That gibberish above is “hello and thank you.” Perhaps the pronunciation isn’t terribly difficult, but how is one to remember a long string of syllables that bears no resemblance to English? It’s Albanian, everyone, and we know about five words.

We made it to Albania two days ago. We experienced our first flight delay of the trip on our way here. Ninety minutes doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re entertaining four kids in a crowded airport, it feels like plenty. But after a short hop across the Adriatic Sea, we landed in Albania, collected our rental car (an automatic Honda Odyssey – a nice surprise!), and drove to Shengjin. We have mentally prepared ourselves for crazy driving here, but the highways in this part of the country are totally fine. People interpret the speed limit generously and drive aggressively – we can do the same.

Our Airbnb for two weeks is right on the beach, which is pretty deserted at this time of the year. The kids have enjoyed beach combing and getting super sandy. We can wash those super sandy clothes, but getting them dry is a different situation. Without a dryer, you have to allow at least 24 hours for clothes to dry. And we have limited clothing, so this has been tricky.

Albanian beaches have been gaining popularity in recent years. I’m sure the water is lovely during the summer. But when the beach is empty, it’s hard to look past all the trash. And in general, most things we have seen so far in Albania look rather shabby. Understandably, this post-communist country has a host of struggles it’s working through as it aims to join the EU and improve its status.

In other news, the last woman standing (Laila) has finally succumbed to the flu. The other kids are basically healthy again, and Nic and I continue to deal with drainage and congestion.

We miss the comforts of home as we continue to feel like so many things are just difficult. It’s time-consuming and hard to find food that works for us, and preparing what we do find is annoying in a small, ill-equipped kitchen. Our lodging options have all been tiny compared to our home, and it’s hard to be in such tight quarters with four kids. It’s not easy to find familiar cold remedies. Our beds for the next two weeks are awful. The mosquitoes are just as aggressive as the drivers. The list goes on…

We certainly wonder at times if this was a good idea. But what is there to do other than keep on doing our best with each day and trust God to care for us all? We continue seeing what we can and doing school as time allows, and for the next two weeks we will be volunteering at a community center that works with the local Gypsy population.