no pig

So I didn't go to the pig roast...I was slightly sad, but its ok. I will get onto the base another time. No fun stories from last night to tell you all.

pig roast

So I am intrigued...I have been invited to go to a pig roast on one of the military bases here. Not sure what to expect, but I am sure it will be fun. I will be sure to let you all know how it goes. I am just excited to finally get on a base...and this means I am now able to buy my favorite American treats. I can't wait. I don't know if I will be able to hit the PX tonight, but at least I will get to know some of the soldiers and it will be easier to ask them to let me on to buy stuff.

Peppers and Tomatoes

Thankfully the weather has finally cooled down a bit. There is a nice breeze that is actually refreshing, and the evenings are cool again. Its very good. The only problem, now I don't have an excuse to sit around and not do anything. So today I have cleaned my flat some, baked a cake, and did some work on the computer. Tonight I will go to a friend's house for dinner.


Here are some pictures from my friend's family's garden. This weekend I picked peppers and beans. But no proof because my camera battery died before we started working. The interesting part of the beans...they pick them after they are dried. They look like sugar-snap beans, or some kind of bean like that. And I ate one green...and they taste pretty good...but my friends thought I was crazy when I ate it. They just use the beans inside once they are dried. Maybe next weekend I will get some pictures of the beans. For now here are peppers and tomatoes. I have become very fond of peppers since living here. They cook with them so many different ways. This weekend we even ate them raw, not in a salad, but just chowing down on it like a carrot. It was strange at first, but good.
And these tomatoes are unbelievably good. I can not eat enough of them. Thankfully my mom's friend sent me home this morning with some freshly picked tomatoes and peppers (and onions and eggs too). Yummy!!

chickens

I would rather be here in the village right now....enjoying the cool breeze.

Chickens....do you go to bed with the chickens?

Do we say this in America when someone goes to bed early? I love watching the little baby chicks walk around and follow their mom everywhere. I grew up in the city, so village life is so interesting to me. I am always asking why, and I am determined to learn to milk a cow before I leave.

hot

Its too hot to actually do anything today. No one is here, as most students are all home in their villages, so there is no one to go out with. But its too hot to walk in the city anyway. Then its too hot to get any work done in my flat. Basically today I have done nothing. Its too hot to sleep, too hot to sit in front of the computer and work, too hot to try to study. Right now its 6:30pm and the temperature gage still says 104 F. Lately the nights have still been cool, so I am waiting for that...but we'll see. I haven't spent a night in the city for awhile. I think I will go try to watch a movie now, and then do some work once it cools down.

GRE

So I believe I will be starting grad school next fall. I have picked out the school I would like to go to, and now the only problem is that I must start studying. Its no fun. I like being the teacher, not the student. I actually like learning, finding out about new things, but not taking tests. Just the thought of taking this test after not being in school for so many years really frightens me. I used to think I was a smart person, but I sometimes doubt that these days. I have not been challenged mentally, educationally in a long time. Yes, I read books, the news, and random other things, I plan lessons, write recommendations, and supervise other teachers...but I do not study, I do not memorize. I am not good at memorizing. I am not good at vocabulary. My English vocabulary has actually gotten pretty bad after living here for 4 years not often speaking with other native English speakers about intellectual topics that may broaden my vocabulary.

Well I just printed off two test prep booklets. I will start with the Math section first, thats easy. Its concrete and understandable. I am good at math. I just need to remember it. Its been 10 years since I have taken a math course. Fun times lie ahead.

I am off to my friend's village....and maybe I will study there.

Odd place

"With its population of a little over three million, Albania is rather an odd place - a country where the expected rarely happens, and the unexpected often does."

This is a quote from a BBC article about a neighboring country over here. I find it is true for most countries here, especially where I live.

Ooops

Sometimes I am stupid....and sometimes forgetful...and when those are combined its not a good thing. The other day I started to write a story for here, but I wrote it in Word. I guess I never actually saved it, and then closed word. Well yesterday when I opened Word to do something else, it had a document in auto recovery...but I thought, I don't remember not saving anything, so I canceled the auto recovery. Well this morning I thought, I need to post my story on here, so I opened up word....only to find I never saved what I wrote. Now I am lazy to write it again. So for now you just get this post. Maybe later this afternoon I will have the creative juices flowing in my mind to write another story.

fyi

For those of you who are interested about my life...I am off to the beach again. This time I will relax (hopefully) and spend some time with a couple old friends.

Until then...hope you all are enjoying your summers.

Some views from my balcony....

I love to be outside when it rains, so I kept walking out on my balcony yesterday, just looking at all the rain. A few things made me laugh, and I thought I would document them for your viewing pleasure.


The first is a construction vehicle that has been here for a few too many days for my listening comfort. It is making a lot of noise. It was nice that they didn't work for most of yesterday, as it was raining. I don't understand what they are doing....something about a water pipe.

My neighbors recently got new internet and cable...and this is what happened to my balcony railing. The wires come from a telephone pole at the end of the yard.

Where does all that wiring really go? Does anyone know???

At least when looking down from my balcony I see this pretty plum tree.

Okay I am off for another coffee visit today. Hope you all enjoyed the views from my balcony.

some pics

Yes, this is my way of not actually getting my work done...but I thought its important for you all to see some pictures. The first two are from the leadership camp we have in the mountains. I just stopped by for one night, of course, on the day of the hike...a great excuse to be in the mountains.
For the summer we had a band here, and a couple times we hung out in the park and they played. And of course we ate watermelon!
Sad goodbyes. With 10 students here for the summer, they stayed busy and made lots of friends. On the last night all were still here we all got together for one final coffee time.

Its still raining outside and I am having trouble getting anything done. Thats the problem with taking a day off...then its hard to start working. Slowly but surely I will get motivated again. Thankfully I can move at a pretty slow rate this month and continue to take it fairly easy. Then come September things are up and running at full speed.

I love the sound of rain. If I can just stay focused enough to get a little work finished I can go sit on my balcony and read a book. Hopefully that will motivate me to finish this bit of work.

rain

The rain has finally come...and it can stay as long as it likes. (we'll see how long I am saying that...but for now its really good.) Thanks for the prayers. It actually rained a bit on Thursday (I think) and then again a little yesterday and today. Its raining now and I love the sound...and the joy it brings of the possibility of more water during the day.

My whole summer team is gone as of today. It was a good summer. Lots of things accomplished...research in some mountain areas, girls club, beach outreach, coffee shop outreach, relationships developed, new relationships started, and much more. I am thankful to all that were able to come this summer and give up some of their time to further the work here. You all were greatly appreciated.

So today I was in church and the generator was running (no electricity). We were in the middle of singing, with electricity being used for the overhead projector and the sound system for the music. The lights started to dim, and someone went outside to check the problem. Anyone here who uses a generator knows that probably means its low on gas and about to stop working. Surely enough the generator stopped...but the music continued. We all just kept going as usual. The person leading the music told us the words before we needed to sing them, and all flowed smoothly. Inside I just laughed and thought...only here would this happen so seamlessly.

After church I went home and enjoyed a nice relaxing afternoon by myself. I caught up on some phone calls, finished a book I just started reading, and made banana bread. Now its 10:30 and I think I will call it an early night and hit the sack.