Teeth Sticks, 55 States, and Jellyfish

Sasha: "Teacher, you have teeth stick?"
Me: "Oh, you mean a toothpick? Yes, I have some toothpicks."

Teeth stick. That is probably my new favorite Albanglish word. That's what I call the words my students make up in English. It's kind of like English speakers who make up words in Spanish. They speak Spanglish.

Anyway, in regards to the Albanglish, Sasha asked me that question when we were finished eating yesterday. The MMM group came over for some American food and a movie. We had hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, chips, salad, and pickles, with ice cream for dessert. Very American. They enjoyed it a lot, but the teeth sticks became very popular at the end of the meal. lol

It was funny when Sasha asked because right away, I knew exactly what she meant. What else could a teeth stick be? Emily and I have realized that we have become quite proficient at interpreting Albanglish, however, our English skills have diminished over the course of time because sometimes we catch ourselves speaking in likeness to our students. Haha! :)

I haven't mentioned this next part yet, but this past week there have been some physical troubles with our church building. A large chunk of the building that houses us has had problems with water leaking from pipes or pipes that have basically burst. Well the situation became so bad the weekend that we were in Croatia that part of our ceiling collapsed. Fortunately, it was just a small area that fell. There was a soffitted area right above our door and that is the portion that collapsed, however significant water damage was done to the cement walls on that end of our room. The computer and printer and electronics are all on that side of the room, but thankfully none of that was damaged.

The water pooled up in the one end of the church and continued dripping for a few days. This past Tuesday, it started running instead of dripping, so Agron made the decision to cancel class. He said that the water was bad, and was concerned for our health and the health of our students. Agron was afraid of someone getting sick or getting an infection from too much exposure to it, so he cancelled classes for that day.

God has been good to us, though. No one has had problems with their health, and he was able (and willing!) to continuously clean out the dirty water, mop the floor, and keep things clean. Agron is such a blessing to the church not just for all his work with the services, but for the physical work he puts in to situations like this. He is a wonderful Christian man, leader, and example.

Also, Agron was able to talk to the owner of the building and there is another spot that we will be able to move to. It's only about 4 storefronts down the hall. This is in a section of the building that has not had water problems, it still has a bathroom, and this new area will have a window. Currently, we are windowless. The window will be awesome for airflow, especially when we have very busy motion-filled Activity Nights. Thank God that he was able to provide a space for us basically next to our current location so that we are still easy to find for new people, still easy to locate for our regular contacts, and in a section of the building that has been damage free. Rejoice in the Lord always! :)

When class was cancelled on Tuesday, the decision was made once I arrived. Agron didn't want to make the decision without me. I thought that was very thoughtful. However, since my students like to arrive early because it gives us all a little time to chat (Aren't they sweet?), they were already there. I didn't want to just send them home after saying hi, so I came up with a different idea. I took anyone who wanted to stay to a bar kafe by the church that had umbrella tables outside. It was a very hot day so I let everyone order something cold to drink, got out some paper, and we played hangman. It's a good game to work on spelling and letters and just seeing and recognizing words. We sat and played for about an hour before heading our separate ways.

However, while we were playing, somehow we started talking about the States. During that conversation, I mentioned that when I was in 1st grade, we had to learn all the States. I told the kids that when I was in 1st grade, I already knew them because I'd learned a song that had the name of every state. They wanted to hear it, of course. Any time a song is involved, my students want to hear it. lol So I sang it, right then and there. After I finished, the following funny conversation occurred.

Aurora asked me, "How many states there are?"
Me: "How many states are there? There are 50 states."
Aurora: "Wow! This is many!"
Klea interrupted, "But, no, teacher! There are 55."
Me: "No, there are 50."
Klea: "Why only 50?"
Me: "....Because that's all there are."

It was really funny to me because she was ready to argue with me that I was wrong. But when I said, "that's all there are," she looked at me, thought about it, smiled, and said, "Ok!" I asked if they knew what provinces or territories were, but they didn't, so I'm pretty sure she wasn't confusing states with territories or anything. Still, it definitely made me chuckle! ;)


It was after this that one of my students introduced me to a tasty new snack. See, I was waiting around to talk to Agron to decided what to do about classes for the rest of the week. We decided to play it by ear, but anyway...as I was waiting, Xheni (pr. Jenny) walks by and stops to chat briefly as she was on her way to a class. She was eating chips but I had never before seen the flavor. They were chicken flavored chips. She asked me if I wanted to try one. At first, I thought it sounded kind of strange, but then, in the same thought, I realized that barbecue flavor is strange too, but it's good on chicken and it's good on chips, so maybe chicken flavor is good on chips. I tried it. It was delicious! I got some later in the week as a snack for myself. lol

Other events from the past week included two coffee dates at students' homes. First, we went to the Kodheli family's home. The mom, Ariana, and her young daughter Ester, are in one of Emily's classes. Their son, Kevi, was in one of my classes, but now that it's nice weather, he's involved with soccer (excuse me--I mean, football), and doesn't come to class anymore. We had a very nice visit at their home. Kesi and Klea were there too, since they live across the hall in the same apartment building, and to help with translating. They fed us many snacks and gave us plenty of soda and we had lots of laughs. Ariana is a teacher, too, so she had stories to share with us. Then, her husband got home from work and was asking us many questions about our families and our homes in the States. They are just a super nice family and both Emily and I felt very happy and blessed to have been able to spend a bit of personal time with them.

On Saturday, we spent the afternoon with Kesi and Klea. Their grandmother lives near us and they usually visit her on one of the weekend days. So they planned to come over to our house for a little while before going back to their home, and from our house, we would go with them to theirs. While they were here we took some of those funny quizzes on facebook. Whenever our students come here, they want to use the internet. It's not that popular to have home internet here. Some families do for a time (people pay by month here), but the fact that we have it all the time and on two computers is very exciting to our students.

One of the quizzes we took was called "What is your true inner nationality? A quiz of global clairvoyance." As it turns out, I am German at heart (surprise, surprise, lol), Klea is actually Spanish, Kesi is Swedish, and only Emily is truly what she appears--American. Obviously, these results were humorous to us all and continued to be a running joke throughout the day.

At their house, we were stuffed with snacks and treats and soda, and we also played a rousing game of Scrabble. In class, we have the same game except it's called Spelldown. I play it with my students pretty often and am always impressed at how well they do at spotting the words. Every game they are quicker and find longer words. But when we play in class, we don't play for points. We just play with the goal of using all the letters in the bag. Klea, however, is quite competitive and requested, "When you come in our home, you can bring the Spelldown and we will play for points!" So I obliged and packed my travel Scrabble game in my bag before we headed to their apartment and it was a blast. The girls' parents were laughing as they watched us. :)

On the way home, I almost stepped on something I've never seen outside of water. They were thrown on the ground--just dumped out of a bag. I could tell, because the empty back was near them. It took me about 5 seconds of looking at them to realize what they were: Jellyfish!

We already have another home invitation from two sisters, Anxhela (pr. Ahn-gel-ah) and Ina. We had originally set a time for this week, but we forgot to tell them that Emily's sister Sena and her husband Brian will be visiting this week and are arriving that night. So we re-scheduled for the next week. One of my students, Doris, had also mentioned wanting us to visit her house, though she has not brought it up again, and though Albanians don't seem to mind people inviting themselves, I don't feel comfortable doing that since I've only met her mother once. We'll see if she mentions anything.

We've now been to Kesi and Klea's house 3 times, we've been to Ariana's house once, to Emanuela, Brisilda and Dajana's house once, are going to Anxhela and Ina's house, and have been to Sara and Danja's home on multiple occasions. And the Huna household (Olsa, Neda, and Ledio) is our other family so we are there very frequently. It's nice to have these connections here.

As promised, I spent much of my free time the last two weeks trying desperately to catch up on my photo albums. Here is the result of my work. I now have pictures of the end of Day 2 in Rome as well as the first half and the second half of Day 3 in Rome. I even finished off the Rome trip by adding Day 4 and Day 5.

Though I'm not completely caught up, I was able to finish the photo album of the beach day in Durres with Sara and Danja. And I even had time to complete one more album so you could see pictures of some of the activities with my students. Now I need to work on the pictures of our road trip to Croatia and compile the last of the random fun pictures from the month of May.

I can't believe that May is over. Today is June 1 and that means I leave for the US one month from today. My last day here is July 1. At 6:30pm (Tirana time) my plane will head off into the horizon and will leave Albania behind. I've said it before, but this brings very mixed feelings. I know that God wants me back in the States for some reason. Otherwise, he would have given me the opportunity to consider staying or leaving. But, with the funding to Albania being pulled, there is no opportunity to have this job again next year.

Part of me is thankful that I didn't have to make the decision myself, because that way, I never ever have to feel like I made the wrong choice, one way or another. At the same time, I feel a little jipped that I didn't get to think about the ways I can contribute here or if I still have something to offer here. But the Lord know best, not me, and I just have to face the facts.

So on July 1, it's off to America I go. The thought of saying goodbye to my friends, students, Agron, Vitori, and the Huna clan is not a happy one. Goodbyes are very rarely appealing but they are usually unavoidable. Such is the case with this one. Obviously, if the circumstances were different and if it wasn't so far and so costly to come back for a visit, it would be an easier goodbye. I am preparing myself to make it a cheerful and friendly departure as best I can because I know that my lines of communication with my life here will not be severed by thousands of miles, an ocean, and two continents. And that, is a much happier thought. :)

On the other hand, I am ridiculously excited to be home again. I can't wait!!!!! Obviously, the thing I am looking forward to the most is seeing my family and friends again after so long. They are a HUGE part of my life and I can't wait to be around them again and to be able to talk to them whenever I want or to plan time to spend with them. Plus, I am excited to have good health care so I can be feeling good again. I have felt yucky since the first week here and I will finally be able to get to point where I feel great every day. American health care is a gigantic blessing that I have been fortunate enough to have for my whole life. Wow! I will never take it for granted again.

I also have a plethora of exciting events that I am looking forward to this summer. In July, my dad is celebrating a very important birthday. (I'm not sure he'd appreciate me saying which one, but I'll just say this--come July 13th, I'll officially be half his age. ;) Hee hee! I love you, Dad!) Also, my parents bought a house and will move in just a few days before I return so I will be around to help organize and set up the new place--extra fun since that's where I'll be living when I get back. At the end of July, my godson/cousin, Ben, turns 8. I can't believe he's that big already! And I am just itching to see him and his little sister Rachel again!!! Plus, my good friend Matt is getting married to a great girl and I am looking forward to being able to attend their wedding and help them celebrate.

In August, one of my best friends, Meghan, is getting married at the end of the month. I am honored to be part of the bridal party and am anxiously awaiting all the fun that is in store for the wedding weekend. I will also get to see another one of my good friends, Lizzy, and her husband Nate, who will be there from TN.

Two other summer highlights to look forward to include a road trip to West Virginia with my friend Christie. Beth, the same one who visited me, runs a summer camp there for kids mostly from the DC area. We can camp there and get meals there so lodging and food will be free. Basically, all we need to spend is gas money. Bring on the fresh country air!

In addition, my aunt and uncle who live in Grenada are on furlough for a portion of the summer and will be spending some of their time with us in WI. Yay!!! They've always lived far away from me so any chance to see them is exciting. But they moved to Grenada only a few weeks after I moved here because my uncle accepted the call to be the pastor at our mission there. It will be so fun to swap foreign living stories with them.

Obviously, it helps me think of the good things to come in the future rather than dwelling on the sad. Plus, I know that once I am home, I will be so excited to be able to write/email my friends here to tell them all my news. And more and more of them are getting facebook so they will be able to see pictures, too. Technology sure makes the world seem smaller!

Whew! This turned out to be another novel by yours truly. Since I have the day off, I figured it was a perfect time for another update. It's Children's Day here, another holiday. Some of my students don't have school, and some have other activities planned at school, with family, or elsewhere, so I decided to cancel class and let them just have the day to be kids. It goes by too quickly--they just don't know it yet! As for me, I feel a bit like a kid too from the excitement of having an extra day outside of the classroom. You're only as young as you feel, right? :)

Please, continue the prayers. We are steadily making some progress in getting things set up before we leave. Moving to a new location will slow this down a little bit, but I'm confident we can handle it and still have things in place and as organized as possible before July 1. All prayers and encouragement are helpful! Thanks to all of you for reminding me of that! :)