I cannot believe I’ve already spent three months in Europe and my time here is coming to a close! Before I leave, I figured I would give everyone a nice, organized list of what I’ve seen, learned and been blessed to be a part of. (Especially because half of my friends always forget what country I’m even in!) Enjoy reading what Albania is really all about!
Feel free to skip to the parts that interest you!
The Culture
- Gender roles are very important, and are much more prominent than they are in the states. (Ex. women NEVER take out the trash, but men are never doing housework.)
- Most kids live with their parents for the majority of their lives. They value family and relationships here, so most kids do not work, and then live with their parents even after they are married.
- Restaurant Service- This could have its own category. Why is everything so slow???? We’ve waited hours before just to get the bill. Food also comes out as it’s hot, so it can be a little awkward when everyone is done eating and you still haven’t gotten your food. A positive though is that tipping is not required, but when you do its hardly more than a dollar or two.
- Coffee time is taken very seriously here. If you’re asked to coffee, don’t be surprised if you end up sitting for 5+ hours. People love to sit and chat!
- Side note, if you go on a date with someone, you could be engaged on the second one.
- If you want to pet the stray dogs, prepare for them to follow you around the city! My team has named the majority of them. Our favorite dog, Baxter, follows us home each time we see him. We obviously don’t mind having our own pet.
- Do not be afraid to cross the street in oncoming traffic; for some reason this is common Albanian practice.
- Bare feet “gives you a cold.” Always wear shoes unless you want an Albanian lecture!
The People
- Almost everyone in Albania is very friendly and willing to talk. Most will be very accepting to coffee dates with people they’ve never met, and are always willing to share their stories.
- The people of Albania do not have nearly as much country pride as the great US of A. (big surprise, right?) Many of the people have plans to win the “American lottery,” or move out of the Balkans.
- Many people have a strange love for Bill Clinton?? Not Hillary though. (no surprise!)
- They have no issue voicing their opinion. If they don’t like the way your hair looks,they’ll let you know. If Albanians think they’re right about something, don’t even bother trying to convince them otherwise. They hardly listen.
stories from the people
- We met a girl in a flower shop who told us her story of her experience at the Paris ISIS bombing last November. She gave us her first hand story of being five minutes away from the commotion, and what she heard/saw. Her story for me made me realize how real the Middle East crisis is, and how many people it’s really affecting. Living in the US has desensitized me to it, because I am not directly impacted.
- Our hosts are very passionate about Christianity and bringing it to Tirana, the capital city of Albania. It’s amazing to see their passion for Christ, and it’s spread to my heart as well. Tirana is currently building their biggest mosque yet, and our pastors have been praying that God would cause an earthquake to bring it down. This may be an unconventional prayer request, but this mosque will bring many more Muslims into the area, when we are looking to spread Christianity.
- We have heard many stories from adults who lived in the communist era and how they came to the faith through it. Most said that because Atheism was the declared religion of Albania during communist times, they were on their own to find a faith, so the adults we talked to came to Christianity. Many that we spoke to said this was a difficult thing to decide, because it went against their Muslim parents. It amazes me how God works through people, even in the hardest times.
Interesting Things I’ve Seen
- Street vendors!! My favorite part of the city has been talking to the street vendors and looking at their handmade items for sale. From socks, fresh flowers to keychains and rosaries, they have it all.
- Who knew grilled corn was a delicacy in Albania? Many street vendors grill corn on the side of the road and sell it for only 30 lek (about 15 cents).
- Amazing mountains! We got to take a cable car up Mount Djati (pronounced “diet-ee”) that overlooked the city, to pray for its people.
- An Albanian protest- They were protesting against recycling and about 500 police showed up. It probably wasn’t our best idea to walk straight through it…
Most Rewarding Ministry: The Roma Community
The Roma community is Tirana’s gypsy community. My team has been blessed to serve them in a few different ways, one being that we visit their camp once a week to bring food, the Gospel and love to those who are there. We also have a group of about five boys that come to the church every day looking for love. Both of these have been incredibly rewarding for me and I will carry these people in my heart wherever I go from now on.
This has been a hard part of ministry for many reasons. When we first got here and met them, all I wanted to do was get these kids to love me. Now as I am leaving, I see that these kids never needed me. All they need is Jesus and to know the love he gives them every day. The difference is that my team and I will leave them in 2 weeks, but God never will. It breaks my heart thinking about saying goodbye, but it has been such a blessing to be able to show them God’s love and teach them how important it is to truly rely on Jesus.
Logistics
Being the logistics coordinator of my squad has been a very important part of my race so far. I have had to serve my squad in many different ways, from planning our stay in Montenegro, with travel, lodging and food, to traveling around the country and collecting receipts from treasurers. Needless to say, I am a lot more confident in what my full potential is! These past three months have continually shown me that I have no limits.
Being in charge of logistics has also taught me how much of a passion I have for it. One of the reasons I came on this trip was to figure out what I want to major in, and I am hoping to do something with logistics after seeing what it entails. Everything I have been a part of has shown me how much I love it, and I am looking forward to a future career that would be similar to what I am doing now. Prayers for me to get direct admit in to the business school at UW-Madision would be greatly appreciated so I can pursue this career!
Personal Growth
I’ve become a lot more confident in myself and what I am capable of. Living in Cedarburg was an amazing place to grow up, but being here has showed me how small my world really was. Albania has allowed me to start living up to my full potential, exploring new things, new cultures and not being afraid of what the world really is.
I’ve learned to cook dinner for seven! My team has been in charge of our own food while living here, and I am usually in charge of dinner a few times a week. This has been my first time really exploring the culinary life, but I have grown to love it. Whether it’s pasta, chicken, hamburgers or new sauces, I have been learning how to cook and what tastes good together. It’s been fun to explore this with my team and adventure in something new. (especially when all their recipes use the metric system!)
After these first three months, I know what it means to live in community. It means shared bathrooms, never enough cereal, and the bathroom fan being left on more than I’d like it to be. It also means having six new best friends who encourage me in my faith and hold me to the standard that God does. I have learned that sometimes its not going to be fun to call people out on things that bother me, but to live in a successful community I have to do so in a loving way. My team has grown so much in this, and we’ve all learned how to be part of a team. We all recognize each other’s worth and have grown to love never having alone time.(:
Prayer Requests for the City of Tirana and Albania
- The government is in dire need of reform. Much of it is very corrupt, and the people see this.
- The Roma community is living in total poverty. Pray for their living conditions, that they would seek God more every day, and know that with Him anything is possible.
- Pray for the spread of Christianity in this region. Islam is becoming more and more prominent; about 60% of Albanians are Muslim.
- Please pray for the church I am currently staying at! The International Protestant Assembly has great plans to evangelize, and has a growing community.
