A Fun, Long Letter (With Drawings) from Florenc!

With every letter I receive from Florenc, I can really just feel him growing into a mature young man. His confidence seems to be improving with each passing month. His ability to express himself with words is growing by leaps and bounds and the letter I share with you today is wonderful. A full two pages. He wrote beautifully about his country's history and basic information. Plus, he drew two wonderful drawings! I'm just so in love with this boy.

Florenc is 16 years old and lives in Albania. This letter was written sometime after July, since he mentions my birthday greetings.

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Hello Kayla, 

How are you doing? I'm very well and I"m so happy at the same time because school has started. The first day of school was very exciting. I met my friends. I had missed them. I hadn't seen most of them during the whole summer. From the very first day, the school was buzzing by the noises of students. Especially our class is very noisy and we often get reprimands by our teacher staff. 

I'm very passionate about football and my favorite football team is Real Madrid. My favorite player is Ronaldo. A few days ago, this team played a match against Albania's national team. The match took place in Elbasan Arena and it was going well until the very last minute, when the other team scored a goal. It was a beautiful game, but it would have been more beautiful if our national team would have scored that goal. I think I talk to much about sports. What is your favorite football team? Are you a fan of any team, anyway? 

The flag is the symbol of my country. The proud eagle with two heads. I'm telling you something; the red field of the flag shows the blood our of national heroes spilled during the war for thousands of years. Albania has been conquered by many countries. The worst enemy for us has been Turkey. This country has enslaved us for about five centuries and yet, we have never surrendered to them. We have fought for our liberation. Albanians are known for their bravery and loyalty. Loyalty is our greatest virtue and there exists an old saying for that: "The loyalty of an Albanian is stronger than a golden pole." The two headed eagle on the flag, is a symbol of our bravery, the courage of Albanians and our fierceness when talking about protecting our country (not a general feature of ours). (Hilariously honest!)

Our country has a lot of natural beauties. I'm naming you some of our most beautiful cities: Vlora, Tirana, Shkodra, Gjirokastra, Berati, Saranda, Durres, Tropoja, Hani, and Hotit (the is the most eastern city in Albania). The Alps where the snow is always so charming and Apollonia (which is the oldest city) dates from 588 B.C. It's really fascinating. 

I wanted to share with you these things about Albania. It would be lovely if you could come visit it someday! 

I need to go now. Thank you for your birthday wish! 

All the best! 

Florenc

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