Cultural Encounters of another kind February 22, 2008

Some days I think we have just too much culture. Here are our two encounters from Wednesday of this week.

On Wednesdays, Robert usually lets me sleep in. It is the one day of the week we don’t send lunches to school with the kids (YEAH for Food to Go day!) so he can handle breakfast and the getting ready routine! So I blissfully slept until about 9:30! As soon as I was up, he headed out to talk to Zeman our landlord. Last night we overloaded the circuit upstairs. We have been running the heaters upstairs a lot at night the last few days and the circuitry is probably old and could not handle the wattage. The power went out twice while I was IN the shower and once when I was drying my hair. We kept turning more things off as we went until we discovered that the circuit was burning at the breaker. Eek! End of power for upstairs for the night. I read my book by flashlight for a few minutes and then called it a night! While he was gone (having his own cultural encounter at the coffee shop in attempt to communicate the household repairs needs), our neighbor Bona and her son Armando came over for a few minutes (the other children were in school).

They were returning my plate from Valentine’s day. The neighbor kids had come over after school and we baked Valentine’s day cookies. Culturally she can not return my plate empty (we have done this several time….it is great!) so she baked some sweet cookie like biscuits for us! I was horrified to have her here on the morning I have slept in and done NOTHING …. toys, food, dishes everywhere… what are you going to do?! Today she was telling us that her daughter Uendi (Wendi) has been asking for her to buy another baby for their family like Jadyn. Uendi complains all the time that she wants a baby! Like Jadyn… why mommy? We need a baby like Jadyn! Uendi got a new baby doll last week for her birthday that she has named Jadyn. Yesterday she threw the doll down on the couch and said “Go to sleep Jadyn!” It is very culturally odd to them that Jadyn sleeps so much in the afternoon and that all the kids go to bed so early. Anyway… we had a good visit, looking at these pictures I had taken of our last visit and with promises to give them prints of the pictures!In the meantime…. Robert has been to the coffee shop and told Samir about the problems we are having with electricity upstairs and the water tank. About 30 minutes later, Zeman comes and very animatedly describes the problem as we already know it. He repeats himself several times, trying to say the same thing several different ways

• you have used too much current,
• you can not run both heaters and the water heater,
• you only need one heater in the children’s room,
• when it is cold out you should have the children sleep in the kitchen and the baby in your bed
• it is burnt!
• Look it is black from too much current
• Look it is defective!
• I will have to buy a new one!

Remember that each of the phrases are spoken with a lot of force, animation and loudly so he knows that we have heard him. Even after we both have said “we understand!” he says, “they don’t understand” and we go through the whole ritual again. All of that to say…..it is fixed. He had to buy a new breaker and installed it today and told me all these things again when he came back.Can you say, “too much culture”?

Side note: I have gained a whole new respect for those who move to the US and attempt to learn the language. I will have a much greater level of patience with those who are struggling to acquire the language!

Spoke too soon February 18, 2008

I really spoke too soon when I said it was cold.  Today we woke up and it was 38 outside and 47 inside our bedroom!  Eeek!

47 outside, 61 inside February 16, 2008

It is 47 degrees out today (might be warmer in the sun) and only 61 in the living room.  Sheesh… I’m chilly.  Last night I could see my breath in the bathroom.  Did you know that when we first moved here someone told me that missionaries were more prone to urinary tract infections during the winters here because they “hold it.”  When your rear end sticks to the seat you’ll know why!  I have to constantly remind myself that it is warmer outside and if we would all bundle up and go for a walk we would warm ourselves up!

Tide: The #1 detergent in America January 23, 2008

Just recently these sign started popping up all over Tirana. “The number 1 detergent in America, now available in Albania! NEW!” And we can now buy Tide detergent in stores!

It is a silly thing but, I miss the smells of things you can buy in the States. I confess I bought some Tide. It doesn’t smell the same.

Electrical Heaven January 15, 2008

It is amazing the things I take for granted in America. We just naturally assume we will have electricity all the time. Just recently several of our friends were without power in Oklahoma due to the ice storms. We know some people who were without power for 8 days. Now that is extreme, but imagine if you did not have power for 5 hours of the day and you are living like the average Albanian.

BUT… and I hesitate to write this down at all for fear of jinxing it… we have had 24 hours of electricity for the last month. In my small and relatively insignificant opinion, it has been a little slice of heaven in our otherwise basic existence here in Albania! I am waiting for the moments when it will go out again. Some times just the waiting will stress you out… will it be today? It is intersting to me the mental strength it takes to keep up with the what ifs.

So there are these few verses in Matthew that apply to me today!

Do Not Worry

25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[b]? 28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I also love this quite by Elisabeth Elliot….

“Today is mine. Tomorrow is none of my business. If I peer anxiously into the fog of the future, I will strain my spiritual eyes so that I will not see clearly what is required of me now.”

Lord, help me not to strain my spiritual eyes, but simply see what is required of me now.

Morning wake up call January 11, 2008

Today … a little known tidbit. We have a standing morning wake up call at 6:30 or so. Our bedroom window is above the “garage door” to the coffee shop of our landlord. When he opens the shop we get a creaking metal garage door shriek as the alarm. In the summer, he was coming even earlier… as soon as the sun was up! Since we sleep with our windows open in the summer it was quite startling! We do a little better now… most days I can sleep through it. Bright and shiny! This is a picture of the door to the coffee shop and our window above!

Wal-Mart comes to Albania December 22, 2007

Okay, not literally but I sure felt like I was in a Wal-Mart today when we took a trip to the mall. The QTU (Center for Shopping) opened three years ago on the outskirts of Tirana, nothing like it had ever been seen in Albania. It is a mall in the sense we think of a mall with a Grocery store (EuroMax) and an electronic store as the anchors. There were about a dozen other stores so it was a fun place to shop (or at least window shop). The grocery store was about the size of a Walgreens or Long’s Drug store.Today we felt like we had stepped into another country! We had heard rumor of an expansion but could not really see how they were going to make the EuroMax and the mall bigger. They built an entirely NEW EuroMax on the back of the mall and all new stores in between! You should have seen us…. “wow… look at this…look at that…. over here!” We were like kids in a candy store! It is now truly like a super Wal-Mart has come to Albania. The produce section was amazing and the selection of items from hardware to electronics was truly unbelievable!We still recognize, however the dichotomy that IS Albania. For all those who can get to the QTU Mall by car or bus, there remain those who still have difficulty putting food on the table and whose shadows will not cross the door of this new super store or one like it for at least another 10- 15 years. Change is coming to Albania but the gap is widening between the haves and have nots. We were excited to see how many people were receiving training in the new stores today. New stores does mean new jobs and employment for those in need. There is still over 25% unemployment in Albania. Please continue to pray with us that the change that comes is in the hearts and minds of people leaning on Jesus, not just in the availability of things we can buy.

Snow and electricity December 16, 2007

There is snow in Tirana today. Well… there was snow this morning. We woke up to a light dust of snow still covering cars and rooftops around the area. All the kids in the neighborhood were so excited to see snow. This is a rarity in Tirana and we might not see any again for the rest of the winter. What is it about snow that excites kids so much? Even Austin and Tyler were running around with so much excitement - last winter they built tunnels in the snow at my mom and dad’s house in CO. This little sprinkle we had did not even compare!

***Side note: This is the view from our balcony. This house across from us does not look livable but someone does indeed live there. We are finding that it is so common for Albanians to have no regard for the outside of their homes. While we take pride in our homes and our property, Albanians take more pride in their cars and things inside their homes.

We had dinner tonight with friends. There is a great hamburger place we like call the Piazza. They have lived here 3+ years and had never been. We were delighted to introduce them to our favorite hamburger spot. I have been lamenting this week about our electricity and the difficulties we are having. Seems like I blow a breaker every day by running too many things at one time. I can have on one heater, the washer OR the dryer (not both), and one other item running at the same time but more than that overloads the circuits. I feel like I run from room to room to room, turning things on and off all day long. “Sigh.” Well, my lamenting is no more. Melissa can only run one item: a heater, the water heater, OR the dryer. So, if you want to be warm, you can not have hot water or dry clothes. If you want dry clothes, you can not have hot water or heat. If you want to have a hot shower, you can not have heat or dry clothes. Seems crazy, huh? I lament no more! Now if I could only run the vacuum cleaner in more than one room I would be thrilled! The electrical current is too low in the rest of the house to run it… alas, only one crumb free room!

Top 10 things I have learned in Albania December 6, 2007

10. How long it takes for jeans to dry on the line in summer and in winter (summer= 2 hours, winter=3 days).

9. How to cook by candle light.

8. How to manage 3-5 electrical items on one circut before it will blow

7. How to take a shower, run a load of laundry and wash the courtyard without running out of water. It’s harder than it sounds!

6. How to have a conversation while saying only “Po, Jo and mire!” (Yes, no, good!)

5. How to direct a taxi while saying only “Right, left, straight, HERE!!”

4. How to keep from gasping while riding shotgun with my husband driving. (I am really gasping at other people, not him!)

3. How to shake my head when saying yes… I mean “po” and how to lift my chin up and click with my tongue when saying no… I mean “jo.”  And how to do all that like I really know what I am saying.

2. How to gesture wildly to explain what I mean in a conversation.

1. How to follow a brave Albanian across a busy intersection, carefully placing them between myself and any oncoming traffic, all while dodging cars in a stop and go fashion!

Cafe me shoqe (Coffee with a friend) November 24, 2007

Coffee is a great expression of friendship here in Albania. When someone invites you over for coffee it is more than just a polite gesture. It is a true expression of saying “I like you. Let’s spend some time together.” By visiting someone and allowing them to serve you coffee, you are showing honor and friendship to your host.

I went today to have coffee with my neighbor. They have 4 children ages 6-16 and the boys play together quite a lot. Their boys, Armando and Gjemi are older but Austin and Tyler have forged a bond over futbol (soccer) and bikes. They all learn a lot of language through playing, English and Albanian. Their youngest daughter, Uendi (Wendy) is 6 and she LOVES Jadyn. They all do really so it is a great conversation starter. I was so proud of myself because I could really carry on a whole conversation in Albanian and really understood almost everything. They are so patient with me. I took muffins and she made coffee and we talked for an hour. What an accomplishment! YEAH! Visiting is a good thing to do when there is no power…. as soon as the lights came on we parted ways… laundry to do, dishes to wash , lunch to make!