Back in Albania | Mosquitoes 2: Waggoners 0

The battle with jetlag is real.  I think I wrote those same words after arriving in the States late last May.  Last night we were up with one of the kids until after 2AM.  

The swarm of mosquitoes don't help either.  The timing of our return with grape season is unfortunate because the sugars in the mature grapes seems to draw the pesky flying insects and for some reason, they especially seem to get active in our bedroom after the lights go out.  Just as one is in that blissful state of half awake/half asleep, one of them decides to hover around the ear with a little squeal.  In spite of smashing a number of them and even using a handy little electric bug zapping racket we picked up (likely from the section "as seen on TV" at Bed Bath and Beyond), we wake up with new bites each morning.

We are on our second day home and only two trunks remain in the living room (one of those is home school curriculum, going to be put away tomorrow when Pam comes).  Having packed up some of our home to make space for our summer house guests, it's taken a bit more time given that we are unpacking "twice".  The house was also covered in a thick layer of dust which also hampered my preferred rate of unpacking as I try to clean a surface in order to set something else on it, temporarily. 

We ventured out today to restock the fridge and discovered the shopping center was kicking off a three-day sale with free entries to win an apartment in Tirana with every 1000 lek spent (roughly $10).   This was quite a surprise, as you can imagine, to arrive on a Friday morning with crowds that rival Sundays.  By the time we left, there were barely any parking places remaining!

We are looking forward to church in a little more than an hour!  Nathan has made his coveted brownies to share afterwards.  It will be good to reconnect with more of our friends and neighbors!  We have already seen a number in passing on the street and their smiles and greetings have helped us feel so much more at home.