In a flugon

Here we are back at the trekking - overlooking the biggest fjord in southern Europe in Kotor, Montenegro.

It has been a while since we have traveled in anything than the most standard modes of car, train, and bus. Now, however, we are in Albania which means things aren't quite as easy and I must say that the change is welcomed. At the moment I am sitting front and center in a mini bus as the driver pays equal attention to the woman talking on my right as he is to the winding road he is navigating. The location of the bus stop was a total mystery as is the tin foil wrapped food that was just flung onto the dashboard.

Albania is beautiful as I am just now getting the chance to see - we are in the midst of a mountain range (maybe the Balkans?) and I am seeing the leaves change color for the first time in two years. Beautiful, yes, but also disorganized and covered in garbage. As we have only been here for one day there is much to learn, but this is what we have so far - Albania was under intense isolationism led by a paranoid leader who thought Maoist communism was too lenient of a policy. Physical remnants of this recent historical period cover the landscape - low lying, UFO-shaped cement bunkers. The then dictator thought it better to build said bunkers for all of his countrymen in case of attack instead of allying himself with a more powerful country (any really). Supposedly these bunkers are virtually indestructable as people have been unsuccessfully trying to level them since 1990. Since then it seems as though Albania is doing pretty well - it is now the 2nd poorest country in Europe (sorry Moldova) and its capital city Tirana certainly seems to have the modern amenities of other major cities.

We are now in Albania after a short time in tiny and beautiful Montenegro and a bit more time in Serbia and Budapest, Hungary. While in Serbia we were educated on what really happened when Yugoslavia disbanded/fell apart mostly by a German woman whose farm we were working on for 2 weeks. After the death of George we needed some time to come up with a new plan so we headed to yet another wwoofing venue outside of Belgrade to once again plant little lettuces and general toiling in the fields. The farm was nearly sustainable and so it was very interesting to see how they use everything they have to feed themselves and their animals while accruing very few expenses (this is in part thanks to their refusal to heat our rooms).

I am going to stop blogging now as we are off the bus and I just slipped on an orange peel, yes actually, and should go clean up.
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