It has to start somewhere.

Monday morning May 30th, the adventure has begun. Chris drove me into town, and dropped me off at my Grandmother's house so she could deliver me to the airport in time for my noon flight (thank you to both Chris, and Grandma for helping make this adventure happen). Once i was on the plane to Frankfurt,  i realized that i was seated a few seats back from one of my closest childhood friends Tim Snell .  I got a chance to briefly talk with him in the airport in Frankfurt and hope to reconnect with him when we both arrive back in Calgary. He has grown up to become a Model, and Recording artist so i figured i could give him a little plug on here with a link to his site

http://www.timothyjames.com/ .

 After a short flight to Vienna,  another short flight to Tirana, and a few hours car ride to Fier we were delivered to the staff housing complex.  i have no pictures up until this point, because of rushed packing, (i blame you Chris!) i had packed my camera in the checked part of my luggage.

 The staff housing is much better than i had expected. The blue and yellow building is the Phoenix staff condos, we occupy the top few floors.

My room is rather large, has its own bathroom, desk, balcony, and plenty of storage.

After settling in we had dinner in the common room, which contains 3 video game systems, TV, a fully stocked kitchen, and best of all A fully drink fridge complete with water, pop, and BEER (ooh so many types of beer). I'm not sure how i will get by, i will need to call in the morning and ask for a raise.    the couch, and a few of the Guys

The kitchen

The Drink fridge

After a dinner of pork kabobs and lasagna (we have a wonderful group of Albanian ladies who cook clean, and even do your laundry). a few of us decided we needed to head downtown to hit up a bank machine. It was only a few blocks walk, and the streets seem safe. They and are filled with vendors trying to sell you everything from cell phones out of their trunks, to spices on the side of the road.

Their seem to be very little traffic laws here, so crossing the street can best be described as being  similar to the old video game Frogger, you kind of wait for an opening and then run like hell.

After a few beers on the balcony enjoying the warm humid climate i called it a early night.