Art, Party, Beach

This was another packed weekend. It began with an art show that I attended on Friday night. The only thing that I knew about the exhibit was that the artist was the cousin of my friend's friend. Go figure that one out. Anyhow, the show was sort of interesting. It was all about petroleum. Even the paintings were done with petroleum. The artist photographed an Albanian town as it was turned into an oil producing machine. Actually, the "after" shots looked a lot like Bakersfield. There was a picture of a man standing with oil running over his hands and another with oil spilling up from the ground. I stood back and said, "Ok. I get it. Albania has untapped resources." Later I found out that Albania has the most on shore oil than any other European country. Dad, I wonder if you could get a business trip out here...

Saturday, we had a party in Sarah and my apartments. It was fun! We opened the door between our apartments and arranged a table for our laptops and ipods. Our Latin theme seemed to be successful. Sarah's sangria was smooth (kind of dangerous!), my guacamole was the correct ratio (and tasty!), and Tracey's burritos were a delightful hit! And Entela brought Tres Leche for dessert (yummm!). Most of our close friends from work were there. It turned into more of a work party, which I was very, very glad about. We had an impromptu sing along in the kitchen and dancing in the hallway and bathroom. Two of the marines showed up. They actually rekindled my faith in the decency of our armed forces. One of the marines had helped out with the cross country team and is a gentleman to his core. The other was really sweet too (both are incredibly young). The marines we have previously had contact with were completely arrogant. Not so with these new friends! They stayed and danced with us and then called their driver and took us out for pizza. We'll get a chance to hang out with them at the Marine Ball next Saturday.

Today was just a happy day. Florian drove us to Durres for a day at the beach. We took a nice stroll on the shore. Berti met up with us and took us over to his family's Durres apartment so we could change into our bathing suits (yes, it was on the colder side). I had my book, Sarah and Tracey had their guitars, Berti had his camera and Flori had his Frisbee. Everyone was a happy camper. We went in the water for a refreshing swim. I could have stayed out longer, but everyone else was shivering. It was a day filled with sunshine, music and water. Who could ask for more?

Nearly every weekend is as full as this one until I come home in December. It's making the time disappear. I am trying to savor every day.