This morning we awoke to an Els who was unusally warm all over. We gave her some Tylenol and she seemed to perk up a bit over breakfast, but we still thought it best for her to stay back at the hotel and quickly decided to trade off Ellie/David duty.
(CYDIL) I had a great time with Reni at the orphanage. He fought me during meal time (no pressure, there were 2 Sisters and a caregiver in the kitchen also feeding kids trying to give encouragement) but eventually he gave in and finished his meal, though his clothes were soaked through in sweat and I had to clean food off the floor underneath. Five minutes later back in the playroom under the ceiling fan and he was out like a light in my arms and barely stirred when I put him in his crib.
Ellie had two of her new teenage friends (see photo above) from the Institution (that’s what they call it) make a trip into the orphanage to play with her. I felt badly for them to report that she wasn’t there because she was sick. I know it was quite a walk!
The orphanage was quite busy. Apparently once per month they distribute food to needy moms with children. The courtyard was full of people and several more families were waiting in the street. I told Lilly yesterday that I would have a difficult time living there given the constant stream of foot traffic into and out of that place. Each time a visitor arrives, a loud buzzer rings inside requiring someone to personally go out and open and close the gate. Same thing when each visitor departs. If it’s not prospective adoptive families (there were three of us visiting on Sunday), there are birth parents who visit their kids regularly, on top of that we have met a number of volunteers from missionaries to peace corps workers who drop in to help with and play with the kids.
I got to meet the last two of the six Sisters (one from Italy and one from India) at the orphanage. I would tell you their names but I honestly couldn’t discern them. I really wish everyone wore nametags! Speaking of discerning, I am having a difficult time understanding some of the folks we are meeting in Elbasan. Though we’re only 90 minutes from Tirana, the dialect is different enough I can NOT understand even the most basic words that I could easily hear and speak elsewhere. It’s so frustrating because the potential for misunderstanding is much higher. Ironically, it’s worst with our two taxi drivers and it’s obvious they are trying to be friendly and want to know more about us and why we’re here. Thankfully they are patient beyond measure and usually keep trying until it ‘clicks’. This is what it must feel like to one losing his hearing.
This afternoon I took it easy with Els watching Nemo and doing Sudoku when her tummy finally gave out. We’ve made numerous trips to the bathroom and all I can say is, I’m glad we had laundry done yesterday! Nathan thinks she drank some bad water (we only drink bottled water, but he caught her drinking pool water which isn’t chlorinated).
Here’s Nathan’s account of his day, a little more exciting than mine:
On my way to the orphanage, I exhausted all of my Albanian with our taxi driver Seni in the first minute or so. I thought I could extend our conversation a little by talking about the World Cup game tonight. Holland is playing Uruguay and I am sort of pulling for Uruguay just because they are the last non-European team left in the tournament. It is probably a good thing that his English is worse than my Albanian because when I mentioned Uruguay, he grabbed my arm excitedly and pointed down while saying Uruguay and up when saying Holland. He kept grabbing my arm and then pointing up and down making it clear that he wanted me to agree that Holland should win and then I noticed the Holland scarf wrapped around his headrest. Afraid that he may not take me to my destination, I said that my wife’s family was from Holland, so we were cheering for them. Seni nodded in appreciation and took me on to the orphanage.
When I arrived at the orphanage, David Reni was ready for his snack of yogurt. He ate about 2/3 of it and then made it clear he was done. We played with some balls for a while before any other kids were brought into the play room. We had some fun times and there were lots of babbling and smiles, but it was pretty hot in the room, so I thought the courtyard in the shade may be cooler, so that is where we headed. Thankfully we arrived outside at about the same time that cloud cover made its appearance and a slight breeze made it comfortable. I found myself singing “Only a Boy Named David” over and over, and he relaxed more with each rendition. Soon he was asleep in my arms. I continued to slowly walk around the courtyard while he slept. Some of the other kids saw us from the second story playroom and yelled down until he woke up, but he got about a 40 minute nap anyway.
While I walked, I wondered when we would hear about the court date. We thought today would be the day. When I still hadn’t heard with just a few minutes before my Dutch-cheering taxi driver would show up, I decided to ask around to see if the Sister who was going to the courthouse today was back yet. She was, but there was a little problem. Because of a misunderstanding about the court tax due, our date couldn’t be set today. We are taking care of the problem and should get our date confirmed tomorrow.
I got back into the taxi disappointed that we still didn’t know our court date, but I couldn’t focus on that for long because the Seni was asking me a question again. Did I mention that he has a strange accent that adds to the language barrier? I thought I knew what he was asking so I said ‘Po’ (Yes). I was right, he wanted to treat me to a coffee. We went to his favorite coffee bar run by his ‘mick’ (Friend). The bartenders thought it was funny that he brought in someone who only spoke English while he only spoke Albanian. I ordered a coffee and turned down a cigarette, and we struggled though a little more language. I was from America. Seni didn’t know where Kentucky was, but when I said it was south of Chicago, he asked if I knew Michael Jordan. I asked if he was going to watch tonight’s World Cup game at the coffee bar and he assured me he was and offered to bring me along. While it would have been a fun cultural experience, I declined using Ellie’s fever as an excuse. Caffeinated and a little smoky, we climbed back into the taxi for the last kilometer or so to the hotel. After assuring Seni again that I would cheer for Holland, I set the time for tomorrow’s pickup and paid. Who would have known that a taxi driver I can’t even understand could be my newest Albanian ‘mick’!
(CYDIL) I had a great time with Reni at the orphanage. He fought me during meal time (no pressure, there were 2 Sisters and a caregiver in the kitchen also feeding kids trying to give encouragement) but eventually he gave in and finished his meal, though his clothes were soaked through in sweat and I had to clean food off the floor underneath. Five minutes later back in the playroom under the ceiling fan and he was out like a light in my arms and barely stirred when I put him in his crib.
Ellie had two of her new teenage friends (see photo above) from the Institution (that’s what they call it) make a trip into the orphanage to play with her. I felt badly for them to report that she wasn’t there because she was sick. I know it was quite a walk!
The orphanage was quite busy. Apparently once per month they distribute food to needy moms with children. The courtyard was full of people and several more families were waiting in the street. I told Lilly yesterday that I would have a difficult time living there given the constant stream of foot traffic into and out of that place. Each time a visitor arrives, a loud buzzer rings inside requiring someone to personally go out and open and close the gate. Same thing when each visitor departs. If it’s not prospective adoptive families (there were three of us visiting on Sunday), there are birth parents who visit their kids regularly, on top of that we have met a number of volunteers from missionaries to peace corps workers who drop in to help with and play with the kids.
I got to meet the last two of the six Sisters (one from Italy and one from India) at the orphanage. I would tell you their names but I honestly couldn’t discern them. I really wish everyone wore nametags! Speaking of discerning, I am having a difficult time understanding some of the folks we are meeting in Elbasan. Though we’re only 90 minutes from Tirana, the dialect is different enough I can NOT understand even the most basic words that I could easily hear and speak elsewhere. It’s so frustrating because the potential for misunderstanding is much higher. Ironically, it’s worst with our two taxi drivers and it’s obvious they are trying to be friendly and want to know more about us and why we’re here. Thankfully they are patient beyond measure and usually keep trying until it ‘clicks’. This is what it must feel like to one losing his hearing.
This afternoon I took it easy with Els watching Nemo and doing Sudoku when her tummy finally gave out. We’ve made numerous trips to the bathroom and all I can say is, I’m glad we had laundry done yesterday! Nathan thinks she drank some bad water (we only drink bottled water, but he caught her drinking pool water which isn’t chlorinated).
Here’s Nathan’s account of his day, a little more exciting than mine:
On my way to the orphanage, I exhausted all of my Albanian with our taxi driver Seni in the first minute or so. I thought I could extend our conversation a little by talking about the World Cup game tonight. Holland is playing Uruguay and I am sort of pulling for Uruguay just because they are the last non-European team left in the tournament. It is probably a good thing that his English is worse than my Albanian because when I mentioned Uruguay, he grabbed my arm excitedly and pointed down while saying Uruguay and up when saying Holland. He kept grabbing my arm and then pointing up and down making it clear that he wanted me to agree that Holland should win and then I noticed the Holland scarf wrapped around his headrest. Afraid that he may not take me to my destination, I said that my wife’s family was from Holland, so we were cheering for them. Seni nodded in appreciation and took me on to the orphanage.
When I arrived at the orphanage, David Reni was ready for his snack of yogurt. He ate about 2/3 of it and then made it clear he was done. We played with some balls for a while before any other kids were brought into the play room. We had some fun times and there were lots of babbling and smiles, but it was pretty hot in the room, so I thought the courtyard in the shade may be cooler, so that is where we headed. Thankfully we arrived outside at about the same time that cloud cover made its appearance and a slight breeze made it comfortable. I found myself singing “Only a Boy Named David” over and over, and he relaxed more with each rendition. Soon he was asleep in my arms. I continued to slowly walk around the courtyard while he slept. Some of the other kids saw us from the second story playroom and yelled down until he woke up, but he got about a 40 minute nap anyway.
While I walked, I wondered when we would hear about the court date. We thought today would be the day. When I still hadn’t heard with just a few minutes before my Dutch-cheering taxi driver would show up, I decided to ask around to see if the Sister who was going to the courthouse today was back yet. She was, but there was a little problem. Because of a misunderstanding about the court tax due, our date couldn’t be set today. We are taking care of the problem and should get our date confirmed tomorrow.
I got back into the taxi disappointed that we still didn’t know our court date, but I couldn’t focus on that for long because the Seni was asking me a question again. Did I mention that he has a strange accent that adds to the language barrier? I thought I knew what he was asking so I said ‘Po’ (Yes). I was right, he wanted to treat me to a coffee. We went to his favorite coffee bar run by his ‘mick’ (Friend). The bartenders thought it was funny that he brought in someone who only spoke English while he only spoke Albanian. I ordered a coffee and turned down a cigarette, and we struggled though a little more language. I was from America. Seni didn’t know where Kentucky was, but when I said it was south of Chicago, he asked if I knew Michael Jordan. I asked if he was going to watch tonight’s World Cup game at the coffee bar and he assured me he was and offered to bring me along. While it would have been a fun cultural experience, I declined using Ellie’s fever as an excuse. Caffeinated and a little smoky, we climbed back into the taxi for the last kilometer or so to the hotel. After assuring Seni again that I would cheer for Holland, I set the time for tomorrow’s pickup and paid. Who would have known that a taxi driver I can’t even understand could be my newest Albanian ‘mick’!
3 comments:
Nathan---the video of you walking with David Reni is just precious. Know that we are praying.
Kathi
Precious video. Wonderful memories you are making!! Still praying for your courtdate to happen quickly.
Hello, My computer has been down for a week so I excitedly read and saw your pictures. David Reni is so gosh darn cute! What a beautiful family. Hope Ellie feels better soon. Praying for a court date.
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