A day in the park

Sunday is the day to go to the park. The main park here in my city is always crowded on Sundays now that the weather is nice. This past Sunday I woke up early, picked up some friends who had just gotten off of work (from a 12 hour shift as a nurse) and headed to the park. It was a great idea to get there early, as it wasn't as crowded.



We all had a good time and of course, I enjoyed being outside.

birthday

Monday night after class I had some of my students over for a friend's birthday. I made a cake and we had a good time together. I really enjoy having people over, and I am finally starting to become a good host in the eyes of the people here (who have so many rules about what to do when guests come over.) As I was walking my friends home Monday night, one of them said to me, "Lynn you are really becoming Albanian." Its nice to fit in with the culture here, and I am happy that I have learned some things well.

spring

The days keep going and nothing really exciting is happening. I am still teaching at the University and supervising the village English and Computer clubs. All are going well, but some days are more interesting than others and some more frustrating than others.

I am saddened by the news about the shooting at Virginia Tech, and do not know how to comprehend what happened. I am drawn to the news and find myself just listening to their stories and feeling compassionate for the loss of these students' lives. My students here are also in shock at the tragedy and at the fact it happened in America. Some people here hold America and Americans up on this high pedestal and think we are all perfect and nothing bad ever happens there.

On a brighter note, the weather here is wonderful (sorry to all those living in New England facing horrible non-spring weather) and its hard for me to stay inside. I just love being outside in the sun, looking at everything green and budding. I love the spring here.

Again I ask myself...where did the days go? Before I knew it, the week was over, and nothing was written on here. Sorry. Right now I am trying to think back on my week, and its all a blur. Mostly this is probably because I am tired right now. For most of the week I was sick, and didn't have a voice. I canceled classes on Monday and Tuesday, as I was struggling to make audible sounds come out of my mouth. On Tuesday morning I thought I was feeling better...and then I answered the phone...and still there was nothing. It really is a challenge to talk on the phone when sound doesn't come out of your mouth. The frustrating part was that the harder I tried to talk, the less anything came out. I resorted to talking in a quiet whisper...and usually this allowed me some form of communication.

Unfortunately for my health, the weather was wonderful this week and I couldn't stay inside....which meant not much rest. Even though I couldn't talk, I spent a lot of time at the park this week. It was wonderful to be outside in the fresh air.

For class on Wednesday I came up with a discussion activity where my students rotated playing teacher and facilitating different discussion topics. It was so hard for me to keep quiet. For some reason, I felt very talkative this week. I kept trying to talk, even when nothing came out. Often when I went out last week, I told myself, "Ok, you can go out, but don't talk." Well this was nearly impossible...and therefore I think my voice is still recovering.

On Thursday I thought playing a game during class would be easy for my voice, but it was quite the opposite as I had to attempt to speak louder than my rowdy students. But they all had fun, and ...my voice is still recovering. (I don't know the meaning of staying home and resting.)

By Friday sound was coming out of my mouth, but it sounded very funny. It definitely wasn't my voice. I kept being surprised when I spoke and wondering who was really speaking. Now my voice is much better just a little scratchy once in awhile. I am still coughing terribly, but hopefully that will end soon also.

On Sunday my roommate and I went to visit two of our students and their families. They live in a city about an hour away from where I live, in a city based at the mountains. I really enjoyed being back to the mountains, as thats where I used to live when I first came here. Again the weather was wonderful and it was nice to be out. Although I was tired by the end, it was a very good day.

Happy Easter

In Europe today is a holiday for Easter, so I can again say Happy Easter. I am supposed to teach this afternoon, but since its a holiday and I have no voice, I think I will cancel class and enjoy the day off (which actually means enjoy staying home, correcting exams from last week and writing a new exam for this week.)

Yesterday was a great day. First of all, it is always enjoyable to celebrate the day our Savior rose from the grave. Secondly, I was able to celebrate this with about 500 local believers from all over this country. It was a wonderful feeling to be worshiping our risen Lord with so many people, in the local language. The only problem is that now I can not talk. I am out of my allergy medicine and have had a slight problem with my voice in the evenings lately. But after singing a lot, and talking a lot....I can no longer talk. For the moment it is kind of funny and I am laughing at myself (and others are laughing at me) whenever I open my mouth...but I think I will grow tired of this quickly.

In the afternoon we invited our landlord's family over to decorate Easter eggs. I think they enjoyed the experience, as this is not done here. We were going to have an Easter egg hunt, but we ran out of time.

In the evening I invited some friends over for dinner and we had a lot of fun. I made my normal chicken poppyseed casserole which is always a hit and they all enjoyed it. The night was filled with much laughter, many pictures, lots of dancing and a small water fight. It was good to spend time with friends and just have fun.

Overall yesterday was definitely an Easter I will remember.

Urime Pashket

Happy Easter. He is risen!

Thank you all for the past 40 days of remembering the people here in the country where I am living. Although I don't have any amazing stories or wonders, I am confident that your words were spoken with assurance of things to come. I know that the people here were affected. Please do not stop now, just because the 40 days are over. The country is about to go through some tough times....continue to remember them.


p.s. I finally got my computer back tonight. I am very happy. They replaced the lights in my monitor...and at the same time broke my monitor. I now have a black dot in the bottom corner of the screen. Its really not that bad, but frustrating. I think I will still look into buying a new computer. This one is beyond complete repair.

lazy day

So the computer guy has had my computer for a day and a half now...and I miss it. Its so hard not to be able to easily check my email on my outlook and keep messenger open to talk to friends here and schedule coffee visits. Again I am downstairs on the computer in our office and I am freezing. Its cold here.

The one nice thing about not having my computer is I don't know what emails I have to respond to, or what work needs to be done. My company work (the rest of my work thats apart from teaching) is tied completely to my computer, and without it I am useless. So its giving me the break I have wanted and needed for awhile. Usually in the evenings if I am ready for my lesson the next day I do other work on the computer. I always have a lot of work hanging over my shoulders that I know I need to get done. I don't have that option right now...so its kind of nice. What isn't kind of nice is this keyboard....I am used to mine, and I keep typing wrong on here. Its annoying.

So today I have a relaxed day and its very nice. I really enjoy the days where I don't have to wake up and rush out the door. Today I took a nice long shower and lazily got dressed and ready. Now I will head out and have coffee with a student and then class, and then a free evening for once. Yippee.

my computer

Tonight I am thankful that my office is in the flat below mine...that is where I am now. Last night my computer officially died...well maybe not officially...but for now its in the hospital. For the past week I have been having problems with my computer. At first I thought it was a virus, so I made sure I was up to date on all my virus protection. That didn't change anything. I got used to the problems (it being really slow and randomly turning off) and kept working. I was busy and had a lot of work to do...so I didn't have time to try to bring it somewhere to be fixed. Then I probably had time, but was used to the problem...so kept using my computer. And then...BOOM! A black screen. Now I am sad I don't have a computer. For the moment its good...already its making me realize how dependent I am on my computer and how much time I spend on it. Yes, a lot of my time spent is working...but do I really need to turn on my computer and check my email the moment I walk in the door? I think this break from my computer will be good. I do hope my dear computer will return to me one day soon....but if it doesn't....well, we'll deal with that when it happens.

Besides my computer, my day was good. I am still slightly frustrated with the work in the minority school in the village...but I am trying to look at it as an adventure. Tomorrow I go back to the village, to the school I like, with the teachers I like. I am excited.

I am also excited that Easter is this week. I am not sure why, but I feel like I am happier than normal for Easter. I have been looking forward to the holiday for awhile now, and its finally almost here. On Sunday all the churches in this area will gather together for a joint service. I am excited to go to that and see the people here celebrating the ressurection of Christ together. Tomorrow night and saturday night we have invited our students to come and watch "The Passion" with us. And Sunday evening I think we will invite some of our friends over for dinner. As its hard to be away from family during the holidays its always fun to celebrate with friends here and share some of our traditions. I can't wait!

tired

First let me say that its 10pm and I am tired and want to sleep. I have so much work to do...but I think I will leave it for tomorrow. I don't have anything planned tomorrow until my class at 5pm, so I should have some time. Of course, something will come up and I will be busy all day...but thats my life lately. I am ready for my lesson tomorrow, so the rest can wait if it must.

Secondly, its April 1st and its still really cold and I started a fire tonight in my stove. Outside its actually nice weather. Today I was at the park with some of my students, and it was very nice. But once I came home, I was freezing. My fingers would not warm up. So I started a fire. I have decided that my flat doesn't get enough sunlight....it will stay cold...which is nice in the summer.

Now to catch you all up on the rest of my past week. Well actually, it kind of ended right where I left off. I taught class on Wednesday night and after class a student/friend invited me to her house in the village. Her younger sister, whom I also know, was staying there all week because she had spring break. I thought it would be fun to go and keep the sister company. Well I (actually more like they) enjoyed it so much that they convinced me to stay there a second night. So Thursday night I canceled class and went to visit my friend's aunt. That evening another sister and brother also came, and so we had a good time all together. I really enjoy getting away from the city every once in awhile and spending time with a family.

Friday we had a team meeting and I enjoyed seeing my old roommate and colleague from my former city. After the meeting we ate yummy Mexican food and then I got my hair cut. Friday night I was all excited about staying home and not doing anything, but of course, plans changed and I went out.

Saturday was another busy day. We went to a village and I played some games with the kids there, while another colleague was with the women's group. These women gather together every Saturday for a sewing class. After the class we come and sometimes tell them stories, play Bingo, or just hang out and drink tea with them. We also purchase some of their handmade items (tatted doilies) and sell them through WorldCrafts. For many of these women this is their only form of income for their whole family. What started with just a few women has now grown to such a large group that they do not all fit in one room. These women are eager to try to improve their conditions and do something. We are eager to share a Hope that is better than they can imagine...but first their immediate needs must be met.