A Plethora of Information

Ok. Since I have been receiving many more questions about how things run around here I decided I should address these questions before I give any personal updates. I have time right now so let me try and give you an overview of everything here.

Right now, the way this works is that we have English classes at 3 different levels: beginners (those who haven't studied English until now), high beginners (those who study it at school and can get the point across though they have limited vocabulary and grammar), and one intermediate group (they are mostly fluent but with small mistakes). Each group meets twice a week. Emily teaches the three beginner groups, and I teach the 3 high beginner groups and the intermediate group. So Emily teaches classes a week and I teach eight. Then, there is one student that I meet with on her own twice a week because she has a different school schedule than everyone else and there is one group of young beginners that Emily meets with on their own twice a week, if they remember. lol

Overall, our attendance has been very good. Our numbers haven't fluctuated in a huge way. We have around 40 students. Most of them come to classes regularly. This always impresses me because they didn't pay for the class, just for the book(s). No one reminds them that it's time for class, they just remember on their own. Keep in mind--the majority of our students are between 10 and 13 years old.

Once a week after my high beginner classes, Agron has a devotion with the class. He's been using the Christ Light lessons that are used in the lower grades in the US. It's a better level for them because the English is simpler and because the stories are new to them. They really like it and often ask if we will have a devotion before the class even starts. :)

My intermediate class ends at 7pm and he feels that's too late to keep them. Also, some of those kids are already pretty solid contacts and he knows some of their parents personally so there other ways to reach them.

Emily does her own devotions with her classes. They are using the Albanian version of a My First Bible. It's really really simple and she sometimes feels like it doesn't have much depth, but for the very very limited English her students understand, I think it's perfect because it keeps their interest since it's at their level. Yes, it could have more substance at times, but an introduction doesn't need to be complex.

Besides that, we don't actually have any other religious classes going on. In the future this could (and hopefully will) change because there were 4 girls who told me they'd be interested in learning more. They're all around "normal" confirmation age so I brought it up to Pastor and Agron and they were happy to hear it, of course. It was talked about briefly but nothing stable has started yet. I'm going to try to bring it up with the girls again--and also with Pastor and Agron--to see if we can't get started with that before I leave, but we'll see.

The MMM group, Mary and Martha Meetings, is a group for girls ages 13-17. We have about 6 or 7 girls that attend these monthly activities. We meet and do something away from the church. Some things we've done include bringing them to our place. For Christmas we had a huge cookie baking day. Once we had them over for pizza and a movie. Most recently we went to the artificial lake and had a picnic. At each meeting, we have a little devotion and just spend time talking with each other and making connections to each other. It has helped the girls become more cohesive and I've noticed that they are more likely to come to church now if they see someone they know from this group.

Girls who are 11 and 12 constantly beg to be a part of this group. We've even had 2 boys (and I think in all classes combined we only have 5 or 6 boys, if that) ask if they could please please come. Of all the things that will be difficult to continue once we leave, this is the one that I think will hurt the most if it falls apart. Not saying that it will, I'm just expressing my fear. One of the girls who comes to this group, Kesi, has really stepped up as a leader. The younger ones in the group really look to her and Agron has even let her teach the devotion lesson to her sister's class a few times. Olsa has also expressed an interest in doing more church-related work so Emily and I are planning to sit down with those two and teach them how to keep this MMM group going.

You know about our weekly Activity Nights that are open to our students and their families. They are always popular and they were a great way to get new faces involved in the Christmas Program and Easter Program this year. Being that Emily and I are the ones who organize and run that hour or so of weekly excitement, we have been the one building relationships with these people. Now we're trying to get them to connect with the people who are permanent fixtures here. That will bridge the gap and hopefully make it easier for these relationships to grow in the future.

We also have a monthly activity for adults that we call Cappuccino Club. This is for those who are 18 or older. It's always very small, and it's always all women, though we advertise it for either gender. Agron doesn't come, but I don't know why. Vitori has come twice, and Olsa has come once, so that helps. A mom in one of Emily's classes loves these days. She comes regularly. This lady, Fatmira (I've mentioned her in the past) has 3 daughters in our classes, one of whom participates in MMM. Sara and Danja's mom came twice and once she brought a friend. So though it is small, it is branching out which is nice to see.

Pastor is arrived Thursday for his last visit here. He will leave around the 20th of June after that, there is no full time Pastor here. Pastor Vogt, who is in the Ukraine, will act as a circuit pastor for the church here, in Durres, in Bulgaria, in the Ukraine, and I'm not sure where else. From what I've been told, he'll be making small visits to check in on each of these places, teach some classes with the leaders at each location, and assist with other issues/projects as needed. It's good to know that someone so dedicated will be here to help things keep going, but the church in Tirana is very young and very new. I pray every day that God blesses our synod monetarily so that a full time pastor and Kingdom Workers can be sent here again. It is needed because we are not yet at the level here where we have people we can teach and train as consistent leaders aside from Agron and Vitori, who do everything already.

There are so many things to pray for here, because the possibilities are numerous and right on the brink of becoming something bigger. It's sad to think that there won't be as many people working here but I have to keep telling myself it's not up to me. I don't know how the Lord plans to work here, but I do know that he won't abandon those who believe so I am confident that the small seeds of faith in so many people will continue to grow with his help. I just keep telling myself that my job here is to act as people's introduction page to the Bible. Hopefully, I've been able to do that job well.

In other news, my next posts will include an overview of our road trip to Croatia this past weekend, numerous links to recently created photo albums, funny stories of my students, and tales of home visits. You won't want to miss this. ;) I'll do my absolute best to be timely with the rest of these blogs, but bear in mind that as my remaining time here is very very limited (just barely over a month) my schedule is becoming increasingly full because we're trying to cram everything in at the end. Typical. :) But it continues to be quite the ride and I'm thankful for every second of it! :)

Curious?

It's a known fact that kids get curious. My kids are no exception. Sometimes my students ask me strange things. For example:

1. Once a girl came in with her fingers crossed, held them up, and asked, "Teacher, what is this?" That class learned about good luck superstitions. lol

2. Another time my older group asked me what the word "n*gga" meant. (Thank you American rap music.) I answered honestly and the student apologized for asking. I explained that class was the right place to ask such a question.

3. "Teacher, what does ' 'round' mean?" I immediately knew the student was referring to the song that says, "You spin me right 'round, baby, right 'round." Good thing this class had already learned prepositions! lol

4. After I assigned the task of working in groups to write a dialogue that another group in class would act out, a student asked me, "Can we write about a social issue?" I very enthusiastically replied, "Sure!" Turns out this group (2 girls) wanted their two characters to be gay in order to play a joke on the other group (2 boys) that would have to act it out. I nixed that idea ASAP since we're in a Christian environment and are trying to teach morals. Next time I'll ask what the social issue is before I give an enthusiastic answer.

5. One particular day, I had a group of students who asked me what a word was. Well, they kept pronouncing the word like "cows." So their question was, "Teacher, what is 'cows?'" I was having the hardest time figuring out what they meant because they said they thought it meant crazy. After about 10 minutes and more explanations on their part, I finally got one student who thought maybe she could spell it. C-A-O-S. I realized they were asking about the word "chaos." A crazy situation. Haha! :)

6. This question wasn't so crazy, but her example was hilarious. The students were working on making sentences that followed this format: "When I was 8 years old I wanted to......but I couldn't because....." So they were working quietly for a few minutes when one student came up to me and asked, "Is this right? I don't know the right word at the end." I looked at her paper and read her sentence. "When I was 8 years old I wanted to ride a bicycle but I couldn't because my equilibrium was off." She could think of the word 'equilibrium' but she couldn't think of the word 'balance.' Hahahaaa! :)

My students crack me up. Knowing that all to soon I will have to say goodbye, I've been really treasuring every day with them. It may not always be the most interesting day and we may not always be doing the most exciting things, but it is always fun to just see their smiles, or hear them talk more and more in English or see how much their confidence level has risen. It's such a joy! I will desperately miss that when I'm gone.

You may be curious about what I've been up to outside of class. Away from work I've been catching up on my photo albums. I finished the one of explorations in Tirana from when Beth was here and then I finished the one of the celebrations from when Albania joined NATO. I also added photos from my our first day in Rome. Then I added photos of our Colosseum tour and our adventures in the Roman Forum. I still have a long way to go before I'm caught up on photos, so bear with me. Please! What fun is taking photos if I can't share them? I just need some time to get them all posted.

The weather here is starting to get hot. Walking anywhere, near or far, is a sweaty process and biking only enhances the sweat level. But, that means it has not been raining. Woo hoooooo!!!!!!! :) I hope most of the rain is gone for good. I've seen enough of it to last me a long long time.

Keep the prayers coming because now is when we have to start figuring out how much of what we've implemented this past year will be able to be continued when we're gone. Not only do we have to figure that out, we have to figure out how, and continue teaching people how to do it. It's no small task. It's not an easy one either. Pray that God gives us the guidance we need to keep things moving along successfully here. Thank you!

Going, Going, Gone

That is the best way I can think to describe my time here. There are many reasons it's been so long since my last update, but let me assure you: I’m baaaaack! :) Well, sort of. We had been without internet at our place for awhile (again) and just on Thursday we finally found out the supposed problem. Our internet is all paid up, but apparently we had used all of our allotted time or bites or something for April. I don’t understand how that is possible or why on earth they would try to operate their business that way, but it’s just one of many things I don’t understand so I shake it off. lol However, I am used to actually receiving a consistent reliable service if I’ve paid for it, so I couldn't help but be slightly perturbed. The lack of internet has meant a lack of blog updates, so once again, I am apologizing. It has been quite an interesting and fun time around here since I last wrote.

Since I last wrote, we did a home visit at the Xhika household. This is the family where the mom and youngest daughter are in one of Emily's classes and the older two daughters are in my classes. Anyway, we have learned that the mom and her girls are very artistic. They all draw and the mom paints. While we were at their house, she showed us her paintings and wouldn’t let me leave without choosing one to keep. I couldn’t believe it! She let me pick any one I wanted! My choice was one that reminded me of my childhood. It’s a small boat tied up to the shore and it shows a small house/cabin close by. The woods surrounding the cabin and bordering the water portray trees in the fall. I love the array of colors in the picture and the scene itself takes me back to Stoddard and the river and the little cabins and fishing shacks along the shore. I just hope it makes it back to the States in good condition.

Before I go on about all that's been happening, I have to say that the thing which has excited me most is the church attendance lately. Your prayers have been working! The crowds haven't been huge or anything, but at least our little space has looked more full than empty. We have even had three female adults who've come for the first time! Pray that they (and the children who've been coming) continue to do so and that they develop an interest in learning more seriously. God is good! It's so great to be able to have more people there and to know that the Word is being shared through our students when they speak of the things we do hear. That's when it just breaks my heart that there won't be so many people here to continue things next year. But that isn't my worry. I need to turn it over to the only one who is in control.

So.....on to the other events!

Two Fridays ago the Activity Night was a Hollywood night. I made big white letters to look like the Hollywood sign and then I put them on the wall. I surrounded that with start cut-outs I'd made. I had told the kids to come dressed as their favorite celebrity. Some of them dressed as Albanian celebrities and when one of the girls started telling everyone that was wrong, I said, "That's ok! They're on their way to Hollywood!" lol

Then I took a picture of each kid in Hollywood (the area of the room where I'd put up the sign) and then we took a group picture of all the celebrities in Hollywood. Instead of dressing up like a celebrity, I wore a black shirt and black sunglasses (yes, I wore sunglasses inside) and told them I was the paparazzi because I was taking pictures of celebrities. Haha! They loved it! Then, I told them about people getting a star with their name on it. I asked how celebrities become famous and we decided it was because they have talent. So anyone who had a talent to share with the group could come up and show us and then I gave them a star (from the wall) and wrote their name on it. It was awesome. We had singers, dancers, models, gymnasts...it was quite entertaining!

We had a picnic at the park for our monthly MMM activity on that Saturday. The weather was awesome and everyone remembered to bring their own food. We played Uno, a game like volleyball, and took pictures. All went well except that a dog peed on Kesi's coat. Oops! lol

Since Emily's friend Colleen was visiting, onSunday we went to Durres to showe her the sea and the sights in the city. We ended up meeting Vitori and therefore we ended up meeting some of her family. They are awesome! They even took us on a quick tour of the town and then out for ice cream. The wife has a small hair salon and told us that next time we visit, she'll do our hair for us. And the husband said we have an open invitation to their home whenever we'd like to visit. Awww! People here are just so kind and generous to guests. I never ceases to astonish me.

Classes throughout the week went well. After my Seattle group met on Tuesday, I got into a good discussion with three of the girls about ideas for Activity Nights. I didn't want to cut the discussion short just because Emily had to use the room for class, so I invited them to have coffee with me next door at the bar kafe. They know the workers there so I knew they could get permission to go there with me. They had some good ideas and I was so excited about them that I made the schedule right away the minute I got home. :) lol

Another one of my classes learned prepositions so we used flashcards with diagrams on them to learn words like: into, out of, under, on, in, around, along, across, up, down, inside, outside, etc. We also came up with numerous sentences using those words. Guess what the homework was? More sentences! lol They actually get excited about that though because I told them they had to write sentences that were different from the examples we said in class. This is funny to me because I would not have thought this was exciting if I were the student. Haha!

The class week finished up smoothly and that brought us to this past Friday and Activity Night. We had planned an American Food night. I made some of the macaroni and cheese that we received in a care package. It's totally American because every kid in the US loves it. lol Then we decided on peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches. We couldn't find peanut butter anywhere (big surprise) so Emily bought peanuts and made it herself. It turned out quite tasty! And then I made two simplified cheesecakes to take as well. We had a very small number of children who came because Friday was another holiday here. Worker's Day. Many parents had off of work so kids went out of town or to the beach or even to work with their parents that day. Those who came had a blast and most of the food went over well. They got a little taste of what it's like for Emily and I when we're constantly being given something new here. lol :)

Saturday after church we met with Fatmira and her youngest daughter Albiona for coffee. There had been a little time mix-up the week earlier for Cappuccino Club and so we re-scheduled with her. So after church they came and then we invited Neda and Olsa to come with also. We went to the place next door and had a nice little chat. I wasn't feeling so well because I've got a bit of a cold, so I mostly smiled and laughed. ;) It was still fun though

Yesterday--Sunday--Emily and I went on an excursion. We went to a town in the north called Shkodra. There is an ancient fortress there and you can explore it. We took a furgon there and back. If I haven't explained it already, a furgon is like a mini bus/extra passenger van that drives to a from two different cities all day. It's not really on a schedule. You just wait until it's full and then you leave. These rides are faster than a bus and usually are much more entertaining. We didn't have anything super exciting happen on our ride, but it was fun just the same.

The fortress was awesome and the views were spectacular! Shkodra is situated on a river and a huge lake. It's surrounded my mountains making it rather picturesque. We explored the fortress and had fun singing, dancing, and laughing. Basically, we acted like kids to the amusement of a few non-English speakers. Once we realized people could see and hear us, we figured they'd already seen it, so why should we stop? You know, don't quit until you're ahead. Hee hee! :) We had a little picnic and took tons of pictures, which will be posted at sometime in the future. (I'm about a month behind in posting pictures. Sorry! It just takes so much time!) Other exciting things we saw in Shkodra included a live one-eyed owl on a chain in a bar kafe, a sign to a place called Puke (obviously there is a picture to go with this), and a spiral staircase that lead to nowhere on the side of the road, just sitting there like a light pole. All this said and done, we saw beautiful sights, learned some history, were never at a loss for entertainment, had perfect weather, and couldn't have spent the day in a better way. :)

This week is starting out to be rainy. Boo. I will NOT miss this much rain. Ever since I was a kid, I've always hated rain. I'm still holding out hope that it will turn out to be nice weather this week but we'll just have to see. At least I don't have to go out in it right now. My St. Louis class is cancelled today because all but one of the kids are on a field trip with their class at school. It gives me more time to finish this. :)

Keep the mission here in your prayers. And please as that God would grant me good health during my last two months here. Oh, and sorry for not proofreading this. lol ;)