Day 2.5!

Thanks for the great comments on yesterday's post!  Here's another pictorial review, this time of day 2.5 in Albania (by the way, the missing suitcase arrived -- yay!).

statue of Mother Teresa, at the University

Last year when Dad came over to help Nathan travel back with Reni, Dad had the great idea to take photos  with Reni around some of Tirana's more well-known spots (click here to see photos from August 2010).  To keep up the tradition, this morning we started down at the University and walked up to the center of town for updated images at the same spots. 

For those of you who've been to Albania before, but not in the last 18 months, the traffic pattern around the Center has completely changed and new sidewalks/green space has been installed.  It's quite different than the Center looked before (which was one part of town that until now didn't really change over the years, while everywhere else did so dramatically).

After walking to the center of town and back, we went atop the Sky Tower for coffee to rest and warm up.  The neat thing about Tirana is there are so many neat and affordable places to stop for coffee in the middle of the morning on a weekday and it's perfectly acceptable (in fact, very cultural!).  We thought the revolving coffee bar would add an entertainment element for the kids.

If you have never been to Albania before, you may not know that trademark infringement runs rampant here.  It's probably a good reason why McD*nalds and KFC* have not yet made it to this country.  We discovered a new AFC restaurant in our neighborhood, and included this for our friends in Col Sanders country.  Thought you might also get a kick out of the name for one of their new meals (below).  I doubt that many here even know the story of Mrs. O'Leary's cow...

One of the places we wanted to visit this trip was the new center for teens in the state orphanage system sponsored by Hope for the World Albania.  Our friend, Perparim, is the director.  When we visited in 2010, it was an unfinished shell of a building -- today it's a beautiful facility that houses 12 students, with a maximum capacity of 24.  Melissa and Bob, I thought you might be interested in these pics...

visiting in Perparim's office

Above and Below
The corridor of the boys' floor, and one of the bedrooms.  Aren't they so nice?  It's optional for the kids to live here, so far, it's only been open for one year.

The boys and girls have identical lounges with adjacent study rooms (that's where we found everyone) and a computer work station.

Ellie really wanted to see the girls, so they agreed to step aside from their studies and come out to the lounge for a photo.  Ellie was COMPLETELY natural and at home with them, unlike with anyone else she has encountered over here.  She told them she wanted to tell them a story, then that they were going to be in her band and they would all march together in a parade.  Oh my goodness.  You could tell here that she's used to being around teenagers and young adults!   And yes, she is not wearing her glasses.  They got misplaced yesterday and we are praying they show up again soon!

Of course, the girls wanted to love on Reni.

Here he is blowing kisses to the rest of the girls.  After we finish language study, our  tenative plan is to move out to Vlash, which is less than a mile from the community where this center is located.  I would LOVE it if we could be involved with these kids someday.

From Marikaj, we drove over to Vlash for the women's evening Bible program.  Here is the ministry center (for those of you who aren't familiar with it).  Our thinking is that we'll probably move to the top floor which has a living/kitchen area and 2 bedrooms with bunk beds which have been used for hosting teams.

A few of the ladies have been involved in making crafts which have been sold for supplemental income.  Here my mom is showing them some new supplies brought over from the States.  They were going to pick out the items they wanted to purchase to create earrings, necklaces and bracelets that will later be sold.

At 4:30 about 20 ladies of various ages gathered for the weekly women's Bible study and fellowship.  Shpresa (a ministry partner) gave a message, then my mom shared a devotional while giving a cooking demonstration.

We were pleased that Vera came with us from Tirana.  Next to her is a sweet lady named Bardha (Bartha).

Ada is one of our favorite people!  Here she is serving cookies.

Afterwards, the women enjoy a time to visit and fellowship.  I can't wait until I can speak Shqip so I can join in on the conversation!

 The power went out near the end, so the following photos were taken in the dark, but here's Reni getting his kisses from the sweetest Vlashaj teens, Xhessi (Jessie), Urina, and Ada!  As you can see, he started warming up to it!

Thanks for following along with our journey!  We continue to strategize and plan for what life will be like for us here.  Tomorrow looks to include shopping for a few tech supplies, visiting our friends at the Bethany facility in Sauk, and doing a little photo shoot for our friend Arjan, his wife, and baby girl!