July 27

Hello Again,
Wow, it has been quite awhile since my last post. Sorry. I have either not been able to get to the internet cafe or on the two occasions I was able to get to the cafe the internet was so painfully slow it would have taken hours to create a post.
On Sunday, July 22, I gave the sermon at our combined English/Albanian worship service. I spoke about how Christians' behavior should be different than the world's. This should be noticeable by both what we do and what we don't do. Noah, Ezra, and Jesus were my examples from the Bible. Alfred translated. We had a large crowd (40+) for the worship service as every chair was occupied.
Vacation Bible School began this week and is concluding today. Each morning anywhere from 15 to 25 children ages 4 to 13 come to the church building from 10:00 to 12:00. Adriana, Alfred's wife, leads the children in prayer, songs, a lesson about Jesus, crafts, and games. We have taught the students the song, "1, 2, 3 Jesus Loves Me". At craft and game time we try to get involved with the children. They are sweet, sweet children who seem to love attention -- or at least tolerate their American visitors. Adriana is doing a good job leading the VBS. Off hours, we have also helped cut, copy and prepare materials. Tonight is the grand finale as parents are invited to an open house at 7:00. The children will sing songs and some of the older students are going to present a play. We are also going to watch a movie about the life of Christ. If we find ourselves in Albania next summer we would like to try to expand the VBS.
Monday the 23rd was our anniversary - 13 blissful years. After my study with Myfit, Igli and Myfit drove Jill and I to Durres city. Igli took us to a nice restaurant, "The Lobster", on the Adriatic coast. He made sure we were seated and the waiters knew that it was our anniversary and that we didn't speak Albanian. Jill and I had a nice, quite meal overlooking the Adriatic. We perspired but enjoyed our time. After supper we strolled down the beach and boardwalk area. Skads of Durresians were present as well. I tell ya, these Albanians are crazy about their evening strolls. We opted for our first taxi ride back to our apartment. We actaully got special access to drive throught the Durres port instead of on the busy street. Our driver was quite jovial and proud of his "secret route" through the port.
Jonida (my sister-in-law), Heather, Elira, and Lori (Jonida's sister) joined us in Durres on Tuesday. Heather attended VBS with our girls. After VBS and a bite to eat, our family, Elira, and Heather went to the Adriatic Hotel pool. The big slide was actually functional this time and the older girls had a lot of fun. Quin and I ventured down the slide a few times together as well. I was informed in German by one of the Adriatic workers that the slide is for guests 15 years and younger. I still managed to be sneaky and take Quin down the slide one more time. Jonida came over to the pool after about an hour. She and Lori were at the building talking/studying with Alfred. We enjoyed some akolori (ice cream) after our swimming. Jill and I had our evening studies and Jonida and crew spent the night in Helen and Quinton's apartment.
While Jonida was here she told us she had recently acquired her girls' extended-stay visa. Albanian law states that visitors staying longer than 30 days (but less than 3 months) are required to get an extension visa at a local police department. Jonida took care of this in Tirana. The process requires 2 notarized copies from our passports and a letter describing why we want to stay longer than 30 days. These items are then taken to an immigration office at the police station. For some reason Jonida was charged almost $40 for each of her girl's extensions. (Previously I had read on the internet that the extension was free and had informed our OC students thus was the case.) On Tuesday night I informed them that we may have to pay a $40 fee. Jonida typed our letters for us on Alfred's laptop and I got them printed at the internet cafe. Quinton and Alfred took the letters, passports, and copies to Durres on Wednesday to get the forms notarized and to find out if we could complete the process at the Durres police department. They found out that yes, we could get our extensions at the Durres office and there would be no fee! Yeah! The only catch was that all the adults had to actually show their faces along with the passports. (We did this on Friday morning in Durres.) So, we're not sure why Jonida had to pay the $40 fee; but, we're glad we didn't have to!
Thursday was birthday day in Durres beach. Helen and I, as most of you know, were both born on July 26. (Helen's mother was too!) After VBS, we ate lunch at our favorite restaurant. The kids had goulash, Helen and Jill had byrek, and I had half chicken with rice. Then at 3:00 we had a birthday party at the building. Before the party, Jill and I went to the Pelican pastry and ice cream shop to get our special order cake. It read, "Darin and Mimi...", then something in Albanian about living another 100 years -- this is a tradition in Albania. We had cake with our family, the OCers, Alfred's family, and a couple other guests. Some of our 5:00 students enjoyed some leftover cake as well. Quin's birthday is Monday - more cake!
Alfred has had a lot of car trouble while we've been here. His 1993(?) model Jeep Cherokee may be near the end of its life. Currently, Alfred and family are busing it because the fuel pump -- or some such item -- is broken. Apparently the broken part is hard to find in Albania, so it may be awhile before they have their vehicle. They spent Wednesday night in Helen and Quinton's apartment and H. and Q. came up to our larger apartment. I think the Zikes are going to spend tonight in Durres as well. Anyone want to ship a car to Albania for the Zikes?
Thankfully some cooler weather moved in yesterday. The previous 4-5 days had been brutal with temps at 100 degrees. Hopefully this cooler weather will stick around for awhile.
I think I've written about the cars and traffic patterns here in Albania. It is quite a site to see and experience. In the cities, the power may be out; thus, the stoplights may not be working. (Then again, a red light is a recommendation, not a commandment.) At these intersections one has to stick out the end of his car to show intent to turn. Cool and courteous Alfred even has to be assertive and aggressive (when his car is functional). There are some interesting cars as well. One such vehicle is the 3-wheeled pick-up truck. The reason we don't see these in America is because they are Chinese. They are just shy of being a full-size pick-up but have one center wheel in the front. Another "pick-up" is just a tad bit larger than a golf cart. The cab holds two people if they don't mind sitting on each other's lap. Also, there must not be any regulation or standard definition of "car". If you can stick a motor on it and get it to move, you're legal. One man that drives up and down our church street has a blue motorcycle type vehicle with a small pick-up back. There is a nice shiny tank on top. He looks kind of cool driving it up and down the street in his shades. I have seen several motorcycle type carts. One such vehicle is usually loaded down with floaties and other beach items for sale. Occasionally I'll see a genuine USA vehicle -- Lincoln Navigator, Dodge Caravan, Cadillac, or Trans Am. I have also seen two smart-cars.
Tomorrow we are supposed to head to Apollonia to see some Roman ruins and then to another city (the name escapes me at the moment). We are heading out at 8:00 a.m.
Sorry for the long delay between posts. Maybe I'll do better.
Hugs,
Darin