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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