2014 LSA International Internship Blog: Ejona Korcari, Week 13, Tirana Albania (the last week)

This was the very last week I spent in Albania. I had a lot of things to do this week. First I went in Korca. There was a huge event called the "Beer Fest". This continued for four days. The event gathers thousands of people each year. During the event the best singers and bands are invited to sing in a public park. Also a lot of meat companies advertise/sell their products (cooked). And of course, there is a LOT of beer. Korca Beer is the first Albanian beer, so the event is really important for the city's economy. I went there with my aunt and uncle and we had a blast.

The next day I spent with my grandparents. They were too sad I had to say goodbye. Since my internship was in Tirana (four hours away from Korca) and I was really busy with other things, I didn't get to spend much time with them :(.

The next few days I tried to get the most from them and I went to shadow the doctors I talked about in the previous blog. It has been so much fun to be by their side. I have to wear a white coat when I am present during the patient visits. It is an amazing feeling to think that one day I will be a real doctor. Other doctors refer to me as Ms. Doctor, and I get butterflies in my stomach (lol). They say its ok to call me doctor since one day I will be their colleague.

My other grandmother had to spend two weeks at the Military Hospital (main trauma hospital in the country) after an injury she had, so I had to spend a lot of time with her there. It was great i had to spend a lot of time with her, but I wish she wasn't sick and we weren't in a trauma hospital. The only good thing from that is that I got to see a lot of injured people and learn a lot about their condition. It was like unofficial shadowing. The doctors and the nurses there were really friendly too. Of course, it was really sad and traumatic to be surrounded by so many injured people.

Another thing I haven't mentioned before is that during this time in Albania I also volunteered as an English tutor. Now passing the English exam is a requirement to graduate from an Albanian High School, so a lot of people in the neighborhood were interested to learn/improve their English. i also had some parents as my students. This gave me an amazing satisfaction because not a long time ago I was the one who didn't know English. I was glad that I could help and I tried my best to engage and encourage people to attend.

The last two days I spent with my uncles and their families. We went to family dinners and I spent some time out with my cousins. I also went shopping to buy some souvenirs. In the morning I meet the girls, who also returned from the time with their families. We went to the airport and took the plane back to USA. It was an amazing time in Albania. I will miss everyone and everything. I will miss the people, the food, the coffee....EVERYTHING.