Kosova Journal: Week 3, 15 July - 20 July

15 July

Trish's birthday! I surprised her a jazzy rendition of "happy birthday" at breakfast and I really enjoyed it; so did she. Upon completion of breakfast, we made haste to the center for our Lypjan orientation [primarily for the new team]. This was the same as last week, followed by a prayer walk. Even though it was the same, some reiteration was helpful for me. Interestingly enough, we didn't pray during my prayer walk, unsure why. I was with basically the four most influential males in the camp, but we just walked. It was good fellowship and I got to learn more about the city. Mark pointed out significant places and homes of people or in regards to the war [we were in the mosque neighborhood, primarily]. Today I started to get to know some of the new people - as Bonita challenged us to do. The Landmans are benign, sincere, loving people. They're my travel partners on the way home, so I'm looking forward to getting to know them some more. Tiffany is cool, too. Alice, I met on the Skopje trip but she was still recovering from her jetlag, so slept on the train mostly. I haven't gotten to know Heather yet.

For lack of a better time, I'll introduce you to some language helpers and translators.

Roza and Arbana Miftari. They're great and we got to spend much time together
[mostly during afternoon game times] They are, needless to say, beautifully made in God's image.

Elena and Fitorja [cousins] sitting with Bonita. Elena, Fitorja and I are buds.
Elena lives in Switzerland and is pracitcally fluent in four languages. Wow.
We all chat/email fairly regularly and its been swell.

Pajtesa - quite the athlete. She's cool.

16 July

CHURCH! I had a good time talking with Tiffany this morning and discovering a similar passion for music, singing, and other similarities in life. Terri and her dad, Tim [my housemate whose extremely late arrival proved to be a rude awakening at 12:30 PM] finally joined us after several airplane mishaps. Praise God. Both are genuinely loving people. I'm glad they are here and for the chance to get to know them. This afternoon I did just that, and we had a blast! Xhevat, Agron, Terri, Tiffany, Corisa, and myself all went to cafe Marigona [the 'hip' coffee bar in town] to chill and hang out. We had a good time. After Marigona, we went to Agron's to watch them chop wood and hang out some more. It was lots of fun. Tonight I was supposed to Skype with Mom and Dad, but the power gave out, so I enjoyed some 45-minute chill time with the Edwards, which is, as we all know, always nice. A guys' movie night was also happening but stopped short once again, because of power outage. Lets get some rest for the first camp day, eh? Yes, spoken like a fake canadian [ <-- did I actually write that? Yes... yes I did *rolls eyes*]. Terri is glad we're all together; she feels we compliment each others' personalities really well and ought to get along. She had her concerns before coming [concerns which I shared as well], but was now calmer, more content, and happier.

I feel that it is worthwhile noting that Xhevat broke a chair tonight with a futbol and it was priceless! He kicked the ball which hit the chair [the plastic chair was serving as a goal post] and a single leg shot from the chair and punctured the boat, dangling on the inside. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I guess you had to be there. Fortunately, Kerry, Xhevat, Agron, and I all were.

Corissa, Tiffany, Agron and I. Agron and I had shot a modeling picture earlier.
Here I just look like a plain idiot. Oh well.

Just for grins, here is our modeling pic. Agron actually is a part-time fashion model.
I got to see his pictures, they're pretty darn awesome.

Here's the "trifecta?" We actually never came up with a nickname, but we had fun.
Tiffany, way to be front and center. Good work.

17 July

First day of camp 2. I was worried, I admit, about who my kids would be and how they would act and interact with each other. Well, God made calm my anxiety and the first day I had 5 rather cooperative and tranquil boys - we'll see what happens as the camp progresses. The one somewhat minor and challenging thing is the seeming lack of enthusiasm in the kids and leaders. This was shared in debriefing time, too. I participated in the 2:00 game time, when I may have opted for the market or free/alone time. I did, however, enjoy playing futbol with the 8 boys that showed up. Wait, I recall that the kids were major whiners and complainers. Playing inside with the girls was fun, too. I just rememberd that I ought to mention that all of the Olluris left for Albania on vacation[ save for Ardian, the oldest son], and will be gone until the 26th of July. This makes me both sad and happy. I *was* feeling like I was struggling being kind and gracious to Leonita - she just really frustrated us sometimes. But, I wish Tim would have had the pleassure of the fun [and sometimes strange] interactions with the family. THAT is what makes me somewhat sad.

Gentrit, Egzon, Laurent, Endrit, Granit - my boys!

This picture has no significance to July 17th, its just showing
Jeff, Agron, and Faton [Agron's younger bro]
at Ciao's - out popular hangout joint.

18 July

Camp day 2. Today the boys were still great and Melodye got more kids, so our English class became somewhat more vibrant, which was definately needed. In today's game, goldrush, I stubbed my toe. As the day progressed it felt intensely more painful and so I looked at it - DARK purple. I was limping alot, and it was the most - painful bruise I've ever had, I imagine. So, at Egzon's house [my first visit for the 2nd camp], his mother made an authentic Kosova medical treatment for me: onions mixed with salt. I was initially skeptical, but it really, really helped ease the pain. Joanne Landman, bless her heart, served me my entire dinner. Carolyn, who accompanied me on the visit, felt that it was probably broken. That's a scary thought Well, I hung out a bit with Agron tonight at Ciao's and Starnet [the internet cafe]. I really like this guy. I sincerely wish that he would reconsider his faith and become a believer. I know he's heard the message, it just some more "umph" with it, I think. I may give him my headlamp [because he really likes it] with some verses that talk about light.

My toe [pre-treatment].The bluriness bothers me too, get over it.

19 July

"Holy, freakin crap"

This statement, and about 7 repititions of it summed up our [mine and Josh's] feelings and thoughts about tonight. This conversation was ridiculous. We talked with Besnik and Ramadon, both very kind and calm gentlemen and the two most devout muslims I've met yet. [I recorded the major points of the conversation on a page in the back of my journal, and I will add them here:]
Major points in the conversation with Besnik:
- Muslims believe the Bible, and acknowledge it to be a holy text. To say you don't believe the Bible is saying you aren't muslim.
- Jesus was but a prophet of God, only. Not his son.
- Acknowledgement of four ways to make a human:
1. Adam -- out of nothing. "Ex Nihilo" as it were.

2. Eve -- out of flesh
3. Jesus -- virgin mother
4. everyone else -- natural sexual reproduction
- Acknowledge miracles
- Jesus ascended in the garden of G and never actually died. God made Judas appear like Judas, and Judas was instead crucified.
- The Gospel of Barnabus, etc...? gnostic writings which they give credentials to
- Whats the difference between Adam and Jesus? God had the same WILL in both creations - unnatural births
- In Bible, Jesus tells woman "no, I'm not the messiah' -- this was clearly taken out of context
- The Quran is superior to the Bible. So, when it contradicts the Bible, the Quran is given more regard, because the quran is the all-true word of Allah, as reveal to Muhammed sometime in 1300 AD. Muhammed was prophesied by Jesus, appearantly. [I'd have to look up where]

Anyway, these were the major points in this most intense religious discussion. We thought/talked about it together for a long time. Josh and I didn't have much opportunity to share our side...which is good, becuase we felt pretty burned, and because it was valuable to hear the other side first. We plan to meet again, and discuss our side more in-depth.
My toe has been feeling significantly better today; definately and anser to prayer and an evident act of God. Definately not broken, either. Today I visited Laurent with Amanda and Avdi. This kid is extremely talented and bright. The visit seemed somewhat mediocre, not alot was shared, but it wasn't negative either. I really like Avdi. As we walked back to the center, I got to chat with him some more and it was enjoyable. He's an ambitious fella but also tenderhearted. He teaches English in a secondary school. Him and his three siblings are all teachers - impressive. They have a real heart for Kosova and the future generation.

Here's Teacher Amanda with Laurent in class. She's being "surprised."
I was fortunate to be in Amanda's class for both camps. We were quite vibrant,
had alot of energy, and had a knack for working off of each others' ideas.

The infamous "CUP GAME!" Because my toe was agonizingly painful, I
resorted to a less-active means of entertaining the kids - they loved it!

20 July

Today, I got to experience a wedding. I'll tell ya, I was thoroughly happy to be invited to this event, a way to experience more culture of Kosova. The groom, Seli [spelling?], was a medical student who worked with my dad when he came to Kosova in 2000 - so that is the connection. Anyway, I was told to look forward to great feasts and good dancing, so I did just that. We arrived and Mark and I went to the guys' house, and Trish and Vjollca went to the womens' area. Upon our arrival, we were led to a room in the back where I was the youngest by at least 20 years. Mark engaged in Albanian conversations and I just, sat there. It was pleasant. Everybody stood up shortly thereafter which meant, as I found out, that we had to go pick up the bride. So, oh neat, we all jump in cars, drive across town, honk our horns and go crazy, like all of the preceding wedding processionals I'd observed so far. Simple, right?

wrong.

Actually, four fully grown men and myself packed into a two-door sports car and drove across the country which took a little less than 2 hours to arrive at the bride's house. It was brutal. The bright side was that my driver spoke English and I got to see some pretty scenery. At the bride's house we were greeted by all the men in her family [the women were again at a seperate location] and proceeded to sit in a circle. Then, different family members distributed wafer cookies, Bitter Lemon Schweppe's soda, and 4 cigarettes. Well, unsure what to do, I just sat there and sipped my soda [it was quite bitter]. A man sitting next to me warned me [in English] that I had to smoke at least one cigarette. When I told him I prefered not to smoke, he laughed and me and said, "I know, but this is the bride's house, you have to play by their rules."

So, here I am...frantically figuring out how to improvise lighting the cig, putting it in my mouth, and not smoking it [I knew I'd look like an idiot if I tried to smoke it]. So, this gentleman was holding the lighter out, and just as I was about to smoke it, he pulled back and said...

"hahahaha just kidding!!!" Wow, what a way to take advantage of the ignorant American.
So, we left the bride's house, drove back to Lypjan, and then the dancing started. We stuck around for a while, and then Trish asked if we were ready to go... this whole time, I was anticipating the wonderful feast I was promised. Now it was 7:30 and the last thing I ate was at 10:00, so I was pretty starving. We went to Golden Day Restaurant and I had a steak, it was wonderful. Appearantly, we were too late, and the men had already eaten. Oh well, a fun experience, but I'd have liked to been without the four+ hours in the car. Brutal.

Some men dancing together [at the bride's house]
I enjoyed dancing, and it wasn't too difficult to pick up.

A scene from the car ride.

Mark, Trish, and I at the wedding. Notice the bride in the background -
she had to stand like a statue the entire time, never smiling
[symbolism of sadness for leaving family]