Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter Six
“When the world says, 'Give up,'
Hope whispers, 'Try it one
more time.'”
—Author Unknown
“Y
ou must please feed the children of my family.”
Unfortunately, the border guard's eyes weren't as sympathetic as his plea. They were
bloodshot, and by the way he was swaying and holding onto the immigration counter that
separated us, I could tell he was drunk.
Very
drunk. I could also tell that he was hoping that
this weary English traveler on a yellow motorbike might be willing to pay a small bribe for
entry into his country. What he didn't know was that this English traveler was extremely
poor at the moment.
“I am traveling around the world, with no money,” I said sheepishly. “So I have no money
. . .”
This pissed him off. He tried his best to pull himself up from his drunken stupor, spitting
the words out as though they tasted bitter, “Bike no come to Albania.”
Bike no come to Albania? These were not words I was prepared for. How was I going to
make a drunken border guard understand that if he didn't let me through my entire journey
would be over?
Over!
The only thing I could think of was football—or as the Americans call it, soccer—the
most popular sport in Europe, including Albania. I started to talk to my soon-to-be BFF all
about “the beautiful game,” asking who his favorite team might be.
“Manchester United!” he shouted, as though celebrating a goal right in the heart of a foot-
ball stadium.
“Yes!” I cried. “Manchester forever!”
And in those words, our budding friendship began. No one had to know that I was actu-
ally a Liverpool fan. Thankfully, I knew enough about my archenemies, Manchester United,
to convince Mikos of our mutual love for all things Manchester.
