Jackson, MS
i was hoping to be writing this from atlanta, not jackson, but what can you do? a few rude individuals and hours of delay aside, i'm in the best of spirits that could be expected. i would kill for some coffee or lunch right about now, or at least the ability to rest against the window. . . but i have to be grateful for at least having a seat at all - people have been trying to get on a plane to atlanta for the last six hours. it is strange writing, i need to find my voice again. the words don't come as easily anymore and i am still in a state of disbelief. maybe it was the mad dash to get prepared or the fact that these flights are now becoming routine, but this doesn't feel like it is really happening. am i really going to be in albania within the next twenty four hours? really? i mean, maybe i won't be with these delays.
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05.14.2010
descent into Milan
nine hours later and i still feel like this flight just started. mike and kailey are both here, though they are each six or seven rows away. i kind of like the distance, though - lord knows i will have plenty of time with them over the next six weeks. i can't believe that i'm going to be gone for forty-six days. that feels like a lifetime that i'm staring down. six weeks ago i was thinking that i was going to be starting comps, worried about the ever-eroding relationship between myself, sam, and james, and whether or not i was going to be walking across the stage at graduation last saturday. so much has changed since then, so many endless days, so many sleepless nights. i'm still worried about the backpacking trip at the end of the project, but for now let's just hope that i can hold my own in albania. apparently, mike is a big support of the 'figure it out' school of thought, while i sit in the 'give me precise details' camp. at least i have the reassurance that kailey is just as inexperienced as i am, but i'm going to try not to worry. billy wouldn't want me to worry. i have everything with me now and there is no turning back until june 28th, like it or not, so there is no real reason to fret. i kind of hate that we are connecting in italy...all of these americans sitting nearby are staying in milan, reading their rick steves' guides and lonely planets, while some individuals like my neighbor are just italians going home. i can't help but wonder what everyone's stories are...where they are coming from, why they are traveling. as nervous as i am, i would like nothing more than to have this feeling again and again - i want to travel all my life. i want to have the means to travel all my life - not for the shopping or the glitz or the glamour, just a step above roughing it and as often as possible. can someone make that happen? i sure hope so. well, our landing is imminent so until next time...
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05.14.2010
Milan, Italy
duty-free stores aside, milan isn't as glamorous as i thought it would be. maybe its because all of the glamorous people are already here in milan or maybe they just don't need to wait for their connecting flight, but either way it is pretty dull. i mean, i'm not going to complain about seeing dolce ads around every corner, but that is about as high fashion as it gets. my sanuks and pink jansport don't stand out too much, to be honest. mike is kinda quiet and kailey is much more talkative and, well, younger, than i had been expecting. she is really, really doe-eyed about a lot of simple things and i'm a little worried (it has been, like, two hours and i'm already worrying...i know, i know) about the backpacking portion even more. she is already prone to wandering off and i dont know if she has the discipline or the attention span to really make it through. i mean, she will have to, but i don't want to have to drag her every step of the way. hopefully she's a quick learner! i'm sure she is...her experience is just limited, however, so it adds to my apprehension. i really want an espresso, on a different note, but it isn't worth changing over to euros to spend 0.70 euro on a solo shot. i want one so bad though...how can i be in italy and not drink espresso?! i will have to indulge myself during my layover in fiumicino on the way back, i suppose. this doesn't feel real. at all. the panic is rising just a little, but for now i'll try to quell it with some music and more mcsweeneys.
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05.15.2010
tirana, albania
-tour of the city with mike
-byrek with sylvia and mike near mother teresa square
-coffee/frappes with sylvia, mike, and kailey
-drinks...and more drinks
-dinner at lion park near the university of tirana
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05.16.2010
tirana, albania
-breakfast
-historical museum and photos
-got a little bit lost in the city on the way back
-went to the university, couldn't find lorenc
-back to hotel, took a nap
-drinks with john, a fulbright scholar
-dinner with ols and aredita at shakesbeer
-drinks at charles bar and lizard
-italian music showcase and dancing
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05.17.2010
tirana, albania
-breakfast at 8:30
-packed up the truck, walked to the university in the rain
-packed up the vehicles with equipment and luggage
-met the albanian students
-drove to shkodra
-checked into hotel meteor
-lunch at the hotel
-back to the city center to shkodra historical museum, met zamir
-basic survey training
-coffee and shopping near colosseo and the pedestrian mall
-dinner at the hotel
-talked about music with the albanian team
-skype with dad and billy
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05.18.2010
shkodra, albania
-breakfast at 7, left for the field 7:30
-met up with the 'mayor' of postribe
-went to the ura e mesit, an ottoman bridge built in the 18th century that connects shkodra with drisht
-headed out to shkoj for field training
-snack, kailey got sick, hanging out while they decide the starting location
-met with some field owners to begin survey, but couldn't survey plowed fields due to weather conditions -however, mike found lithic by the side of the road
-had coffee in town while we waited for team b
-lunch then a nap and shower
-cleaned and assessed the few artifacts we picked up
-learned our way around the lab, data entry training
-dinner, skype with dad and mom
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05.19.2010
shkodra, albania
-breakfast, left ten minutes late for site
-started in fields, first field of poppies up to our chests (a bit scary...no visibility to avoid snakes)
-found a roman/hellenistic cemetary, multiple tumuli, covered twelve tracts today, finally got into a groove
-found a few lithics and amphora rims
-the hotel is giving me too much food; showered then english/albanian practice and a fifteen minute nap
-translating in data entry is extremely frustrating, a lot of artifacts to wash today
-talked with billy for 45 minutes, now i'm in much better spirits
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05.20.2010
shkodra, albania
-running late this morning
-found my first tumulus! did sixteen tracts today
-better spirits; lunch, shower, reading, nap
-work for a bit, early dinner and then worked until 10
-more frustration, the language barrier and time management is awful
-bad connection with billy and sylvia didn't return my adaptor so only a brief conversation; dreamt that i was surveying, didn't rest well
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05.30.2010
shkodra, albania
it has been ten days since i even listed my daily events and that is probably because they are all starting to blend together. everything is monotonous and only a few hours are free, most of which i'm too exhausted to stay awake. been doing grad school research lately and planning for sweden
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06.13.2010
theth, albania
i'm really starting to lose a conception of time. today we are in theth and i want to stay forever. this is why people fall in love with this country...i finally get it. it is perfectly preserved and a little piece of heaven. everywhere you turn, it s another moment to have your breath taken away. at this point, i can't believe that i have been away for four weeks. i miss billy like crazy and my family, the comforts of home as well. i hate living out of a backpack and worrying about running out of toiletries or how to ask the cost of an item at the store. i hate worrying about how we will get to the next place and i know that the next two weeks are my 'vacation,' but kailey can't put one foot in front of the other on her own. i did not sign up for a babysitting trip and i already resent her naivety. every day is so arduous, yet they all blend into one. the project is over, but it just feels like a blind, jagged stab in the dark without any real clear aim. maybe that is how the first year of a project always is, but everything was so rushed at the end, it was more frantic than really moving towards any kind of fruition. there are things to be excited about, but it is a bit difficult to sort out the fine print. i have really enjoyed getting to know sylvia and i really dread her departure tomorrow. today we woke up for breakfast at eight, left for our hike at nine fifteen. we parked by the church, stopped by jovelene's for a ten in the morning birra and then headed over to the grunez waterfall, slowly by steadily. i really don't think i'm cut out for this whole outdoor adventuring thing, but i can definitely see the appeal. the waterfall was breathtaking and finally acquiring my hiking confidence skipping across the rivers on stones staring down the precipice you are perched upon is equally liberating. not a sound in the world except the crunch of gravel beneath your boots, the whisper of brush against your skin and the faint melody of wind cutting through the landscape around you. a true escape.
06.14.2010
shkodra, albania
still in shkodra yet another day. i wish i had been privileged enough to spend all of my time in theth. every time i come to this city it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. i was loving the views (but not the roads) on the way down from the mountains and now i am in a piss poor mood again. when i am here, the city drowns out any memory of a great, beautiful albania right from my mind. i wish i were going on this trip alone. i get waves of excitement, but they are quickly quelled by the imminent babysitting.
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right about now, i could about kill mike and sylvia. getting out of albania was awful and now we are going to be set back about $120 just for the next twenty four hours. we waited for a furgon at the cafe that sylvia left us at for about two hours before the furgon driver showed up, had a beer, and then told us he didn't have room for us in the bus because we were american. by this point we were stranded and alone with a reservation to make in ulcinj. no buses or other furgons out and none of the taxi drivers were still around. we take a 25 euro taxi (instead of a 5 euro furgon) and get to our accomodations. lay on the beach, spirits a little higher, only to find out that we are in for a 5 am bus to dubrovnik that costs 22.50 euro each. goddamn. i wish we could just call it quits. we have to try and save money somehow now, so maybe we will skip bulgaria and macedonia or something. this is so shitty. kailey is handling it alright. i was finally able to get on the internet again and billy is so cute. his messages brighten my day so much...he has my heart and soul.
06.14.2010
okay, so now it is the real june 14th! i have been here for too long...i have no concept of time at all anymore. we are in dubrovnik now, sitting at the art cafe on the main road into grad, the old city. right now jeeves and wooster is on and i have actually seen this episode before, just not dubbed in croatian. today has been exhausting but it is slowly starting to feel like it is worth it. i am afraid i won't be able to find wireless to talk to billy tonight. i hope he doesn't get too upset. we started our day at 4 am after a whopping five hours of sleep. it wasn't too hard getting up...it didn't really feel all that real. we walked the 2.5 kilometers across town to the bus station and listened to ke$ha and owl city, kailey's favorites full volume through the one headphone that still works on my ipod. the ride was incredible...the views over the ionian and dalmatian coasts were to die for.
to be continued...in real time, i leave for airport in five hours, so i need to try to sleep - i'll try to update from newark.
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