What an eventful month! Looking at my calendar, I realize this collection of photos may not be reflective of all that happened, so I will try to fill in some of the gaps...
Mom and Hannah's visit flew by fast... I suppose losing 5 days between a Lufthansa strike and bad weather didn't help...
The night before they left (5/1), Mom thought it would be fun to inaurgurate the coffee space with an ice cream social after church. It was a hit!
Saturday, May 2, Jordan hosted his first Volleyball Glow Night. It was a huge hit and he knew how to create a party atmosphere! Sure helps having a 19-year-old on the team to know how to bring the fun!
Our friends from Tirana came and enjoyed the fun too!
On Tuesday, Nathan and Luis visited the ministerial association in Durres. It was a great networking opportunity!
On Wednesday (5/6), Ellie was in HEAVEN when a retired professor of guitar from Finland came by the coffee shop! He gave her some fantastic pointers that she has incorporated into her playing. And she shared with him about two Albanian stringed instruments in her collection.
On Wednesday (5/6), Ellie was in HEAVEN when a retired professor of guitar from Finland came by the coffee shop! He gave her some fantastic pointers that she has incorporated into her playing. And she shared with him about two Albanian stringed instruments in her collection.
That same day, while the sun hid behind clouds, we worked on washing construction junk off the windows...
I was so excited when the new window shades were installed! They block the worst of the morning and afternoon heat and sun rays.
Thursday (5/7) we had a special visit from friends in Kosova who were flying out of the Tirana airport the next day.
Saturday after kids club and lunch, Jordan and Nathan worked on priming and painting the iron under our pavilion. They made great progress but there is a LOT of iron.
Celebrating Xhesi's birthday with cake in Kafe Sera!
We had the idea of recycling the posts from the former elevator cover to hold string lights. Below, Nathan and Mandi mount brackets for holding the posts. (5/14)
The new HVAC units for Kafe Sera created lots of tubing and conduit running every which way in the stairwell. Below, Turi affixes covers to neaten up the swaths of tubing.
While he was perched above, we took the opportunity to clean the window that sits over the coffee bar. Then we attached grasscloth to both block the strong evening sun and eliminate the need to regularly assemble scaffolding to clean the stairwell-side of the window.
Thursday, 5/14 -- a large group of lades at gym class...
...that came upstairs to celebrate a lady's birthday.
More work to troubleshoot post height and installation. The project may have been a bit more involved than I imagined... all to recycle some wood! :-)
Friday night (5/15) LATE we picked up a small team from Asbury University! I can't find an airport arrival photo. It may have been because their flight was delayed nearly two hours AND none of their luggage made it. But we threw them right into activities! Saturday morning was kids club, followed by a soccer tournament that started at 11AM!
Below, some of the boys model our newest futbol jerseys! Football Club Jeta! (Klubi Futbol Jeta)
The weather was miserable, so the coffee shop was a busy place for folks looking to escape the wet chill. I was so glad these two ladies had plenty of coffee making experience to help me!
Sunday, Nathan took the team to visit Kruja. Then we held our traditional "Taste of Albania"
Monday, I took the ladies to a nearby clothing shop to find some pieces to carry them through several days without luggage!
The team was great helping at Valued Treasures.
Baby Mary was a huge hit!
The Asbury visit was quite short, by usual standards (they visited us in conjunction with another field visit), so before we knew it, it was time to debrief! We decided to enjoy the new string lights!
But then it got chilly so we went inside.
We didn't get an arrival pic, so Nathan snapped this before check-in (early morning, 5/22). As you can see, some of the suitcases arrived! But two more were still MIA.
We love celebrating birthdays! Below, it's Luis' birthday!
Friday afternoon (5/22) Faith's suitcase arrives!
Reni has not had many friends close by this year, so we have gone to big lengths to provide time with his buddies when we can made it happen. So the day after Asbury left and the day before Jordan's family arrived, we made a roadtrip up to Prizren, Kosova, to see the families of two of Reni's friends. And bonus, Jordan got to see a new place!
This is our second meet-up in Prizren and their second time go-karting.
Prizren's old town is so charming. We found this sweet stone house when taking a walk past our usual stopping point.
Our favorite Albanian coffee chain had some fun seasonal drinks we had to check out!
Some scenes from the center of Old Town.
I challenged Jordan to hold his breath while we drove through the Kukes Tunnel.
It was 5.6 km long! lol
I don't know if I was just so tired from a season full of hosting, but the drive seemed exceptionally beautiful. So much green. Quiet pastoral views to quiet my mind. The kids were conked out in the back while Nathan and I listened to Theo of Golden (second time for me!). We even saw snow on mountains!
Sunday (Nathan's birthday!) morning we were up and at the airport again, this time to pick up the Riggenbachs. AND -- the LAST suitcase (full of ministry supplies) was there and waiting for us! :-) We joked that the Riggenbachs only bring good things with them! See those smiles?
First stop with the Riggenbachs? Mexican lunch for Nathan and Luis' birthday!
Then our family had dessert for Nathan's birthday while the R's explored Tirana.
Chatting with Dad Waggoner below...
We met up with the R's up at he SkyTower, for an incredible view of Tirana. For those of you who haven't been to Albania in a while, here is a new view of the center. Yes, that building which looks like a head is indeed shaped like the bust of Skenderbeg.
And I love this image of Reni... (practicing for senior photos)
On Monday (5/25), we got to reconnect with our teammates in Kosova, the V family (below)! Belen is a gifted designer, and she created the original renderings of the coffee shop which we used for fundraising! What a joy to show her the finished space!
As a side note, we ended up using two designers to ultimately create the space we enjoy today. Belen who created the floor plan and Michelle who guided our purchases of specific furniture and finishes. Everyone who met Michelle remarked, "You look so much like Belen!" We then discovered that like Belen, Michelle is of Chilean descent! So in real life, I know two Chileans, and both of them are incredible artists. (And that's probably how stereotypes come to be, ha ha).
Claudia gifted us with this great, portable flannel graph kit. Below, Nathan and Shpresa pull it out and look it over. She will use this for teaching Bible at Valued Treasures beginning this fall!
On Tuesday, May 26, we hosted the board of Hope for Albania, straight off the plane from the Netherlands. They were thrilled to experience coffee service from a group of Valued Treasures.
We get a kick out of Flori (above, middle back in red apron) who seems to prefer drinking capuccino over serving it! Any tips on how to motivate him?
Below, Gerti and Fati prepare service trays according to Lydia's manual.
Thursday (5/28), Valued Treasures says farewell to Jordan. It was really special for Jennifer and Kiara to hear everyone's sweet words of appreciation for his service.
We were gifted a Cricut machine and Nathan uses it ALL THE TIME. Below, he created this scripture verse for the Kafe` Sera fridge. It says in Albanian, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Jeta (the name of our center) means "Life".
Saturday, May 30 -- Trying out the projector for the Champions League final. We need a better screen than a sheet and a tarpauline! Prepping for the World Cup!
For his last night in Albania, Jordan hosted another Glow Night!
This time, with black lights!
Our last photo of Jordan!
May 31, we would take the Riggenbachs to the aiport, then hit the supermarket to prep meals for our last two weeks of intensive hosting! After a busy spring of hosting, look at the last half of June...
I see lots of projects getting tackled! Check back soon!
