Our last weekend :(

The days have been flying by here. I can't believe that I only will be here for five more days, but mainly four, considering Friday we will be flying the whole day. This has honestly been one of the best experiences of my life, and I can't express how lucky and blessed I am! Friday we met with the minister of foreign affairs. He explained to us Albania's role in the international settings. He expressed the necessity for Albania to join the European Union. He said there is no other alternative at this point if they don't get candidacy. He expressed some off record opinions, and then we got the opportunity for a photo with him. He's high up in the government, so I thought it was cool that he would make time for some college kids from America. After our meeting with the minister, we had free time. I took the best nap known to man. We then had the opportunity to go to a restaurant that had a band of three generations of musically talented people. This older man played the violin; his music and passion was the most wonderful thing. I've never seen anything like it. The restaurant was quite interesting too, because it had animals outside in cages. They had bears, swans, llamas, and some other animals. I'm not sure how I felt about the bears being in a cage, but that's a different issue for a different day.  After dinner, we then went with some staff members to Rock Stock which a nice place that had a live band. They played ACDC, Kiss, and even some more modern music. They had four singers, but the first girl that sang was my favorite.
Saturday was a nice adventure as well. We took the gondola lift to the mountain. Makayla and I rode horses which was really more two guys leading us around. I think I surprised the guy leading my horse because I took the reins out of his hand. We then walk around and enjoyed the view. We had more free time once we got back, so a lot of just walked around the town. It's incredible how comfortable this city feels. It seems like home. We grabbed dinner on our own, and then we enjoyed a nice evening with Glenni. He's been so kind and generous to us while we have been here.
Today, we went to a city higher in the mountains. We went to another castle, saw two museums, and had a nice lunch. We are all pretty tired, and tomorrow we leave for Kosovo at 8:00, so it's important we get some rest. I'll post more pictures tomorrow!