January so far | Camera Phone Dump

Last winter spoiled us.  They told us it was mild.  I had brought a nice winter coat from the States and wore it about 2 weeks.  Our gloves and hats never left the coat closet shelf.

Plus, we were in the city, sheltered by high rises on all sides, living in an apartment with small rooms that can be closed off to make heating easier.

For all of those reasons we have loved our home in the village.  We have views on three sides letting in lots of sunshine and fresh air, when wanted.  And our rooms are more spacious, helping us feel more connected in our home, not separated when doing our own things in different places.

Our view to the east.  See the snow-topped mountain?  First sign that the cold has reached Albania!

But it also makes heating that much more challenging. Especially when we have no central heat and we could probably need to re-caulk around our windows.  Our floors are tiled and the walls are not insulated.  Yep. It's like living in your garage.  And that's when the lows at night dip into the 30s.

I'm not trying to complain, just explain our new reality.

At the end of December a cold front hit the Balkans from northern Europe.  The temps plummeted down to the 20s at night, barely breaking the freezing mark during the day.  I knew it was unusual when our mild-mannered neighbors started lamenting after about day 7.  Apparently winter comes in cold cycles that last a few days at a time, interspersed with several warm days in between -- not usually lasting for upwards of 2 weeks at a time...

Evidence that one (or more) of the pipes on the rooftop water tanks had cracked.

Pipes started freezing.  I was going to bed wearing my fleece jacket over layers of pajamas, and sometimes a scarf.  (I know, probably not the safest thing to wear to bed -- it was usually because I just forgot it was on).

Mornings would find us making blowing clouds of vapor in the kitchen/living room until we could get a fire roaring. The bathrooms?   Forget about trying to take a shower.  I won't say how long we went but we finally got desperate and strategically lined up a path of floormats from our bedroom to the shower and brought in heaters.  I let the lukewarm water run a little while to try to warm the shower floor before hopping in for the fastest shower I've probably ever taken.  Keep in mind that though we have a hot water heater in our bathroom, it is still mixing with icy water from our outside tank. A tip we gleaned: it might not hurt to submerge your shampoo bottle in warm dishwater prior to use to return it to a normal consistency and not shock your scalp).

Something else that changes in consistency in the cold: a memory foam mattress topper.  We'll just say it feels less 'foamy' and more rigid, except the parts eventually warmed by your body.  This it feels sort of like you're sleeping in a giant muffin tin in the shape of your silhouette.  Regardless of how many nights we did it, we never ceased to be surprised by the lack of 'give' when we'd fall on our bed at the end of the evening with a dull thud.

Evening devotions by headlamp.

Then there's the issue of electricity.  With so many folks drawing on the power supply to run electric heaters (who can blame them?) the power started going out even more, but usually at least a couple of hours each night for selective brownouts or rationing.  Let me tell you, sitting in the dark, huddled around the fire on many a night has made me think more than ever about pioneer life and thanking God for the hours I do have light to wash my dishes and tidy my house in the evenings and internet to work.

Putting Reni to bed under lots of comforters by the light of my LED headlamp.  These kids have yet to complain.  They're troopers and still find it rather exciting.

In spite of the cold, the boys still turn up faithfully each afternoon to play sports.  The photo above was a lightly attended day. Probably because the temperature on my phone said it was 26 degrees.  And yes, that boy at the bottom is not wearing a coat.  Isn't Nathan the best?  So devoted.  I couldn't hardly watch without wincing each time someone hit the ball.

Anna bundled up at church Friday night.  And she had the warmest seat in the room! ;-)

Nathan shared a message about Noah and new beginnings.  I don't have any photos because after worship I took the younger ones into the kitchen where they watched Veggie Tales and did coloring pages for the fruits of the Spirit.  It was the first time we tried taking the younger ones out of church.  They have been so squirmy and distracting to the adults, and since for many of the adults, this is the only teaching they get all week (while the younger kids get kids club the next morning), we thought we'd try bringing the noisiest/youngest ones to the other room.  

kids working on their coloring pages while I prepared refreshments for after church...

Once per month we have a game night after church.  Mom and Dad found a great party game for the Wii that allowed us to split everyone into four teams.  It was a real hit and we love the extra time to just have fun together!

The kids started back to school last week.  Coincidentally, they were studying France in geography and were tasked with building a model of the Eiffel Tower.  Nathan had the smart idea to build it using gum drops and toothpicks. 

We've started Shqip class 2 hours a week for the kids (Mondays and Wednesdays with our neighbor, Xhania).

1 hour is stretching their attention span and they get frustrated that they don't understand a lot of what she says yet, but little by little.  They are growing their vocabulary and that is a good start!

Tomorrow night I'm going to wear a new hat: that of English teacher!  I better go prepare my lesson while the lights are still on!

P.S.  The cold streak has snapped and our daily highs are reaching 50 degrees, with lows hovering around freezing or slightly above, so we are living much, much easier!