How We Spent Thanksgiving

This year our Thanksgiving holiday happened to fall on the same day as Albania's Independence day (celebrating 101 years as a sovereign nation), so it was a holiday for all!  While it may not seem a big deal, it really helped the day "feel" like a true holiday.  Everything was just quiet (a rare thing in the city, indeed!)

It was also a beautiful dry, clear day for the first time in over a week.  I grabbed my camera and walked over a couple of blocks to Mother Teresa square for a few photos of the bunting over the Boulevardi.

Look!  Snow on the mountains!! 

We were so happy to be invited to join the Hosaflook's and friends for Thanksgiving dinner.  We had never been to their home before so we had to laugh when we read the directions and they ended with the instruction to turn left at the garbage cans at the top of the hill... When we got there, it made total sense!

We arrived around two.  Below is Pam.  She works at the Hope Center where we volunteer a couple of Saturdays a month.  She is making rolls for dinner.

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Below is Faby -- she grew up in the orphanage in Shkodra and was taken in by David and Kristi when she aged out.  I LOVED talking to Faby who is now married and a mom of three.  I don't even know where to start to describe our conversation -- so much interesting stuff about orphanage life, understanding the Albanian orphan 'care' system, her integration into life in the 'real' world/mainstreaming, etc..  She's pictured with her youngest son, standing next to Ben, the H's oldest son.

Upon arriving we learned that our host David had most likely broken his arm in a football game earlier in the day.  He had made some phone calls to determine the hospital with the best orthopedist and made an appointment.  Nathan offered to drive him and accompany him for the duration of his visit.  

That meant lunch was postponed indefinitely but we had lots of veggies and crackers and dip to snack on while passing the time visiting, in between the random Skype call that would come in from friends and family elsewhere.

(below, Faby and Kristi) 

The adults' table...

I was super camera lazy... I think by the time Nathan and David returned it was all about filling kids' plates and eating!  We had all the traditional fare (except we had chicken, not turkey -- I haven't spoken to anyone in Tirana who had turkey for their Thanksgiving!) -- sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn casserole, cranberries (from dried), stuffing, pickles, and rolls!  There was a lot of 'making do' with what could be purchased locally as well as dipping into precious reserves of goodies brought over from America (like cheddar cheese)!  All in all it was delicious and a taste of home!

We got home rather late, but were able to chat with both of our families via Skype.

We trust you all had a good Thanksgiving day too!

Is it cheating?

 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

I memorized the verses above thanks to a lovely song on a Seeds Family Worship CD (all lyrics are directly from Scripture, ESV version).  Sadly, I don't know any Albanian Scripture verses set to music tunes (yet!), but it's not stopping me from selecting memory verses for Kids Club each week.  It's funny what a little thing like rewards positive reinforcement produces.  Rote memory seems to come relatively easily to our young friends, even without musical reinforcement, and we're throwing up a lot of stars on our attendance and Bible verse chart.

Our friend above, we'll call her Joy, apparently doubted her memory from the week earlier.  Does writing her memory verse on her palm 'count' as 'binding them on her hand'? ;-)  If so, is it cheating?

Watch out Mersin!  The kids found your guitar!  (By the way, yes, that is an Uno card being used as a guitar pick).

Working on the "Twelve Tribes of Israel" craft.

Reni and his buddy, we'll call him Leo

If you flipped Ellie's over, she may have deviated from the lesson and renamed some of her tribes names like "Daddy, Mommy, Abby, Anna, Reni and Zoe (Nonna and PaPa's dog)".

Stone by Stone...

Rozafa Fortress, Shkodra (2009)

We say, "Rome wasn't built in a day."

Albanians say, "Gur, gur behët mur."  Stone by stone the wall is built

One word at a time, we are learning the language.

One conversation at a time we learn another piece of this country's story.

One experience at a time, the eyes of our cultural understanding are opened a little bit more to see a bigger picture.

It takes time.  We might grow impatient but we are growing. And building our wall.

An exclusive 'club'

The process of adopting a child from Albania is a pretty unique experience.  On average (for the past ten years), about eight Albanian children per year have found families in the United States.  We're a small club and on the rare occasion when we meet each other in person there's an immediate understanding.

Since arriving here in September, we've been blessed to meet two families walking the adoption journey in Albania.  Both arrived around the same time we did in September (one family arrived a few days before me, the other a few days after Nathan), and this past week, both finally completed all of the legal steps to go home with their children.

Last Sunday night we met together for supper to celebrate and say 'goodbye'.

The folks below are Bethany Christian Services staff.  They came to Albania just a few months before we came to adopt Ellie in 2006.  When we met them, they had four children in their nest.  This fall they returned to Albania this fall (after marrying off one daughter, and dropping two others off at college in the States) with only one still at home.

Bob likes to tell folks that he met Ellie and Reni before we did! ;-)

We rejoice that we know of THREE more families coming to Albania over the course of the next several months. (Two of them we will be meeting in person for the first time and the third we are blessed to already call 'real life' friends.  They will be returning for their second Albanian-born daughter!)

One of those families is coming for "JM", a little guy from Reni's orphanage whom we met in July 2010 and advocated for on this blog for over a year (you may have noticed that his image was removed from the sidebar over the summer). He had some medical ambiguities, so he sat on the waiting child list for a long, long time waiting to be chosen.  I'll tell you there was great rejoicing in our house this summer when we got an e-mail from the couple whom God called to step forward and call him 'son.'  Over the course of the last few months we have fallen in love with this couple through their blog posts.  JM is a blessed boy indeed to be going to a home where he will learn about Jesus from parents who follow hard after Him.

The cost of adoption is high.  That's not a surprise to most.  While a family has to prove that they have the ability to financially support the child they seek to bring home, it doesn't necessarily mean they have the money sitting in the bank to pay for an adoption in cash.  I know this family has pinched and scraped and cut back, even going from two cars to one.  They are having a number of fundraisers to pay costs of each step in the process.  While most of us aren't within driving distance of their neck-of-the-woods, they are currently hosting a fundraiser which isn't limited by distance.  Click here to find out about some shopping opportunities from some of your favorite vendors where the proceeds benefit their adoption fund!  It might be a good way to kick off your Christmas shopping!

And someday, Lord willing, you'll see their faces here as we hug them goodbye and see them go home as a family of three!

Ellie's Language Lesson

When our new friends here learn that Ellie and Reni were born in Albania, their first question is, "Do they still speak Albanian?"

Due to their age at the time of adoption, they weren't even verbal.  And from what we have learned, most children adopted internationally usually forget most of their first language within the first six months in their new country.  Difficulties with speech and language can occur when a child has partially learned a first language, then has that language learning interrupted and subsequently starts language learning all over again with a set of new sounds, rhythms and vocabulary.

However, children between the ages of four and eight are at the best stage to acquire a second language.  That is Reni and Ellie ages exactly.  We've noticed that in spite of hearing Albanian on a limited basis (basically only Fri/Sat/Sundays) they are picking up vocabulary.  We would be thrilled for them to have more immersion experience, and perhaps someday that might come.  Their educational needs for the moment (Ellie's attention challenges and Reni's mobility) make Albanian school difficult for now.

Last night we pulled Ellie into a simple language exercise with Vera.  She is holding a 'gameboard' with images depicting six emotions.  Vera moves a photo of Ellie, Reni, or myself and places it on an emotion.  She then makes a true or false statement about the person and emotion and Ellie says "po" (yes) or "jo" (no).  This is only one phase of the overall exercise, but the point of this phase is to gauge comprehension (we have not yet moved to mimicry).

A Little Musical Inspiration

Last Saturday we visited the H*pe Center and Abby (who has a degree in Art Ed) led everyone into a short lesson about an artist from the 19th century who used music to inspire his artwork, from the choices of colors to the shapes and lines of his paintings.  Splitting the students into two groups in two rooms, she played two distinctly different types of music.  Equipped with the same tools, they were given 45 minutes to have fun and let the music inspire them!  Afterwards, the work was laid in the hallway and they were invited to examine the others' work and guess as to the style of music which inspired their art!

Homeschool Fun

How do you like our green pumpkin?

Beautiful Albania | Berat (Calling all window washers...)

While we have the girls with us this fall/winter/spring we want them to see and understand as much of Albanian culture as we can squeeze in.  We are fortunate that it's a small country and a lot of places can be seen in day trips, so we don't have the expense of overnighting.  Last month during Ryan's visit (and before the time change) seemed like a good time to visit the city of Berat so he (as well as Abby and Anna) could get a view of a different part of Albania (albeit less than 65 miles from Tirana).  Nathan and I last visited in 2004 so we were looking forward to returning, armed with a better understanding of what made this city unique.

I thought some of you might also enjoy a glimpse of this pretty little corner of Albania that, according to Reni, is usually filled with "broken stuff."  :-)   That little boy is pretty wise for his 52 months of life.

To give you a little context, Berat is nestled between two great mountains (Shpirag and Tomorr) and divided by a river (Osum).  There is a fantastic legend about two brothers named Shpirag and Tomorr who fought each other over a woman named Osumi, to the point where both died and Osumi drowned in her tears.  The story captivated Ellie's imagination -- and cemented the names of these geographical landmarks in my memory!

But Berat is primarily known for its dense concentration of Turkish architecture.  In a country brimming with partially built concrete houses and crumbling communist-style apartment buildings, this city holds a rustic charm that is a refreshing change from our typical views.

Also known as the city of a thousand windows, both sides of the river are lined with homes that literally appear stacked upon each other leaving many to joke, "If you fall out the window, don't worry, you'll just land on the roof."  

Above all these homes sits an immense castle/fortress that was built before 200 BC.  It was here where we spent most of our afternoon.

We drove partway up to the castle, then parked and climbed the remainder of the immense hill to reach the little town within the castle walls.  Upon reaching the top, we discovered there was ample parking.  Oops.  There is now a nominal admission charge (about $1 per person) to pass through the gate, but once inside, there are lots and lots of little stone alley ways to explore.  We wandered around looking for something to eat, but only found one place.

The restaurant was empty of customers but open for business in the early afternoon.  The owner dropped some menus in our laps then just as quickly picked them back up again.  In Albanian he said something to the effect of, "Forget this.  You should eat traditional Albanian food."

Then he started bringing plate after plate from the kitchen.  Thankfully, these Asburians are adventurous eaters and relished the opportunity to eat an authentic meal.  And thankfully, the bill was pretty reasonable, considering we didn't ask for a single item we were served (aside from our beverages) and we had no idea the prices for any of the dishes he brought out!

We found it quite ironic to be sitting under a needlepoint of what appear to be George and Martha Washington by Mount Vernon?  Or maybe it's Schonbrunn Palace?  Who knows, it just didn't appear to fit our surroundings!

I don't even know where to begin to describe the dishes we ate... they included beans with parsley (lower left), some sort of cooked spinach and egg (far upper left), cooked green and red peppers and ground beef (mid right), greek salad with white cheese (center),  byrek with cheese and spinach (lower center), and egg plant (lower right).  The peppers and beef dish was our favorite.

Byrek (burr-eck) -- the unofficial national dish of Albania -- is basically a savory layered pastry (filo dough) that depending upon where you are geographically holds cheese and some other filling like spinach, tomatoes, or chicken or ground beef.  It's best fresh out of the oven, but usually it's been made ahead of time and reheated (albeit not always thoroughly).  The best byrek I've ever eaten was at the Greek restaurant in Elbasan and was served on a hot iron skillet as a hot pocket of filo filled with chicken, cheese, tomatoes and mushrooms.

I'm a sucker for taking photos of arched wooden doors and stone walls...

Sadly, haze and dust clouded our view of the normally majestic mountain vistas.

Visiting places like this leaves me in awe of the heritage Ellie and Reni have running through their Albanian veins.  Such a hard place to live, wracked with centuries upon centuries of wars from invading armies in this crossroads between greater Europe and the middle east. At times like this their very existence seems miraculous to me.

An obligatory 'cannon shot'

Yes, this ancient stone road is just as slippery as it appears.  I can only imagine how horses and donkeys made it up in years gone by, pulling heavy loads.

Okay, I couldn't resist including this photo below.  

No, this isn't our vehicle, but it does seem like it's calling our name...

A small billboard outside of town confirmed the rumor we heard earlier that a whitewater rafting company had opened outside of Berat.  Adventure sports are still relatively new in this country (day-to-day life has enough excitement to meet most folks' need for adrenaline surges), so we are really curious about this possible activity.  Combined with the beauty of the city, I found myself wondering why this wasn't a tourist destination yet ... then we left the city limits and the road literally fell apart.  Our poor Caddy.  Maybe we won't be returning again for a while after all.