Experience Albania: Travel, Pictures, History, Culture

I can’t help but think about the bittersweet nature of my decreasing days left in Albania.

As I recently wrote, I’m really, really looking forward to returning home to Minnesota. But these two years have affected me profoundly and the fact that my time here is coming to a close means I have to say goodbye to some incredibly important people and places.

All in all, though, it signals my moving on to a new chapter, filled with new lessons to learn and new jobs to take on. It all works out and I’ll be ready to leave due to my confidence and desire to take charge of what awaits me starting in May. This attitude is a direct result from my time spent in Albania.

On moving ‘home’:
‘There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.’ – Nelso Mandela ‘A Long Walk to Freedom’

On being back in American culture & society:
‘Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis.’ – Martha Beck

On leaving my Albanian life, families, friends, work, lessons learned, travels and memories:
‘We begin to see that the completion of an important project has every right to be dignified by a natural grieving process. Something that required the best of you has ended. You will miss it.’ – Anne Wilson Shaef