Living in Albania--Richard L. Bowman

April 20, 2015

Spilling the Beans about Getting 20 Eggs

As dusk was just beginning to show its face on Saturday evening, I went to the vegetable/fruit shop on the main street to get some potatoes. My next stop was to be Pallma's Market to get some cured sausage links and eggs. So I looked across the street at Palma's.

the front of Palma's Market

The Trees in Front of Palma's Market Welcome Customer (18-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

And then I looked up the street to see how much traffic was coming.

looking down one of the main streets of Lezhe

At 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the Street Is Busy (18-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

When the cars slowed down, I crossed the street to get my meat and eggs. In Palma's I tried using my Albanian language to say 20 eggs--" njëzet vezë." My 20 was not as clear as I wanted it to be, so one of the owneers who was serving me used his fingers to check how many I wanted. I also wanted to be clear, so I tried putting up my two hands to show 20. And of course the small plastic bag with four potatoes spilled on the floor. Others quickly picked them up for me and one asked me in English what I wanted. So I went home with the meat and eggs even if my pride was slightly out of place!

Let's go back a few day to last Sunday, April 12. One of the baby's born since we have lived here is Mateo. In additon to his parents, a brother and a sister attending our church (Guri i Themelit), so does his grandmother. And she adores Mateo at least as much as the rest of us do!

at church--Dila and Mateo--grandma and grandson

Grandmother and Grandson Bond (12-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

That morning, Besnik opened our time of worship.

Besnik opened the time of worship

Besnik Opens the Worship Time (12-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

There was a special treat for us the newest missionary family had visitors. Francis' brother and sister-in-law, missionaries in Serbia, sang a duet for us in Portuguese followed by a sermon by Rafael.

Francis' sister and brother-in-law sing a duet

A Special Duet from Brazilian Missionaries to Serbia (12-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

Late the previous week and early this past week, there were long outages of electricity as some work was being done somewhere in the system. So as evening came on, we used our flashlights and candles. The inconveniences gave us opportunities to learn more patience and how to live without technologies.

when the electricxiy was off for several hours we needed candle light

Candles for Beauty and Light when the Electricity is Off (13-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

On Wednesday the students who had gone as our representatives to the Model UN hosted by the American Embassy in Tirana came back to school amid hugs and clapping.

Model UN students came back to applause and hugs

Hugs and Applause for Student Returning from the Model UN (15-Apr-15; © Richard L. Bowman)

They were tired and many were sick. But all were very upbeat.

the Model UN team was tired (and many were sick) but happy

Three of the students had won first place for being the best group of delegates in their area, and Inda had won first place as best delegate over all. She is a great student academically, ethically and relationally! So it was well disserved.

Inda with her best delegate prize gave an impromptu pep talk

Phil and Betsy Moyer had gone with their son Peter and his friend Kristen for three days, so I volunteered to do something with 11A (his advanced biology class). It was fun to teach them a bit about how some simple algorithms can mimic nature through Iterative Function System Fractals and the Game of Life.

$Evianda's IFS fractal for a shark's top fin$

We also continue to learn new things about our neighborhood and ciity. Not too far from our apartment, we had seen the building below. On Friday we learned that it is a public child day care center. I especially like the mural on the wall.

a public day care near our apartment

A new week has passed, and we have learned more about life, living and friendship in Lezhë. We pray that we will continue well on this journey.

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