Daily Life/Point-and-Shoot Pics

Happy Independence Day, friends in America! We have an Independence Day post planned for this evening, internet connection withstanding.

In the few days we’ve been in Elbasan, life has fallen into a bit of a routine, something really good for Ellie. In case you’re wondering what a family does when they have five weeks to spend in another country, here’s what we’re doing during the 2-week, pre-court visitation requirement.

After breakfast in the hotel bar, we grab our backpacks and jump in our cab to head to the orphanage. We stay there until the kids go down for their afternoon nap (which starts around 11). We return to the hotel and Ellie takes a swim in the pool for about an hour. We make a picnic lunch of PB&J (PB brought from home, bread and jam purchased locally) which we usually eat in the comfort of our room’s AC. Then we take a nap (Ellie sometimes watches a video on the computer), and we head back to the orphanage at 2:30. We leave around 4:30 or 5 and come back to the hotel to check e-mail, blog, etc. before heading out to supper and our evening stroll around the park. We come back to the hotel around 8 or so and wind down for bed, maybe calling our parents in the States, if we’re fortunate enough to have an internet connection (the evenings are the most difficult time to find a wireless signal).

Routine is comfortable. The hotel is starting to feel like a home away from home. The staff are friendly and helpful. We’ve been blessed with good weather to be outside much of the time but have a good supply of DVDs if we have bad weather. We hear the hot weather is arriving tomorrow! I had been hoping this was as hot as it got here! Guess I was naïve. I don’t know how many more restaurants are within a reasonable walking distance (with Ellie). But if there are few if non other, we’ll manage fine.

Our visits to David Reni don’t really have a routine per se. Much of the time we are in the playroom with him and the other kids. They don’t have a lot of variety of toys out, though they have many toy cabinets under lock and key. Doubtless the room would be a huge mess if the kids had full access to everything. ;-) The orphanage has a playspace on the roof, and a small play area in the garden . Ellie loves the fact that they have a teeter totter. Sometimes we will take both kids out there and enjoy a bit of quiet away from the ruckus of the other bunch, though they need attention too! We’re encouraged to feed David Reni whenever we can, and we’re more than happy to do so.

Saturday night we deviated from our schedule slightly by bringing Lilly back to our side of town for supper and the trip to the park. Ellie was melting quickly so we opted to eat a bit early. Fortunately we arrived during halftime of the Germany/Argentina game and we got the fastest service ever – food delivered before the 2^nd half resumed! The cook was nice enough to give us a complementary portion of a local dish to try. It was really yummy! Kind of like a baked scalloped potato dish but with thinly sliced eggplant too. Kerri called us while we were eating and joined us for drinks at the park afterwards and Ellie’s evening ‘amusement’ park ride. We were so proud of Els for taking a 50 lek coin and walking up to the ticket lady to purchase her own ticket. Then she proceeded to (unsolicited) tell her, “Falemenderit!” (thank you!)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know we’re in World Cup season. We were amused to see several German flags flying around the city today in support of this European team (continental unity, I suppose?). After their sound win, we saw a handful of motorcycles driving up and down the streets waving German flags. Ah, the cultural experiences. This continued when we arrived at our hotel about an hour before a wedding reception began. It started with a bang, literally. Fireworks and sparklers were sent up from the pool side. I couldn’t get my camera fast enough to record the event, but it was LOUD and a lot of fun! Now the band has started. Thankfully we’re pretty heavy sleepers and tired enough to sleep through some loud ethnic music. We were warned about this possibility before booking here, but this may be our last weekend in Elbasan as we plan to spend future weekends in Tirana. The party was still going strong at 3AM.

The photo below was taken underwater with our waterproof camera.

Last night Ellie went up to the ticket booth and bought her own ticket for a ride. She even said "thank you!" in Albanian without being told!

Yes, that is a taxidermy fox. There are a couple of them in the kids ride area. Nathan said this represents one of Aesop's Fables...

Saturday night with Lilly (left) and Kerri (right)

Sorry this is so dark -- Nathan shot this while walking back to our hotel from the park. The guy is holding a German flag.

Thank you, Amy, for the report on the Wilmore July 4th parade! Can I find pics on your blog? Anyone we know in the shopping cart brigade?