This May I went on the faculty led trip to the Balkans – Albania, Macedonia, Greece, and Kosovo. This was such an amazing experience and I loved it more than I was expecting. It was a very busy trip with a lot of traveling, university visits, and business visits, but I am glad we saw as much as we could. My favorite country was Albania. It was absolutely gorgeous, the food was great, and the people were so nice. Some of the best memories of my life and many new experiences were on this trip.
This was my third time studying abroad, and my second faculty led College of Business trip. I think this trip was made so much better because our professor Dr. Asllani is Albanian and we had a great Albanian tour guide. We got to see and experience a lot of things like locals and less like tourists. Though these countries are poorer than most of Europe, they were all far more developed and even touristy than I was expecting. English and souvenirs were everywhere, and with food so good and views so beautiful, I really don’t understand why more people don’t try to visit the Balkans. But this trip did help me realize some of the little things we take for granted at home in personal and professional life, like shower curtains and online banking.
The university visits were interesting and I loved seeing what college is like in the Balkans. It was also interesting to speak to the Albanian students and hear their questions. I enjoyed a business visit to a small family owned olive oil factory, and a family owned grape leaf vineyard. I did learn more about doing business in countries like these.
Other than the business visits, I loved the more cultural experiences like the guest house in the Albanian mountains, traditional dancing at dinner in a castle, and eating burek in Kosovo. I just had such a great time on this trip and I am so glad I chose this trip over the other options. I chose it because these were places I might never get to go otherwise, and now I can definitely see myself coming back and recommending the Balkans to others. I also plan to come on this trip again next May!
Kaylyn (Miette) Craig is double majoring in Management/Human Resource Management and spent part of May 2019 participating in a faculty-led trip to the Balkans through the Rollins College of Business. Miette had the following to say about studying abroad, “The more I travel, the more things I just continue to learn. The world is so big, and I feel so grateful to have so many amazing experiences already that most people will never get to experience. Studying abroad would be beneficial to anyone, do it if you can!”
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