Hotel California Tirana

... und von ein** B**gstadt aus den Ottomanen ein kleines Reich abgetrotzt. In 25 Schlachten mit den Ottomanen ging ** als Sieg** h**vor und sein Reich wurde **st 26 Jahre nach seinem Tod von den Ottomanen besiegt (in 1479). Die Alban** sehen sich als Rett** des Abendlandes, waren die Ottomanen doch zu ihr** sta**ksten Zeit in Schlachten mit Skand**b**g beschaeftigt statt die Truppen gen Wien zu schicken.

Albanien macht keinen sehr islamischen Eindruck, die ...

... Each time it had to count down from ten and not once did she get upset. It must have been my American charm or something, right? Can you imagine ******** up a machine at Wal-Mart? That is one 500 pound clerk I don't want to mess with. After about five minutes I finally had my banana. You know what though...I can't even stand bananas back home in the US, but for some reason I am craving them over here. Weird, huh?

Albania...what can I say. It is ...

I gazed out of the window as Pristina faded into the distance and the roads became increasingly dilapidated (****). Then it began. A bus of chattering Albanians was silenced as the onboard television descended (yanked down by a portly Albanian) and a dvd was forced inside. Within seconds the entire audience was fixated by what appeared to be a homemade compilation of Albanian music videos and the occasional comedy sketch- I think it was ...

... etre a la maison, surtout que vous me dites que4 les feuilles ont rougi; c'est mon temps prefere... ce matin je suis alle a la messe a la cathedrale et j'ai concelebre en anglais avec l'eveque auxiliaire qui vient de malte... j'aurais aime avoir une longue conversation avec lui mais je suppose qu'en ce dimanche il n'avait pas le temps... mais il m'a bien accueilli ...

... to feel sorry for her, I was pretty sure she was telling herself that it was just her luck that the foreigner would pick her counter. The call took quite awhile and a great deal of discussion but having satisfied themselves that I was indeed telling the truth, and safe in the knowledge that as far as they were able to identify I was no spy or international terrorist, she began to process my details through the computer. "Computer says no" is what id imagine she said in Albanian, as ...

... for a coffee than for a beer, even in Tirana. While the Albanians were generally nice to me, they also talked about me in front of me in a very obvious way more than any other place I visited. And this wasn't in the oh look, a foreigner sense, this was more in the point and laugh kind of sense. Obviously I don't know exactly what they were saying, but that was the feel I got from them. Albanians are also very pro-American. There were a ...

"It's just . . . weird. It's a weird, weird country." So said Oliver and Sam, two Aussie guys we met in Istanbul a week a go. This was enough of a recommendation for us to add Albania to our itinerary. Albania is not a country that makes it on to many people's travels itineraries, for several reasons. Chief among these is that, until about five years ago, the country's borders were shut to tourists, only business travel was permitted. The result of this is that ...

... a thing, just smile and nod. Oh and guess whether we should be saying Po (Yes), Mire (good) or often the word of choice, Falemnderit (thank you). The team meet at the castle from our scattered locations for a team talk and to plan the children's meeting for the afternoon. We spend a good time praying/sharing verses from that morning- seem to have rather a lot. I think we've all found our faith in God has been strengthened already by the week we've had in Albania. After lunch we head to ...

... i was taking a picture of their food and they wanted me to take pictures of them too. So i did. Madness. Next day i decided to head out to the nearby town of Kruja. About 50 k's away. Had to get a minibus, which took around an hour for me to find. There is no bus station, mini bus station etc. There is just roads they hang around at. Minibuses and busses leave as soon as they are full and they wait until they are full before leaving. Anyway, i got the mini bus to "F Kruja ...

... date of Christmas--January 7--in some Eastern European Countries)... Finally...exhausted from travels (and from conversation)...we retired to bed! Our room was a dormitory for 10...with 3 beds made up just for us! And...the view? Wow! Right out upon the church itself--looking so peaceful and scenic under it's freshly-fallen coat of snow. Seemed something out of a fairy tale... Morning followed a vivid-dream-filled night...and a personal tour ...