As you may know, for the last two weeks, I’ve been in Albania. Starting the long awaited mission trip to Italy and Albania.

On August 29th, I flew from Pittsburgh to New York, then from New York to Serbia, and finally from Serbia to Tirana. It was the first time I had ever flown—and I did it three times in 48 hours.

From Tirana, we had a three-hour drive to Pogradec, where we arrived on Saturday night. That was the start of our week-long training camp. During that week, we got to know our schedule for the next month and a half, learned about the classes we'll be taking, the ministry opportunities, and—of course—found all the best coffee spots in town. We found our favorite place for cappuccinos, another for chocolate lattes and waffles, and a lot more. While getting coffee and walking to and from town, we all talked and got to know each other better.

Each morning, we had classes and lessons led by Seth or our team leaders. We had “Ask the Lord” days, scavenger hunts, lake days, time with Beauty for Ashes, church, and more. I believe we made the most of our time in Pogradec, taking advantage of every spare second we had.

When Sunday came, we were sad to leave the beautiful view over the lake and our amazing hosts, who cooked the best food for us. But we were also excited to go to Kotodesh, our new home for the next month and a half.

We all got into the bus—30 people and all our bags—for the 40-minute drive. When we arrived at the church that’s hosting us, we started getting into a routine. We got schedules for cooking, cleaning, showers, laundry, and workouts.

Since we’ve been here, we’ve had the chance to meet a lot of kids and teenagers who come to the church for youth group, classes, or just to hang out. Even with the language barrier, it’s been fun to spend time with them.

One of my favorite moments happened when we were walking into town. A group of kids on bikes passed us, then stopped to talk. A little boy came up and walked next to me, but we quickly realized we spoke different languages. We continued to walk together anyway. As we walked, he pointed out cows and sheep in the fields and made sure I saw them. He even moved me away from branches that were in the way, making sure I didn't run into them. He was so sweet, and it didn’t matter that we couldn’t speak the same language. Later that week, I saw him again at youth group. I went over to talk to him and his friends, and some of them spoke English, so we could communicate a little more. It was such a cool experience, and I'm excited to see him and the other kids again.

Another fun moment was climbing a mountain after church on Saturday. Some people wanted to check out a building being built at the top. At first, I didn’t want to go, but I was persuaded—and I’m so glad I did. We started walking down the road and then began going up the actual mountain. It was long and hot, but when we got to the top, it was all worth it. We could see all the fields and houses below us, and it was so amazing!

Overall, the past 2 weeks have been full of great opportunities and experiences. And I am so excited to see what's coming next!