'Working' In Berat

Trip Start Mar 13, 2009
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Trip End Mar 15, 2010


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Where I stayed
Berat Backpackers
(Berat hotels)

Flag of Albania  , Berat,
Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Berat, Albania, is a small town in the center of the country. Albania is funny because it was shut off from the world for so long during communism, and they are slowly rebuilding themselves and exploring being part of the greater world. This sounds  little strange, but it really is like this. A lot of people expressed fear about going to Albania, wondering if it was safe, etc. but we had a great time, enjoyed the people and the food thoroughly, and even got a little more than a tourist insight through our volunteering.

Scott is an English ExPat who was looking to open a hostel somewhere that has a lot of tourism potential. He fell in love with sleepy Berat, and bought a world heritage building to convert into a hostel. What he needed from us was some finishing touches. During our time with Scott, we helped him lay out placement for framed pictures throughout the hostel, paint his common room bar, hang fabric from the ceiling, get a sense of the bus schedule for arrivals, and any other little thing he needed doing Rally
Rally
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This way, we were able to stay in a cool place, work a few hours a day, and get room and board in return. My favorite thing about Berat was how friendly the locals were. They loved Scott, and therefore, loved us too. The kids outside the hostel would come and look for us to play with everyday, and the people in the area would wave and talk to us even though they knew we couldn't understand them.

Berat is a really fun place, and I think Scott was wise to choose it as a place is an up and coming hotspot on the Eastern Europe Gringo Trail.
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