Door Delivery -- The Village Version

AMERICA HAS UBER EATS -- WE HAVE MANDI!! (Armand). Mandi got permission to drive at the beginning of this crisis and comes to Vlashaj at least twice per week from Tirana to meet with contractors and check on the building progress.

Today he brought me a basket of wish list items I haven't been able to find in the village markets. Before Corona (BC) we shopped weekly at a European chain grocery store in a shopping center on the edge of Tirana. In the village market, the product offerings are much slimmer and offer very few recognizable brands. Today, Mandi brought us deli ham, sausage, Hellman's mayonnaise, canned kidney beans, tortillas and canned corn. I've already started my next list which includes pineapple, celery and broccoli. :-)

One thing we can say about this time of quarantine is that we are never bored! We might feel trapped -- but we are not bored. As the head of our WGM team, Nathan has been in zoom meetings daily relaying information about changing restrictions in Albania, communications from the embassy (esp now that all commercial flights have ceased and land/sea borders are closed) and reporting back to the local team mission directives and decisions. Yesterday, though it was Sunday, Nathan spent several hours learning a new software program to better live-stream our church services. Today he gladly left his work at the dining room table to meet with a contractor to discuss the gutter systems and insulation (Albanian construction is more different in its steps than I even realized). Shortly after that I got a heartbreaking phone call from a church member asking for financial help because of being unable to work. We knew that it was a difficult call for that person to make and know it is just the beginning of a season of really hard times in our community. A good number of families here rely factory work (which are largely shut down) and on sending family members abroad for seasonal agricultural jobs. With Mandi nearby, he agreed to pick up boxes of food for this person as well as a handful of other families we know are struggling.

The newest round of restrictions unveiled over the weekend means that Nathan and I can no longer take our bi-weekly date to the market (the only time we leave our house and while we could do so it felt like such a moment of freedom to do so). We can now only send one family representative to do shopping, and only with permission via a text message which has to be applied for at least 24 hours in advance.

But though we haven't been able to go anywhere, it's been an incredible blessing to church hop on Sundays across a variety of different streaming church services offered by many of our providing churches. Such a blessing and feeling of connection with back home that we don't typically get to experience!

Yesterday we caught Ellie trying to sneak a wad of paper into the trash and noticed her licking the tell-tale signs of chocolate off her lips.  Apparently, she found a secret stash of Hershey bars in the deep freezer being saved for s'mores some day.  She explained that she and Reni were playing a Star Wars card game (like the one in which Han Solo won the Millennium Falcon).  They felt to keep things interesting they needed stakes of their own.  Oh my.  What have times come to.  Incidentally, we do not condone gambling, but we are so grateful these two are still finding things to do together and rarely complain about the lack of going out.  They have not left our house since March 10 (21 days as of this writing).

Hair gel covers a multitude of imperfections

Today things felt desperate and I was finally able to convince Reni to let me cut his hair.  I was less successful in getting him to pose for a good photo -- He gave me one shot.  The neckline is a little crooked but his argument was, he couldn't see it and likely not too many others would see my mistake either.  He had a point.

How We're Spending Our Quarantine

I don't know when to say our 'quarantine' began.  Going by when our freedom of movement was significantly curtailed, I would say March 12??

• We had our first case of Covid-19 in Albania announced on March 9.  
• On March 10, public transportation was suspended and schools closed.  
• March 12, I drove for the last time (a hastily made trip to a supermarket to stock up on groceries).  
• March 13 we were forbidden to drive private vehicles and thus the reality of 'staying home' began.  
• We had guests until Wednesday, March 18 but I couldn't even join Nathan in taking them to the airport.  
• Then, it was just "the four of us."

We've done pretty well at filling our days.  Of course we've done our share of Zoom meetings (Nathan has had four in three days!) and with the kids using my computer for school, I've found myself re-organizing a few closets and cabinets when I haven't been able to catch up on my computer work.  Our to-do list is far from tackled yet!

But we're also finding time for some other good things.  We've had great times of family discussion over the Word,  And is anyone else eating a bit better than usual?  Ellie was thrilled to help Nathan use up some of our supply of chocolate chips to make cookies!

As the reality sank in that we may not have any programs before Easter, Nathan had the idea of recording Eda giving a series of lessons which our young neighbors can watch on their phones or home computers while they spend the quarantine at home.  We have very few media resources of a spiritual nature for children in the Albanian language so we decided to make something ourselves!  

The end product is a series of five minute videos, super-imposing images from the Action Bible over the sound of Eda's voice reading the stories.  She concludes each reading with a series of questions, encouraging the students to respond in the comments of each post on Facebook. She also leaves a Bible verse that affirms the application of each lesson.  We will see what kind of response we get!

Eda chose to begin with the account of Palm Sunday as a means of continuing our studies along the church calendar to prepare hearts for Easter.  There will be a total of 8 lessons.  All lessons have been recorded and Nathan will continue the process of editing the videos together. We plan to release two per week until the quarantine is lifted and we are free to meet corporately again!

You can view an example of one of these episodes by clicking here.

Ellie and Reni have joined the ranks of the 'video educated.'  We moved some desks up to our loft (aka the 'kid zone') and connected the laptop to the TV for a larger-than-life video screen with their teacher, Pam. It's just safer for everyone to limit our contact, even with Pam, in spite of the fact that we are not going anywhere and she is not going anywhere, we both have exposure to a very limited number of folks who ARE out and about. 

 

Sunday night we set a Skype date with our favorite friends in Kosovo.  We played some Jackbox.tv games together online and chatted.  They sent us this photo they took. :-)  It gave us all something to look forward to at the end of Sunday!

Another evening we watched the incredibly moving film, Harriet.  The subject matter is heavy, but it led to some really good conversations with the kids.  If you haven't yet seen it, I can't recommend it highly enough.  You can rent it here.

And speaking of media projects, I'm continuing to shamelessly plug my cousin's project, The Chosen.  In these days of fear and uncertainty, this show is good soul medicine.  Our family loves it.  I haven't encountered a portrayal of Christ in media that has felt more authentic than this.  And the approach of this particular project is an imaginative look at the people who encountered Christ which makes for very emotionally compelling television. The cast is incredibly diverse, it's inclusive of women and individuals with special needs, and features a theme song inspired by negro-spirituals.  Are you curious yet?

As the world shelters in place, the show is starting to pick up international traction. I encourage you to add it to your watch list and don't be the last ones to see this!  Here is a trailer for season one.  Watch to the end of the trailer for instructions on where you can view it.




There is an international effort to translate subtitles and dub over The Chosen into a variety of languages.  If you are reading this and you are an Albanian speaker, you can participate in the translation by visiting this website (click here).  The website relies on a variety of translators to ensure accuracy, so any help that can be given is appreciated, though I have been told that it's immensely beneficial to have viewed the episodes first to understand context.

We found ourselves in possession of a variety of garden seeds so today we planted them in some starter containers to grow in our window sill.  I have a notoriously black thumb, so I'm not especially optimistic, but who knows?

We have a small raised bed in our back yard in which we hope to transplant these eventually.

Last year our garden only held cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.  If these grow, we will greatly expand our produce varieties!

The lack of 'rush' in our schedule has helped us see things we've never noticed before -- like the pair of woodpeckers building a nest in our back yard.  Or the young hawk preying on the little birds hiding in the blossoming fruit trees.

We have also had time to work with the kids on learning how to help with more household chores!  Yay!
And Nathan has conceded to Reni's request to grow a beard.  Pray for me, ha ha. This in between stage is tough :-)

What are you doing in your quarantine? What are you seeing and learning?

"BC" | March, Before Coronavirus

Much like we marked time and practices by "before 9/11" and "after 9/11,"  I have a feeling we are going to start marking our time by "Before Coronavirus" and "After Coronavirus." 

Looking at these events that transpired less than a month ago, they already feel so unbelievable, just a couple of weeks into quarantine...  I want to tell myself back then, "Go get a hair cut!"  "Eat that favorite meal out!" "Take a day trip to the countryside!"  "Enjoy the freedom to drive!"

But alas, we took much for granted ... Here are a few pics I found on my camera from those blissful days. :-)

________________________

One day we stopped in at the Valdete Trust to visit Tiffany's English Class.  Nathan is demonstrating a game where he had to ask descriptive questions to guess the name of the person written on the paper on his forehead. It was a lot of fun, as you can imagine!

Initially Reni starting hosting Nerf wars with two friends indoors.  Then as the weather improved, they moved outdoors and let Luli join.  It didn't take long for the word to spread and crowds of boys started forming at our gate each afternoon.  Eventually, there were so many boys, they had to play in shifts!  Eventually they had to stop because they destroyed or lost most of the bullets.  Sadly, Gigi brought more bullets (around 1000, I think!), but not before the quarantine went into effect!  When it's lifted, it will be every man for himself in our courtyard! :-)

The Balkans will be safe as long as these boys have anything to say about it! :-)

Every Friday the kids usually cook or bake something in school with Pam.  As part of their study of Europe, they made a Victoria Sponge cake. We added an blend of raspberry jam and mascarpone in between.  It. Was. So. Good.  The young adults at Bible study agreed!  No leftovers!

March 7 is "Teachers Day" in Albania.  Our friends gifted Nathan with a cake as a token of thanks for his teaching them from the Bible each week!

The kids make some pretty incredible crafts in school, thanks to Ms. Pam.  Unfortunately in our small home I can't keep them all for long so I try to photograph them all, especially their favorites.  This was from their study of Mexico.

On March 7 we visited the Hope Center.  Below, one of my friends writes her well wishes to me on the chalk board.

We made milkshakes which were a huge hit!  Not a common thing here.

This year there are only two girls in the group home, the other +80% are boys!  Ellie loves the special attention she gets!

We had grand plans for expanding our product line at Handmade In Albania with some new spring items, but alas, we didn't get to launch our online shop with the uncertainty of our visitors' return travel plans.  Not to mention, the bulk of our inventory was stuck at Tiffany's apartment in Tirana and we didn't have a straightforward way to get access to it with the driving ban.  

So instead, I will just show you a few of the adorable products the ladies made.  Maybe we will be able to sell these in the fall??

What do you think of this adorable bunny rabbit hat made by Merita?

I am in love with this spring garland I have hung over my door.  There are three more in stock!

Aware that not everyone lives in a cold weather climate, and that not everyone needs ANOTHER stocking hat or scarf, I wanted to try adding some home decor items.  I LOVE these garlands.  They measure about 6 feet long each and can add a special touch on a mantle piece, shelf, door frame... you name it!  They include loops at the ends for easy hanging. My favorite is the solid cream garland (center, below) which I think would be lovely on a Christmas tree!  These were made by Nazmije...

Roshi made several ADORABLE bunny rabbit hats for kids as well as this bunny rabbit garland -- perfect for Easter or a baby nursery!  Like the garlands above, the bunny garland measures 2 meters long.

We also have some pretty spring floral garlands.  And the best thing is, the flowers never die and can be used each year as part of your spring decor (or really, any time of year)!  Bottom left, you can see our pastel Easter egg garland.

Please send me your feedback on these items.  Do you like them?  Would you buy them or be happy to receive as a gift?  We want to know.  It's always a bit scary asking the ladies to try a new, untested product! :-)

These two (below) are such servants!  The day after it was announced we had our first case of Covid-19, I heard noise downstairs and discovered these two were disinfecting everything -- chairs, counters, door handles, etc.

Coming up... how we are passing our days in quarantine. :-)

Visitors in the time of a Pandemic

This visit has been planned for months.  Understanding the timeline for construction in the village of the new facility we knew March would be a pivotal time for Mom to visit.  God has gifted her with a good eye for decor and keen mind in spatial planning so we wanted her to be able to check its status and assist in making some key decisions for fixtures and other design elements.  Around the first of the year, it was decided she would be joined by some other friends from Central Illinois who have been long-time partners in ministry here and had expertise to consult on construction choices moving forward.

Of course, no one could have predicted the spread of Covid-19 and the drastic measures that would need to take place in order to moderate its spread.  We learned it had reached Albania the day the team was leaving the USA (a Monday). They decided to continue with their plans, understanding that their 13 day trip would likely need to be abbreviated.  

The group arrived on the 10th (Tuesday) and came straight to the village for a tour of the work site before continuing on to Tirana, where they would be staying for the majority of their stay (or so we thought).

It's not fair she can  look so beautiful after 20 hours of traveling!

Wednesday morning we met the group at the tile store.  Here is a sneak peak at our selections...

After lunch at our house, a trip was made to a light store and a local hardware/building supply store and further selections made. 

We held a prayer meeting with our staff during what would have normally been the hour for Bible study and youth group. The team returned to Tirana, but not before the country had shut down all restaurants and coffee shops. 

I won't soon forget Thursday morning when I awoke to messages that President Trump was calling for a ban on travelers entering the United States from Europe.  It took us about an hour before we realized that it didn't pertain to our group, but it was already too late to reach the travel company through which tickets had been purchased.  Their phone lines were down.  Thus started the first of many epic marathon's on the phone for Nathan.  He started at 6:10AM Thursday morning, and was still on the phone when the group arrived around noon.  In the end, Nathan booked them new tickets  on flights leaving Monday morning via Lufthansa.

Anticipating that they would get to meet some of our neighbors, the group brought hospitality gifts to share.  Above, Linda assembles some gift bags with the hopes that we might be able to distribute at least a few items to folks, if even through barred gates.

Jim, one of the team members, is an HVAC specialist.  Thursday afternoon, he and Mom were providentially able to meet with the local HVAC man recommended by our contractor.  This guy was SUPPOSED to be in Italy, but was prevented due to Albania's travel ban to Italy. Many options were discussed, but in the end, everyone was extremely pleased with the options presented, the expertise of the installer, and were so glad he could meet up with them when he did.  

An hour later, it was announced that after midnight, it would be forbidden to drive private vehicles through the holiday weekend.  March 14 is "Summer Day" in Albania and typically celebrated by outdoor festivals and eating out in restaurants. This year it fell on a weekend and we suspected the government was trying to squelch a few days of massive movement within the country while folks celebrated.  I hastily made a trip to a local grocery store in the next village over.  This photo makes it look worse than perhaps it really was.  But you get the idea!  I realize this is not an unfamiliar site to many of our friends in the USA.

Since we only had a few more days with the group and we didn't want to be in the same country yet not see each other, we made the decision for the group to drive back to Tirana for their belongings and return to the village later that evening to ride out 'quarantine' in the village with us.  As all of our programs were cancelled through the end of the month, we put Joe, Jim and Linda into the center below our apartment.  Mom and Hannah bunked in Ellie and Reni's room.

Hannah works on a word search

Friday morning the gang hit the outside space hard.  They cleaned up our garden, picked up sticks, cleaned out some cardboard left over from the earthquake soup kitchen, and trimmed an overgrown tree.

Reni slipped out to the deck to do his school reading.  Yay for sunshine!

The tree above had branches drooping down on the ground on our side of the wall before this photo was taken -- Jim was too quick before I could snap a 'before' photo.  When you don't have a chainsaw, a sawzaw works well!

Joe took on the task of cleaning out our chimney!  We have such poor quality firewood, this is a task that frequently needs repeating!

Believing technology can solve many problems, Nathan took a video with his phone to view the places in the chimney we could not see with our eyes.

Sure enough, something was lodged in the stack, likely knocked loose by the earthquake.  Linda volunteered her long, skinny arms to retrieve the blockage!  She was successful!

 With nine of us living together, meal planning and preparation was nearly a full time job for someone.  Thankfully, many hands made light work and I was glad to not carry the load of the responsibility myself. Mom volunteered to make some homemade breads (personally, yeast and I do not have a good relationship in the kitchen -- it intimidates me!).  Needless to say, we ate well!

The kids were so glad to have Aunt Hannah around!  They played with her like having another kid around the house.  It made me so happy.  This has not been their typical way of interacting!

They held foot races in the court yard, using a nerf gun as the starting pistol.

The biggest home project the guys were able to tackle was installing some can lights in our home.  Uncertain how much time would be needed for building project shopping and meeting, we had purchased supplies for a few projects in the event we had extra time in their schedule.  Little did we know that we would be house bound five days!

We LOVE our wood ceilings, but they do make for very dark rooms in the evening.  Though we have a number of table and floor lamps, and the single bulb on the ceiling fan can be glaring by itself and still leave portions of the room in shadows.

These lights, when finished, made a HUGE difference in the feel of the space.  

Before, it was challenging to host dinners or games in the evening as it was literally too dark to read at our dining table or on the couches (where we have Bible study).  The addition of these lights will be a significant help to us in extending hospitality to our friends!

Sunday morning Nathan and Genti delivered some bunk beds to a family who was forced to move into a tiny lean-to when their home was deemed unstable from the earthquake.  We learned that while they had shelter, they were trying to sleep three people in two single beds because that's all the space permitted... Now with bunks they can all sleep comfortably!

Thank you AGAIN to all who contributed to earthquake relief!  Without your gifts, we couldn't meet needs like these!

I forgot that Jim and Linda took part in the portrait project back in 2014.  Back then, I matched them with our neighbors, S & Z.  You can imagine the Schrock's surprise to discover they were staying directly across the street from the couple whose photo has been on their fridge for the past five years!  Of course we had to meet -- unfortunately, this visit was limited, but I was so glad we were able to make it take place!

This was as close as we got!  Sunday morning we walked over to the construction site and prayed for each room in the new facility -- for the people who would use each space, for God's purposes to be fulfilled.

We ended up on the rooftop with a great view down our village's main street!

We headed up the street to say goodbye to some special friends (because silly us assumed they would be leaving the next day)!  We never hugged, though we didn't quite keep a meter between each other.

This was the appropriate handshake at the time. :-)

They couldn't find chicken breasts in the store earlier, so they bought a whole chicken instead.  Joe carved it up for us for our Sunday dinner!

Then we found out after lunch that the Monday flight was canceled.  A couple more hours on the phone and they were re-booked for Wednesday since Lufthansa were cutting their daily service to only two times per week

.  Then we broke out the games.  Five Crowns!

Monday felt like 'bonus' time with our guests so we pressed them into service to install lights in our bedroom too.  When they were finished I wished I had bought more lights for the kids' bedroom too!

Nine people can generate a lot of trash.

Trash pick up is only once per week and since 1.) we don't have garbage cans with lids (if you can find them, they are VERY expensive to buy), and 2.) we didn't think with the driving restrictions that we could drive to the closest dumpster (about 1-2 miles away), we had been storing it in the crawl space under the house.

Unfortunately, cats found a way through a tear in the screen and tore open all the trash bags.  Joe and Jim devised the screen repair with pieces of an old hamster cage and zip ties. It's so nice to have a critter-proof room!

(below) Reni devised an obstacle course around the building for exercise!  Whatever you do, avoid the acid puddles!

We have never been more thankful than now for our little deck which affords us some place to sit outside in the sunshine!  Soaking up that Vitamin D and melatonin! Not to mention, it just gives us more room to spread out when we have extra people in our apartment!

We had eaten supper Monday night and were in the middle of devotions when my phone buzzed, "Flight cancelled."  It put us on another course that would last until nearly midnight.

We ended up cancelling the second set of tickets and purchasing a third set of tickets, this time on Austrian.  Afterwards, we calculated that Nathan clocked a total of 13 hours on hold.  Needless to say, I will probably get a pit in my stomach the next time I hear the United Airlines theme song, and for a long time after!



Tuesday morning I woke with my stomach a knot of nerves.  I'm typically an even-keeled person, but two sets of cancellations left me leery that our new plan would stick.  Feeling responsible for our guests, I couldn't help but mentally map out Plans A, B, and C if they didn't get out on Wednesday (which by this point, we were hearing rumors that the airport was closing on Friday).... which included, how will we do life and feed everyone if they are here for a month?  Not impossible, but potentially challenging.

We tried to keep ourselves busy, which included caulking as many windows as we had caulk for (we eventually ran out and that project was incomplete).  The weather is really hard on the building and this is a regular maintenance issue.

Tuesday afternoon the Schrocks were great sports and played with the kids outside in the courtyard so some of the adults could pack and nap before the 2AM airport departure.

Finally, it was time for bed and 'goodbyes'.  Those are never easy for Ellie, especially when we don't know when our next visit will take place.

The group ended up being able to leave as planned. We got word before going to sleep Wednesday night that they made it to Chicago.  In my mom's words, "The plane was full of Gen-X-ers and aid worker types."  Later, I figured out she meant it was full of college students (gotta work on learning those generational names, Mom!) likely going home from study abroad experiences.  I guess they felt like the old folks in the group.

In spite of all the stress and anxiety, it was still so good to have them here. We were able to accomplish almost all of the most important things they came here to do (with the exception of clearing more of the ground and re-routing some drainage -- but that can be done with local help).  We regret that there were so many people and experiences we were not able to share with our first-time guests to Albania.  They had a very limited exposure to this beautiful land and its people, however they never complained!  We prayed God's protection over them as they encountered who-knows-what in between here and home.  They will all be staying home (as it seems everyone is anyway).  Maybe this is what it will take to get my mom to figure out how to order her groceries online! :-)  Oh how I wish we had that service in the village! :-)