“We
travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next to find ourselves. We
travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our
newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our
ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are
differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again-
to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.”
A solo 5 am return from
a night out, was what greeted my first morning of my extension leave trip. Scrounging
for a spot on the floor, as the couches were covered by my fellow volunteers crammed
into my dear friend's house, all of us here for the final night of the Korca Beer
Fest. I'd escaped here earlier in the week (#textedout), on the second day of
the fest in order to get away from the consistent hordes of visitors in Saranda
and the obnoxious heat that stifles everyone's ability and drive to do
anything. Korca was cooler, literally. People from all of the groups and even
Macedonians were coming together, some of us for the first time to meet, drink, fight, drink, dance, eat, cry, cook, and bumper car (#FF- Bumper car in British English is Dodgins). But this trip began on my last
night, and my first day of my trip.
First of all, dear
readers you may be wondering why I took a big trip in the middle of my service.
Peace Corps suggests/requires that volunteers extending take a month off, and
technically then have 13 months longer. As a year extender, I received a third
of my readjustment and air flight comparable to returning home. Plus, I threw
in a little savings from Grandma and Grandpa Brandes. Admittedly, I wasn't the
best college student and believe that education can be found in different
manners.
While traveling, I
learned quite a bit about the places I was visiting through free tours with knowledgeable
young people who had lived in the area their whole lives; visiting museums of
art, history and culture; and seeing the churches, city, architecture and the
people first hand. Sociology, geography, urban planning, theology, and endless
other topics were brought to mind throughout the trip.
Well… as you may recall
I’ve been back a few times, three times actually, to the Unites States. This earned me a joke award at my group’s
close of service conference, for person who attended the most weddings in
America while in service. Ya, I did and they rocked. Thanks M&D. I’m not avoiding home, I just wanted to do
something else. I signed up for Peace Corps to get out and see the world more
and this was the right time to do so. Like Peace Corps, I want to consider that
this trip is something I’ll share, which can be inspirational and enrich our
lives.
Inspirational, was definitely
what it was for me. Once off on this
trip, there was no worrying about deadlines, PC drama, and all the other things
that usually compound into problems. Time was spent just being, just enjoying
life in whatever way I wished. Being solo just made it that more special and
interesting. The raki bar in Sarajevo during the rain, climbing the hill in
Dubrovnik, this road vs. that one, these were my decisions.
