"Where is the night?" ...And the time Ellie interrupted an international TV reporter

Rebecca (right) with our dear friend, Vera.

For three brief days we had Nathan's sister Rebecca visit us!!!  Of our siblings, she's the only one who has never been to Albania before!  

We did three days of homeschool the previous week, (while Kristi was here) and school on Monday and Tuesday before Rebecca arrived so we could count one week completed between the two and enjoy time off with our guests. It was a highlight for our whole family to be loved these days and do some 'fun' things we don't usually make time for.

Having Rebecca here, I learned an interesting background behind the word for "sister-in-law".  In Shqip I introduce Rebecca as my kunatë.  If you break the word into parts it literally means "where there is night" or "where night is"  It kind of goes to show a lack of familial love, doesn't it?

I'm glad to say that's NOT the case with Rebecca.  Shpresa told me I could refer to her as my kudita ("where there is day") and folks would know we get along just fine. :-)

In spite of limited luggage (she's on her way to Asia for work through the end of October), she managed to squeeze in lots of surprises!  This was the start of 'breakfast suprises' each morning!

Our critter girl is reacting to a bug container that includes its own flashing light and cricket sound replicator.

We took Rebecca up Mt Dajti on the cable car -- a treat that Ellie and Reni LOVE and which is a neat way to see a little bit of nature and get an idea of the scope of Tirana from above.

While riding up the mountain we shared with Rebecca how we took Mom and Dad Waggoner up this same way during their brief visit to meet Reni in 2010.  Mom didn't tell us until much later how much she fears heights!  Interestingly enough, Rebecca was taking photos on her iPad which features a photograph of Mom on the wallpaper.  As soon as Ellie saw it, she hugged it fiercely.  This girl misses her family in America so much!!

I think this is the true reason Ellie likes to take the Teleferiku -- to ride the horses at the top.  She named this guy "Daylight" during her brief trail ride.  And to think she was deathly afraid of them the entire time we lived in Kentucky...

On her way here, Rebecca slipped on spilled liquid at the Frankfurt Airport and re-injured her knee on which she had surgery just last year.  So in light of all the travel she has ahead of her, we've tried to plan activities that didn't require strenuous hiking or walking.

So when we heard that the Travel Channel/ABC News would be in Tirana last night at a restaurant we occasionally treat ourselves to (they have real hamburgers and pulled pork!!!) we suggested it to her.  Rebecca thought it would be a fun experience to add to her Albanian memories so given that it coincided with the one evening we didn't have programs at the ministry center, we decided to oblige her request.

Secretly I hoped the restaurant would be full and we'd just go eat elsewhere.

When we arrived, it was completely empty, so we decided to stay and eat.  Three couples and a party of four eventually joined us.  We ordered and ate our food.  The crew still hadn't arrived and given that we were seated in the center of the restaurant, we felt bad about leaving.

We ate dessert and had coffee, and they still hadn't shown up.  When we arrived, the owner had asked us if we could stay for the TV crew and we told her we would stay as long as the kids held it together.
After we had finished our coffee we were just about to go when she told us they had called and would be there in just fifteen more minutes.  Could we please stay?

We agreed, keeping our empty coffee cups in hand.

Going on 2 hours since we arrived, the crew arrived.  Three guys with digital SLRs on brackets with shotgun mics.  A female producer with a clipboard.  And the reporter, a 30-something-year-old with a friendly demeanor and a British accent.

We took the kids' games away and told them to put on their best behavior.  I should have known we'd be in for trouble when Ellie asked, "Am I going to be in a MOVIE?"  (this has been on her mind since learning a few weeks ago that a friend of ours is featured at the end of Dolphin Tale 2).

After interviewing the owner briefly, the reporter turned his attention to us, the biggest group in the restaurant, smack in the middle.  Reni had climbed into my lap, leaving an empty seat for him to join us.

The rest is a blur.  All I remember is him asking us about why we were in Albania, how we liked it, do we feel people stare at us, etc. and Ellie tapping his arm, "Excuse me!  I have a bug cage with a beetle, a moth, and a zhapik!"

"Excuse me!  Look!  I lost my tooth!  In Albania they throw their teeth on the roof and a very, very, very, very smart bird picks it up and gives it to a baby.  Did you know in China the tooth fairy fights a dragon for the teeth?  What do they do in Germany?"  And more and more.

Oh my goodness.  It took me several hours to come down after that. Nathan has reassured me that there is no way they could have used any of what we said as we didn't deliver any editable soundbites, for all the interruptions.  I can only hope and pray.

Ellie, if you're reading this as an adult:  I love you, girl.  I love your incredible imagination.  To think one day we wondered if you'd ever talk...

Rebecca filled the rest of her time just seeing what life with us is like!  At the women's Bible study she shared her testimony and other afternoons included spending lots of time with our neighbor kids playing volleyball.

And meeting her partner family in the village!

Her visit was way too short, but we trust it won't be her last! ;-)