I have arrived..... assaulted by the smells!

Well, I made it to Tirana. The Rome airport was interesting. Saw a lot of unusual things there. You would think they would not make you ride buses to the planes waiting on the tarmac. I arrive in Tirana to collect my luggage but my luggage is nowhere to be found. I have been without clothes and shower for two and a half days now. ewwwww...... Luckily, I found a market bazaar and was able to purchase a shirt, skirt and some new undies (hahaha). At least I will have one change of clothes. It has still not arrived and we have been calling. The disappointing thing is that Ana's gift and her parent's gift were in the suitcase.

I guess the hardest thing to overcome is when the olfactory senses are assaulted. Mine have been big time. The smells are hard to difficult to bear. And they are not the most pleasant to be constantly inhaling.

Another thing that comes to mind is personal space. You don't have it here! There are no such things as lines and people just come in front of you without regard to manners or social etiquette as we are used to in the States.

For those of you who want a real laugh and can appreciate this, it seems I can't seem to stay out of trouble. I should have known being in a former communist country that rules here are a little different. I am within a couple of blocks from the embassy (several actually). I went in ours under armed guard. They confiscated all electronic devices until I came out. When I came out, I was walking up and down the street taking pictures like nobody's business. Obviously a tourist thing, right? Well, I wanted one of the embassy just for the sake of it. I am shooting away with the camera, and the next thing I know the guard is coming after me from across the street saying he's called his superior. Turns out I was not permitted to take pictures of the outside of the embassy. Who knew? They watched me delete the picture and sent me on my way. Lesson learned: Never take the freedoms in the good ole' US of A for granted!

Update: The luggage is to arrive within the hour. (We'll see) and World Vision did not show up today. I think he misunderstood the message about them coming today. The appointment is for tomorrow. I am still wondering why I'm being picked up until between two and three though. Kinda late, wouldn't you think?