Living in Albania--Richard L. Bowman

April 5, 2015

Easter and More

Today is Easter, and we were glad for the impetus to take time to thank God for his gift of love and grace through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God in human form.

Even though it has been raining most of the day, the joint worship service this morning among the three evangelical churches was packed and lively. Robert Cook, a fellow teacher at Lezha Academic Center and originally from England but now a married pastor and living in Albania, ws on the keyboard today.

Robert Cook tuning up a guitar for worship on Easter morning

Robert Cook Tunes the Guitar Before Easter Worship (5-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

I have enjoyed getting to know Robert through some some limited interactions at school, and Elsie and I were pleased to accept his and his wife's (Mira's) initiation to tea on Thursday afternoon. We met three-month-old Joseph for the first time and learned to know almost-three Emily much better.

Elsie holds three-month-old Jooseph Cook

Pastoral Team and Spouses at Lunch at Jolly's Restaurant (3-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

almost-three Emily Cook demonstrates her agility

Pastoral Team and Spouses at Lunch at Jolly's Restaurant (3-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

The photo above is not a high-quality one, but it is the only one that really captures all of the energy that Emily showed us on Thursday. With our youngest three grandchildren being between three and a half and four and a half years old, we certainly connected with Emily's antics.

And the tea, both the English black tea and the Albanian çaj mali [pronounced: chai mali] or mountain tea, an herbal tea. Çaj mali is a tea picked wild in the mountains of Albania and dried on the stem. Thanks to Mira, I have a sample of my own and will have to buy more from a shop near our apartment.

Hope each of you are having or had a good Easter and a good week ahead. This next week is Spring break for LAC and the American teachers and principal are going to Barcelona, Spain. So, God willing, I will be posting some photos from there.

April 4, 2015

Visiting the Same Restaurant Twice in One Day
and Other Interesting Incidents

It is the end of third quarter at Lezha Academic Center. In fact I turned in my grades last evening. So I'll try to recap a few events of the week.

Yesterday we ate lunch at Jolly's Restaurant from 13 floors up at the top of one of the tallest buildings in Lezhë. The current pastoral team and our spouses had a very good meal and relaxing conversation--no business--as we met together.

pastoral team meeting with spouses

Pastoral Team and Spouses at Lunch at Jolly's Restaurant (3-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

Looking slightly south of west out over the city from Jolly's, one can see the Adriatic Sea on the distant horizon to the right. The Drini River can be seen near the middle of the photo.

Lezhe from 13 stores in Jolly's Restaurant

Current Skyline of Lezhë as Seen from Jolly's Restaurant (3-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

Then after more grading, we met with the young American teachers from LAC for dinner. Josh Kirkman, Katrina Schmid, and Justin Rittenhouse and Elsie and I had another good meal at Jolly's. Salad for everyone. Soup, rice or pasta entries as ordered. We were all a tired (for some reason I seemed much less tired than the rest) but still had an enjoyable low-key meal together.

composite of young American teachers at dinner at Jolly's

Composite of Dinner with Josh, Katrina and Justin (3-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

At the beginning of dinner, I carefully took a photo showing our apartment building (B) and the Moyer's one (M) with the park I have often referred to in between the buildings. Our apartment is on the second floor on the opposite side of the building from what can be seen.

our spot in Lezhe from 13 floors up in Jolly's

View of Our Apartment Building from 13 Floors Up (3-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

As we walked past the street that is being completely redone, I just had to take a picture of this work in progress. (Dad, it is not much different from what you might be acquainted with.)

a backhoe at work on one of the street in Lezhe

A Backhoe at Work on a Street (3-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

Now let's go back to the beginning of the week. Sunday was Palm Sunday which begins Easter week for the Roman Catholics and evangelical believers here in Albania. Before our service started at Guri i Themelit (Cornerstone) church, I captured these two boys who had become quick friends in a couple of weeks even though they speak two different languages--Joel (Albanian) and Samuel (Brazilian Portuguese).

Joel and Samuel playing at church

Since it was Palm Sunday, as we waited for our sufllaqe (chipped pork, lettuce, tomato, and French fries with a special mayo sauce on pita bread), we noticed a number of persons walking home from the Roman Catholic cathedral.

watching persons coming from the cathedral as we aiting for lunch

On our way back to the apartment for a Sunday afternoon nap, we passed the neighborhood girls playing a form of dodge ball.

girls playing dodge ball next to our apartment

Now leaping forward to the middle of the week, on Wednesday Dini drove us to the Italian Hospital in Tirana where I saw Dr. Edvin Selmani. He is the orthopedic surgeon I had seen last fall for my hip, and this time I visited him because my left leg with the new hip has been hurting me pretty badly. Walking has seemed to be getting more difficult. His assessment after X-rays and a consultation was that I have just been rushing things a bit. So I am trying to back off and make sure to use my cane all the time for walking. We also purchased a silicon wedge for my shoe.

Dini used the trip to confirm the purchase of a new copier for LAC. And we all enjoyed a lunch at the Stephen's Center.

Dini making a point in conversation over lunch at Stephen Center Center

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, and we are looking forward to celebrating God's gift of salvation as all of the evangelical church here is Lezhë gather for a joint worship service.

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