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!
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?
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