Weekend in Fier

Friday morning a site mate of mine and I were to set off to Fier by bus. Fier was a city I knew nothing about and in all honesty I was quite jealous of the volunteers who were going to much more glamorous cities in Albania for their site visit. We arrived to Fier with few problems; the largest being that the bus we were to take was 3 hours late. My first impressions of Fier are not worthy of being noted, as they do not represent what the city is appropriately. Andrew (my site mate) and I were relieved to meet the two volunteers we were going to be sharing the next two nights with. The city of Fier really took me by surprise. It is one of Albania’s largest cities and is quite nice. Just beyond the outskirts of the city is an oil refinery, so the water is polluted, aside from that it is a very beautiful city. Most of the streets near the city center are boulevards that are nicer than those I’ve seen in America. High rise apartment buildings were being erected every so often, and we spent most of the first night in one of the city parks just chatting.
I was infinitely surprised by the size of one of the volunteer’s apartment; it is as big as my host family’s house. We spent the first evening cooking dinner and watching movies on a projector borrowed from the library.
Saturday rolled around and we decided we would prepare for a camping excursion on the beaches of the Adriatic. We planned to take a furgon to the edge of the city then walk the rest of the way; a few miles. After walking for 5 minutes an Albanian man drove by, stopped, and offered us a ride to the beach. On the way he offered to take us for coffee, then treated us to more once we arrived at the beach. After about 3 hours of talking, most of that time was spent trying to convince this man we were American. The two other volunteers spoke such good Albanian he refused to believe we were from anywhere but Albania. We pitched our tents, gathered wood, built a fire, and then spent the night doing the things associated with camping.
During the evening stories were told, questions were asked, but most of all the barrier between trainee and volunteer was broken. We told jokes, had beers, roasted sausages, shared sentiment and discussed parallel ideology. Throughout the evening I thought about many things; about how happy I was I decided to sign up for the site visit, but mostly, how since I’ve entered Albania I’ve experienced such a surprising amount of gleeful times at moments that they are most unexpected. We spent much of the evening laughing, and once the cold midnight air prevailed over our modest fire we retreated to our tents.
I’d like to take the time to discuss the bunkers that are sprinkled all over Albania. The leader of the communist reign in Albania had an immense fear of invasion. These fears lead to the construction of concrete bunkers all over the country. It is common to have a dozen concrete pillboxes strategically placed within a picturesque landscape. I’ve heard there are some 300,000.
The beaches were lined with these bunkers. Although the most captivating and I’d say appropriate, aspect of these bunkers had nothing to do with their presence on the beach but location. Over the years the sea level has risen, so the marks of communism are not only being swallowed by time, but also by the sea. I took some solace in this small observation.
When day broke I awoke with the sun. I spent most of the morning perched on the bunkers, losing track of my thoughts and dazing into dreams that were on sync with the tide. My state of mind volleyed between vertigo and euphoria. My mood could best be described as melancholy. I spent the first hours of that day quite peacefully.
The weekend came to an end all too quickly and since I’ve returned nothing has occupied my mind more than the freedom I experienced in Fier. Tomorrow I learn where my site placement will be and my anxiety level is at an all time high. One thing I have taken away from this trip that I can apply immediately is to not judge where I may be going on any preconceived notion. I knew nothing about Fier and had the time of my life.