A Moment In Time

I feel like since I returned from Rome, I haven't had a spare moment to myself. I'm going to keep this strictly business as there is much to be reported in the update department. Tonight I finally have a moment to get this all posted.

First, I finished posting the pictures from Day 3 in Athens. There were tons and tons and tons to choose from, but I kept it to only one more album. :) Tough, but like I've said, my time is at a minimum. Then I posted the pictures of our March MMM activity, the girly day where we painted our nails. Happy viewing!

The Sunday after I returned from Rome was an interesting day. It was the date of Western (Catholic) Easter and our friends from the Baptist church informed us of an event that was taking place in Tirana. The road from Skenderbeg Square to Mother Teresa University was closed down for a march. All Christians in Tirana were invited to participate in an Easter march, sort of parade style, but without the different units. It was one big mass of people with banners and signs proclaiming the resurrection. We ended at the university where we were greeted by a band and a gospel choir which our friend Gretchen was singing in.

There, the band and choir led the crowd in sort of a concert of popular Christian contemporary songs. It was all in Albanian, so I didn't know all the words, but it was cool to recognize some of the songs. For example, one of the songs they sang was "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High." In English, the words repeat these two stanzas.

Lord I lift Your name on high.
Lord I love to sing Your praises
I'm so glad You're in my life
I'm so glad You came to save us.

You came from heaven to earth
To show the way
From the earth to the cross
My debt to pay
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord I lift Your name on high! (3X)



It's generic, but yet its simplicity says it all. It was a good message to share in a public place. Then a few different people spoke, I think reading portions of the Bible. It wasn't exactly a service as much a a concert and celebration. Even though not all the doctrinal details are the same, the main message doesn't change so it was nice to see the number of people that were out celebrating that good news. It was even more exciting to think about how many people walking past were hearing it for the first time.

After that, we had a picnic in the park with some of our friends. I finally got to meet Louise, who was here when Josh and Joel were here and was also here for part of last year. She lived in the apartment below us, so Josh and Joel knew her very well and Emily knows her, too. She was back to visit people and celebrate Easter here. The day ended with game night at pastor's.

Monday morning I woke up not feeling well. I taught classes anyway because it was the first day back after our two week break. I only taught one of my three classes that day, because in each of the other two classes, only one person showed up. That's what happens when we start classes on a day when there is no school. It causes confusion since our usual rule is if there's no school, there's no class.

I went back home and that's when things really started to get interesting. I felt horrible and it took me an hour and a half to eat one little bowl of soup for dinner. My stomach was just really hurting me. About 11pm it started to get really bad. The pain was getting so strong that it was making my back hurt and my whole body was becoming tense. Eventually, somewhere between midnight and 1am, Pastor and Emily managed to call the clinic's emergency number to take me to a hospital because I said I needed to go. It was the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life. On a scale of 1 to 10, I gave it a 13.

Pastor found a taxi that took us to the hospital that the clinic's emergency person recommended. That was an adventure in itself. It was like stepping back in time, except no one even spoke my language. It looked like a hospital room that you always seen in WWII movies, where there are multiple beds and windowed cabinets with a few supplies. To make a long story short, I ended up getting a shot of pain medicine in the rear (that was an experience I'd never had before), an IV of saline, calcium, and a muscle relaxer. When that drip was finished, they gave me glucose because I was dehydrated from other symptoms I'd been having. You can guess. Then they wrote down some medicines they thought I needed on a piece of paper--5 of them--and sent me home.

I woke up a few times in the night because of pain once the medicine started wearing off, and because I needed to visit my porcelain friend. Around 10:30am I couldn't get anymore unrestful sleep, but the really bad pain was gone. I was still frequenting the bathroom and was feeling very very weak and tired. Even a bit jittery.

I decided it would be a good idea to go to the doctor at the clinic for a follow-up. Pastor went with me because I didn't really remember much from the night before. It was a bit hazy because all I could think about was the pain. The doctor who examined me happened to be the same one who'd been on phone duty the night before. He checked me over thoroughly and decided that I had a very nasty stomach virus. He said he'd seen a few other cases of it and it started with extremely intense stomach pains and by three or four days later it subsides and just leaves the person feeling really tired. He said to eat simple dry foods for about three days, mostly bread and pasta.

I did as he suggested and things proceeded just as he had predicted. Now I'm still feeling tired, but it's because of that and a busy week combined to really just wipe me out. However, now I can say that I've experienced the ER in a foreign country. lol

On Tuesday I spent the entire rest of the day resting and relaxing and trying to force the fluids and try eating. I had zero appetite. But Wednesday I at least felt a little hungry by supper time. I had taught during the day so I didn't have much energy, but at least I was feeling better. Thursday I taught and slept the whole night through for the first time since Sunday night. That was a relief! Friday I did some work, had to run some errands, and then had Easter practice instead of Activity Night.

Saturday we dyed about 60 Easter eggs to take to church with us for after the Easter program. Then we had to be at church in the afternoon for one last rehearsal. Rehearsal went alright, but we found out that 4 of the kids who'd been practicing were out of town for the weekend. Therefore, we had to double up parts to four different kids at the last minute to make sure we had everything covered. Thankfully, they did a fantastic job!

It was awesome! Emily ran the computer and so we had music for the songs and I directed the kids. I kept things moving because people were clapping after every song and every recitation. Since they tend to start talking after that, I made sure that the next kid started right after the clapping stopped. They sang loudly and clearly and better than they had in practice. And these kids love to sing, let me tell you! Besides one kid forgetting to hold up her picture from the passion history and another kid holding hers upside down, things went smoothly. :)

I've included two videos of the program so you can see what it was like. The first one shows the kids singing part of a verse of "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today" in Albanian. The second video shows them singing a song acapella in English. I'm the one in the middle in black. Sorry I'm in the center.





After the program, Emily and I went out to dinner because were all dressed up and it was kind of a celebration that our last big event went off without a hitch. From here on out, it's just the normal events: class, Activity Nights, MMM activities, Cappuccino Club activities, and church. It was great to eat at a nice place and have a real meal after a week of feeling crappy and eating bland food.

Later that night, we met pastor at a little after 11pm to go our for another celebration. This time, we went to celebrate Orthodox Easter on the street outside the Greek Orthodox church. We lit candles and then cracked red Easter eggs at midnight. I even ate one of the eggs. I couldn't believe it! I haven't eaten an Easter egg since I was a kid. Eggs don't always agree with me. But I figured I'd try it because it couldn't possibly be as bad as Monday night. lol And guess what? Not a single problem!

Anyway, we listened to their choir sing and to their priest and archbishop read from the Bible and say a few words. It was much more liturgical than the celebration the week earlier but just as exciting knowing that the real truth of Easter was being spoken right in the middle of the street. :) Then we followed a huge crowd into the church, candles still lit (talk about a fire hazard!) and watched the priests do their thing. They brought incense around the entire church and it sounded like a long liturgy was being read, chanted, and sung. However, it was very very very crowded in there with people going in and out and trying to avoid catching fire, so I wasn't able to see everything that was going on. Then we went back outside, talked with Neda and Ledio for a bit, and walked back. Pastor bought us ice cream on the way back and it was a beautiful night, so it was nice to walk back in nice weather in the middle of the night enjoying a treat.

Sunday morning we had an Easter service in English. It was our most well attended English service with a whopping 7 people (8 including pastor) worshipping. Agron, Vitori, Dorien, me Emily, Neda, and this one little boy, Daniel. It was awesome. :) Finally, on Sunday afternoon, we got a chance to relax. We spent the afternoon watching two movies. lol We just had no desire to do anything but take a break to catch our breath. After we did that, we started cooking because we'd planned to have our Easter dinner with pastor that night before game night. Between what we made and pastor's contributions we had a feast: Chicken (from Mr. Chicken), fries (the Albanian version of potatoes at a big meal), salad, stuffing, biscuits, canned cranberry sauce, ice cream dessert, wine, and struesel cake flavored decaf coffee with dessert. It was delicious! Oh, did I mention that we had chocolate Easter candy, too? Of course! No game night with pastor is complete without chocolate. In addition to his normal supply, Emily and I had brought along Kinder eggs because we had to have some sort of Easter eggs on Easter. lol

Monday was another day off of school. Since both Easters are celebrated here, both of the following Mondays are vacations from school. We didn't get a day off though because we'd been invited to spend a day at the beach in Durres. Sara and Danja's family has a house (apartment) at the beach in Durres and so we went with them, their mom, and little brother Ani, and Neda. We packed food to eat there and then spent a beautiful day playing in the water, collecting shells, taking pictures, playing on the playground, getting coffee, and playing games. By the time we got back, we were exhausted all over again, but it was completely worth it!

We had work to do to prepare for this week of classes so I was up late last night. Then, I fell asleep without setting my alarm clock. I slept though the 10am class I am supposed to have with Dajana. Emily said she even called my phone but I have absolutely no recollection of it ringing. Then she said she called my name after I didn't answer the phone. She said I replied with, "What." She told me that it was 10 and asked if I had class with Dajana and apparently I gave a grunt. Haha! I don't remember any of that. When I finally did wake up, it was 11:30 and I was completely out of it! Don't worry though--I had one of Dajana's sister's in class later today and she said Dajana slept late too and didn't go to class. So now I don't feel quite so bad. Haha! ;)

Aida came at noon to give me an Albanian lesson. I know it seems kind of late to be starting this, but she's offered since we got here but this is the first time we have schedules that will give us a time to meet. And she really really wants me to learn some more Albanian and I feel too bad saying no, so I agreed. Therefore, I have Albanian lessons every Tuesday and Thursday now. To add to my prep work and teaching, I also have homework. And here I thought I was done being a student.....;) Hee hee!

The rest of the week will be spent catching up on prep work and teaching classes. I have Activity Night to plan, plus the MMM group is meeting on Saturday. I'll be taking care of that since Emily will be taking care of Cappuccino Club on the same day. In addition, Emily has a friend who is studying culinary arts in Italy and she is flying in on Friday late afternoon to spend the weekend with us. We'll take her to our events on Friday and Saturday and show her around Tirana. On Sunday, we plan on going to Kruja, the town where the national hero, Skenderbeg, was born and raised. It's a touristy town and apparently very authentically Albanian. I haven't been there yet and Emily really likes it so we thought that would be a good thing to do.

After that, it will be back to another week of classes. Whew! Time is just flying right past now. The longer we've been here, the busier we've gotten. It's getting to the point where thinking about going home brings a very bittersweet feeling to my heart. On one hand, I can't wait to be home again to see family and friends and to get healthy again. But then there's the opposite hand where it will be heart-wrenching to say good-bye to the people I love here. It's sad to think that this chapter of my life is coming to a close. It's making me appreciate even more the things I'm experiencing and the people I'm spending time with. I thank God for all the things I've seen, done, and learned since I arrived here.

Celebrating two Easters was really cool because even though both celebrations were very different, they were both celebrating the same single truth. He is risen! In a country that shuts down the square for the big Islamic holiday of Bajram, where you here the mosques sing out the call to worship five times a day, it was awesome to know that those who believe in Christ receive the same respect and that the square will shut down for their celebrations as well. Everyone's religious preferences and beliefs seem to be respected here. It's refreshing to know that God is working in the hearts of people who've heard his Word. It makes it easier to think about stopping my work here. I didn't get the choice to stay or go, but that's because God already knows what will happen. :) God is good!!!

Veni Vidi Vici

Today was my last day in Rome. What a trip it was! I came, I saw, I conquered. That’s for sure! Even though today was my day alone and I didn’t see as much as the other days, it was probably definitely the most chaotic.

I got up to go to the train station with Beth, since she had a late morning flight. After we parted ways, I was on my own. Things started out pretty well! I got on one of those buses that give you a little tour of the city, but it’s an all day hop on/hop off kind of ticket. I rode it the whole way around the loop without getting off. It was nice because it went past two or three things we hadn’t seen and it explained about all of the things so I learned even more. The whole thing was about an hour and a half. My favorite part of it was that it was a double decker bus and I sat up on the top in the nice open air. The weather was gorgeous!

After the first loop, I got off at the second stop where I wanted to see the “Mouth of Truth.” You put your hand in the mouth and legend says that it will bite the hands of dishonest people. Since I was alone, I asked the guy behind me to take a picture. Turns out it was on video. Haha! No wonder he looked so confused while he was trying to take the picture. :)

Then I walked back past the Circus Maxiumus (the track where they held chariot races) because I wanted to see the end where they’re doing excavations. Also, this is at the bottom of Palatine Hill, so it gave me a nice view of the ruins we’d been on top of just a few days earlier. Then I walked between Palatine Hill and the hill where the gladiators trained and went to school. It leads straight to the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum. I really liked that area, so I went back.

My plan was eat a nice Italian lunch, do a little souvenir shopping, go back to St. Peter’s Basilica to go up the dome and to take pictures of the Swiss guards. Who goes to Rome and forgets to take pictures of the Swiss guards? (“But I am Swiss.” Sabrina, name that movie. lol) I guess I do. Then I wanted to go back to the Trevi Fountain because it was probably my favorite sight, aside from the Colosseum, and write my postcards. Then I would go get my bags from the hostel and get on a train to the airport around 7pm. (My flight didn’t leave until 9:50pm)

However, I am sad to report that this is the part of the day where things changed drastically. I went to use the ATM to take out a few more Euros since I was out. The ATM had other plans for me. It decided to tell me that I needed to call my bank before I could use my card. What???? I tried 4 more machines at different banks to no avail.

Not good. Not money, a card that doesn’t work, no other cards, and no train ticket yet. I spent the next hour and a half trying to call my bank or my parents. However, with no money and a card that doesn’t work, I was left to attempt collect calls. And guess what? You can’t make collect calls to cell phones. My parents don’t have a land line. So much for that idea. In a desperate attempt, I texted Emily for the number of my dad’s school, even though they didn’t have school today because it’s Good Friday. I tried 5 times anyway, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he was working in his office. Nope. (Good! Teachers need vacations just as much as the kids.)

The instructions on the back of my card say to call collect if out of the country. So I called the number they provided. Specifically, I called the number that they told me to call collect and they they denied it. Hello?!?! How are you supposed to help customers if you don’t accept the call you told them to make?

I tried to look up a land line number but you have to pay an international operator to find a number for you. Whoever thought of that idea deserves some horrible punishment. Not. Helpful. At. All.

I spent the better part of the next hour and a half walking around trying to find a Western Union or an Exchange place. The only WU I came across was one that was only in Chinese and they were closed anyway. (Only in Chinese? I thought I was still in Italy…) Every exchange place I went to said “What currency?” When I asked if they would exchange Albanian Lek. Guess what their answer was. Yeah. So I was still stuck.

I decided to go back the hotel/hostel to get my computer out of my luggage. I thought I had a little internet time left and maybe it would be enough to contact my family and have them call about my card. I put my mom’s name on the account just in case there was a situation like this. I had about 5 minutes of internet time left and the only person I even got a message to was someone in my mom’s sister’s family but I never got to explain the message to them. Sorry guys! I don’t know exactly what help they would’ve been since they live in Grenada, but I guess I was just hoping for suggestions or maybe another way to contact my fam.

After the internet ran out, I ransacked my own luggage. I ended up finding just enough change in various pockets to cover a ticket. This was really really weird to me because I empty my pockets every night, habitually. I’m a little OCD like that. So I was shocked that there were coins there. I had enough for the ticket and had 2,50 Euros left over. At the train station, this was enough for gelato or a Coke. Well I was super parched and super starving because it was 4:30 and I hadn’t had anything except a bottle of water all day. I opted for the gelato because the cold would be refreshing like a drink and the cone would be a little teeny bit of substance. Plus, I still had to adhere to Rule #1. Hee hee! Today’s flavors: Coffee, Nutella, and Raspberry. Delicious!

I made it to the airport where the problems just continued. Still no Western Union and still no one who would exchange Lek. Actually, not even a person who knew what it was yet. I never did find one of those. (Worthless money. Psshhh. ;) Haha!)

I checked-in just fine but then when I was going through security, I couldn’t take my wine with me. You can’t carry on food of beverages here. Ahhh! No one told me that and it wasn’t posted anywhere. Grrr!!! So I was either going to have to buy something to put it in so it could count as my second piece of luggage or I was going to have to leave it all. That would’ve been a waste of money.

For about an hour and a half, I traversed the airport in search of money exchangers and Western Unions. No one could help me. I even tried to use wi-fi at the airport, but you have to pay for it. STUPID FEES!!!!! I was so discouraged and frustrated after a day of searching for help without any results or anything that I actually broke down and started crying right there. I finally went back to the counter and the guy allowed me use the computer case if I wrapped my sweatshirt around the wine bottles. So that was my second piece of checked luggage.

That means my computer and its accessories, my camera, wallet, a book, travel papers, gun, sunglasses, keys, phone and iPod were all stuffed into the plastic bag that the wine had been. This bag served as my very precious carry on. By the time I sat down at the gate to wait for boarding, it was 7:48 pm and I felt like I’d been up for more than 24 hours.

The plane boarded on time but left just a bit late because 5 other planes had to go before us on the runway. But it was a short, easy flight and I was relieved when the baggage arrived quickly. To my delight, the wine was not broken. Yay!

Emily met me at the airport with a little sign. She said she had it just incase I’d forgotten what she looked like. Haha! It was after midnight before we left the airport. When we got back, I was famished because I hadn’t eaten all day. So we had snacks and I called my family to talk to them on Skype. By the time I went to bed it was close to 3am.

This morning we had church and then Easter practice with the kids. After that I had to get a few groceries because I needed food. I came bag, cleaned up from the tornado that went through my room and spent the rest of the day doing little things and resting.

So after trip full of merriment, silliness, imagination, and wonder, I would like to thank Beth for the great times. :) And just to say it again: I came, I saw, I conquered. :)

City from a Hill

Yes, this is the blog intruder, one last time. And this is us on a hill.

I have this really awesome book about Rome that my friend in Ireland gave to me at the beginning of our trip...and I am so glad she did. Usually I have a guidebook to give me a general idea about where things are, but this Europe extravaganza crept up on me so suddenly there was no time to plan for the first few weeks, much less the end.

So props to Dawn, because without her we would have not found Janiculum Hill. It had awesome views of the entire city, plus overpriced Coca-Cola sold from Indian vendors and the Finnish embassy (go figure).

I'll let Katie write something - it is her blog, after all. But first of all, here is a photo of my most favorite part of Rome:

No, it wasn't the Colosseum, nor the incredible Roman ruins that we seemed to stumble across at every corner. It wasn't even the daily dose of gelato (today: pistachio, vanilla caramel, white chocolate)...

Most of all, I liked the FREE WATER. Let me explain.

In the United States, I'm used to seeing a drinking fountain around every corner. In Europe, this isn't an option. They all are snooty and like to drink bottled water that costs 2 euros. With FIZZ. Yes, fizzy water. Fizzy water tastes like vomit.

Italy has public spigots everywhere, just like pictured here at St. Peter's Square...in case the pope gets thirsty while out for his daily stroll.

I need to write in my own journal now (the old-school variety, involving paper, pen and hand cramps)...it's been real. I thank Katie for letting me blog and for joining with me on this phase of my travels; next we are planning to journey to someplace more volatile and adventurous than Rome. I'm thinking sailboat journey cross the Pacific.

Beth, it's been grand. My blog and its readers will miss you. Oh, yeah, I will miss you, too. New places on today's agenda included a market, some churches, St. Peter's Square, and St. Peter's Basilica. I was highly disappointed with St. Peter's Basilica because we couldn't even go stand under the famous dome and look up. They had so much of it blocked off and ready for Easter. That's what we get for going duing Holy Week. Despite this greate let down, I still enjoyed it because there is just so much to see and to take in. While we were there, I asked Beth, "How do you take pictures of a place like this? " You just can't really capture it. So while my snapshots may be a nice reminder, the best images are in my head.

Beth's let down of the day was when she couldn't see the famous artwork mentioned in the book she's reading. We even went back to the Piazza del Popolo just to go to the church of Santa Maria del Popolo where it was just to check it out. Turns out that it was being cleaned or worked on or something because it was all blocked off.

Oh well. We had a great time anyway. On top of that hill Beth mentioned, there were busts of different influential men all along the road. We felt the need to either pose with them, mock their pose, or add to the whole scene. :) Aren't we creative?

Beth's flight leaves before lunch tomorrow, but mine doesn't leave until 9:50pm so I have the whole day yet to explore. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do besides buy postcards, but I do know that I won't be bored! I might go back to some places or I might try new places. Most likely, I'll do a combination.

The one other highlight of the day came very very early. Around 3am I woke up because I felt an earthquake. The town that's been getting hit hard had another aftershock last night and Rome could feel it to a lesser degree. I woke up because I thought I was too close to the edge of the bed, but then I realized I wasn't moving, the bed was. It was kind of weird. I woke up not sure if it really happened, but then once we turned on CNN, the lady said that about 6 hours ago there had been another aftershock. I checked the clock and lo and behold it was about 9am when that report came on, live. So I've now felt an earthquake. Strange. Very strange.

Over and out from here. We're tired, our faces are pink, I think I'm getting a heat rash (I'm itchy), and my feet are swollen from walking so much the last few days. And you know what? Every single minute has been absolutely spectacular. If you've never been to this city, get here, pronto! It's worth it! But don't skimp and stay for just two days. You need at the very least three days to see the biggest and best it has to offer.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, today's gelato flavors were Tartufo (chocolate truffle), strawberry, and vanilla caramel. Yummy!

Papal Bling and More

6:37 am - I wake up much to my dismay because there is an hour before the alarm is set to go off.

7:29 am - I wake up. This was weird because the alarm was set for 7:30.

9:08 am - We are stuck many stories underground on the subway with 10 zillion other people. It is really hot. My armpit is in someone's face.

9:26 am - We get off the subway and walk towards the Vatican. As we stroll down the street numerous people try to get us to buy a ticket for their tour.

9: 44 am - We skip the whole line of people because we were smart enough to buy our tour tickets online ahead of time.

10:17 am - I see a really cool statue of a serpent biting some guys butt.

10:28 am - I think to myself, "Whoa! There's a lot of stuff here!" Bright blue mosaic tiles, sculptures of everything from animals to Greek gods to Romulus and Remus, to tapestries, to painted maps. And we walk down floor that slope.

12:15-12:45 om - We sit in the Sistine Chapel gazing admiringly at the impressive works of Michaelangelo attempting to decipher the Latin names on the walls and listening to guards constantly yell "No photo!" at people who obviously couldn't understand English.

12:33 pm - I understand the English warnings not to take pictures or video and to be quiet. I blantantly disregard these instructions and take a video of Michaelangelo's The Last Judgement.

12:51 pm - View Pope artifacts such as seals, staff, rings, chariots, and cars. We determine that the Pope has much bling, coining the term "Papal Bling."

1:36 pm - Adios, Vactican.

2:08 pm - We begin lunch at an outdoor cafe.

2:47 pm - We are completely stuffed and fein interest in the invitation from our teenage Indian waiter to join him and his friends on the piazza that night for drinks, pub crawling and more.

3:14 pm - Arrive at Piazza Navona. I was serenaded by a saxophone player. Then we looked at the Church of St. Agnes in Agony.

4:08 pm - I'm on an Angels and Demons hunt but pause long enough to buy Sunflower Honey made my a monk.

4:44 pm - We ignore the call of nature to view the Pantheon, including the tomb of Raphael.

5:10 pm - We used the bathroom at a really sketchy McDonald's with plastic spiral stairs.

5:29 pm - Beth saw a sign that said "Free Tastings" so we had to go in. We got samples of wine, some sort of lemon liquor, and something with honey, grappa, and chocolate. We made purchases, talked to the girl giving the free samples, and left before she could get us drunk.

5:51 pm- Arrive at Trevi Fountain. Watched some guy get pushed in.

6:59 pm - Walked past the Spanish Steps.

7:07 pm - We are accosted on all angles by men trying to sell roses.

7:07 pm (continued) - I buy three roses. This inspires a photo shoot of "senior pictures" at the Piazza Del Popolo.

8:45 pm - Katie wins a game of Scrabble on the Spanish Steps because she scored the Q. Lucky duck.

9:16 pm - It is now time for Rule #1. Beth choses Biscotti (cookies) and Cheescake flavored gelato. I opt for Orange Chocolate and Coconut.

9:22 pm - Another stop at the Trevi Fountain. No one ends up in the fountain this time.

10:10 pm - Food time. Katie ate a Big Mac.

10:39 pm - Finally back in our room. My feet are swollen from so much walking.

11:01 pm - We get ready for bed.

11:31 pm - Time to go over the day's pictures. We're so funny!

12:03 am - Internet time for email and news updates.

12:23 am - Blog time. Too tired to proofread.

12:42 am - What a great day! Sweet dreams!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

Where to begin for today…..Hmmm….It was so jam packed (in a ridiculously entertaining and edifying sort of way) that I might as well start from the beginning. After getting ready, we took of and sort of kind of headed in the direction of the Coliseum. Before going there we needed to make a stop at the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. It was very beautiful, of course, will all of its marble and artwork. We even saw the beginning of a mass service or devotion service in one of its side chapels. That was interesting.

And I was so amused with the confessional booths that I took a picture of someone at confession. Haha! I couldn’t help it! If a priest was in there, a little red light above the booth was on. What made it even better was that there were confessional booths lined up on both sides of the church. Plus there were signs posted on each telling what languages were acceptable to speak at that booth. This part was funny to me. And, since I would have felt awkward having hundreds of tourists gaze at me during confession, I felt it necessary to document that there were some brave souls out there who were perfectly content with this.

Then we proceeded on to the Coliseum. But not before stopping to take a picture of Beth outside an Irish pub. She started this European escapade with a trip to Ireland so it just seemed the natural thing to do to take this picture. lol Plus, it was just funny.

At the Coliseum, we joined an English speaking tour and we were soooooo glad we did! We saw the same things that we would have if we had toured it ourselves. But we got gobs and gobs of information that we would have never known without the tour. To us, this was totally worth it! Plus, we got to bypass the ginormous line of people waiting to buy tickets. And we also got a tour of the Roman Forum included with that tour purchase. So we gained an invaluable amount of information on that tour as well. Rome, unlike Athens, does not have anything marked about what the place is called or why it’s important or what happened there. Athens was detailed. Since Rome is not, we loved the tours.

Anyway, back to the Colosseum.

It was big.

Ah. I see my blog intruder is a real smarty alec. Well, no one’s ever accused me of being shy so I’ll just keep talking.

On our tour, we learned that the Coliseum had caves right across from it which is where equipment and weapons were stored. From the caves, there was an underground tunnel that led to the underground rooms or bowels of the Coliseum. Unfortunately, it is no longer in tact due to the current subway system in Rome. It really didn’t matter to me. Seeing caves where gladiator equipment was sent enough excitement through me that I could’ve burst through the roof if the Coliseum had a roof.

And actually, it kind of did at one time. There were sort of tents that came down from the top and connected with poles that were placed at the edge of the arena. This way, people were protected from the elements to a certain degree and at the same time were still able to see all the action. Pretty ingenious. Well it was for awhile. The poles at the top were eventually struck by lightening, causing a fire. The fire was so severe that that actual Colosseum that is viewable now is sort of the second Colosseum because so much reconstruction work had to be done. Hah! Bet you didn’t know that!

Here’s a few other facts you didn’t know:

1. The Colosseum was not exactly shiny white marble, the way it is portrayed in movies. Yes, it was marble. But now, the marble from the ancient sights in the city was removed and used at the Vatican and at other churches and basilicas in the city.

2. There were 76 arched entrances around the Colosseum and the numbers were painted red. In the arched on the other levels there were statues that were also painted so it was, in reality, quite a colorful masterpiece.

3. People did indeed need tickets to enter. The structure could hold 94,000 people. Keep in mind that around a million people lived in Rome at the height of the Colosseum’s life. Therefore, in addition to the full house during the competitions, there were another 100,000 people outside just waiting to hear the roars of the beasts and reactions of the crowd.

4. The emperor had his own special seat. And the only women who were allowed a special seat on the lower level were the vestral virgins. Everyone else sat according to class and followed the dress code: White for government, nobility, and the upper class. Brown or black for the plebes or working class.

Our tour guide’s name was Max. He looked like a Max. Are you ready for a gladiator quiz? Winner gets a bottle of grappa.

Which gladiator movie is the most historically accurate?
a) Spartacus
b) Gladiator
c) The Return of the Dragon

The Return of the Dragon is an old Bruce Lee/Chuck Norris movie from 1974. Apparently, it involves them running around looking for each other in the Colosseum for a very long time, and that’s the only exciting part of the movie, so you should skip to that scene.

Answer: a, Spartacus. Kirk Douglas rules.

We spent ages after our tour just wandering around in amazement, possibly attempting to pry bricks free from the columns, and enjoying the feeling that always comes with being in such a historical place. Afterwards, we had about 45 minutes before our tour of the Roman Forum, so Katie got a really disgusting sandwich masquerading as a piece of pizza, and we sat on our favorite grassy knoll to ponder life.

Soon our space was invaded by a bunch of purple-clad Italian teenage boys.

They wanted me to say I thought one of them was beautiful so I told them that I thought everything in Rome was beautiful. Apparently that was a more than sufficient answer because on kid clapeed and said, “Bravo!” Haha!

Two more Colosseum thoughts before I move on. We got our picture taken with a man dressed up as a gladiator. The fact that it was free for our group was Max’s gift to us. Also, the movie The Gladiator has the best portrayal of a slave owner who owned gladiators.

Now, moving on. After said disgusting sandwich, we joined back up with the other folks who were wearing gold dots for our tour of the Roman Forum. Forum just meant meeting place. In this case, it meant where everyone in the city meets, meaning the center of the city. Thus the heart of the ancient city of Rome became known as the Roman Forum.

From the Colosseum, it included the Arch of Constantine. Really, Constantine’s rule was the beginning of the downfall of the Roman empire. But he was very important because Constantine was the one responsible for saving Christianity in Rome. Rome was slowly being taken over by barbarians from the north and so he moved the center of Christianity to Constantinople, which preserved the Christian faith. The arch was the last of the 40 arches of Rome to be built. Today it is one of only seven (maybe six) that still remain.

Then we went to the Palatine Hill. On top of this hill is where the palace sat. It got the name palace because it sat at the top of Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome. We got to explore this area a bit. There were some very beautiful views from Ceaesar’s palace. The other reason this area was chosen is because this hill sits directly in the middle between the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Circus Massimus, which is the arena where the Roman Chariot races were held. We were able to see all the sights from there.

Adjacent to both Palatine Hill and the Colosseum sits another hill whose name I forget. But what I do remember is the important part—the gladiator school/training took place here. Now that got my mind racing. I think it would have been for sure intimidating, strangely exciting, and yet secretly scary to visit such a place during it’s prime.

The next big ticket item we came to was the Arch of Titus, which served as the entry into the Roman Forum. On it, you can see pictures of a big seven-armed candelabra, with all flames lit. There is a crowd around this fire and this image is very symbolic because it was Titus who decided to take on Jerusalem by going there with troops and burning Solomon’s temple. Also depicted on this monument you will see the Greek god, Nike. I forgot exactly why she is shown, but there was something about the Romans liking her and using her in other artwork. The tour guide said that she is always shown in Roman artwork with wings, but that she had nothing to do with angels.

Continuing here in the Forum….

There are a heck of a lot of pagan temples. Let’s say that I was your emperor. Excuse me, empress. One day I decided that I wanted to be considered a goddess. So I had a temple built in honor of myself! A temple complete with monolithic columns made of marble! Just call me Faustina.

Between the Arch of Titus and all these temples are remnants of porticos, where all the shopping stalls were located. Beyond that was the forum square. On either side of that were the basilicas (courthouses). And amongst it all was us!

There are not many bathrooms at the Roman Forum. One bathroom was located outside of the gates, so an aggravated me had to turn around and dance my way toward another one. There was a line of teenage tour participants from the Northwest Territories of Canada, and we exchanged pleasantries. Eventually I found Katie again, and we moved on to explore Palatine Hill and the palace. It was cool, and by cool, I mean totally sweet. Have you ever seen “Legends of the Hidden Temple”?

When we realized that it was 5 pm, we decided it was probably time to move on. Gelato was calling our names.

I really honestly do not think that a trip to the Roman Forum could ever be complete without making your own version of “Legends of the Hidden Temple.” That show was a staple of my childhood, and I guess the same is true of Beth. We made an awesome picture version of us playing the game in the Roman Forum, complete with the pendant of life, the shrine of the silver monkey, and a temple guard. Just wait ‘til you see the pictures. ;)

Before gelato, we took in the Capitol Square. This is located on the Piazza Campidoglio, right next to the Roman Forum. The buildings there were designed my Michaelangelo and it had a simple but beautiful fountain. It was also home to the most gigantic statues I have ever seen. After lingering there for a few moments, we set off towards the Tiber River.

We saw it, and were semi-disgusted, and changed course to go up Aventine Hill. That area was beautiful. It reminded us of southern California in many ways. What was memorable from that hill was the view through a key hole in a large door. When we looked through, we could see the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica through a long row of trees in a garden. It was amazing.

We wandered back down the hill in a direction that just looked pretty. All of a sudden we realized we’d wandered to the wrong direction of where we actually wanted to go, so we changed course and headed back towards the Colosseum. Lo and behold we went through the Piazza Albania. Ha! It was really just an intersection, but I got a picture next to a sign anyway. :)

After that we adhered to Rule #1 and got our daily dose of gelato. This time, I combined Tiramisu, Intense Chocolate (yes, that was really the name of the flavor), and Philadelphia something (Cream cheese with cookies flavor). It was heaven in a cone. Beth opted for Intense Chocolate, Nutella, and Strudel. Yummy!

We made it back to the Colosseum and began to wander back to our temporary residence. I stopped at a few souvenir shops to peek and we picked up some dinner. Beth had great ideas about dinner.

Yes, the foodie wants to talk food. Since we were both exhausted, I suggested a picnic dinner in our hotel room (by this time it was after 7 pm). After picking up a giant slab of parmesan cheese and bread, we happened upon a supermarket! Joy! Thus we completed our supper with marinara sauce, a box of Oreos (treat for Katie the Albanian) and a 2,20 euro bottle of white wine.

All this was made possible due to my pocketknife which also has a corkscrew.

Our feet are tired, our faces our tanned, we are safe and happy. Please pray for all the people of Italy affected by the recent earthquake and aftershock…that they may find their loved ones and begin rebuilding their lives. Pray also that the rest of our trip goes smoothly and we are protected from such disaster.

Tomorrow: the Vatican!

When in Rome....

“Rise and shine! It’s time to go to Rome!” That would have been a more pleasant greeting than my phone vibrating in my pillow underneath my head this morning, but either way, I woke up excited.

Emily gave us a nice send off by making French toast and we headed out on time at 9am. (see photo above). Both of us were pretty sleepy, but we made it to the airport without any problems. The guy across the aisle from me on the bus decided it would be a good idea to sit sideways in his seat, with hit feet in the aisle because it made it easier for him to stare at us every 3 minutes. Don’t worry. He was harmless. He just asked me three times if I was doing well.

Our flight was delayed slightly due to the previous flight arriving late. However, soon enough we were ushered through the gate, onto a bus that would take us to the plane…the plane that was approximately 200 feet away from the airport. Yes, they put us on a bus, drove 200 feet, and we got out.

Ha.

In Roma! Katie is dragging around a duffel bag because she didn’t want to bring her humongous suitcase. Luckily for her, we are staying only a few blocks from Termini Station the whole week, so all our stuff can stay safe and sound in our room while we are out and about.

Now, let us discuss gelato.

Rule of Rome #1: Gelato must be consumed every day. You also must try a new flavor every day. If you wish to eat the same flavor as the day before, you may eat gelato twice, or even three times if you wish. This is all perfectly acceptable.

Today, we stumbled upon a gelateria on Via dei Serpenti (this side street is also awesome for another reason, which I’m sure Katie will mention…) and after much debate, I chose ananas, pompelmo, and frutti di bosco. Sweet, sweet bliss.

Let me translate for you. Beth had pineapple, grapefruit, and wild berry. My choice included green apple, cinnamon, and white chocolate. Delicious! Before you go thinking we’re completely gluttonous, let me ease my conscience. First, we walk everywhere so we can afford to eat copious amounts of gelato. Secondly, the price does not change for getting the same size cone in three flavors or one flavor. Score: Gelato 1, Ice cream 0.

Via de Serpenti was awesome despite its name. The Street of the Snakes, Road of Snakes, Snake Avenue, or whatever the correct translation may be, did not wind or twist or turn at all. It was perfectly straight. As we’re walking, I look ahead of me and at the same moment the light went on in my head, Beth said, “Hey, isn’t that the Coliseum?” It sure was! Right straight ahead of us as we made way down the street, we could see it.

I got very excited. We took pictures, and even though we plan to go there tomorrow for a tour and for more exploring, we wandered around the area, past the Arco di Costantino (Arch of Constantine), and took a seat on a nice little grassy hill next to the Coliseum. Beth did some writing in her travel journal, and I just took in the sights.

As we started walking again, Beth must have noticed how excited I was to be here because she made a comment about it. “You’re really excited about this, aren’t you…” Heck, yes, I am! I’ve always wanted to travel and see these places but I really honestly never thought I would lucky enough to do it. Even as a kid, I would dream about it and pretend, in my head, what it would be like there. Never did I even dare to think that I really could be there. I can’t believe the things my eyes have seen! :)

This takes us to supper time. I guess that means it’s Beth’s turn again, since food seems to be her specialty.

When in Rome, eat as Romans do. And I’m sure Romans sometimes eat Chinese.

After dinner we strolled up to St. Paul within the Walls church where there was a free concert put on by a couple of high schools from the States. Ha! There was a gospel-ish choir from Maryland and then a concert choir from Illinois that had six boys and about eight hundred girls. It was nice to relax and soak in some music in beautiful surroundings.

We get CNN in our hotel room and thus are soaking up all the world news. Katie doesn’t have English news in Tirana, and I have been traveling around Europe for the past few weeks, so it’s nice to get caught up on some of the things that are going on. By the way, we are just fine, and did not get caught in the earthquake in L’Aquila.

Ciao!

That sums up day one in Rome. Oh! We did see the famous Roman aqueducts from the train on our way into the station from the airport. Hopefully we’ll see more of those in the coming days.

Be prepared to hear more about gelato tomorrow as we continue to follow Rule #1. Our guidebook lists a place that claims to have over 100 flavors!

Maybe tomorrow we’ll even get to Rule #2: Must eat a scrumptious and savory authentic Italian meal, regardless of the prices on the menu.

Rule #3: Must update the blog every day. Cross today off the list!

Rule #4 could prove to be difficult. David requested a “blood-stained piece of the Coliseum.” So Rule # 4 is to recover a blood-stained piece of the Coliseum. We’ll report on the results of that search tomorrow as well.

Stay tuned and give thanks that we made it here safely.

An Intruder to the Blog

The blog intruder will write in bold.

The blog owner will write in normal font.

Hello all! This is Katie's friend Beth, who descended upon Tirana last Thursday in a blaze of glory (actually, in a sweltering bus crowded with people speaking Albanian)...the past few days have been awesome! I'll let Katie take the controls for a moment. Perhaps she will tell you about the time I won Settlers of Catan.

Yes, Beth may have triumphed in Catan, the great land of settlement, discovery and trade. However, I stand on top when it comes to bowling. Beth's bowling alias, Bridget, was not feeling the love of the black lights and glow-in-the-dark bowling balls of the Spare Time bowling alley.

Enough boring stuff. Let's get to the real reason for this visit to Tirana: food. Stories of the delectable wine, qofte, sufflaqe and byrek were enough to make me jump a plane from Germany to Athens and then ride a bus 13 hours overnight on broken roads....

Qofte: spicy little sausages (I think they are made of lamb). Thumbs up for deliciousness and price.

Sufflaqe: Like a doner kebab, only with the bonus addition of french fries, ketchup and mustard. HALLELUJAH!

Byrek: Flaky phyllo dough filled with feta. Served warm and with a smile!

I may shove an Albanian cook lady into my backpack.

The only reason she's alive after consuming vast abouts of Albania's finest is because we made her take breaks between her binges and also forced her to walk long distances for extended periods of time at least once a day.

One such tour provided a glimpse into commie life. The teleferik (a glorified ski lift) took us almost to the top of Mt. Dajti where we saw bunkers upon bunkers, communist buildings, guards with machine guns (not an uncommon sight here) and government property. Naturally we had to do some off-roading. What fun is it to stick to the beaten trail? So much more invigorating to blaze your own.

After reaching some barbed wire that really didn't keep intruders out, despite signs about miltary property or soliders only, we climbed in an exceptionally large bunker to see just what these communist protections were all about.

It was exceptionally large, full of exceptionally disgusting trash.

Mount Dajti was the inspiration for the following haiku, so aptly titled "An Ode to Mount Dajti:

High upon Mt. Dajti

Bunkers burrow in the trees

Commies safe from raid.

Along with the writing of such a glorious poem, this weekend's crowning moments had to do with Albania joining NATO. Flags and banners everywhere in the city. Seriously, I am so glad that I was able to be here and share in this moment in history. We went down to the square tonight and the prime minister, Sali Berisha, was speaking! We managed to get pretty close to the stage. If this was the States, security would have kept us miles away. Here in Albania, not so much. There were fireworks shooting off the roof of the opera house, zillions of balloons released to the heavens, and people dancing and music blasting....it was amazing. Perhaps we will be able to post a video. Otherwise, use your imagination.

Ah, yes. With children on our shoulders (Sara, Danja, and Joni) we paraded around, got close to the staged, danced, ran around, watched the confetti fly and fall, and apparently came within feet of some sort of huge snake. Why someone would bring that out at a public event of this calibur is beyond me. All I know is that I did not see it or hear about it until the end of the evening. Otherwise the tale would not have been so cheerful. Neda and Ledio were also with us to experience the festivities of this once in a lifetime event.

Remember in my Greece picture how I mentioned that I can't help but feel the need to pose like a statue whenever I see a statue? I am not alone in this matter. Beth and I have mastered the skill to a degree that we can even pose as statues that are frozen in an action shot. We have pictures to prove it. But again, let your imagination take over.

Our statue posing, bunker exploring, NATO celebrating selves will be moving the shenanagins across the Adriatic Sea tomorrow as we descend upon Rome.

dum dum dee dum, dum dum dee dum dum....disturbia....

Buona notte! To Rome and beyond!

An Excuse

Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? Well with our internet not fully working appropriately until last night (thank you, pastor!!!) and with my trip to Rome right around the corner, I'm going to have pull a major cop out. I will not be writing more about the trip to Greece. I know you're all just devastated. lol But I don't have the time to finish writing about that, writing about the updates here, and finishing the photo albums from Athens. Since my photo albums have relatively detailed captions (at least by facebook standards), that will just have to suffice.

So without futher adeiu, I give you the rest of Athens Day 1. Read the album description before you view the pictures. It tells you briefly where were were and what we did. Do this for each album and you will understand much more clearly why I can't take the time to continue writing about it.

Now, check out part 1 of the fun in Athens on Day two. Follow that with part 2 and then finally ending Day 2 with part 3.

I haven't finished making albums from Day 3 quite yet, but I did start on it. Here's the first one from day 3 in Athens. I'll make sure to get the rest done before we take off for Rome.

Really, I'm truly sorry for cutting it short. It's my fault for not putting more effort into dealing with our bad internet. Sorry. I had many other things on my mind though. First of all, we are on a two week break from classes. We didn't exactly know if there is a spring break here, how it works, or when it would be. Plus, not all of our students go to the same school, so they might not have it at the same time. Our solution was to just break between our second 10 week session and then start our third and final 10 week session. Therefore, we aren't having classes this week and we won't have classes next week. Since I'll be gone next week, I'm busy trying to cram all my planning and prep into one week. Plus, my friend Beth is arrived yesterday morning to visit here for a few days before we fly over to Italy. Plus, we decided to do an Easter Program with the kids for Easter. It's just like a Christmas service, but for Easter. So now we are spending extra time on Saturdays practicing for that.

It's all going well so far, but I'm starting to get a little run down. How does that happen during a break? I'm not quite sure, but I do know that I need to find some energy. I just feel worn out. Travel always gets me excited though, so I know I'll find the energy or just push though and I'll have a blast in Rome.

Oh! Before I go, I should leave you with two quick stories. The first is very funny. Many of my students live in the same neighborhood, and many of those live in the same apartment complex where our church is. These students know each other and their families quite well. So after my last class with my "Atlanta" group, one of the little students came in and was drawing on our marker board. Danja, (you should remember her because I've talked about her a lot and posted plenty of pictures of her) is quite the little teaser. She was playing with my student Eraldi and he was kind of playing jokes on her. Eraldi is about 16. Danja is 8. So she starts drawing on the board and she draws a picture of Eraldi as a girl. Haha! It was complete with a strapless gown and matching necklace and earrings. This girl is a little smarty-pants. Haha! It was too funny!

The other story is just really cute. Yesterday Beth went with me to the church to go get my bike. I'd left it there the other day because it started raining after I arrived. She went with me so she could meet whoever we would run into there. We ended up seeing Emanuela, Brisilda, Luela and Aldo. They came in the church to chat/visit with us. While they were there, Beth started playing piano and then they wanted to sing. So we sang a few hymns that they know and it was just so cute. :) We sang other songs too and spent the majority of the time talking or playing, but it was fun.

So that's where things stand with me. Today there's a 60% chance of rain all day, but we're going to meet Olsa for lunch at the beer house to get some traditional Albanian qofte. Mmm, mmm, good! Qofte are little sausages that are a bit spicy. They're very tasty! But the best part it that it will give us a chance to spend some quality time with Olsa. Hopefully tonight we can meet a few other people for bowling and then a trip up to Sky Tower. Anything else will just be on a whim. lol That's the plan. So I haven't disappeared, I've just been waiting for the internet to be fixed. Ta-da!