070707
In recognition of the very special date of 070707, we decided to celebrate in an oh so appropriate fashion. A beach party! Some volunteers in one of the northern beach towns organized a day of fun in the sun and a night of sleep by the sea.
We arrived around noon and headed for the beach shortly there after. The beach I usually go to is a rock beach instead of sand. I’ve gotten quite used to these rocky beaches but the beach near Lezha is a sand beach and I was looking forward to seeing some sand, building a sand castle, and just general merriment.
However, I soon remembered some of the annoying parts of sand. For example, the sand gets really really HOT. My poor little feet are not tough. They can’t handle it. I don’t know if I’m being particularly wimpy, which I am almost certain is not the case, or if it’s genetic, perhaps even cultural. I see all the Albanians walking around on sand that is on fire without even noticing. Then again, I also see them walk around the city sometimes barefoot. If I did that, I know I’d find the section of the city paved with shards of glass.
Another annoying thing about sand, it gets everywhere. You end up getting sand on your clean towel, on the beach lounge chair, on your clothes, and anywhere else you are trying to keep clean. Rocks don’t do that. They just stay put like good little rocks. Oh and the other thing, sand is basically just dirt. So within fifteen minutes, I was cursing the sand and my scorched feet and longing for my rocky beach.
We stayed for about two hours then we headed back for a late lunch and to chill with other people who had arrived. I am pretty tan currently and I was under an umbrella (brella brella brella, hey. Sorry stupid Rhianna Umbrella song infects your head) so I only did sun block on my shoulders and face. I HATE having a sun burnt face or shoulders. Of course I managed to fall asleep on my side with my arm up exposing the side of my stomach/back which up to that had been spared my sick sunshine needs. And of course I got a little red. I was afraid it was going to be bad and I wouldn’t be able to lower my arms because of my now rosy armpits. The rest of the day, I lotioned up pretty well and was fine by the next day. One of these days, I might learn.
When evening rolled around, we piled into a mini-bus, which holds legally 8 people (we were 9 I think), and headed for the beach. We went to a different area to begin our hike to a more secluded beach. I had only a large bill to pay for the 50 cent ride. I collected everyone’s money and gave the drive my equivalent $10. I was a little confused when he gave me only $3 change. We stood there arguing over the fare which should have come to $4.50 and not $7. First he was saying that he would come get us tomorrow and that was why it was more. I knew though that he was not going to give us a free ride in the morning so I was just paying extra for him to come get us, which was not necessary. Then he argued that since he dropped us off at a different spot, he was going to return to town empty. I informed him that that was his problem. Plus he could very easily drive 5 minutes down to the regular beach and pickup lots of people. He finally was getting tired of me. He showed me a bundle of bills and told me to take the change I thought was appropriate. I saw a $5 and thought that was fair and easy. He got a tip and I could easily take my close to accurate change. He was floored. He was SO not expecting that. I loved it. I know it sounds stupid to bicker about only a few bucks but I hate feeling like they are taking advantage of the supposedly rich foreigner. It’s just rude on their part so now I fight back and it makes me feel much better.
We found our way to the beach and hung out a while, built a fire, and hung out on some big boulders. One of the highlights (or a lowlight from my perspective) from the rocks was the unique rendition of some songs by Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. See what I mean, a little scary. We have video but I’ll spare you.
Our sleeping accommodations were fabricated from a mosquito net and a beach umbrella (brella brella brella, see I told you). It worked surprisingly well. All in all, 070707 was a definite highlight. I can’t wait till 080808.
We arrived around noon and headed for the beach shortly there after. The beach I usually go to is a rock beach instead of sand. I’ve gotten quite used to these rocky beaches but the beach near Lezha is a sand beach and I was looking forward to seeing some sand, building a sand castle, and just general merriment.
However, I soon remembered some of the annoying parts of sand. For example, the sand gets really really HOT. My poor little feet are not tough. They can’t handle it. I don’t know if I’m being particularly wimpy, which I am almost certain is not the case, or if it’s genetic, perhaps even cultural. I see all the Albanians walking around on sand that is on fire without even noticing. Then again, I also see them walk around the city sometimes barefoot. If I did that, I know I’d find the section of the city paved with shards of glass.
Another annoying thing about sand, it gets everywhere. You end up getting sand on your clean towel, on the beach lounge chair, on your clothes, and anywhere else you are trying to keep clean. Rocks don’t do that. They just stay put like good little rocks. Oh and the other thing, sand is basically just dirt. So within fifteen minutes, I was cursing the sand and my scorched feet and longing for my rocky beach.
We stayed for about two hours then we headed back for a late lunch and to chill with other people who had arrived. I am pretty tan currently and I was under an umbrella (brella brella brella, hey. Sorry stupid Rhianna Umbrella song infects your head) so I only did sun block on my shoulders and face. I HATE having a sun burnt face or shoulders. Of course I managed to fall asleep on my side with my arm up exposing the side of my stomach/back which up to that had been spared my sick sunshine needs. And of course I got a little red. I was afraid it was going to be bad and I wouldn’t be able to lower my arms because of my now rosy armpits. The rest of the day, I lotioned up pretty well and was fine by the next day. One of these days, I might learn.
When evening rolled around, we piled into a mini-bus, which holds legally 8 people (we were 9 I think), and headed for the beach. We went to a different area to begin our hike to a more secluded beach. I had only a large bill to pay for the 50 cent ride. I collected everyone’s money and gave the drive my equivalent $10. I was a little confused when he gave me only $3 change. We stood there arguing over the fare which should have come to $4.50 and not $7. First he was saying that he would come get us tomorrow and that was why it was more. I knew though that he was not going to give us a free ride in the morning so I was just paying extra for him to come get us, which was not necessary. Then he argued that since he dropped us off at a different spot, he was going to return to town empty. I informed him that that was his problem. Plus he could very easily drive 5 minutes down to the regular beach and pickup lots of people. He finally was getting tired of me. He showed me a bundle of bills and told me to take the change I thought was appropriate. I saw a $5 and thought that was fair and easy. He got a tip and I could easily take my close to accurate change. He was floored. He was SO not expecting that. I loved it. I know it sounds stupid to bicker about only a few bucks but I hate feeling like they are taking advantage of the supposedly rich foreigner. It’s just rude on their part so now I fight back and it makes me feel much better.
We found our way to the beach and hung out a while, built a fire, and hung out on some big boulders. One of the highlights (or a lowlight from my perspective) from the rocks was the unique rendition of some songs by Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. See what I mean, a little scary. We have video but I’ll spare you.
Our sleeping accommodations were fabricated from a mosquito net and a beach umbrella (brella brella brella, see I told you). It worked surprisingly well. All in all, 070707 was a definite highlight. I can’t wait till 080808.
posted by james @ 11:55 AM
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