Independance Day?

Maybe it was fitting on Albania’s Independence Day that we would use today as an opportunity to take Ellie out of the orphanage for a little walk. This exercise was extremely traumatic for our poor little girl. Linus has his security blanket, Ellie has the ceiling of her nursery. As she got outside and tilted her head back to find comfort in the ceiling fan, all she saw was a bright sunny sky, not to mention she kept looking away from us which meant looking towards the sun. We barely left the gates when the first whines started which we seemed to be able to console when getting in the shade and stopping for a while.

A sweet Albanian “gjusha” (grandmother) quickly identified us a foreigners with a baby from the Shtepia Fermijes (the children’s home). Thankfully at this point Ellie was mollified while the gjusha pinched her cheeks and pointed at us asking Ellie, “Ku Mommi & Bobbi?” By now Ellie was getting heavy so the stroller seemed like a good idea. It wasn’t. After picking her back up and crossing the street to get to more shade at a little snack shop on the “beach” for soft drinks, the real crying began. Ellie could only be consoled when standing in a corner where she could find solace in staring at a blank wall. As soon as she turned her head and saw the sea, the crying began even harder than before. Needless to say, the hour and a half we intended to enjoy in fresh air and sunshine turned into much less. Unfortunately, carrying a heavy, crying baby up a hillside with a stream of public bus riders, was exhausting. Emotionally and physically. As if we didn’t stick out already!

Shortly after returning to the friendly confines of her nursery, Ellie calmed down again. That’s when we snatched her roommates out of their cribs to get this photo. Only Gergi is missing. He disappears for hours at a time and we don’t know where he goes, but we have a feeling it’s a better place. He seems to be the caregivers’ favorite.

As for future trips to the great outdoors…as the older caregiver sweetly said when we returned with a crying Ellisona, “Avash, Avash” (Slowly, Slowly).
This was taken on our walk back to the hotel from the orphanage (about 4:30pm). The water was much rougher. Rain tomorrow?