So, after taking my first ever cruise, I was reassured that I do not fit in with people who think money is the most important thing in the world. Being a Peace Corps Volunteer, obviously we don't make that much money, and although I had some money saved, I'm pretty much straight out of college. My mom is a public school teacher and this cruise, more or less, was a huge, generous gift from my aunt. I over heard one person say this was their 131st cruise they'd been on. Then I tried to think of anything I had done 131 times.. and couldn't. Since I didn't really hit it off with many of my fellow cruisers, I became friends with a lot of the staff. They were from all around the world: India, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia, Brazil.. After talking with them and they asked me what I did and I told them I lived in Albania, no matter where in the world they were from I still got the same scrunched faced reaction from all of them followed by "why?!"
Now, living in the Tropoje region, most Albanians in the south have a preconceived idea that it's horrible up here, even though 99.9% of them have never been here and will never come. I always take this as an opportunity to tell them how beautiful the mountains and the people alike are; now I got the chance to do that on an international level haha. I met some amazing people and heard stories of struggle, joy and triumph. Most of them looked at working on the cruise as a way to provide for their families as well as being able to see the world. Most of them only got to see their families 1 or 2 months out of the year because of their work schedules. The cruise was a far way from my current day to day life and made me realize a lot of things that have changed about myself since I was in America.
A huge positive thing about being on this huge ship was the ability to get to a lot of different countries quick! And not having to worry about making arrangements for hotels and spending money on food! Starting out in Bari, I took the overnight ferry by myself from Durres. After being informed by an Albanian friend that I had been ripped off by buying my ticket online before hand and not at the port it was hard not to resent sleeping on the floor that night when I could have had a bed for the same price had I bought it later. Bari was a typical small Italian town, the highlight for me was eating at McDonalds.
Corfu, although a few miles away from the coast of Albania was vastly different. After Corfu, the next day we woke up in Mykonos, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. All of the buildings whitewashed with bright blue doors. After Mykonos was Athens which I wasn't too impressed with. A huge city with historical places scattered throughout it was a little overwhelming. Then to Dubrovnik (what I looked forward to the most about the trip). The Old Town of Dubrovnik, still incapsulated inside castle walls was amazing from far away and close up. My favorite of all however was Venice. I've only heard how romantic this city is and if I ever get married I'm going to push for going their for our honeymoon.
Overall the trip was amazing and it was so good to spend it with my mom. Now back in Albania I'm almost wondering if we should have come here first and then gone on a 5-star vacation.
