Thanksgiving Visitors

On November 16 we welcomed our friends, Gordon and Carol from Texas, for another Thanksgiving in Albania!

They came bearing a cash gift from their church (and our adopted church in Kingsland), Pack Saddle Fellowship to purchase trees and shrubs for the playground adjacent to Jeta.

We loved visiting a nearby nursery owned by local friends. Carol and I ogled all the lovely olive trees -- from baby saplings to transplanted mature trees. I took so many photos but I'll spare you...

We enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving lunch with our WGM family -- a first Thanksgiving for our new colleagues from Argentina.

How we kept our glassware straight -- attaching these Thanksgiving-themed images :-)

Afterwards we enjoyed the unseasonably nice weather to play on the outdoor court.  We were joined by a lot of local friends.

Gordon and Carol graciously painted a bedroom in the Planters apartment in Tirana.  We have a new missionary family moving into the apartment in December and thought that after ten years, it was due for a freshen up.

Carol facilitated a craft for the students at VT Albania and at kids' club....

The World Cup commenced during their visit and while the matches were shown each evening in Jeta, Carol could be found working at the puzzle table, hanging out with our friends.

While we enjoyed a Thanksgiving lunch with our colleagues, we still had regular work responsibilities from 4:00 until 10PM Thursday, and throughout the weekend, with church, kids club, Christmas decorating, and hosting World Cup viewing parties.  That's why we appreciate Albanian Independence and Liberation days on November 28 and 29th -- so we get a holiday break, even if the days don't always align.

We decided to take our guests on a day trip up to Kosova on November 28th.  While it may sound exotic to travel to another country for the day, for my Wilmore (KY) friends, it's sort of like driving from Wilmore to Cincinnati.  While Albania is small and we can drive to any neighboring country in three hours or less, the bonus about traveling to Kosova is that we don't have to get special insurance for our car and they speak the same language (so we can understand all the road signs and communicate wherever we go)!

We visited the quaint town of Prizren for a little bit of shopping and lunch.

We also enjoyed a macchiato at a coffee shop that serves my favorite brand of Kosovan coffee, Prince.  Kosova brags they serve the best macchiato, and I have to admit, they may be right!

A particularly neat sight in Kosova were all the Albanian flags celebrating Flag Day!  They seem even more patriotic than our friends in Albania!

Above, a vendor sells flags for Albania (red with the black double-headed eagle), Kosova (the ethnically-neutral, EU-looking blue flag with white stars), and the flags of the USA.  They also had live music playing outside and a parade of folks in traditional costume walking through the old town.  It was really festive!

From Prizren we drove in search of a bear sanctuary recommended to us by friends. In this part of the Balkans, it used to be a practice for restaurants to attract patrons by catching a wild bear and keeping it in a small cage on the premises.  Many international groups protested the practice and created a place for these bears to detox (one bear had reportedly become an alcoholic from all the beer it had been given) and live in a safe, more natural environment after they were freed, yet somewhat used to domestication.  

Unfortunately, the pin we were given was not accurate and we ended up on a logging road up in the mountains above Prishtina.  By the time we realized our mistake, we didn't have enough time to visit the habitat before closing hours.  The upside to our mistake was encountering snow! 

Of course we had to take photos!  Thankfully we didn't get stuck in the mud!

We got a family photo, too, but we're saving that for our "Christmas card", so that redeemed the navigation error in a significant way for us!

The other bonus, was that we didn't realize the bear sanctuary was so close to our friends in Prishtina, the Meeces!  So we stopped and met them at a local shopping mall and met their newest son, Rohnin, who was born in April.

Nashana interned with us in the village in 2016!

More macchiatos before leaving! <3

All in all, it was a nice day away!

The following day, we packed up our Handmade in Albania orders and the Schranks took them back to the USA to ship for us.  Gordon and Carol, thank you for coming to lend a hand!  Thanks for serving as pack mules and bringing your voices of encouragement!

A Waggoner Thanksgiving Tradition

A Thanksgiving weekend tradition for our family is to participate is the annual VT Albania Walk Run Roll 5K!

God blessed us with incredible weather (last year it was rained out and we ran laps in the kalceto). 

Nathan and Tiffany each drove vans so many of the students could participate in the event.  This allowed one of the parents to attend with her daughters.  It was her first time to visit the Grand Park of Tirana where we walked the 5K jogging path around the lake and through stands of trees.  She remarked how her stress seemed to leave her in the beautiful environment, enjoying a change of scenery (she is a single mother, caring for two disabled adult daughters).

Mari-Grace pushes Merita (above).  Merita and her sister (also in a chair), joined VT last spring.  They had been stuck in a 1-room apartment and hadn't left their home in TWO YEARS after they got too weak to transfer into a typical car.  VT's handicap accessible van picks them up three times per week and they ride the entire village bus route so they can see as much as they can outside of their four walls.
The trip to the 5K was an incredible treat to see something new and different!

We passed this cotton candy stand on the route and Nathan decided to treat our companions to some cotton candy.  The owner was so touched by what we were doing that he refused to let us pay him.

Ellie was so proud to push Lisjana (see the video above).  And as much as we told her that it wasn't a "race" with a winner, Ellie was committed to pushing Lisjana to the finish line first.  In fact, capturing the video above was quite tricky because she took off and was out of sight from the beginning! Lisjana said she felt like she was flying!  You can see the smile never left her face!

Though not pictured, Reni participated too!

If you'd like to give a gift to support Reni's and Ellie's involvement in the race, you can give a gift here:

https://www.wgm.org/campaign/109/vtwalkrunroll22?fbclid=IwAR1OmvBdP2q1kEnyU4Fg1v1Y0CJ7waL65mQqNgz_bNewElKeFdDOVsEK0YE

VT was substantially short of meeting its goal (approximately 1 month's expenses for VT) so a gift of any size is appreciated and an encouragement to the staff and students. Thanks!

Futbol/Soccer/Football ... whatever you call it, we love it.

While the eyes of the world are on the World Cup in Qatar, futbol remains a big part of our life here, too!

This month our local boys traveled up to Shkodra to play a team coached by a friend serving with YWAM.  The time in the car riding up and back as well as time on the pitch continue to provide opportunities for character building!

A local news station came to amputee soccer practice to help raise awareness for recruiting new players and potential sponsors. 

When the electricity goes out in the village and your colleague's nation is playing in the world cup, you help him find a coffee bar with power and the game on TV! (below)

Every night since the Word Cup started, we have had Jeta open to show the 8PM match.  It's meant later bedtimes, but we've really enjoyed the extra time with our neighbors.

For those who may not have an interest in the nations on the pitch, we've had a puzzle table with a rotating group of folks working to complete a set of Star Wars puzzles that will make future artwork under Reni's loft bed.

We had a real dilemma when the World Cup conflicted with Nathan's favorite football game of the year -- Ohio State vs. Michigan!  After our team suffered a brutal loss, Reni bemoaned the heartache that befalls true fans.

Ultimately, we're thankful for the friendships formed through sport, the enjoyment of cheering for a home team, and the lessons we learn from hard work and discipline.