Business has continued on here at school for three more weeks. In this second quarter I have begun to teach evening English classes to adults which is something I have enjoyed. The classes are an hour and there is a book that we can follow for most of the course. I like teaching these classes because there is much less responsibility than with morning classes. I am don't feel like I need to control classroom management, there are no lesson plans, I am not responsible for what the students learn, and there are no grades or assessment. The student can choose to come or not and how much effort they will put into practicing. I usually start class with some different questions to stimulate conversation and then we work our way through the exercises in the book. The relaxed atmosphere means that we can spend time on or talk about whatever we want to in class as long because we will be practicing English. A side note: my Albanian students found it interesting when I told them that we use the phrase to "spend time". I explained to them that in America we are always rushing from one thing to another and time is viewed as a precious commodity. Whether it is spending time with family, at the beach, with a friend, or at church...these activities each involve us investing our time. Some of the students thought that this was a negative way of talking about activities or being with people we love. This just supports my earlier thoughts related to having coffee about how they are more relaxed and have time to "be with" people.
Two Saturday's ago, Dini and Klementina decided to take the four of us teachers around to some local cities since we had only been to Tirana, Shkodra, and the beach at Shengjin. We first went south to the coastal city of Durres, which is the main port city in Albania. There was some great views of the Adriatic from the long beachside promenade where we stopped for coffee. There was also the remains of a large Roman Ampitheater that we took a tour of. This was not only a nice reminder of my time in Israel, but also was the first Roman ruins encounter for the female teachers (a point I may have been more exited about then they were). We then left the city and drove up a small nearby mountain to a village with the remains of a castle. It is always nice to get a birds-eye view of the country below from the ramparts of an old castle. Next, we drove to the city of Kruja which is build onto the slopes of a large mountain. I loved driving up and down the winding cobblestone streets of this city with great views on both sides. We walked through the old part of the city where there was many souvenir shops and another castle. We heard that the best place to eat was on top of the mountain, so we drove up skinny road of hairpin turns with the cliff edge a few feet away at every bend. This excursion was well worth the anxiety caused by heights because the view was gorgeous. From above the city, I could see that the castle was built on the pinnacle of a long rock formation that rose above the surrounding landscape in almost the same design as the Old City of Jerusalem. As the sun set, we enjoyed a meal of roasted meat before quickly leaving because we began to freeze.
The beginning of the second quarter at school had been a little rocky. There was some personelle changes and some stress that accompanied shifting responsibilities. A couple of students had left the school for one reason or another as we approach Thanksgiving break. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we had a half-day at school during which my students took their test on Rome. That evening, many of the students and their families came to a restaurant we had rented out for a Thanksgiving celebration. The place soon filled up along with our stomachs as we enjoyed a buffet-style meal of simple local cuisine. We showed a video that the students had made discussing what they were thankful for and most of them mentioned the unique opportunity they had to study at LAC. The rest of the evening was unexpected. Some of the students discussed the American traditions for the holiday and then they decided to showcase a traditional Albanian dance. Before we knew it, the teachers were being pulled in by the students to dance in a line around the tables. I never was able to grasp the awkward steps of this dance, but that was soon forgotten as the dancing evolved into a less traditional affair. All the students began to dance to the modern music, while our local student pop-sensation Ardit took the microphone to sing along. After thinking how this would likely not be considered appropriate student-teacher interaction in the States...I thanked God that this was a different situation and joined in the party. The other teachers began to loosen up as well and soon Dini and I were showing the Albanians how to break it down American style (see Facebook Profile Pic). This event helped to soothe some of my uncertainties about the atmosphere of the school and was a great opportunity for the staff, students, and parents to come together to celebrate Thanksgiving as a school community.
We had extra reason to be thankful because, earlier that day, our large package from the States arrived. The most anticipated object was the long-awaited copier. We also received some sports equipment, wheeled classroom carts for the projectors, and 3-ring binders to help the students organize. Although things always take longer than we think to get accomplished here, everyday we are getting closer to being fully supplied as a school and we have so many people in the States to thank for their effort and support. This is a major undertaking that would not be possible without you.
Thursday and Friday we had off from school and the following Monday and Tuesday were off because of Albanian independence holidays. The other teachers and I took advantage of this time by traveling to Montenegro and Croatia. With the help of a tour-book borrowed from Milt and Ann, I led the crew onto a bus to Shkodra early Thursday morning. We bartered for a taxi that took us across the border and up through the coastal cities of Montenegro. We arrived at our first destination, Budva, early in the afternoon and found a cheap and quality hotel at the first stop we made. After releasing our bags, we walked around the old walled city with its winding alley ways, small shops, and beautiful churches. There was also a wonderful path that twisted along the rocky coast that put us close to the sea and offered great views of the city. That night we found a local restaurant where I ordered some unique black risotto, which was extremely black (from squid ink) and had lasting effects. Then we spent the night sitting on the wall in the quiet city that was almost void of all tourists.
The next morning we took the bus to Cetinje, the old capital of Montenegro. Here we visited an interesting historical museum, an art museum, an old royal residence, and an Orthodox Monastary. The monastary housed some important relics including: the right hand of John the Baptist, a piece of the True Cross, and an icon painted by St. Luke. In the afternoon we took a bus to Kotor, an old Venetian fortress city built on the bay shadowed by the tall mountains behind it. We checked in to our hostel and spent the night exploring the churches, walls, and streets of the city. There was a cruise ship docked out in the bay which gave the city more life than in Budva. We capped the day by venturing into an Irish pub that was warm and dimly lit with dark woodwork giving an alternative cultural feel.
Saturday morning we boarded the bus that would take us to Dubrovnik, Croatia. The bus ride was full of gorgeous views as we drove around the bay along the mountains and then above the beautiful coastal towns. As we came around a corner, I stood up in anticipation and exclaimed, "Boom! There she is." The sun was shining brightly on the red clay roofs and massive battlements of Dubrovnik, the little Venice. At the bus station, we were quickly greeted by a women who wanted us to stay in her house. I decided to check it out, and once again we conveniently landed a cheap and quality place to stay. It was a half hour walk into the old city, but the views were great and it was nice to be in the atmosphere of new modern city. After entering through the drawbridge gate and gazing down the central promenade to the bell tower on the far side of the city, it was time to get on the walls. These walls were massive, rising above both the city and the coast to give us perhaps unbeatable panoramic views. We stopped to eat our lunch picked up at the market and to relax on the walls in the sun. It took several hours to slowly venture around the whole city, stopping at every turn to take in the new sights. The Italian atmosphere and bustle of the city was wonderful and there were many tourists despite it being the off-season. I kept thinking about how I wanted to climb on the mosaic of clay roofs below and to find some quality lookouts as if I were living Assassin's Creed. The walls were such an attraction that I did not want to leave.
Eventually, we descended into the city and began exploring the countless streets and alley ways. There were many churches, shops, palaces, and restaurants. The pigeons flying around, sun reflecting off the limestone, and smooth sound of a saxophone only added to the unique feel of the city. As night fell, we began searching for a place to eat but it proved to be a difficult task with so many choices (most too expensive) and the maze of streets to navigate. The city was well lit and lively even at night, which was a welcome change. We settled for some pizza and salads before taking the city bus back to our room. The next morning we finished venturing through the city by visiting all the churches sites that we could find on the map. In the afternoon, we boarded the bus back to Kotor that would arrive at night. After checking into the hostel, we climbed partially up the mountain slope to sit together with a great view over the lit up city below.
On Monday morning, Kaitlyn and I climbed up the walls built into the slopes of the mountain to the fortress at the top. Jessica and Kristi opted to stay below to explore the city to avoid climbing the countless steps in their rain boots. I chose to take a path apart from the main route, which proved to be more rugged and pleasant than expected. The remains of the walls were overgrown with plants and staircases wound up the slopes reminding me of my travels in Northern Ireland. The antique battlements offered great views over the city and out into the bay beyond. I thoroughly enjoyed climbing and exploring the unmarked staircases and pathways along the way. At one point, there was a whole in the wall through which I climbed down the other side to find a little chapel along with some old ruins and a goat path that worked its way up the majestic mountains beyond. Not having time to follow this path, I ran back to the walls and up the steps to the top of the fortress. Naturally, the top offered terrific views that were enhanced by the sun making its way over the mountain to shine on the city below. After quickly descending down the common path we quickly bolted through the streets because I did not want to miss anything. One of the churches we went into had an extensive museum above the sanctuary with hundreds of silver and gold gilded religious artifacts including two more pieces of the True Cross. After conquering all the streets, we left Kotor on our bus to the border city of Ulcijn, where we took a taxi across to Shkodra. As the sun set, we took a mini-bus back to Lezha, our home.
The trip was amazing and I was very thankful for the way things worked out conveniently and for the good weather. The past three weeks I have actually been going through varying degrees of sickness. As I am writing this, every staff member of LAC is sick with a cough and throat issues. The trip actually was not an issue because the sun sets around 4:30, meaning that we could have our time in the city at night and still be back by 8 to go to bed. Even though we woke up early most of the time, we had the option to get plenty of sleep. It was nice to get to spend a lot of time with the girls and I am glad I had some traveling companions, although I did recognize there are pros and cons to traveling with other people.
There are some other things that have been going on here the past few weeks. I went to the local Catholic church the other weekend, which was an interesting experience. It is a huge building, but when readings for the service started there was only about 20-30 people. Within the next forty minutes people continually joined the service until it was packed with likely around 600 people. I did not know where they all came from, but it was interesting to see the attendance and the way that they worshipped. Also, we have also picked up playing soccer again and have played 3 more times in the past several weeks, which has been nice to get some exercise and competition.
At school, the students held elections the other week for student government. They chose 9 students, each with their own office, to represent the whole body, and this group chose me as their teacher supervisor. Just like that and I am involved in student government. This week we began practicing for our Christmas program which most of the students have volunteered to be a part of. We are going to do a simple skit based on the Christmas truce on the Western Front during WW1. We will also be teaching the kids several songs and combining this with readings of the Christmas story and the prophecy of the Messiah. This will be an adventure to get these students prepared to give this performance. Please pray for us as this will be the first overtly Christian thing that we are doing publicly as a school. We are hoping that the students will grow closer together and that they will be impacted by the story they are telling. We also hope that the parents and other people in the community will understand the message and feel the presence of Christ.
Shendet. Takohemi me vone - "Take care. See you later."
