OK, so now it's Thursday, 7 November

Wow!  Time sure does fly!!  I have only one week left before I will be winging my way back to the West Coast!  It will be nice to have a washer and dryer again.

I must admit, I feel comfortable here in Albania.  The people are so kind and forgiving of a bumbling "tourist"; they are so willing to help.  Yesterday, for the first time, I met a friend of mine on the street and he said a very loud "Mirmenjes" (Good morning) to me as I was on a mission and not expecting a friendly face.  While I'm used to seeing people from the Center as I amble around here, this was completely unexpected.  It made me feel I belong here.

The madras in Tirana

The layout of Tirana is finally becoming imprinted.  If you know me, you probably realize that I am usually 90 to 180 degrees "off" when I am trying to find my way... rarely do I manage to "feel" like I'm going in the correct direction.  That happens here, too, but I'm getting a better sense of where things are. 

When I first came, there were no maps that I could find - most streets were unnamed.  On one of my visits, I guess maybe two years ago, there was a frenzy to name all the streets because of an effort to get into the EU.  I blogged about it at the time; names of streets were going up indiscriminately,  sometimes being changed by the residents of the streets.  Now, there are lots of maps  - most too complex for me.  I have a little old map that Berti gave me 2-3 years ago, and on it are many of the main streets.  With that map, I am beginning to put together the "lay of the land."  I finally have the "University" in the right place in my mind, the "lake," the "bead" store, the prison and so on.  It makes it so much more cohesive, and allows me to find my way around more easily.

Ocean front, Durres

Well, on Tuesday, I was "under the weather."  I think that's when I put together the last post, telling you about the wonderful weekend we spent in Vlora.  You will think I have only come here to be a tourist this time, but please realize that there has been a request that I not share much of what I am doing here so publicly.  That's frustrating, I know, but probably for the best.

So, one of my good friends here has only had one day off since I was last here - despite her plans during the summer to take a week to go to the sea.  So, I took her to Durres yesterday - it was "her" day... and we decided that the rain would not dampen our spirits. 

We took a van to the "train station" in Durres, she met one of her best friends and I was met by another old friend, Arian.  Arian and I went to an incredible pasticeri where we met his wife and young son, and we had a wonderful time there.... eating!  Yummy!  I could have taken the whole pasticeri home with me, but decided to leave it there so you could discover it, too, when you come to Albania.

Walkway along the waterfront

Then, I met up with my special friend, and we had coffee and just walked.  She showed me her old haunts, we walked along the sea wall which has been "cleaned up" since I was last there.  We had another coffee and talked at length.  I think it was good for her to be able to spend time and discuss some questions she has about her business.  Well, I'm not too much of a business person, but God stepped in and I think we were able to come to some conclusions that hopefully will result in a more successful business.  This is vital... much of what she does impacts my ministry in one of the suburbs here, and she has a responsibility to contribute to her household income.  Her work with me is entirely voluntary.

Sunset

Her last wish of the day was to see the sun set over the sea.  Well, we stood there and talked as the sun set - it was lovely.  The California coast is not the only place where the sun falls into the sea!!!  It was like home - except for the mosquitoes; I now have a few more itchy, red bumps!  The mosquitoes here are quite intelligent, and sneaky!

Via Egnatia, Durres - feet of Paul

Today I visited the prison, and spent quite a bit of time discussing love again... mother love and father love.  Almost every woman at the table had lost or been abandoned by her father at a young age, or had never known him.  Interesting... what does that say about the importance of a father?  Well, the last time that we talked about love, the ladies agreed that "real" love is mother love.  It was quite fruitful to morph that that concept into father love.  It naturally led to the Father of love.  Oh, Abba, that these ladies would know that they are not forgotten, and that price of their sins has been paid for them, if only they will accept it.

Then, I hurried home because I had a few errands to run before catching a bus to the suburbs.  I had

Durres Coliseum

to find the bead store - well, it's not really a bead store, but it serves as one.  It doesn't have many of the things you would think would be in a bead store, but I was looking for pony beads so that I can complete a project that I had not planned for.  It has been good to have an Action Packer here - it has allowed me to be flexible, and I will be teaching the crochet necklace at one of the churches - not something I packed for, but there were some "left-overs" from my last visit.  I did find beads similar to pony beads, but I must say were a little more "precious."  Oh, well, it will allow me to complete the project.

I needed also to find a small crochet hook for my project, and there was one lady at the prison who, at my last visit, was in tears because she didn't have the tools to make anything for her children.  So, I bought a crochet hook for me and a second one for her as well as some crochet thread... what do you call it?  At any rate, one of her "family members" will leave it for her, and hopefully she can make something for her children.

All the while as I was running here and there, I was also looking for a special kind of pliers that I should have brought with me, but in the effort to reduce the weight of my luggage, I forgot that I'd need it.  Oh, well.  Albania, the land of improvisation.  I did find only one set of pliers - used, the points did not come together, and they were definitely not going to do what I needed to have done.

Durres mosque above art gallery

Then off to the suburbs and an encounter with some of the women I think God has purposefully placed in my way here - one an Ob-Gyn.  My medical colleague showed me some videos she has on her new iPhone 5 - she seems to have a sad life.  Also, had the opportunity to collect some of what I had ordered and taught a new person how to do the project I brought.  Then helped the storekeeper clean and get rid of some things that didn't need to be in the store.  I now have two sewing machines which need to be repaired in my room right now.  I'll take them in tomorrow.

And this was going to be a post about Durres.  So much for the "well-laid plans."

Will try to spend a little of tomorrow with you, but the next two days are pretty full!!

Pafshim!