Ryan is now an international traveller...
My first time out of the country, a trip to Macedonia for a TEFL conference. It was amazing.

We went to Struga on Friday for a TEFL conference. It was a really good time. The conference took place Saturday and Sunday and afterwords we went to Ohra (I dont remember how its spelled and I can never pronounce it) for the night and then returned to Albania on Monday.
The conference was more expensive than I thought it would be (50 euro) and I was also hoping that it would include a hotel and/or some food. But no. Luckily as we were wondering around Struga on Friday looking for cheaper accomidations, food, and a bank we happened to run into a Peace Corps volunteer who lives in Struga. She generously offered her apartment to us and we gatefully accepted. It saved us a lot of money and it was fun to hang out with her and her Macedonian friends. Thanks Patty... wherever you are.
Struga was really beautiful. Ohri was also really nice. Both way different from Albania. The streets and sidewalks were clean and in good condition, there was a variety of restaurants and shops lining the streets, there was grass and there were even manicured lawns. There weren't as many ugly communist buildings and there were more older ones. There was also a noticable difference in the atmosphere. I don't know what it is but just walking around I felt a difference in the people.
Even coming back was interesting. Crossing the border into Albania you could see where the road changed. The road was fairly new with a nice line painted down the center until we came to the sign that said Mirsevini ne Shqiperi. The road from that point was old and lineless. There was trash thrown on the side of the road and bullet holes in the sign. Thats how we knew that we were back in Albania. Go figure.
The conference was also pretty good. I like going to these because it makes you feel like a professional something. I guess it depends on the conference. There were some good presentations and what not, on everything from teacher development to portfolio writing to different learning styles. Some presentations were also better than others, but overall it was good.
What else can I say? School is going well. I am looking forward to going home to visit in December. If you didn't know that I will be coming back (and you actually read this) now you do. Maybe we can hang out. I am still trying to find an apartment. If you hear of anything in Kucove let me know. I have resorted to asking random people. I think that I'll ask the guy here in the internet cafe when I finish here.
Late

I added this photo. This is when we were coming back into Albania from Macedonia. You can see how the road changes and if you look closely you can see the bullet holes in the Welcome to Albania sign.