"Queer Lodgings"

Wow.  It's been over a month since I posted. 
Don't worry, I don't feel bad.  I've been doing other things.

However, I just made a list of eleven blog entries that I'd like to write before Christmas, assuming nothing interesting happens from now until Christmas break, which comes in less than two weks, so I thought I had better get started!  Plus, I'm supposed to be working on an assignment, and if you know me, you know that that's when I get lots of (other) work done!

What have I been doing that has made me too busy to write, you may ask.  I've had a few pretty full weeks, but I've also been busy doing not too much - taking care of myself: mind, body, and soul.  It's been a long time since I did that.  And as much as I love you all back home, my focus has been on investing myself in people here.

 So, let's rewind to the first week of November.  During that week, none of the students spent the evenings and nights at the school.  The local students stayed at home, and the non-locals were placed with various host families.  As far as I know, not a single non-local student was excited about this "cultural experience".  And as far as I know, every single one of us had a fantastic week!  We were all stretched and challenged in different ways, but each of us built new relationships, learned new things, and felt good about investing time and love in other people.

I became pretty excited when I found out that I would be staying with Valter and Manjola - a husband and wife who are also students!  They live in a village that's about a five minute drive from town.  Manjola and I are the same age, and we had already started building a relationship.  Manjola knows a little bit of English, and Valter makes up for his lack of knowledge with his enthusiasm!  They live with Valter's parents who know no English at all!  While most of the other students were relieved that their hosts spoke English, I was excited about the challenge of trying to use more Albanian to communicate. 

It was such a special, memorable week.  We spent many minutes watching Christian channels on the TV (in whatever language they happened to be in), waiting for a Bible verse to appear on the screen.  Whenever one did, we would excitedly look it up and read it to each other - me in English and Valter in Albanian.  Sometimes we switched roles, just for fun!  When the power went out, we just took turns calling out verses instead.  I tried çaj mali - mountain tea - for the first time.  It's an herbal tea made from a flower that's just found in this area, up on the mountain.  Manjola slaughtered me in Chess, and Valter lost many rounds of Spoons in such an animated fashion that it left us catching our breaths from laughter. 

It was such a blessing to share their home for the week, and I pray that I was a blessing to them also.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of Manjola and Valter.  You'll have to settle for a group one - you really haven't any choice!

Udhekryq Class of 2012/2013  :)

Perhaps you'd like to meet everyone:
Starting from me and heading to the right: Visi, Fiona, Lydia, Manjola, Natasha, Mitat.
Front row, left to right: Andrea (my very good friend and our RA), Zak, Rozela, Valter, Elisa, Zhuli, Caleb, and Mario.  (Only Sonila is missing.)

And one more, just for fun:

Zak, me, and Fiona being generally ourselves at our Thanksgiving feast

Well, that's all for today, since I am, after all, supposed to be writing an assignment.  

A couple random facts:
There's been snow on the mountain top a few times now, but today, sleety rain turned into snow during coffee break.  For some reason, it was exciting...  I'm pretty sure the excitement will be completely gone tomorrow morning and will remain gone for the rest of the winter.

You rarely see cash registers in here, particularly here in Erseke.  Most stores just have a notebook and a pen, and they just jot down the prices of your items and add them up.  It would be a tedious process at Superstore or Costco, but not here.  The stores don't generally have much, so no one comes to the 'till' with a full cart.  Not that there are any carts.  The other day, I went to the grocery store hoping for yogurt, but they didn't have any. 
The money is in a shoe box or a drawer.  It's a pain if you need to buy something but you only have large bills from a bank machine.  Stores often can't give change for a 1000 or 2000 Lek bill ($10 or $20).

"The Gathering of the Clouds"

My, oh my!  Two blog entries in one day!?!?

Well, aren't you all lucky?  I just wanted to catch up on posting some more pictures - that's the only part you all look at anyways, right?  ;)

Zak on the slackline, Fiona behind her camera, where she loves to be!

I discovered a few weeks ago this wonderful fact: my computer seamlessly and effortlessly creates panorama photos!  And I love panorama photos!  So here are some for you to enjoy.  (Click on them to enlarge them - they're much more enjoyable that way!) 

Out the back door...

...and out the front!  First snow on the top of Gramozi!

As I looked through my pictures choosing a few to post, I realized that we had a really cool adventure that I didn't share yet!  It was a trip to "the gorge" - a creek flowing though a canyon between two mountains.  The beginning of the canyon is just a 20 - 30 minute walk from the school.  I can't find words to explain how beautiful it was, nor do I have pictures to show because I didn't have my camera!  We passed all the way through the gorge, splashing, scrambling, wading, and slipping over rocks and through ankle-deep, knee-deep, and waist deep-water.  At times, we could scramble over rocks and shrubs beside the creek, but as we got further in, there were places where the rocks rose sharply on either side of the creek, molded and shaped by the wind and the water.  By the end, everyone was quite thoroughly wet whether they had planned to become wet or not. 

A week or two later, a few of us resolved to go back to the gorge to explore again - and I wanted to take some pictures.  We weren't planning to go all the way through, so I was confident that I could keep my camera safe.  Sadly, that was one of the first days that it decided to rain quite a bit, and we had hardly entered the gorge when we decided that it was too slippery to be safe.  So, here is one picture from that adventure - from just inside the canyon.

Looking back from just inside the Gorge.

Seeking adventure and shelter from the rain.  We had no lights, so we didn't go far.

I love, love, love the warmth of the light at this time of the evening.

 Goodnight.  Natën e mirë.  Mirupafshim.  Two blog entries is quite enough for one day.

"Shortcut to Mushrooms"

A couple weeks ago, we spent a day out at a mountain camp called Shelegur. 

 We enjoyed a lovely, treacherous furgon ride along a beautiful switchback road.  I would have let the not-so-gentle swaying lull me into a restful sleep, but the bench that I was sitting on (facing sideways) was not attached to the floor of the van.  Each time I started to nod off, I was jolted awake as I caught myself from falling on my face. 

When the furgon could take us no further, a 30 or 40 minute walk to the camp gave us a chance to calm our stomachs and enjoy the beauty of the uphill trek.  After setting up tents and gathering firewood before dark, we threw our suppers in the fire and waited expectantly.  Tin foil dinners, games, stories and songs around the fire finished off the evening.  Marjus took it upon himself to teach me and Andrea songs in Albanian.  Each song inevitably ended with both of us collapsing in giggles.  :)


I learned a very valuable lesson overnight: always take my inhaler with me.  Always.  Unfortunately, of course, it was too late, and I spent a miserable night trying to convince my lungs to work.  My asthma stayed with me all day, making the hike up to the Greek border less than entirely pleasant.  On top of that, it rained (for the first time since arriving).  My raincoat was hanging out with my inhaler back at the school.  Oh well - lesson(s) learned.  In spite of my oversights, it was a great hike and a great couple days!

On the border of Albania and Greece

I've already shared several pictures from Shelegur (half of the pictures from the last entry), but I saved a few.

I had better fast forward a little bit, or I'll never be up to date with these blog entries!

Since coming back from Shelegur, life has become a little more predictable and school has become a little more, well, school-ish.  Now we usually have 4 classes in the morning (9:00-12:40) and one or two after supper.  The afternoons are fairly free, though they are sprinkled with English or Albanian classes, meetings for the various ministries that all of the students are involved in, visits with the families that 'adopted' us, and just generally keeping up with reading and projects.

It's been raining quite a lot in the last week, but before that, I was really enjoying walking into town, or going slack-lining, or just reading or playing my pan in the sunshine.

Tomorrow morning, we're all leaving for the weekend.  We'll be visiting Butrint (an archaeological site) and Sarande (a beautiful city on the Mediterranean).  Expect some stories and pictures from the other side of Albania next time you hear from me!

I'd feel dishonest if I didn't admit that this mushroom was in the walnut grove and not at Shelegur...

And, today's random fact about Albania:
I don't think I've ever seen a store that posts hours.  Sometimes they're open, sometimes they're closed.  And sometimes they're closed when you walk past and open when you walk back.  Sometimes the grocery store has rubber boots and sometimes the carpet shop serves soft ice cream.  Just enjoy what you find!

"Many Meetings"

It is amazing to watch a community build itself together in a couple of weeks.  There is something very special about seeing people of different cultures and different languages grow together, pray together, laugh together, learn together, and love God together.

Of course, it's not easy, and it's far from perfect.  In fact, it's often downright frustrating.  Will you pray for unity between the students?  With 15 different students there are 15 points of view, 15 personalities, 15 senses of humor, 15 worldviews, and 15 different reasons for being here. 

I'm reminded of some reading that I did in Ephesians in my first week or two here.  It's probably the book of the Bible that I've read the most, yet God showed it to me in a new light this time.  Try reading through the whole of Ephesians and looking for all of the references to UNITY (also think: body of Christ).  Here are a few:
1:22, 23 - And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
2:13, 14 - But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For He Himself is our peace, who has made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.
4:2, 3 - [Walk] with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4:4-6 - There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

On to a few introductions!  I'll try to respect the privacy of the other students while still giving you a decent introduction  :)  I don't have pictures of everyone, so I've scattered a few random pictures throughout too, just for fun!

Turtle...  Isn't it cute???

Three students are Canadian, two are American, one is German, and the other nine are Albanian.  Some are just beyond high school age, and some were born in the same decade as me. 
There are three other girls in my room: Zhuli, Sonila, and Elisa.  Zhuli is outgoing and fun, AND she speaks great English, which is really a blessing!  Sonila is a few years older then me and quiet, and very caring and concerned for others.  I feel crippled by the language barrier more with her than with any other student.  Please pray for me and the other students as we learn to show God's love to Sonila.  Elisa is another Canadian.  She's another extrovert, and is creative in many different ways.

Elisa

Lydia is German.  She plays guitar, and we lead the music for the student service on Sunday nights together. 
Rozela is Zhuli's sister.  She has a big heart and is always willing to help me with my Albanian in exchange for some help with English!
Fiona is from Florida.  She is lovely and fun and always willing to challenge herself, no matter what anyone says!
Natasha is from a city north of here.  She has a musical laugh and like me, she uses it when words fail, which is fairly frequently!

Natasha, Zak, and Andrea

Zak is getting up at 2am tonight to watch the Giants play.  (That should help you figure out which state he is from.)  He knows when to lighten the mood and when somebody needs to lean on him.
Mitat grew up here in Erseke.  He is the joker of the group.

Caleb and Mitat

Marjus is very serious in a funny way.  Or very funny in a serious way.  I'm not sure which.
Caleb grew up in northern Alberta.  He's doing a really great job on the unity front.  He's also secretely a super-hero, but it would be unwise to give you any more information than that.

Visi and Caleb

Visi spent quite a few years working in Greece.  He's a drummer, and I'm betting that he's got the fastest double-kick chops in Albania!  We occasionally have a little jam session on the wall that separates our rooms.
Valter and Manjola are married.  Valter is boisterous!  Manjola is very sweet, and we've had a few really fun walks together exchanging words and phrases.

I can't leave out Andrea.  She is the Resident Assistant (or, the one who keeps us all in the loop and in line!).  She's an encourager, and she cares deeply for everyone.  She has been a huge blessing to me during my time here.

Well, that's all folks!  Fifteen individuals united in Christ.

Dumpster diving

Finally, random fun fact of the day about Albania:
Vehicles drive on the right-hand side of the road.... usually.  Of course, any number of things might change that - potholes, pedestrians, sheep, donkeys.... :)

"Mount Doom"

Perhaps the title is a tad bit over-dramatic.....

There is a mountain, and it is called Gramozi.  It towers over the town of Erseke, hiding the sun until late in the morning.  It is barren and dry, but it is beautiful.  It is the third highest mountain in Albania.  The summit looks like a pyramid, and on the other side is Greece.

Barren and dry.

And so we set off, armed with water and sandwiches and the most appropriate shoes we brought.  First a casual walk from a nearby village to the base of the mountain, then an easy hike across a stream to the bottom of the trees.  Spirits were high.  Then, up and up, and UP some more!  Everyone was relieved when we reached the top of the trees - our first resting point.  But then, the shade was gone.  Up and up and up.  There were no insurmountable difficulties, but just always up!  Over rocks and scrub and through the prickles.

Prickles, prickles...

 (Oh, the prickles!  A friend here aptly said, "Albania has a disproportionate amount of prickly plants." and it's so true!  Thistles and roses and prickly tumbleweed-like plants.  Prickly evergreens, blackberries, other berries, prickles, prickles, prickles!)

....beautiful prickles!

Erseke from our first rest point.

  
Erseke became smaller and smaller below us as we pressed on.

Can you spot Erseke on the left?

 By this point, the motto was 'one step at a time'.  Muscles were aching and lungs were straining.  Friends from Miami and Vancouver were having a hard time with the high mountain air.  Up..... up..... up.  Finally, the pyramid came into view, having been hidden behind the mountain for most of the trek.  Most of the group was up ahead, and now we could see some of them, making the final ascent to the summit.  They looked so small.  We still had so far to go.

Looking ahead.

A curious cow.

We passed a shepherd with his sheep.  A chorus of cowbells alerted us to a herd of cows up ahead.  We were happy to avoid any encounters with sheep dogs - the most dangerous of the 'wild' animals in the area. 

I 'signed' my name at the summit - can you spot it?

Finally, one step at a time, up..... and up...... and up....., we were there.  There's a reason this place is called "one kilometer closer to heaven".  We gained well over 1000 m in elevation!  And it was worth every aching step.  Words can't describe the beauty of God's creation, nor the satisfaction of having persevered to the finish.

 

Coming home.

"The Window On The West"

The problem with blogs is that if you get behind, it seems impossible to catch up!  So much has happened in this last week that I hardly know where to begin!

I'm settled in at the school now; the effects of jet lag have passed.  The school more or less feels like home now.

I share a dorm room with three other girls.  One is Canadian and two are Albanian, though one knows wonderfully good English!  Our windows face to the west.  There is a stunningly beautiful mountain ridge in that direction.  On my first (jet lagged and sleepless) morning here, I captured it in three photos, and I am so happy with how the panorama turned out.

The view out my dorm room window.

So, what has filled my last week or so?
- Frequent trips to the coffee shop for ice cream, Fanta, or iced tea
- A hike up Gramozi (more on that another time!)
- Quite a bit of reading
- Canoeing (with great games!)
- An overwhelming amount of listening to another language and struggling to start speaking
- Believe it or not, a lot of volleyball!  I'm not great, but the great part about that is that I can only get better, and I have!
- Playing my pan in the beautiful outdoors
- A surprise chance to hear a traditional wedding band
- A church service and a Bible study at the church
- 8 hours of sleep every night and three meals a day
- To market, to market.... 
- A football (soccer) game with all the students
- Getting to know the other 14 students
- Cracking open some fresh walnuts and slacklining at the walnut grove
- And.... even some classes!

More details on some of these things to come, but for now, I thought you would all enjoy some more pictures!

My home away from home

        Volleyball and the old cheese factory, now property of the school.  Wish I could bottle up the smell and share it with all of you at home! 

A typical sight (and sound!)

Walnuts

Heading home.  My favourite time of day.

At the summit of Gramozi. The border between Greece and Albania follows this ridge.

Me and Andrea at the summit.

        

And finally, a couple of fun facts:
- Erseke is one of the highest towns in Albania.  It is roughly the size of Sundre.
- The elevation is 1050m (2m higher than Calgary!  Sundre is 1097m.)
- Erseke means "windy city".  From one to another.  Go figure.  

"The Road to Isengard"

"Isengard Udhekryq"

We took a furgon (van) today from Tirana to Erseke.  What a beautiful country this is! 

The road winded and bumped and switch-backed up and down and up and down through the Balkan mountains.  Here in Albania, they don't change the mountains to build the road.  They build the road to fit the mountains!  If you search google maps for Tirana, Albania to Erseke, Albania, you can follow our path.

Here's one picture to give you a taste!

"Journey to the Cross-Roads"

I love flying.  I’m lucky, I suppose.  Many people find it boring, stressful, frightening, or claustrophobic, but when they are cramped and cranky, I am bubbling with excitement!

I like the exhilarating feeling of taking off.  I enjoy the ups and downs, the sudden roller coaster drops that leave your stomach in your throat.  I hate roller coasters, but I love flying.

My favourite is the clouds.  They are always beautiful and ever changing.  I like to imagine the clouds as their own little land: I see hills and rivers and islands and mountains.  There are layers and layers, and towering clouds that you fly right into.  I want to reach out my hand and touch all the different textures.

I love flying because it is always the beginning of an adventure.  This particular adventure is taking me across the world to Albania, where I’ll be attending Bible School for 6 months.  So, the purpose of this blog is to let you share in my adventure with me!

A little more about the adventure:

     Albania??  Where is that?

Albania is in Eastern Europe.  It borders on Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and the Mediterranean Sea.  It’s not far at all from the heel of Italy’s boot.

According to some stats I’ve seen, Albania is the poorest country in Europe.  It was communist until 1991.  Its own government declared it the first atheist nation in the world.  Until 1991, ALL religion was illegal.  Interesting place to go to Bible School?  I think so!

Udhekryq (that's the name of the school, pronounced OO-the-krooch) is located in a small town called Ersekë.  It’s not too far from the Greek border, and it’s up in the mountains.  Udhekryq means "crossroads" in Albanian. 

     Why Bible School?  Why Albania?

Long story.  And I don’t think I know it all.

I’ve wanted to go to a Capernwray Bible School since high school.  Capernwray schools have a different focus from many other Bible Schools.  I’ll be able to explain that much better once I’ve gone!

The Capernwray in Albania (there are Capernwray schools all over the world) has always jumped out at me.  Maybe because it is a poorer country; maybe because I’ve never seen that area of the world; maybe because there is a significant emphasis on outreach; maybe just because it’s found at the beginning of the alphabet!  Whatever the case, God has made it very clear that this is where He wants me to be right now.  And so, like my very good friend Heidi said, I am going to go and find out why!

     Will you have internet?

Yes.  I’ll be skyping, (is that a word?) and will have access to email.  Facebook?  I probably won’t be spending a lot of time there.  Phone?  Nope.  I didn’t realize how often I reach for my phone until it wasn’t there!  I think it will be good for me.

     What do they speak there? What language is the school in?

Albanian.  You know the ‘language family tree’ that you learned about?  Albanian has a branch to itself.  It’s not closely related to any other living languages.

The school is translated.  When the teacher is English, there will be a translator.  Vice versa, there will be a translator.  And, we get to take Albanian lessons!

     What is the school like?

Small.  Really small.  Tiny.  No one seems to quite comprehend this part.  There will be 12-15 students.  Yes, total.  Approximately 3 from Canada (yay!), 2 from the States, 3 from Germany, 1 from Kosovo, and 4-6 from Albania.  We live in dorms at the school.  We’ll have some travel weekends, and spend a couple weeks living with Albanian families and doing outreach projects.  

     How are you feeling?

I’ve experienced the full range of emotions in the last couple weeks:  Nerves.   Excitement!  Sadness to leave home.  Stress.  Right now, sitting in the Vienna airport waiting for the final leg of my journey, I’m pretty excited!

Some of you are here because you said you’d like to pray for me.  I really appreciate that.  Right now, I’m thankful for an uneventful journey so far, and I’m praying that my last flight will go smoothly, especially meeting up with a couple people from the school at the airport.  We’re going to be staying over one night in the capital and picking up another student at the airport on Thursday before we head to the school.

A week ago, I was listening to my iPod and a song jumped out at me.  It’s one from my Aunt Jane, though I also remember it from the nineties era at church.  The words have become my prayer for myself and all the other students. 

                As we gather may Your Spirit work within us

                And as we gather may we glorify Your name

                Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship

                We’ll be blessed because we came

                We’ll be blessed because we came