Last Call...

Thank you, thank you friends and family for so generously supporting the village knitting project in Vlashaj!  The women have been SO encouraged by the success of the sales of their scarves.  We know spring is soon upon us, so we're doing one last push before taking a sale break until next fall.  A few more pieces have been added to the website.  Shipping charges are waived for those who can pick up their orders in Wilmore, Kentucky or Pekin, Illinois.

Visit:  http://villageknitsalbania.blogspot.com/

What Happens When...

... you line dry your laundry in your windowless bedroom:

That bottom shelf in your wardrobe becomes a breeding ground for mold.

Six more pairs of shoes have been washed on the hot cycle and are now drying on the outside line.  Hoping and praying that we don't find any more 'surprises' in our room (and that we don't get sick)!

Olympic Spirit

We didn't catch much of the Winter Olympics this year (granted, we don't have a TV).  What we did see was viewed over lunch on the laptop/internet, but the McDonald's ads were a bit distracting and discouraging (and I don't even like their chicken nuggets).  Have I ever mentioned it's been 5 months and 28 days since I've had a Diet Coke? Something about images of cheeseburgers makes me crave fountain Diet Coke on ice.  As a side note, we could watch American television on Slingbox if we wanted (or had time), but the ads are just tortuous (e.g. Outback, Logan's, Texas Roadhouse...), so for now, we stick to Netflix. And I almost exclusively drink room temperature water.

Anyway, once a month we host a game night in the village. In the spirit of the Olympics, I suggested we do some team games.  Nathan did some research online and game up with a great slate of activities (what in the world did missionaries do before the internet?).  No sooner had we gotten ready to start and the lights went out.  For about an hour and a half.  Power has been so much better here in recent years that I had a bit of a panic wondering what we'd do for lights to carry on.  Thankfully, my parents are Mr. and Mrs. Prepared, and had furnished the apartment above with a couple of triple candle lanterns which we brought down from upstairs to supplement cell phone lights.

Maybe you've seen this game:  "Get The Cookie From Your Forehead To Your Mouth Without Touching it With Your Hands"

Or, "Roll The Pingpong Ball Down The Tape Measure Into the Colored Cup"

Or, "Stack The Blocks On The Tongue Depressor"

One thing these photos don't convey is how LOUD it was!  We're a competitive crew!

This weekend is a big one in Albania.  Tomorrow is Teacher's Day, so we learned on Wednesday that we won't have Albanian class tomorrow. Then Saturday is Women's Day.  Abby, Anna, and I will be celebrating with the ladies on Saturday at a local restaurant!  What are you doing this weekend?  If you're eating steak, well, just make up something else. :-)

Standing Tall

Living By The Sea

There's this saying we recently learned... "If you want to learn to fish, you need to live by the sea." (rough translation)

In other words, one doesn't learn fishing unless one lives where the fish are.

Obviously, learning to speak Albanian can only come when we immerse ourselves in opportunities to practice (i.e. live with/by/around/near Albanian speakers)!

One of our favorite ways to learn new words and vocabulary is by playing games.  Here's some pics from a game night last month at the Hope Center.  First up was "Spot It."  I love that this game is small, has over a dozen different variations, and can be learnt quickly.  It appeals to all ages from Reni (age four) to the oldest adult.

Personally, I love 'team' games, and while Sequence can be played individually, it's even better with a partner.

I wasn't part of this circle, but here Anna and Abby got schooled on some traditional Albanian card games.

Reni was thrilled to help with token placement

A game sounds really fun right now... any takers?

P.S.  Speaking of fishing, Vera told us that if you fall down, folks might joke (I assume as a means of helping you cover your embarrassment), "Did you catch any fish?"

They Keep Growin' Up!

It's a quiet Saturday night.  The kids are bathed and in bed.  Not 10 minutes later we were turning off lights and seeking the sweet relief of sleep ourselves.

But before I retire, I have to share just a couple of special memories from the weekend in Vlash.  After church and games, Ellie begged last night for the umpteenth time to spend the night at  Ambra's house.  I don't know what was different this time but I said yes.  Oh my goodness was she excited. Her first real sleepover where I was not under the same roof.

The next morning was oddly quiet.  All I could think of was, they're going to offer her kos (a salty, drinkable yogurt) for breakfast and she's going to be in for a BIG surprise!  About 30 minutes before kids club was to begin this morning, she walked back up the road with Ambra, happy as a clam, albeit a bit confused that they actually slept.  Apparently she thought you stayed up all night at "sleepovers."

Our big Reni moment came when he actually wore his tall legs for the first time in months.  Okay, maybe his parents bribed him with a Kinder Egg (a German chocolate egg containing a tiny surprise inside).  His stubbies have been great, but he kind of lost his courage when it came to raising his center of gravity.  A little shaky at first, he was soon back up and at 'em.  Here's an early morning video of him playing soccer with a few guys who showed up around 8:30 this morning.




Finally,  before we left this afternoon to return to Tirana, we took a peek at the preliminary mural sketch drawn by Abby and Anna on the big meeting room wall (it will be painted in later this month).  Ellie took one look and in an ominous tone said, "Oh no.  That is going to cost a LOT of dollars to fix!"

Alright -- next up:  photos of Village Winter Olympic games... in the dark (because the power went out right before we were to begin).

All Kinds of Girly

Last month Abby and Anna approached us with the idea of doing special event for the village girls for Valentine's Day.  Back at Asbury I had done something similar with the Cabinet girls on this holiday (pasta bar, chocolate covered strawberries and chick flicks for a night) and Abby and Anna wanted to do something similar with their own twist.  It was a huge hit.  As you can imagine, it was full of food, giggles, finger nail polish, music, and hair braiding.  Oh, and lots and lots of photos!  (more on my FB page)

Albanian folk dancing looks beautifully simple.  Let me assure you, it is NOT!  I'm a hopeless cause and Women's Day is fast approaching!

Nathan was a trooper and sat with the kids back in one of the bedrooms.  The laptop cinema film of choice?  Planes.

These boys could hardly tolerate not being included.  Dying of curiosity, they sat outside the door for any glimpse of the festivities inside...

Yeah, I know I look a little tired, but keep in mind this is just a few hours after our fender bender and I was just happy we had made it to the village in time for the party and the girls were none the wiser!

Last Week

Last week seemed to be one of those weeks full of a bunch of little 'unplanned' events -- we thought it would be marked by starting Shqip 2 (Albanian II) but instead was noted for Nathan going to the police station about the accident to Reni coming down with Scarlet Fever (yeah, I hadn't heard of anyone succumbing to scarlet fever since Little Women).  

But we had some high points too.  Like Skyping with a special niece/cousin...

Comparing dental gaps/missing teeth...

After lots of grins, giggles, and jokes, Ellie spontaneously just hugged the monitor to give her cousin a hug.  "I wish I could hug your real shirt," she said.
Be still my heart.

So about the accident... Nathan showed up at the police station with Mandi and Arjan, armed with printed photos.  The officer in charge was sympathetic, agreeing that the law about liability when making left-hand turns made no sense (especially in our case of being hit from behind), but in the end stated that if he didn't ticket Nathan and uphold the law, the other insurance company would never pay out and our insurance would never cover the difference, so ticketing was the only way to ensure we didn't have to pay any more out of pocket than necessary.  He gave Nathan the minimum ticket penalty which was the equivalent of about $10.

Reni's illness was thankfully not as serious as it sounded.  When his body developed a strange rash, it was after hours here in Tirana ... but not in Lexington.  Placing a quick phone call to see if Reni had been vaccinated for chicken pox, a quick run down of his symptoms led Nurse Connie to suggest scarletina (or scarlet fever). Sure enough, the next morning her theory was confirmed at the ABC Clinic and he was started on antibiotics.  A short while later he was back to his old self and out of quarantine!

Here's trusting for a week free of illness and accidents!