So today I went to a park in Albania with two of my teammates trying to figure out where The Lord was leading us. We were sitting on a bench when these two ladies came up and started talking to us in Albanian. They did not care at all that we didn’t know what they were saying. We figured out that they were really wanting our water bottles. Side note: if you are going to Albania you should bring extras to give to people. My teammates and I started picking up trash. The ladies would not stop laughing at us during this time. They also kept saying a word to us over and over again that we still have no idea what it means. As we were picking up trash the ladies pointed to the hose telling us to wash our hands. Another side note: Albanians love to water stuff and this hose was being left unattended and creating a pond in the middle of the park. There was actually a fountain in the park that had no water in it with a couple weird lions, one in which had no face. I know it’s weird, but weirdness is pretty much how the afternoon went. All of a sudden Katie, my teammate, started yelling “I found an arm, I found an arm.” Andie thought a literal arm had been chopped off. We looked over and Katie was signing to the Albanian women a sign for chopping off an arm very vigorously. The ladies proceeded to laugh at us and eventually walked away laughing at us. But that is not where our time in the park ends.
We proceeded to take a seat across the way from the man of the next 20 minutes. Let me describe this man. He was an older gentlemen with a hat on and his aviators on his forehead. Not on his head, on his forehead. He was sitting with his legs crossed. He had a very befuddled/bamboozled look on his face. When we waved at him/said hello he proceeded to give us a more confused/bamboozled look and did a hand motion that looked like he was trying to say “What,” while also mouthing “what” he wasn’t actually saying it out loud just mouthing it with a very frustrated look. The atmosphere quickly changed in our trio to awkward, uncomfortable and confused. We kept looking and asking each other if we should leave and we felt The Lord telling us to stay there. We would go a few minutes sitting and trying not to laugh in this weird situation and Katie and Andie kept looking at me and asking if we could leave yet. I don’t know why they kept asking me, but I kept saying no, and they felt the same way. Then we started asking for God to bring someone who spoke English to fix the confusion that was going on. There was a boy that was walking by and we asked “Do you speak English?” He said “No.” Obviously he did, he just didn’t want to help us. So then we were just getting more and more eager to find someone who knew English. All three of us heard the word “Po” which in Albanian means yes. We all three turned and said “English.” Then we realized, no that’s Albanian. We were then more confused as to why we thought that was English. The circle of confusion continues. We sat there with this guy for a good 20 minutes just in a circle of confusion. Why you may ask, we have no idea. God knows, but we don’t. We finally get up and leave when Katie says “It’s time to go.”
We proceeded to walk for about 10 minutes when we ran into one of the ladies who was at the park. She looked confused because she ran into us. She proceeded to say “Chow” over and over again to signal us to walk away from her in a very joyous way. Then we proceeded to go to a coffee shop where we were desperate for something cold to drink. Andie and I asked for cafe lattes and Katie asked for a water. When Andie and I asked for the cafe lattes we said cold and the lady said “yes.” So we were confident that we were going to have cold cafe lattes. However, she brought it to us and it was hot. So we were drinking hot coffee in 102 degree weather. Katie on the other hand never got her water.
We left the coffee shop and continued to the grocery store. On the way there Katie first stepped on a stone that completely came out of the sidewalk. Andie was walking very merely along the sidewalk minding her own business when she sees a bucket and trash. She doesn’t think much about it until it starts to move. She begins to wonder why this trash pile is moving until she realizes it’s a human being with a bucket on his head. Why does he have a bucket on his head, she thought as she ran away and feeling guilty for running away from a human being. Then I was walking minding my own business when all of a sudden a bird swoops in for the kill, AKA me! Then we were feeling like everyone was staring at us and then a guy I was actually staring at us as he was driving by. Side note: confirmation.So that was 3 long hours of our day.
We still don’t know why God had this day planned out for us, but we had enjoyed a lot of laughter and contentment in our confusion. You probably had to be there, but we hope this can bring you a little laughter as well.
Haley, Andie and Katie.
