All my life, I’ve lived in the same town. I was born there, I was raised there, and I created my own little life there. I had, and still have, a place in New Braunfels. I know where all the cute shops are and the places the locals go that tourists would never dream of going. I know the ins and outs. Living outside of my comfort zone is rare there because the entire town is my comfort zone. New Braunfels is home.
It never once crossed my mind, living in my little (but growing) town, that anywhere else could truly home as much as New Braunfels was. I was wrong, though.
When I applied for the World Race: Gap Year, the route I chose included the Balkans, the Philippines and South Africa. I originally picked the route because of the latter two, and the mystery of what part of the Balkans I would be going to pulled me in. I loved the idea of not knowing exactly what I would be doing or even where I would be going.
Several months after I already decided my route and was well into fundraising, we found out the official country we would be going to first……Albania!! I remember the excitement I had. I also remember the confusion. Of all the places to go in the Balkans region, World Race decided to pick the country that few people had ever heard of, let alone ever been to. When I had imagined going to this area of the world, I thought of Greece or Italy…or basically any place other than Albania.
I began to study this country I would be traveling to in less than a year’s time. I wanted to know the culture, the history and the people. By the end of my internet search, the only thing I really knew about Albania was that their flag kind of creeped me out. The rest was still somewhat a mystery, and again, I liked it that way. It made the anticipation that much sweeter.
I will never forget stepping off the plane in Albania for the first time and seeing the sun set reflected on the mountains. It was one of the most breathtaking sights I had ever seen in my life. It hit me in that moment that I was FAR from home. My sweet little New Braunfels, 5,000 miles away, was no where in sight.
I entered a land where I didn’t know the ins and outs, I didn’t know where the cute shops were, I didn’t even know how to ask where the bathroom was. All I had was the mystery before me, my God beside me and homesickness within me.
Time passed, though, and slowly I began to fall in love with the country I had been praying for months before I departed from the States. I found the mall and discovered “Pull and Bear”, now my favorite store here. I found a crepe shop two blocks from my apartment that serves a mean Mexican crepe.
I began to discover what it means to build a home wherever your feet are.
So now as I prepare to leave my new home, I look back on these three months and can’t believe there was a time I had to look up where Albania was on the map, or what currency they used or what language they spoke. This place that few know about and even fewer have visited has given me an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world.
From the little faces I played with in the kindergarten to swing dancing at the seniors meeting, from the 8:30AM prayer time to the over night prayers, my life has been radically changed by the love and kindness these people have shown me.
They’ve become my family.
So, sorry to break it to you, New Braunfels, but you’re not my only home now. My home is also in the little apartment above the church in Durres, Albania, where I can walk across the street and speak broken Albanian to our fruit guy, and I can walk 5 minutes and have the crepe guy already know my order as soon as I walk up. My home is waking up at 8:27AM to get to 8:30AM prayer time and see the smiling faces of the leadership team and say, “Mire mangjes!”
I may be moving to the Philippines in 3 days time, but part of me is staying here in Albania. It’s where I’ve fallen in love with a culture vastly different from my own, and where I’ve grown to know my Jesus more than ever as my good Father who takes care of His daughter.
Albania, të dua dhe unë shpresoj të shihemi së shpejti. Lamtumirë për tani.*
*Albania, I love you and I hope to see you soon. Goodbye for now.
