A typical Albanian visit

We have sampled a few Albanian restaurant meals since we arrived. The food here is really terrific. Even the camp food makes our mouths water.

One day we tried byrek (pronounced boo-wreck), which is considered one of the area specialties. It's like a quesadilla, but with soft phyllo-type dough instead of tortillas and fillings like white beans or a strong-tasting feta cheese mixed with sauteed leek. They are only sold until mid-morning, so you have to hustle if you want byrek around here!

Two nights ago, we took our friend Mark for pizza at the local pizzaria. I had to laugh, because no one around here can tell you what the topping choices are, except for "some kind of meat" and "cheese" and "all sorts of vegetables." We Americans are used to a million-and-one choices, aren't we? Here, you just order a pizza with everything. It was really yummy, especially with a cold "Tirana" beer.

However, the true highlight of the evening came when a friend of Mark's named Jamal sat down to chat. Jamal is a charming older gentleman with a plaid cap, a cane and a definite twinkle in his eye. Mark explained that Jamal was actually one of Albania's most famous and celebrated folk singers in his day. I tried to get him to sing for us, but he said his heart was not so strong now, so he no longer sings. Jamal eventually invited us to his apartment, and after Mark told us this was a good opportunity to experience a typical Albanian visit, we accepted the invitation. In the end, we were very glad to have Mark along, because there are apparently some guidelines to a visit like this:

* Everyone who enters an Albanian home on a visit receives a drink. Typically this is an Albanian liquor, similar to a brandy. But Jamal's daughter-in-law (Lela), not the least phased by us dropping by unexpected, served us a fruit juice. Albanians do not ask if you want a drink or what kind of drink you want; they simply serve you.

* When you get your drink, you hold onto it until everyone is served. Then the host, Jamal in this case, raises his glass for a toast. The toast sounds something like "gah-rote," and we also repeated this when we were offered a chocolate, which one also must accept so as not to be rude.

* Here's another interesting thing: The guest doesn't necessarily have to drink more than a sip or eat more than a bite, as long as he/she goes through the motions. It is not considered rude to leave most of the food behind. Bereket made the mistake of finishing her juice first and had her glass refilled immediately, which she again felt obligated to drink. The rest of us learned to sip slowly!

* When the host offers coffee, the guest can accept or decline. But once coffee is offered, the guest has the green light to leave whenever he/she must. We declined coffee in this case and soon departed, but not before we took a photo with Jamal and Lela (above). They were such delightful people, and we appreciated having our first visit to an Albanian home be so warm and pleasant.

When I relayed this story to Joe, the Peace Corp worker who lives below us, he told me that, unlike Americans, Albanians have never lost the art of conversation. These types of visits and interactions with their friends (and even strangers), is what drives their day. They are never inconvenienced by a visit, nor too busy to stop and make conversation in the midst of their days. That's certainly a skill I'd like to develop as I live like an Albanian for a few more weeks.

Camp in Albania

It's the first week of camp here in Erseke, so I'm including some photos of our kids taking part in the fun. Godebo (pictured with his personal translator, Steven Stoscher) and Noel (participating in a sack race) are sleeping at the camp all week. Thankfully, they are in the same room, along with Steven and Jamie Stoscher and two other boys who speak fluent English. Even so, a lot of the time, they must sit back and listen to Albanian being spoken, so it's not an easy undertaking. I'm proud of them for being so brave to give this experience a try.

Jeff, Bereket, Isabel and I walked over to camp at lunch time today to see if we could lend a hand. Unfortunately for us, the camp is pretty well staffed, so there wasn't much for us to do. Isabel helped a bit with crafts (photo below), Bereket enjoyed the climbing wall and some other activities, and I dried some dishes for about an hour, but the rest of the time we just did a lot of watching and chatting with people, or playing volleyball and basketball with the campers and counselors. It's very weird not to have a lick of responsibility here. Quite frankly, we're deadly bored a lot of the time. But that's just how it goes when you show up someplace without an established role. It gives us flexibility to come and go as we please, but it means we're twiddling our thumbs a lot of the time. Jeff tells me this is part of "detox" from our busyness at home -- in other words, it feels very uncomfortable, even painful, but it's really a good thing for us. I can buy that, I guess, but the truth is that I feel more lonely and homesick when I'm not busy, so it makes this long vacation much harder in some ways.

Oh -- for those from Sacramento, I included a photo of Natalie, who is being such a trooper at camp, but is also feeling somewhat lonely and bored at times. She's a bit amazed by the lack of organization here; the schedule is loosely organized, but there's a lot of running around or waiting around -- not at all like Westminster Woods. Here she's pictured with two of her co-counselors, Mary from Kosovo, a delightful and joyful 16-year-old who came to faith in the midst of great personal tragedy during the war there; and Anna, a serious but pleasant German college student who was in Albania for the Torchbearers Bible School and decided to stay for the summer.

A different way of doing things

We have spent the last couple of days helping our friends Mark and Ruthie get ready for the first camp of about 140 kids, which started today. Actually, we're not sure we're very helpful, but it helps us to be helpful, if that makes sense. So we showed up yesterday eager to get to work. Mark gave us the task of clearing some willow branches away from a stairway, and sweeping the steps. The only thing was, there were probably 8 people interested in doing this same task, and our tools were a couple dinner knives (to cut the branches, since no one could locate clippers) and two brooms with missing sticks. Everyone just kind of took turns cutting and sweeping and watching. I found it a good picture of life here in Erseke. People are very eager to be helpful, the tools are often substandard (by American standards) but the job gets done one way or another.

Here's another example: Today we were asked to help put together an above-ground pool next to the camp. But the pool, just recently purchased from a vendor far away, was missing two pretty important things: the instructions to put it together, and a curved pipe that made up the corner. Again, there were about a dozen volunteers -- mostly high school and college boys -- happy to help figure things out. And when we told Mark there was a piece missing, he just replied, "I'm sure we can come up with something." And, by golly, when I returned an hour later, the pool was set up and ready to be filled with water.

I'm trying hard to embrace this culture for what it is, rather than through my American mindset or my perfectionistic nature. Things don't always go as efficiently as I would wish it. The results sometimes seem less polished than I'd like. But overall, these people seem much less stressed than the average Westerner. Equally impressively, they show incredible affection to each other. Even we newbees are welcomed with hugs and kisses by those we've met, well, sometimes 10 minutes before. Not a bad way to live, wouldn't you agree?

Before I bid you meeru pavshim ("goodbye" with improvised spelling), I'll fill you in that Jeff is finally -- thank you Jesus -- feeling better. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say he was the grouchiest of grouches yesterday. (Here's a direct quote -- Me: "Look at that beautiful sunset." Him: "I really could care less about the sunset.") Do you feel my pain? But today that glimmer of humor returned, as well as his voice and appetite, so I think he's on the mend.

And I did decide to forego the opportunity to do some reporting in the north part of the country, since I didn't think my jetlagged body was ready for a 10-hour trip (one way) on windy, gut-wrenching mountain roads. I'm hoping I'll be able to do some other stories closer to home. But, then again, I'm in Albania now, so you never know day-to-day what might happen. :)

Easy does it

As we enter day 4 in Erseke, we are slowly getting the hang of the Albanian way of life. Things definitely move more slowly here. I have yet to see anyone rushing. And everywhere you look, you see people enjoying one another, even in the midst of their work. Shopkeepers sit down at tables outside their businesses to sip coffee or soft drinks with their clients; farmers stop threshing to chat with their neighbors. And the young people from the local church meet several times a day to play games, play music and sing together, or take walks or hikes into the neighboring woods or mountains.

Yesterday, Abi Stoscher (16) invited Isabel to join the high school youth group for a hike up the mountain to a neighboring village. There, they paused to play some games with a soccer ball (mind you, no adult is coordinating this activity; this is just what they do). Then they hiked back down. Isabel was really impressed with how happy the youth seem here, just hanging out together and doing healthy activities like this. Later in the evening, around 9, the youth gathered again at the Stoscher's house and guided us up the same road in the pitch dark to see and catch fireflies. We walked for at least 40 minutes, catching fireflies and laughing and talking -- some of the kids practicing their English with us, or laughing at our attempts at Albanian. Our family finally bowed out just before 10 to get our kids home to bed, but they kept going. I think these young people, as well as the adults in this small town, will teach us a lot about true community before we leave.

Oh, for those who know Natalie, she was there too, hiking to find fireflies. She is doing very well, getting to know her fellow camp-leaders from around the world. I think she's eager for camp to begin this weekend, though. It's a bit slow right now, perhaps too boring for someone still fighting homesickness. We're having Natalie over for dinner tonight, so we'll have more time to talk.

For today's photos, here are a few images of the local kids, who gather every day from 6-7 to play on the Stoscher's playground. Jeff brought a wiffle ball and bat, so that was a big hit yesterday.

Exhausted but settled in

After 30 hours of travel, door to door, we're finally in Erseke, Albania, and settling into our new home. I won't bore you with all the details of the trip, but a few things that will stick with me:

* The tortuous lack of leg room on United -- Seriously, people, I am not a tall person and I could barely cross my legs. In the middle of the night, when desperation to find a comfortable sleeping position gripped me, I tried to lower the tray table and rest my head. But I couldn't even get my head to the table without bumping the top of the seat in front of me! Needless to say, not much sleep was accomplished, although Noel, who was sprawled over me, rested quite well, thank you very much.

* Arriving in Tirana, which was experiencing Sacramento-like heat, and having to kill three hours at an Albanian restaurant with our two taxi drivers who spoke zero English -- Natalie Reyes (friend from church also spending a month in Erseke) had her flight from Milan delayed three hours. So we gained our first experience of trying to communicate using few words as we sat in a restaurant waiting. This led to some funny misunderstandings when we tried to get our point accross in English with hand motions thrown in. For example, Jeff tried to tell the waiter that we really liked the fresh feta cheese on our greek salads, and the waiter nodded earnestly and then rushed to bring us the entire plate of feta cheese he thought we had ordered.

* The curvy, 5-hour drive from Tirana to Erseke -- Albania is entirely covered by mountains -- gorgeous, green and gray mountains dotted by little villages and some lovely bigger cities. But mountains in a country with limited road-construction dollars means stomach-turning, two lane roads that wind up, down and through the countryside. We all took Dramamine and faired better than expected, but I had the bag ready just in case.

We were so relieved to finally arrive at our home for the next 6 weeks. It is the upper flat of a two-story home, and it's really spacious, clean and comfortable. Our friends Mark and Ruth Stoscher made sure everything was stocked with towels, sheets, food -- even a brand new mattress. I'll attach some photos, so you can get an idea. We slept like rocks and woke in the morning to the sounds of Erseke -- sheep and goat bells, roosters, and a bit of road construction down the lane. It's really blissfully quiet here. We're trying very hard to enter that slower mode and become comfortable with not having anyplace to be. Harder than you would think!

Some quick prayer requests, if you're willing: Jeff came down with some sort of chest cold or respiratory ailment. He's really under the weather. So please pray for good health. And keep me in prayer as I make arrangements to (possibly) tag along with some World Vision people on a reporting assignment. The area I would be going is very remote, so this would involve being away from Erseke for five days. I'm excited but pretty nervous, so please pray for a calm spirit and for all the details to get worked out. It's an exciting opportunity...more on that later.

For now, know that we don't have internet access at the moment. I'm currently sitting in the home of another American missionary, mooching her connection. So we won't be checking e-mail or blogging as often as we'd like, at least for the moment.

Three days from now...

Welcome to all who've joined us for another Chapman adventure. As you probably know by now, we're heading off for a 9-week journey to Europe as part of Jeff's three-month sabbatical. Because it is a sabbatical, and Jeff truly felt the need to rest and reconnect with God, himself and our family, we're starting our trip with a six-week stay in Erseka, Albania, where our good friends Mark and Ruth Stoscher, and their four children, are missionaries. We hope to slow our pace there and do lots of things that get lost in the shuffle here in Sacramento -- long walks and hikes, reading, playing games, connecting with people around us. Still not entirely sure what day-to-day will look like, but hopefully very different from here. After that time, we'll head to Italy for nine days and Switzerland for 11 days. Quite a long journey, but hopefully an enriching one.

We're currently in high-stress mode. Ok, I (Esther) am in high-stress mode. Jeff is currently playing baseball with his Little League team...cool as a cucumber, I must say. But I'm desperate to get the house cleaned up so our housesitter won't have to say "eew" too many times. And I'm eager to have all the things on my bedroom floor magically get packed into the six suitcases. And there's still a fairly long list of things to do by the end of the weekend. So I'll sign off for now and promise to re-connect when our feet hit Albanian soil on Tuesday.