awhile we decided to start making a list of those questions. Not long after that we invited Randy (who has a background in biology, chemistry and all things related to science) to come to school to help answer some of their questions. I loved seeing all the children’s enthusiasm plus I loved seeing Randy interact with so much patience as he answered their questions.One last picture before the last day of school. I definitely miss these sweet faces and my amazing teaching assistant.As the kids were going to their buses on the last day, a few of them hung back for one more hug. 🙂The day after school let out our niece, Lois (Jeanette’s daughter) and her husband, Andrew arrived in Tirana for a short visit. Coming to Tirana was their first stop of a six month international travel itinerary. Lois is a traveling nurse and Andrew works remotely in website development. They both resigned from their jobs after saving for several years so they could go on this adventure. Right now they are in Nepal for a month as they do some mountain hiking in the Himalayas. Amazing!Andrew is an avid chess player. After watching for awhile these men invited Andrew to play chess with them even though they did not share the same language.
One of the days that Lois and Andrew were with us there was so much rain that many of the streets flooded and we could not get to where we were going. Lois said that was no problem because she was wearing water shoes and could give me a piggy back ride. Ha, ha, ha, it was a hoot!!!!We are now on our way to Berat, another favorite Albanian city. We stopped at a beautiful winery (Cobo) on the way. We have been to Berat at least a dozen times during our four years in Albania. You may remember from my other posts that it is called the “City of a Thousand Windows”.
Exploring the Berat Castle where Lois bought a rug.
We are now walking amongst the thousand windows as we make our way to Lili’s for dinner.
Lili serves traditional Albanian food that is absolutely delicious!!!! Plus Lili is a very engaging host who welcomes guests into his home to enjoy the food his wife prepares.
Enjoying some gelato after dinner as we stroll through Berat’s promenade. You can see some of the thousand windows in the distance on the hill. You can also see part of the castle at the top of the hill.
A beautiful sunset silhouetting Lois and Andrew as they stand on the Berat Castle wall. Good night and good bye to Berat, you will be missed!Randy at his favorite coffee shop. He started each day in Albania with a 65 cent espresso and occasionally a brioche. This coffee shop was a two minute walk from our apartment. There are more coffee shops per capita in Albania than any place in the world. They are a part of Albanian culture that involves sitting daily at a coffee shop for up to a couple of hours with the same cup of coffee as they visit with family and friends. What a wonderful tradition!This is my good friend Edlira who was my teaching assistant the first year I taught at Albanian College. She not only helped me in the classroom but also did so much to help me understand Albanian culture. We met up with Edlira and her family a few days before leaving Albania. She is holding her son who is not quite three in this picture. You may remember from an earlier post that we helped Aled celebrate his first birthday a couple of years ago.As you may know, I adore sharing children’s literature so whenever I had the opportunity I brought Aled a book. Here he is examining the newest book with his dad, Aldo.Recently, Edlira and Aldo welcomed a baby daughter into their family. I was so glad I got to meet her before we moved back to the States.Randy and I are definitely missing this darling family who we become attached to over our years in Albania.
I took this video of our apartment to share with the teachers at my school. I thought one of them might want to rent the apartment after we left. It was a great apartment! This video is really long so you might want to skip it. We have now arrived at the Tirana Airport with our ten suitcases. We checked eight of them and none of them arrived in Rochester with us. Stress!!!! Six of the suitcases arrived three days later. Two of the suitcases did not arrive for close to three weeks. As we unpacked we discovered that several pieces of my clothing had been taken from one of the suitcases. More stress! The good news is that we arrived safely and survived another long (not quite 24 hour) travel day.Boarding our Air Albania flight to Istanbul where we will catch our flight back to America. Good bye to the Tirana Airport, it served us well over our time living abroad. When we moved to Albania the first time in 2018, the airport had five gates. It now has 14 gates and is currently expanding the runway so that it can accommodate direct flights from New York City to Tirana. That is just a couple examples of how quickly the tourism industry is growing in Albania.Good bye, Tirana! We miss you and look forward to the day we can come back to visit.
Many years ago when I found out about a teacher exchange between a Dudley teacher and a teacher from the UK, I never dreamed that it would end with Randy and I living in Albania for four years. When I first applied to be an international teacher I only wanted to do it for a year but quickly learned that almost all international teaching contracts are for a minimum of two years. Of course, we ended up staying for four years because we liked the experience so much. Another thing I never anticipated was being able to travel as much as we did. We have visited over 50 countries and feel very, very fortunate to have done so. Visiting many different places has helped me to become more open minded. Although I would not want to live permanently anywhere but America, I can now understand much better the positives of other cultures. For example, the way health care is delivered, the use of transportation, the way societies take care of the very young and the very old, the prison system, the value of just sitting and enjoying the moment without constantly having to be on the go. Also, all the geographic beauty we saw from mountains to beaches to volcanoes to caves to lakes and rivers. Becoming more familiar with other religions has taught me that no matter what religion a culture practices, we all want basically similar things: treating others kindly, taking care of family, belief in a higher being.
Living abroad has also taught me so much about the privilege of being an American. We can travel to many places without a visa, English is our primary language which often makes communication easier, our standard of living allows for most of us to have a phone, an education, cutting edge health care. The stability of our dollar stands up well against many other currencies. Also, as an American I can express my opinion without fear of retribution.
Enough of all my philosophical talk! As you can tell we loved our time living abroad and if you ever get the chance (even for a month or two), GO FOR IT!
Thanks for taking the time to read this last blog. I love reading your comments and listening to your thoughts about our experiences. All the best to each of you!
Wow! What a compelling final blog post to culminate your four years in Albania. You are such a vivid writer that I feel I have traveled there with you! What a gift you have given us, your friends and readers!♥️♥️♥️ Ann P.
I have truly enjoyed every one of your posts. Your descriptions & photos make it feel almost like I’m there ! Thanks Sara! Hope to see you now that you are back home.
Glad to know you have enjoyed reading the blog. I saw a recent picture of your four beautiful grandchildren on Facebook last week. Isn’t it wonderful to be a grandparent!?!?!
Thank you for enlightening us through your four years of travel to many parts of the world that I have never experienced. Truly a delight. Welcome home Randy and Sara!
I have enjoyed each and every blog post, Sarah. You have experienced so much and made so many friends and memories. Thanks for sharing with us! Welcome home! Although I love traveling, I agree with you: there is no place I’d rather live than America, as imperfect as she may be.
Wow, I did not know you read all the blogs. You are amazing! You are right America has plenty of imperfections but it is the country I love and feel fortunate to live in.
As I was reading this, I found myself feeling some of the emotions that you may have been going through as you reflected on this wonderful time of your life – what you loved about it, the relationships you made and lessons you learned. You are a gifted writer! I am so glad that I was able to share in your adventures by visiting and reading your blog.
Yes, there was a fair amount of emotion as I wrote this post. Glad for where we are now in our life but so many fond memories from our time abroad. We loved having you and your family visit!
What a beautiful, moving final blog, Sarah! 💕 I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them throughout the years – it’s been wonderful to experience your journey. Thank you! But – final question – did you bring back that home distillery kit??? 😉 Welcome Home!
PS. I hope your niece & husband have the silhouette photo framed. Wow!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for writing this wonderful blog and taking us along on this big adventure. You and Randy could’ve spent your last four years until retirement in familiar airport but instead took a big risk and what a four years it has been. Carpe diem! It’s not just that you moved to another country and got to know it really well but all these diversified travels that you’ve taken on also. I am so envious.
This week, some neighbors told me that they were taking a trip to Albania. I was proud to tell them I know a lot about Albania.
It was so good to hear from you. Glad you enjoyed the blog, it was fun to write! How are you? Are you still teaching? Are you still considering doing some international teaching? Go for it, I think you would find it to be a positive experience. so cool that your neighbors are taking a trip to Albania!
Finally, I am reading your farewell blog. I found myself feeling a bit emotional.
A beautiful entry about the people and places you and Randy have embraced over four years in Albania. Bravo to your blogging skills!!
We will talk soon. We are recovering after hosting Bernhard and his family for 9 days. “Let’s visit Columbia over the Halloween week??!!” So glad we said, “Yes!”
Thanks for reading my last blog. 🙂 I am anxious to hear about your nine day visit from Sweden. I am sure you loved every minute of it even though it must have been exhausting at times. I am in Thailand now with Elizabeth and her family. My flight home is on November 20th. Hope to talk soon! xo
Teaching in Albania 
Wow! What a compelling final blog post to culminate your four years in Albania. You are such a vivid writer that I feel I have traveled there with you! What a gift you have given us, your friends and readers!♥️♥️♥️ Ann P.
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Thanks, Ann and thank you for your many positive comments over the years. Hope to see you soon!
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I have truly enjoyed every one of your posts. Your descriptions & photos make it feel almost like I’m there ! Thanks Sara! Hope to see you now that you are back home.
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Glad to know you have enjoyed reading the blog. I saw a recent picture of your four beautiful grandchildren on Facebook last week. Isn’t it wonderful to be a grandparent!?!?!
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Nice wrap upSent from my iPhone
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Randy!!!!!! I know you always read my blog but I think this is the first time you have commented on it. Love it! xoxo
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Thank you for enlightening us through your four years of travel to many parts of the world that I have never experienced. Truly a delight. Welcome home Randy and Sara!
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Glad you have enjoyed the blog. Hope to see you sometime soon!
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I have enjoyed each and every blog post, Sarah. You have experienced so much and made so many friends and memories. Thanks for sharing with us! Welcome home! Although I love traveling, I agree with you: there is no place I’d rather live than America, as imperfect as she may be.
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Wow, I did not know you read all the blogs. You are amazing! You are right America has plenty of imperfections but it is the country I love and feel fortunate to live in.
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As I was reading this, I found myself feeling some of the emotions that you may have been going through as you reflected on this wonderful time of your life – what you loved about it, the relationships you made and lessons you learned. You are a gifted writer! I am so glad that I was able to share in your adventures by visiting and reading your blog.
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Yes, there was a fair amount of emotion as I wrote this post. Glad for where we are now in our life but so many fond memories from our time abroad. We loved having you and your family visit!
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What a beautiful, moving final blog, Sarah! 💕 I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them throughout the years – it’s been wonderful to experience your journey. Thank you! But – final question – did you bring back that home distillery kit??? 😉 Welcome Home!
PS. I hope your niece & husband have the silhouette photo framed. Wow!
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Lisa, thank you for always reading and commenting on the blog. No, we did not get the home distillery kit home with us. 🙂
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for writing this wonderful blog and taking us along on this big adventure. You and Randy could’ve spent your last four years until retirement in familiar airport but instead took a big risk and what a four years it has been. Carpe diem! It’s not just that you moved to another country and got to know it really well but all these diversified travels that you’ve taken on also. I am so envious.
This week, some neighbors told me that they were taking a trip to Albania. I was proud to tell them I know a lot about Albania.
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Hi Lynn,
It was so good to hear from you. Glad you enjoyed the blog, it was fun to write! How are you? Are you still teaching? Are you still considering doing some international teaching? Go for it, I think you would find it to be a positive experience. so cool that your neighbors are taking a trip to Albania!
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Sarah,
Finally, I am reading your farewell blog. I found myself feeling a bit emotional.
A beautiful entry about the people and places you and Randy have embraced over four years in Albania. Bravo to your blogging skills!!
We will talk soon. We are recovering after hosting Bernhard and his family for 9 days. “Let’s visit Columbia over the Halloween week??!!” So glad we said, “Yes!”
Love, Laurie
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Hi Laurie,
Thanks for reading my last blog. 🙂 I am anxious to hear about your nine day visit from Sweden. I am sure you loved every minute of it even though it must have been exhausting at times. I am in Thailand now with Elizabeth and her family. My flight home is on November 20th. Hope to talk soon! xo
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