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Hello Friends,
Saturday was preparation day. Jill and I packed up most of our belongings, straightened up the apartment, swept and mopped floors, and did laundry. Quinton spent the night in Tirana with Jonida's family and departed Albania at 5:45 a.m. Saturday morning. Hallie had a run-in with the bug Jill and I had but was feeling better by Saturday afternoon. In the evening our family and Helen took short taxi ride to the Perla restaurant -- the restaurant Alfred had previously taken us to during on our first Sunday in Durres. We sat outside by the sea and enjoyed the cooler weather and ocean breeze. After supper we walked back on the beach around 8:00 p.m. Many tourists were strolling along the sand. We stopped by a small carnival ride area and our kids took a turn on the bumper cars. (I dare say if this bumper car establishment was in the USA local officials would have it shut down in 5-minutes. I said more than one prayer that our kids wouldn't get injured. The cars were going pretty fast and seemed to have long lost their "bumper" capabilities. When the vehicles hit each other the sound was more like a clang/thump instead of a ricochet bump. Worse yet, children and parents were scurrying around the course dodging cars. I saw one lad get ran into. Fortunately, our children survived and we proceeded down the beach.) After the bumper cars, Quin was tired and I gave him a piggy-back ride the rest of the way home. The OC students spent the day making preparations for their Monday departure and spending time with their Albanian students.
Helen attended the Durres city church services on Sunday morning with the OC students. Our family rode the bus to Durres around 11:30 and met up Helen around 12:30. The congregation hosted a guest speaker, Mr. Hodge, from Skelmersdale, England. (He had previously done some mission work in Albania.) When he began his lesson he said he didn't figure anyone in the audience new of Skelmersdale. Well, it just so happens that Skelmersdale was one of the 2-week sites during my first overseas mission trip in 1992. I chatted with Mr. Hodge a bit after services. Another guest in Durres was Benjamin Smith. He is the son of former missionaries in Durres. Benjamin married an Albanian and was back in the country visiting family.
Our family and Helen then walked through the streets of Durres toward one of our favorite restaurants, the Piazza. (The OC students were guests of Nick and Daniella for lunch. Nick and Daniella are brother and sister and members of the church in Durres city. They visited us quite frequently in Durres beach.) Even though our order wasn't served just as we had hoped; we still enjoyed our meal at the Piazza. After lunch we walked on the sidewalk by the port to the Blue Star -- Durres' "mall" that houses the Euro Max along with other stores. We let our kids play for over an hour in the children's play area. After the Blue Star we stopped in for a bite of dessert at a bakery on the route to the bus station then headed back to Durres beach.
Sunday evening's church fellowship time began at 6:30. Adriana brought a delicious chocolate/vanilla marble cake. At 7:00 services began. Alfred had songs in both English and Albanian posted on the slides. He presented the lesson on Jesus being our purpose and example for life from Philippians. He even managed to translate the lesson himself -- that is talent!
Around 7:50, during services, I received a call on my cell phone (Alfred arranged for Quinton and me to have cell phones while in Albania). I was expecting to see my friends Myfit and Igli at services but they were not in attendance so I figured the call was from one of them; it was Igli. I popped outside the church building and answered the phone. Igli was calling me from just down the street. He, Myfit, Myfit's brother (Riti), and Myfit's nephew were walking towards me. We chatted and they explained why they couldn't make it at 7:00 to services. Myfit was extremely tired after videoing weddings during the weekend and Igli had to work. They presented me with a Mother Theresa clock for my office (I don't have a clock in my office at OC). After thanking them and saying our goodbyes my friends headed to their home and I returned for the end of worship services.
At the end of the service Alfred displayed some photos he had taken over the past five weeks. The congregation also sang to us "We Love You with the Love of the Lord" in Albanian and English. As you can guess, we didn't leave the building until late as many stayed around to visit and say their goodbyes after services. Around 9:00 p.m. our family headed for a bite to eat at the Besa restaurant.
Sunday night our kids were wired when we finally arrived back at our apartment. Jill and I cleaned bathrooms, packed up a few things, and got our bags ready for our early morning departure. We finally got our kids down around 11:00 and we went to sleep about midnight.
2:00 a.m. is a time when nobody should be waking up for the day -- especially when one goes to sleep at midnight. Alfred called me about 2:35 and we got kids and bags ready to load on our van. Around 2:45 we headed for Mother Theresa International Airport. (The airport is about 40 minutes from Durres to the northwest of Tirana. The final two miles of road leading to the airport reminded me of a two lane county road in Oklahoma. The road finally opens up to the lights and buildings of the airport. The airport terminal itself is a nice new structure with four departure gates.) We waited in our line at the Austrian Airlines desk for about 10 minutes then waited 15 more minutes as the associate checked in our family and our many bags. We then said our goodbyes to Alfred at the security checkpoint. (Alfred had managed an hour of sleep. He was going to teach the children's English class at 10:00 then around noon escort the OC students to the airport for their departure for Rome. Alfred sleeps little and works much. He is a trooper doing great work for the Lord in Albania. He and his family are wonderful!) After going through our passport checks we waited about 30 minutes at our gate before boarding a bus to take us to the airplane.
When we arrived at the Vienna airport our kids had McDonald's on their minds. Jill had previously checked on-line and discovered that the airport did indeed have a McDonald's so our kids were pumped. Not long after finding a spot to wait out our 4.5 hour layover, I noticed a boy and his grandmother looking at me and my OU Sooners t-shirt. I initiated a greeting and soon discovered the lady lives about 3 miles from us in Edmond! Weird! She and some of her family had been visiting in-laws in the Republic of Georgia. They were on their way to Ireland. Anyway, Jill, Hallie, Amelia, and I then left the secure area of the airport and finally found McD's. Even though it was just 7:00 a.m. we were able to order Happy Meals for the kids. I splurged and ordered a cheeseburger too. (Over the course of my 6 trips to Europe I have noticed that the progression back into Americana as I return to the states does not happen all at one time. If we were instantly just dropped back into Edmond from Albania the "re-Americanization" effect would be much more dramatic. Coming back through various airports gradually eases one back into Americana. We ate at Wendy's in Dulles airport in D.C.) Quin didn't make the trip to McD's because he was sleeping Helen's lap in the waiting area.
We passed time during our layover by eating snacks, looking in stores, going to the restroom, and watching people. The most interesting person I saw was the tallest man I have ever laid eyes upon. He couldn't have been many inches short of eight feet. We actually saw him twice. The second time we saw him he had on different clothes. I figured he was putting on a disguise.
The flight from Vienna to Dulles took about nine and a half hours. We flew on a Boeing 777 -- big! Amelia, Hallie, and Jill sat in the three seats in front of me and Helen and Quin sat behind me. I sat next to a father and daughter from Montenegro making their first trip to the states. Our kids traveled very well and enjoyed the in-flight entertainment. I think I saw parts of "The Pursuit of Happiness" four our five times. Helen did a great job with Quin. During the flight we experienced a couple rounds of rough turbulence. The worst was a couple of hours out of D.C. It was the roughest turbulence I have ever experienced. I'm glad the wings of the plane didn't fall off. I'm thankful for good engineers at Boeing.
When we arrived at Dulles we departed the plane directly onto one of the two "Traveling Lounges". These are monstrous people-movers that can be raised and lowered to accommodate various sizes of airplanes. Once off the people movers we waited in line for passport control and then went to pick up our bags. All of our bags arrived except for our neighbor's umbrella stroller. Instead of informing the airline of the lost item we proceeded through customs and on to our gate for our last flight. During our 45-minute wait we managed to eat some Wendy's hamburgers, Auntie Annie's pretzels, and Mexican food. We finished our supper just as we were to board the plane.
I must say, I will never forget the flight from Dulles to OKC. I sat next to a man, Steve, who had been in Washington to, among other things, politically promote the homosexual agenda. He was traveling with Oklahoma's first openly gay state representative from OKC. The Rep. sat in the seat behind us. Steve was quite talkative. I learned a lot about the politics associated with the homosexual agenda. He knew we were polar opposites on the subject when he found out I teach at OC, had been to George W. Bush's inauguration, and had just been on a mission trip to Albania. Most of the flight we discussed other things besides homosexuality and the politics therein. We found common ground talking about Arkansas topics (he was from the Rogers area and his parents owned a Phillips 66 convenience station in the Rogers area), OKC, and travel.
Quin slept for the second half of the flight back to OKC. Quinton met us at the baggage area at Will Rogers Airport. He had spent the night in Houston with David and Jonida and flown up the OKC in the late afternoon. Bill, our driver from Memorial Road, also met us at baggage claim. It took us awhile to get our bags and then I had to file the report about the missing stroller. We finally loaded up the van and got home around 8:45 p.m.
We were greeted at our home by our neighbors Alan and Cheryl and three neighborhood children. Quin was still asleep and Jill and I put him in bed. Our home was very welcoming when we arrived home. Our wonderful friends and neighbors had turned on the A/C, brought in some sweet smelling stuff from Jill's mom (a guy word), and had some groceries and homemade bread waiting for us! Very nice. Helen and Quinton went to bed right away as Jill, myself, and our girls did a little unpacking and watched the 10 o'clock news. It didn't take us long to fall asleep. Too bad Quin woke up around five and rustled Jill and I out of bed. Jill stayed up with Quin and I took his bed for a couple more hours of sleep.
All in all our trip to Albania was quite amazing. As expected, we made many new friends --both Albanian and American. We grew to appreciate the generosity and serving spirit of the Albanian people. We planted and watered God's seed in the hearts of many dear people. Now we'll let God make the seed grow. As is mentioned in Jesus' parable, Lord willing the seed will grow in good soil that produces a bountiful harvest.
Thanks so much for your prayers and support.
Darin

August 4

Greetings,
Once again I have been delayed in posting to our blog because of various reasons, my apologies.
Tuesday evening I had a study with Myfit. Igli didn't show up for his lesson so Myfit and I were able to extend our lesson and have a nice discussion. The primary focus of our discussion was the similarities and differences between Islam and Christianity. We talked about how just being a good person is not enough for an individual to be saved. I explained some Biblically based hypothetical situations wherein individuals are or are not saved. Myfit explained to me that he still thinks Islam is the better religion because it is more vast or all encompasing (I wasn't quite sure what he meant by this). I also learned that most of his education in Islam is based on discussions with his friends; he has never read the Koran. I appreciate his sincerity.
Wednesday morning after the devotional our family made our first and only official visit to the beach. (We had heard horror stories about the pollution of the beach and the water so we had previously avoided the sea for the most part. I guess Jill's "germ paranoia" has subsided some because it was her idea to visit the beach. (Earlier in the week Helen and Quinton were on one of their morning walks along the shore and Quinton noticed some individuals purposefully gargeling the sea water! I guess if they didn't die we could at least swim in the Adriatic a little bit.) We visited the beach associated with the Adriatik Hotel. For $5.50 we anchored down our spot on the beach with our Adriatik umbrella, small table, and two lounge chairs. This area was not as crowded as the other beach areas. Jill also wanted to be at the Adriatik because it had a shower area for us to rinse off sand after our time at the beach. As we were just settling in when my beach neighbor overheard our English and asked where we were from. He was from Kosovo originally but now lived in Switerland. He was visiting Albania with his family.
We brought our lunch with us to the beach and ate before venturing into the sea. A cold front had moved in the previous day; thus, the Adriatic was rougher than normal. At times the water is as calm as a small pond; today there were actually waves and some small breakers. This made for some fun as we jumped over waves. The water was pretty cool and the breeze made it downright chilly out in the water. Over the course of the next 2-3 hours we ventured into the water three times to look for sea shells and jump waves. During our respites, some of us caught some sun (Jill got a little too much), played cards, and the kids dug in the sand. We headed back to our apartment around 2:30 to get cleaned up and ready for our afternoon studies.
On Wednesday I met with both Myfit and Igli. I was honored to have them both stay for our 7:00 church service. Alfred taught about the Good Samaritan. Myfit actually made a comment during class. Following the service Myfit, Igli, and I rode in Igli's family's Mercedez to his fathers bar/restaurant. The restaurant occupies all the second floor of a small building about 200 yards from the main highway. I was treated to an orange juice while my friends drank cappuccino. We chatted about sports and life in Albania and the USA. We made plans to meet again tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. to play ping-pong in Durres.
Things don't always go as planned. Jill and I both woke up on Thursday morning with gasto-intestinal unpleasantries. Oh boy! We were down and out most of the day. I was looking forward to the ping-pong outing but had to cancel those plans. Helen and Quinton helped take care of our kids while Jill and I tried to recover. By the time the afternoon rolled around I felt 50% better and went to the church for my evening classes. Myfit and I didn't meet but Alexander and I did at 6:00. Neither Jill nor I had much of an appitite on Thursday. If Jill ate more than 5 bites of food all day I'd be surprised.
On Thursday night Helen, Quinton, and our kids were picked up at 6:00 by Jonida's uncle. He drove them to his home in the town of Kavaja (about 30 minutes drive from Durres). Jill and were supposed to go on this excursion but couldn't because us of our illness. Jonida's aunt and uncle live in Jonida's grandmother's home with her. They were hosting dinner. Jonida and family were also in attendance. When our crew returned home about 10:00 p.m. Jill had already been asleep an hour, but I got the lowdown on the evening's activities. The first thing Hallie and Amelia told me was they they shucked corn. They also informed me about all the fruits and veggies at grandma's house. Helen and Quinton explained that food was not in short supply during supper and their plates were always full as the seconds and thirds kept coming. Albanians are very hospitable! Helen and Quinto spent the night with us as Alfred and Aldi (Alfred's son) stayed in Helen and Quinton's apartment.
By Friday morning Jill and I were feeling much better; maybe not quite 100%, but better. Quinton, Helen, and one of the OCers had lunch at a family's home. Each of the U.S. guests is a teacher for one member of the family. Jill and I had an appitite again and took our family to our favorite restaurant -- the Besa. On Friday afternoon we, along with Helen and Quinton, sported our Memorial Road "1000 in 2007" mission shirts and had photos taken outside the church building. We again had our studies at 5:00 and 6:00. Myfit brought along his flash drive and we plugged it into Alfred's computer to look at some pictures of a wedding celebration Myfit had attended the weekend before. One of the photos showed the groom, bare chested, riding on the shoulders of his new father-in-law. Jill's and my wedding reception must have been pretty boring according to Albanian standards as I kept my clothes on and didn't camel fight other guests on top of my father-in-law's shoulders.
At 7:00 on Friday we all had a final get-together with our students. Helen and Quinton brought drinks and snacks. We had a good turnout. All of Jill's students were present but Alexander was the only one of my students who could attend. Many of the OCer's students were also in attendance. We all enjoyed playing games, eating, visiting, giving gifts, and taking pictures. Many made plans to see one another again sometime during the weekend. Myfit and Igli said they would be at our Sunday evening worship service.
Helen and Quinton again spent the night with us on Friday night as Alfred and his children stayed in H. and Q's apartment. (Adriana had to return to Tirana to check on her mother who was not feeling well.) Hallie woke up on Saturday morning with the bug Jill and I had. By 11:00 a.m. she had vomited three times. She's had quite an adventure over here! (We're still waiting to see if Quin and Amelia get to experience this joy too. If they do I hope they get it over with before our trip back to the states!) Saturday morning I felt well enough to go running again. The beach didn't seem as crowded as normal. Jill and I did some cleaning and packing as we prepare for our departure early, early Monday morning. (We are scheduled to leave our apartment at 2:30 a.m.) Quinton and Alfred met at 7:30 for a coffee.
Quinton is heading to Tirana today at 4:00 p.m. He is being picked up by a driver and then taken to Jonida's family's apartment. He and Jonida's family are scheduled to fly out early Sunday morning. Quinton is going along to help Jonida with the children. (Remember, David had to return to Houston at couple of weeks ago.) The plan is for Quinton to spend Sunday night in Houston and then fly up to OKC on Monday and meet us at the airport when we arrive on Monday evening.