Tungjatjeta Plakos!
I guess it's time for a little update.
Landed in the capital Tirana last Saturday, where I met up with some fellow employees, one of which is a b’y from Parsons Pond NL! Turns out that there are four of us from Newfoundland, pretty random. Most of the people who work for the company are either from Vancouver or Albania, so it’s nice to have a little piece of home here.
Anyways, we were then dropped off to the company’s apartment in the city where we had the rest of the day to relax/get over jetlag. The city is nice…ish. For the most part it’s pretty similar to any random city in Europe with lots of shops, clubs, cafes and restaurants, but there are parts that are slummy looking. The sweetest part is there are huge mountains that surround the entire city.
We went out on the town that night with a few other geologists that got in the day before. We went out to supper around 9 (which is common here) to an authentic Albanian restaurant. The food consisted of fresh salad, bread, and extremely tasty meet. The best part of the meal, however, was the entertainment. A lady with an incredible voice was singing traditional Albanian music (which I’m having a hard time describing), accompanied by the saddest looking man playing a keyboard/synthesizer. Needless to say it was pretty sweet.
The next day, we were sent to the town of Durres. It’s a beach down located on the Adriatic (where we were put in a five star hotel for the night). Went for a swim, drank on the beach, it was pretty nice.
Most of the country is mountainous, and it’s in the mountains where I have been working since I left the city. On Monday we left for Fushe Arres, a small mountain town located to the North. This is where our base of operations will be for the next two weeks while we wait for the camp to be finished, at which point we will be living up there. I’ll tell you more about that after the move.
Work itself has consisted mostly of driving and hiking so far. Which I’ve been enjoying so far… except for the vipers and scorpions. I never really feel totally comfortable when I’m in the field. They’re not supposed to be too dangerous, but the thought of them is what scares me. But by the sounds of things I’ll be starting actual geology work tomorrow, so I’m pretty excited about that.
Besides that, the scenery is amazing (I’ll post pics on facebook when I can), the air is fresh, the people are amazingly warm and friendly, and all in all, Albania seems to be an underrated country so far. I hope to see more of it before I leave at the end of August.
So, anybody interested in visiting Europe this summer? I have two, two week breaks and am looking at doing some traveling… could certainly use the company. Who’s interested?... Common, you know you want to!
P.S. I went to Portugal. It was wicked.
Landed in the capital Tirana last Saturday, where I met up with some fellow employees, one of which is a b’y from Parsons Pond NL! Turns out that there are four of us from Newfoundland, pretty random. Most of the people who work for the company are either from Vancouver or Albania, so it’s nice to have a little piece of home here.
Anyways, we were then dropped off to the company’s apartment in the city where we had the rest of the day to relax/get over jetlag. The city is nice…ish. For the most part it’s pretty similar to any random city in Europe with lots of shops, clubs, cafes and restaurants, but there are parts that are slummy looking. The sweetest part is there are huge mountains that surround the entire city.
We went out on the town that night with a few other geologists that got in the day before. We went out to supper around 9 (which is common here) to an authentic Albanian restaurant. The food consisted of fresh salad, bread, and extremely tasty meet. The best part of the meal, however, was the entertainment. A lady with an incredible voice was singing traditional Albanian music (which I’m having a hard time describing), accompanied by the saddest looking man playing a keyboard/synthesizer. Needless to say it was pretty sweet.
The next day, we were sent to the town of Durres. It’s a beach down located on the Adriatic (where we were put in a five star hotel for the night). Went for a swim, drank on the beach, it was pretty nice.
Most of the country is mountainous, and it’s in the mountains where I have been working since I left the city. On Monday we left for Fushe Arres, a small mountain town located to the North. This is where our base of operations will be for the next two weeks while we wait for the camp to be finished, at which point we will be living up there. I’ll tell you more about that after the move.
Work itself has consisted mostly of driving and hiking so far. Which I’ve been enjoying so far… except for the vipers and scorpions. I never really feel totally comfortable when I’m in the field. They’re not supposed to be too dangerous, but the thought of them is what scares me. But by the sounds of things I’ll be starting actual geology work tomorrow, so I’m pretty excited about that.
Besides that, the scenery is amazing (I’ll post pics on facebook when I can), the air is fresh, the people are amazingly warm and friendly, and all in all, Albania seems to be an underrated country so far. I hope to see more of it before I leave at the end of August.
So, anybody interested in visiting Europe this summer? I have two, two week breaks and am looking at doing some traveling… could certainly use the company. Who’s interested?... Common, you know you want to!
P.S. I went to Portugal. It was wicked.
posted by Jaboc at 6:58 PM
7 Comments:
excellent P.S. section :)
A friend told me this once (or it may have been Indiana Jones): the smaller the scorpion, the bigger the bite. Nina got stung by one after jumping in like some teacher-themed superhero (Captain Canada?) to swipe one off her student. So, I'd just worry about the vipers.
hey jacob sounds like a hard life...im glad i never actually became a geologist *tear
no really, im glad youre having a good time so far!! sorry youve got vipers and scorpions on the brain though...i hope you never see any! i hope its nice and warm and sunny...although i heard summer in the mediterranean is famous for that....keep the updates coming...
i didn't know that Common read this blog.
Sounds like a great summer so far, Jacob! Keep us updated and take lots of pictures.
what's this Common comment about? I wish someone would burn me some sweet hip-hop.
Jacob, any Albanian "birds" around over there? Or is it an Albanian sausage fest? That would be Wurst kind. :)
Albania sounds pretty dang wicked. When are you coming home Jbird? I'll be home from July 12 to probably August 20... Be there then if you know what a good time is all about!
Not sure about the common comment. It sounds like Matt. made a joke that fell flat. Surprise!
Jacob Sounds wicked! I would love to go visit -- I will be close -- in Greece starting Saturday morning. I will wave in your direction. :) All the best!
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