Greetings from Albania for year #2.
We have come nearly to the end of the first quarter here at LAC and I have not been able to find enough time to write an update or communicate much at all with the outside world. I arrived at school early in the morning on the first day of school and it has been a face paced whirl since then. It is hard to believe that seven weeks have passed already, but it has been a time of enjoyable change. With a year of this adventure under our belts and our new school building established, the second year has been one with less growing pains so far. I am continually grateful for all that God has done to bring us to this point and giving us the opportunity to minister to an enlarged student body.
In addition to last year's students, LAC has had the privilege of adding a new sophomore and freshman class for a total of 47 students. Justin Rittenhouse and Ermal Zylaj have joined our cast of returning faculty to fill our needs in math and science. In addition to the five American teachers and Mr. and Mrs. Shahini, the LAC staff consists: Mrs. Papleka (Albanian Literature), Mrs. Qose (Reception plus), Tone (maintenance), Dava (cook), and some part-time Albanian teachers.
I am teaching American History to the freshmen, World History before 1500 to sophomores, and Civics to the juniors. I am fortunate to teach the underclassmen because I have the opportunity to get to know our wonderful new students, which makes me very familiar with all of our students. Our day starts at 7:30 am welcoming and supervising the students and the 1st block begins at 8:00. I have off the first block for planning, 2 = World History, then a break for lunch, 3 = American History, and I finish the day with all 17 juniors in Civics ending at 2:40. We decided to start this year with a mandatory study hall from 3-5 to support the students and provide a good environment to get most of their work done. We use this time to tutor or make-up work with students, but we also started a peer-tutoring program to help students who are struggling. This is a long day for both students and faculty, but it provides a stable and effective environment for the students to learn.
For the most part my classes have gone well. Since I taught World History before 1500 last year and I have a basic textbook to be centered on in American history, I spend most of my planning time working for Civics. Forming a class schedule has always required flexibility. In order to meet our tight demands, it was decided that I would teach Civics this semester after I arrived in Albania, which I had not prepared for over the summer. This last second change meant that I was trying to keep my head above water for the first few weeks as I searched for resources and formed my Economics material as I went along. This past week we successfully finished economics and we are moving onto the government portion of class. I feel more comfortable with this part of class because I have more familiarity with the content and have many resources to sift through given to me by teachers at Christopher Dock. I feel confident that it will be much easier to build the course around these provided resources, which will allow me a little more time and space to plan farther ahead.
In both of my history classes I introduced the study of history as we examined foundational concepts of worldview, context, bias, and primary sources, in addition to discussing how history is dynamic. In American History we started by examining Native American cultures and will finish the quarter with the Civil War. In World History, we discussed the Ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Greece, and Rome. It has been great to provide a different approach to teaching history and to encourage the formation of a global perspective in a country that has spent the last several decades in isolation. Each class is unique and I learn something new almost everyday by teaching these students.
The first several weeks were a serious grind. With a long school day, various meetings, my new class, workout time, devotional time, and time spent fulfilling basic physical needs, it felt like there was no time to spare. I would wake-up, get ready, pray, go to school for almost 10 hours, grab a snack, workout, shower, make and eat dinner, and then work for the last few hours of the night before going to bed to get 7 hours of sleep. Then the cycle would start all over again and this would continue from Sunday night to Thursday night when the cycle was broken by our bible study time. It has been good to have my planning time first block because I am able to drop my work at the necessary time to get my four REM cycles of sleep and then finish up the details before teaching my three preps.
Two things that I committed to fitting into my schedule this year were a regular workout routine and daily time set aside to connect with the Lord. During the second week of school I paid my membership fee at the local gym and began working out 2-3 times a week. I have been able to encourage Justin to workout every week as well, so he often joins me and I show him my routine. For my daily time with God, I have mostly been using a prayer book that contains a liturgy of prayer for every day of the year. Taking time to be quiet and put things in perspective is crucial in a busy schedule where you could easily let this fall to the side.
One big improvement over last year is our ability to have a regular time set aside for staff bible study. We have been moving chapter by chapter through Acts to begin discussion along with prayer, worship, fellowship, and food. It has been great to have a time to center as a group and have open discussion about our faith. Justin and Ermal have shared stories or perspectives that have helped us to learn more about them and grow as a unit. In addition to the guitar, we have a drum and Justin brought his violin producing a broader range of musical possibilities.
Each person having their own room and yet being neighbors has been helpful to get work done, but also to be able to interact whenever we want. On Friday evenings, the teachers usually spend our time together by going out to eat and then relaxing in conversation, with a movie, or in song. We have gone out for pizza several times, which is a nice treat because we stick around the school and cook our own food for most of the week. The four Mennonites all have a background in music, so we have started singing or improvising songs, responding to each other's harmonies and dissonance. This is a welcome change because last year there was not a lot of music to share...it is like the transformation of the Von Trapp household. This weekend we spent one night under a tent made from hanging sheets on a balcony with candles and pillows and another watching the lightning crash all around us as we broke bread together.
What do I typically eat? For breakfast I usually eat some yogurt with muesli or a piece of fruit. This year we have a cook who makes different food for the students to buy for lunch. I usually have a simple soup and bread with either spaghetti, rice, cooked vegetables, or salad. Justin and I have typically stick to my traditional skillet dish of eggs, sausage, pepper, onion, and tomato with toast because it is easy, cheap, healthy, and contains protein for post-workout. Also, last year, despite periodic doubts of the potability of the water may be inconsistent I decided to drink from the faucet all year last year. This year we are buying 5 liter jugs of water for $1 each and enjoying the vitality provided by these fountains of youth. Last week, the girls and I picked four pots full of grapes and decided to de-stem, press, boil, and squeeze them making 8 liters of grape juice thank ranged from thick, pulpy deliciousness to a smooth nectar that far surpassed any store-bought juice. The process took over 5 hours total, but it was my first time and I think it was worth it.
For those of you wondering about an address, although we changed locations, our post office address has remained the same.
Caleb Benner
Lezha Academic Center
Lagja: Beselidhja
Lezhe, Albania
So those are the basics for now. Stay tuned for more of the details and happenings of the first quarter because they will be coming soon. Please keep the community of LAC in your prayers as we continue to pursue the mission that Christ has given us. We have been blessed in so many ways and are exited to have this group of students to reach out to everyday, but there are always difficulties looming to limit our witness in country that needs it so desperately.
Zoti Bekoft - "God Bless you"
We have come nearly to the end of the first quarter here at LAC and I have not been able to find enough time to write an update or communicate much at all with the outside world. I arrived at school early in the morning on the first day of school and it has been a face paced whirl since then. It is hard to believe that seven weeks have passed already, but it has been a time of enjoyable change. With a year of this adventure under our belts and our new school building established, the second year has been one with less growing pains so far. I am continually grateful for all that God has done to bring us to this point and giving us the opportunity to minister to an enlarged student body.
In addition to last year's students, LAC has had the privilege of adding a new sophomore and freshman class for a total of 47 students. Justin Rittenhouse and Ermal Zylaj have joined our cast of returning faculty to fill our needs in math and science. In addition to the five American teachers and Mr. and Mrs. Shahini, the LAC staff consists: Mrs. Papleka (Albanian Literature), Mrs. Qose (Reception plus), Tone (maintenance), Dava (cook), and some part-time Albanian teachers.
I am teaching American History to the freshmen, World History before 1500 to sophomores, and Civics to the juniors. I am fortunate to teach the underclassmen because I have the opportunity to get to know our wonderful new students, which makes me very familiar with all of our students. Our day starts at 7:30 am welcoming and supervising the students and the 1st block begins at 8:00. I have off the first block for planning, 2 = World History, then a break for lunch, 3 = American History, and I finish the day with all 17 juniors in Civics ending at 2:40. We decided to start this year with a mandatory study hall from 3-5 to support the students and provide a good environment to get most of their work done. We use this time to tutor or make-up work with students, but we also started a peer-tutoring program to help students who are struggling. This is a long day for both students and faculty, but it provides a stable and effective environment for the students to learn.
For the most part my classes have gone well. Since I taught World History before 1500 last year and I have a basic textbook to be centered on in American history, I spend most of my planning time working for Civics. Forming a class schedule has always required flexibility. In order to meet our tight demands, it was decided that I would teach Civics this semester after I arrived in Albania, which I had not prepared for over the summer. This last second change meant that I was trying to keep my head above water for the first few weeks as I searched for resources and formed my Economics material as I went along. This past week we successfully finished economics and we are moving onto the government portion of class. I feel more comfortable with this part of class because I have more familiarity with the content and have many resources to sift through given to me by teachers at Christopher Dock. I feel confident that it will be much easier to build the course around these provided resources, which will allow me a little more time and space to plan farther ahead.
In both of my history classes I introduced the study of history as we examined foundational concepts of worldview, context, bias, and primary sources, in addition to discussing how history is dynamic. In American History we started by examining Native American cultures and will finish the quarter with the Civil War. In World History, we discussed the Ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Greece, and Rome. It has been great to provide a different approach to teaching history and to encourage the formation of a global perspective in a country that has spent the last several decades in isolation. Each class is unique and I learn something new almost everyday by teaching these students.
The first several weeks were a serious grind. With a long school day, various meetings, my new class, workout time, devotional time, and time spent fulfilling basic physical needs, it felt like there was no time to spare. I would wake-up, get ready, pray, go to school for almost 10 hours, grab a snack, workout, shower, make and eat dinner, and then work for the last few hours of the night before going to bed to get 7 hours of sleep. Then the cycle would start all over again and this would continue from Sunday night to Thursday night when the cycle was broken by our bible study time. It has been good to have my planning time first block because I am able to drop my work at the necessary time to get my four REM cycles of sleep and then finish up the details before teaching my three preps.
Two things that I committed to fitting into my schedule this year were a regular workout routine and daily time set aside to connect with the Lord. During the second week of school I paid my membership fee at the local gym and began working out 2-3 times a week. I have been able to encourage Justin to workout every week as well, so he often joins me and I show him my routine. For my daily time with God, I have mostly been using a prayer book that contains a liturgy of prayer for every day of the year. Taking time to be quiet and put things in perspective is crucial in a busy schedule where you could easily let this fall to the side.
One big improvement over last year is our ability to have a regular time set aside for staff bible study. We have been moving chapter by chapter through Acts to begin discussion along with prayer, worship, fellowship, and food. It has been great to have a time to center as a group and have open discussion about our faith. Justin and Ermal have shared stories or perspectives that have helped us to learn more about them and grow as a unit. In addition to the guitar, we have a drum and Justin brought his violin producing a broader range of musical possibilities.
Each person having their own room and yet being neighbors has been helpful to get work done, but also to be able to interact whenever we want. On Friday evenings, the teachers usually spend our time together by going out to eat and then relaxing in conversation, with a movie, or in song. We have gone out for pizza several times, which is a nice treat because we stick around the school and cook our own food for most of the week. The four Mennonites all have a background in music, so we have started singing or improvising songs, responding to each other's harmonies and dissonance. This is a welcome change because last year there was not a lot of music to share...it is like the transformation of the Von Trapp household. This weekend we spent one night under a tent made from hanging sheets on a balcony with candles and pillows and another watching the lightning crash all around us as we broke bread together.
What do I typically eat? For breakfast I usually eat some yogurt with muesli or a piece of fruit. This year we have a cook who makes different food for the students to buy for lunch. I usually have a simple soup and bread with either spaghetti, rice, cooked vegetables, or salad. Justin and I have typically stick to my traditional skillet dish of eggs, sausage, pepper, onion, and tomato with toast because it is easy, cheap, healthy, and contains protein for post-workout. Also, last year, despite periodic doubts of the potability of the water may be inconsistent I decided to drink from the faucet all year last year. This year we are buying 5 liter jugs of water for $1 each and enjoying the vitality provided by these fountains of youth. Last week, the girls and I picked four pots full of grapes and decided to de-stem, press, boil, and squeeze them making 8 liters of grape juice thank ranged from thick, pulpy deliciousness to a smooth nectar that far surpassed any store-bought juice. The process took over 5 hours total, but it was my first time and I think it was worth it.
For those of you wondering about an address, although we changed locations, our post office address has remained the same.
Caleb Benner
Lezha Academic Center
Lagja: Beselidhja
Lezhe, Albania
So those are the basics for now. Stay tuned for more of the details and happenings of the first quarter because they will be coming soon. Please keep the community of LAC in your prayers as we continue to pursue the mission that Christ has given us. We have been blessed in so many ways and are exited to have this group of students to reach out to everyday, but there are always difficulties looming to limit our witness in country that needs it so desperately.
Zoti Bekoft - "God Bless you"
