by Richard L. Bowman
February 4, 2014
February 3, 2014
February 2, 2014
February 1, 2014 (II)
February 1, 2014
January 31, 2014
January 29, 2014
More People, More Sights!
After school today, faculty members received a brief introduction to how the library would be working now that it was going to open more regularly for more hours. All of this was due to Elsie work the last two days, Lois King's vision and organization, and all of the friends of LAC who gave many books for the endeavor. I will try to get a photo tomorrow of the library, but for now, you will have to be satisfied with my photos of some students I am learning to know as they worked in the after-school study hall.
Students in After-school Study Hall (4-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
More Students in After-school Study Hall (4-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Outside of the school are some trees and plants I liked but of which I do not know their names. That will come when I can take the time to ask someone.
A Palm Tree and Other Plants at LAC (4-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
As we walked to our apartment, Elsie wanted to stop at the Big Market for a few items. I said that as tired and sore as I was, I'd just lean against the wall and rest,. So I toke the opportunity to look around and watch people. Of course as I leaned against the store building, I had to try a self-portrait, too. I think I look tired, or is that because I see it now through tired eyes?!
The Big Market Store near our Apartment (4-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Self--portrait (Tired and Resting) Outside of the Big Market (4-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Looking across the Street from the Big Market (4-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Police Near the Police Station across from the Big Market (4-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
But I did take just a bit of time to finally photograph some of the sidewalk showing the interlocking concrete tiles that are used quite often to create the sidewalk. Often it is in disrepair, but in front of our apartment building, I was able to find some nice regions making the design. I wonder how many different designs they manufacture and use.
Interlocking Concrete Tiles Form a Sidewalk (I) (4-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Interlocking Concrete Tiles Form a Sidewalk (II) (4-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Always new things to observe and new people to meet. As Elsie said this evening, we already know we will miss the people we are meeting now, when we go back to the US in April.
February 3, 2014
First Day of School for Me!
And today was also the first day of the third quarter (second semester) for the students. So as we were lead by Cindy Moyer, the new faculty were introduced ands later the two students of the month were presented--one from the junior high and one from the high school. Then the faculty and students got down to the business of preparing for and being in classes.
All-school Assembly (3-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Presentation of Students of the Month (3-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Justin Prepares for His Next Class (2-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
As the sun was setting some time after Elsie and I got home today, I was able to capture some photos of the beginning of the evening for Lezhë.
Looking West Down Our Street at the Sunset (3-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Looking South from Our Balcony Shows Even More Colors (3-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
OK, so I must get back to making the examples and homework for tomorrows classes.
February 2, 2014
Worshiping Together in Shqip
The Albanian language is know as Shqip in Albanian. For those of us with a more Germanic tongue, it can be a problem to pronounce it. But this morning I was privileged to worship with many who were singing and speaking Shqip.
Here is a short video.
Below are several photos of persons visiting with each other before and after the time of worship. But first some of us met over coffee.
Gathering for Coffee before Church (2-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Lois King Visits with Old Friends (2-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Praise Band Plays Gathering Music (2-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Scripture Reading by the Worship Leaders and Some from the Congregation (2-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Below notice the "Welcome!" slide.
Young Preacher Grew up in the Congregation (2-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Bashful Young Man with His Siblings (2-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Bashful Two-year-old Did Smile! (2-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Two- and three-year-olds, in particular, remind me of the grandchildren we left behind in the US. We love them all--whether two or eleven or in between.
Just in case you do not think you know any Shgip, try saying the word on the door shown below. Albanian is a phonetic language, so you can probably get close to pronouncing this word correctly!
Door to the Bathroom at the Church (2-Feb-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Tomorrow begins classes for the third quarter at Lezha Academic Center, and I'm just a bit nervous with the first day jitters!
February 1, 2014 (II)
Satellites See Us All!
The other day I finally located our apartment, the church, and Lezha Academic Center on the satellite view from Google maps. Here is my pasted together view in small format. Click on image below to see a bigger format of the satellite view.
Google Satellite View (Composite) of Our Region of Lezhë (28-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Our house is marked with a red "Us", the church with a red "ch." and the school with a red "LAC." The church and our apartment our about one third of the way down on the map and slightly to the right (east) of center. The apartment is just a bit south and east of the church. The school is near the bottom of the map about a third of the way in from the right-side of the map.
February 1, 2014
More Teachers & More
On Wednesday after school was finished for the first semester (first two quarters), the faculty met to conclude the semester and get set up for the new quarter. In honor of Sandra Cardinal who was leaving at the end of the first semester, Cindy had made an apple crisp dessert. Ymmmm, was it ever good!
Last Faculty Meeting of First Semester (29-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
For third quarter there will be six new teachers and teacher assistants. Phil ands Betsy Moyer and Elsie and I are two couples from Pennsylvania and Virginia (USA) respectively. Alba, pictured below, is from Lezhë. Her husband is a gastroenterologist in the public health system.
Alba, a New Teacher, from Lezhë (29-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
After the faculty meeting we worked at putting the large common room (used for the cafeteria and as an assembly hall), into shape for all of the students to take their quarter finals in together.
Teachers Rearrange Table and Chairs for Finals (29-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Yesterday, Elsie and I needed to get some more groceries, so we shopped at the Big Market. Its stocks are mostly produced in Albania, Italy and other countries in Europe with a few from Africa and the USA.
Elsie Shops at Big Market (31-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
In the middle of the day the sidewalk's are usually full of people going places.
Sidewalk in Front of Our Apartment Building (31-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Last evening many of the faculty gathered to celebrate Sandra's service at Lezha Academic Center. Cindy ands Sandra exchanged some camaraderie while we awaited the pizza.
Sandra and Cindy (31-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
My selection was Pizza Carbonara which was made with cheese and bacon and an egg in the center!
My Pizza Carbonara (31-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Lois King had just arrived from the USA yesterday and showed up for the pizza even though I presume she was tired. She will be teaching English and help get the library set up ands functioning for faculty and students. Elsie is not sure what she will be doing yet, but it may well be working in the library.
Justin Rittenhouse was caught settling laundry accounts with Sandrra.
Justin Rittenhouse Settles Accounts (31-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
As we left the pizza shop, I asked the pizza delivery man if I could take his picture..
Pizza Delivery Man and His Motorcycle (31-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Now I just need to complete my syllabus and get ready for the first class in physics on Monday.
January 31, 2014
A Place Apart--Our Apartment
I like the etymology of "apartment" as a place to separate oneself from the outside. But I do not want it to exclude persons or cultures. So today I will give a brief tour of our apartment. (Yesterday I spent gettomg back into my teaching mode as I began constructing a syllabus and made lesson plans for the first week. Today I'll get back to that task after time out for this blog and after doing a bit of shopping with Elsie.)
I'll begin with a general layout--basic floor plan of our apartment. The front of the building facing the street is to the left in the sketch below.
Floor Plan of Our Apartment (31-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Elsie finds the sofa comfortable to work on, to read and send emails from, and to knit at. (Since we are here for only three months, we have not purchased a TV converter box to connect to the satellite dish.)
Our Living Room (30-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
As we enter the kitchen, the refrigerator and oven are to the left., ...
Elsie at the Refrigerator (30-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
... and the sink and gas stove top are to the right. I like working from the table that sits in the archway between the kitchen and the living room. And I have things scattered on the table as you can see!
The Kitchen Sink, Stove and Our Table (30-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
One thing I was very glad to find out was how readily available eggs are. So I can have my breakfast staple of over-easy oor scrambled eggs. Notice the very orange yolks; they are obviously high in carotene.
Frying Albania Eggs (Rich in Carotene) (30-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Outside is our nice balcony with chairs, which we have not used yet. The first picture is along the front or the building overlooking the street. and facing west
Our Street-side Balcony (30-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
The photo below is of the balcony along the side of our apartment facing south. Notice our drying rack. We very much appreciate that the apartment has a small front-loading washing machine. After the clothes come from there, we then place the them on the drying rack, either inside or outside of the apartment as weather permits.
Drying Rack of Clothes on Our Side Balcony (30-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
We are very happy to be able to live and work in this apartment and thank Ruku and Gerta for making it available and making us feel at home here and Dini for helping us get settled and for keeping us supplied with a tank of propane and such items.
January 29, 2014
A Week Later
Yesterday was the one-week marker for us living here in Lezhë, so let me feature some sites in this city.
It is fun watching the kids from the school behind our building from our balcony.
School Yard with Kids During Morning Break (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
For example, apparently the pre-teenage and teenage behavior of dividing into gender groups holds in the US and Albania.
Boys and Girls Group by Gender (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Finally a "futboll" (soccer) game has begun. Is this a "throw-in" play, or maybe the ball is on the ground and not in his hand. Take a guess.
It's a "Futboll" Game (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
If you have your shop right outside of the school gate, there should be a good source of income during school breaks. But afterwards the trash must be cleaned up!
Cleaning up after the Children Have Snacked (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Lezhë is liberally dotted with pharmacies, so on Monday we visited one to get something like Band-Aids. One kind came in a long strip with gauze down the center. The user simply cut the length of a Band-Aid that was desired.
Visiting a Pharmacy (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Along the sidewalk of the bridge over the Drin River (Lumi Drin), we stopped briefly to check out the various evergreen trees growing there. This one looked very unique to us. I did notice another one that looked like Red Cedar (not what I call the scrub cedar we see so much of along road cuts in Virginia, USA. I'll have to explore this more.
Exploring the Trees near the Bridge over the Drin River (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Here is a close-up of this tree for anyone willing to guess or definitively tell me its name.
Close-up of the Trees Pictured Above (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
While on the bridge we looked north over the Drin River to see the mountains and then south.
Looking North over the Drin River (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Looking South over the Drin River (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
At the foot of the bridge (on the west side) is a busy intersection with a traffic light that is not functioning at the present. So that is used good-naturedly as a marker when persons give us directions.
Busy Intersection at the Foot of the Bridge over the Drin River (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
While I have not yet gotten out into the country to see what birds I can find, I was pleased to see some Sparrows flitting around as we walked along the street.
Sparrow along the Street (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Then we were back at our balcony looking south, and we could see the school behind our building with the mosque not too far away.
Looking South to the Nearby School and Mosque (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Soon it was time to walk to Lezha Academic Center for a new faculty meeting. So I went west on our street (Rruga Kosova) a block or so until it met the road to Tirana (Rruga Luigj Gurakuqi). About a block south on this street and I passed the mosque.
Muslim Mosque in Lezhë (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Three or four blocks later I arrived at Lezha Academic Center just in time to see the students leaving at 2:45 p.m. CET.
Students Leaving Lezha Academic Center (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Inside the second floor hall was empty, but with its art and sunlight it was still inviting.
Second Floor Hallway at LAC (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
From the stairwell at LAC, one can look northeast and see Mountain with the Lezhë Castle (Kalaja e Lezhës). This is a castle we want to visit while we are living here. According to Wikipedia, "The castle bears traces of Illyrian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman architecture."
Lezhë Castle on Top of Its Hill (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
The canal that we cross on the way to and from LAC with more mountains to the east.
Canal in Lezhë with Mountains to the East (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Soccer is a national sport in most of Europe, and it is football ("futboll"). Below is the football stadium in Lezhë which is also on our walk to and from LAC.
Soccer Stadium (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Sign on Football Stadium (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
At the end of the day we relaxed in "My Bar" (owned by our landlord and his wife and just two floors below our apartment) where we drink coffee, lattes, capucchinos and tea and eat some nice sweet pastries. Thanks Ruku and Gerta!
Drinking a Coffee Cappuccino and Latte (27-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
I apologize to Elsie for not capturing a better photo of us. Next time maybe I will ask someone to take it. Resting the camera on the arm of a chair did not work as well as I wished.
We pray that the second week of our stay in Albania will go just as well as the first!
--©2014, Richard L. Bowman
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