Ms. Abby and Ms. Anna

I'm and education major, Anna was homeschooled, and we both love kids, especially these two little ones!  Putting those factors together have been just a small part of the journey getting us to the point where we are now: homeschool teachers for Ellie and Reni!  It's been exciting to ease the kids (and the teachers) into school for a week now!  We've sorted through curriculum, hung posters, and started the kids off with some fun lessons!!  I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of our school year!

A Walk in the Park

Definitely loved a relaxing day in the park.  Tirana has had absolutely perfect weather since we've been here, with upper 70s, lower 80s, and always sunny!  So I have to enjoy it while it lasts!  I also took my sketch book and worked on the view across the lake.

Learning Albanian

Who knew learning a language could be so fun??  We've turned learning Albanian into a game board that we created!

                         

It's great when the whole family can create the game and play together!  Since Albanian isn't related to any other languages, it makes it a little more challenging!!  But with help from our neighbor, Vera, and building off of a basic language structure, I can say some (incredibly) basic phrases!!

                 

Here's our game board!  On it is the stairs, bathroom, bedroom, and living room.  Above it are different people: me, he, we, and they.  We've been making different combinations to know who is on the stairs or in the bedroom.

If you were curious, "Unë jam ne dhoma e pritjes".  ...I'm in the living room. :)

Tour Tirana

Welcome to Tirana!!!  We enjoyed a lovely view from Sky Tower where we sipped on a cup of cappuccino in the rotating restaurant, getting a full view of the city

It was great to have Nathan and Cydil give us a tour of the city!!!  There were plenty of interesting sights to see.  Some of these included:

The pyramid that was built for Hoxha, the past dictator of Albania.  It has been slowly degrading over the years of neglect.

This is one of the many bunkers that was built when Albania was under communism.  There was one of these for every four Albanians in the country, because they were told that America would invade the country.  Thankfully today, Albania loves Americans!  

                         

We also saw a knock off of KFC: Albanian Fried Chicken.  And if you're familiar with the show Cheers, we found a sign for the bar here in Tirana!  If you're not familiar with "The Albanian Song" from Cheers, you should definitely YouTube that, but it may be stuck in your head for the next couple of days. :)

      

                    

The Journey

I can't believe the day has actually come!!!  We're in Albania, in the process of unpacking, and it's finally becoming real!!!

Anna and I had a great flight, and were joined by Nathan and Reni in Chicago.  It was so nice to have them as company through Istanbul and to Tirana!

You have to enjoy every part of the experience.  Even if you're jam packed in a plane or waiting in long lines, carrying heavy baggage.  It's not just about the destination, but the journey there!