Tuesday was a significant holiday here. In Albania it's called Bajramin. In other parts of the m*slim world it's called Eid al-Adha, a feast celebrating the provision of a substitute when Abraham was willing to sacrifice Ishmael (yes, it's a little different than the OT account). At one point we drove past sheep being slaughtered on the side of the road. While the meat is feasted upon, a portion of the sacrifice is to be given to the poor, and we would later see the Sisters of Charity receive a large bag of fresh meat donated to their group home.
Government offices were closed and school was called off, so it seemed like a good day to make a long-promised return visit to Elbasan. Since Reni's adoption trip in 2010, work has been ongoing to build a tunnel through the mountains to significantly shorten the journey between Elbasan and the capital, Tirana.
While the journey to Elbasan was almost completely different than we remembered it (the tunnel is amazingly modern), some things didn't change as much... like Reni's first home. We immediately felt at home upon arrival. While there were a lot of new faces, it was neat to see some others we recognized, and we were greeted like long-lost family.
Doesn't Reni look HUGE? The little guy behind him is the same age or slightly older. He was one of those familiar faces.
While Reni was the "returning son" and the one everyone wanted to see, all of the attention was a little much for him and he wasn't very charming, as you can see below.
Sister M.F. requested a photo with Reni (which we were more than happy to oblige). She kept trying to tell him how she took care of him as a baby. After his special Dyzi, I think Sister MF was his favorite Sister in white (and the reason why for months after coming home, he would search every dark-skinned woman's face for a sign of recognition), though he doesn't appear to have any memory of his time in Elbasan. In spite of his orneriness, we managed to get a couple of decent photos.
After some time with the bigger kids, Ellie, in particular, was anxious to see 'the babies.'
Ellie convinced a Sister that she could feed a baby. Ha! After two or three spoonfuls, she told this sweetheart, "Okay, you can feed yourself now."
Sister M.F. told us that this was Reni's first bed... a new piece of info for us. Reni wasn't all that impressed.
One of Reni's former roommates was born with a lot of medical challenges. The Sisters secured medical treatment for her in Italy and we had received word during our visit in 2012 that she had been adopted by a lovely Italian family. The Sisters were especially proud that 'one of their kids' had not met just ONE but TWO Holy Fathers (the previous and current Popes). See how she's kissing his cross?
Reni eventually warmed up and showed off some of his gymnastic skills... if you've never seen him do a cartwheel, you really must watch the video below.
After lunch, we took the girls to see the old city wall...
The P family, here to adopt their son E, hung out with us (or we with them) for the day. It's special to be part of a little fraternity of families with children from Elbasan. It's pretty exclusive, I think! Their 2nd court date is on Tuesday and I'm sure they'd appreciate your prayers on their behalf. I just noticed that in the photo below E is conked out on his daddy's back. ;-)
Our hosts for the day were our missionary friends (and roommates), Kerri and Julie. Of Julie, Ellie said, "I like that girl."
Kerri told us of a great outdoor play place connected to a coffee shop... that was part of a funeral home. Not joking. The kids saw it and we figured it would be good for them to get some more energy out before we hit the road to return to Tirana.
Another change in Elbasan since 2010 was a reconstruction of a portion of the Roman Road that Elbasan was built around.
The original stones were dug up and re-laid.
What a great day. I can't wait until we can return... Now back to the books!
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