In case you were all really worried about me (mum...) I am here safely.

I arrived in Tirana, and was greeted by a tax collector, who looked at my UK passport with such puzzlement, as I said ‘Sa Kushton?’ (How much?). She then tried charging me in Euros, and I had none!! Thankfully – I had some leftover lek from our last trip, ensuring I could pay my way into the country. To be honest - I'm surprised that they let me out of the UK in the first place, as some of you know - I would win an Eminem lookalike contest easily, but it REALLY doesn't look like me!

Once I had my bags and stepped out of the airport – I was not only greeted by a flock of people, eagerly trying to set me up with a taxi or a hire car, but a small entrepreneurial boy (of about 13-14) trying to make a quick buck, offering to push my trolley. I was perfectly capable of doing this myself, but I liked his style, and despite my panics as I thought my laptop bag was about to smash on the floor into smithereens, it was all good. It's still in one piece! He tried to charge me 200 lek, but Magdalena gave him a 100 and told him to buzz off….

I really don’t know what I would have done without Magdalena... She is a missionary here in Tirana. She is from Malaysia, but is now fluent in Albanian, and has been living here for AGES! She drove me all the way to Tirana town center, found me a lovely room in their guest house come office and took me out for nachos in their restaurant down stairs. This is all in the Stephen Center, where they also have a clinic, and a small Christian bookshop. They are doing some AWESOME work.

We then met up with Genci and Odeta (some of the youngsters from Sarande who are here for University)… They took me on a whirlwind tour of Tirana, showing me the museum, the opera house and the student village where they live. These were, unfortunately, miles apart, and my feet are now killing me! Highlight of the tour was walking through a park, and seeing a security guard just casually erm... how can i put this... watering the plants?! The daft thing was that there was a bar about 10 feet away!!! Suerly he could have asked nicely to use their facilities???

Anyway - I'll keep you posted. I'm feeling as rough as a dog, as I think I may have tonsilitis, so all prayers would be MUCH appreciated. I'm just about to tuck into a nice English breakfast.... must keep my strength up :o).

Sion.x