And the countdown begins!

Yep, I'm definitely going. And I am PUMPED! Can't wait until June! Still praying that people would come with me... cough cough... seriously, feel free to ask me if you have any inkling to traverse the world with me this summer, k? :) Even if you just want to talk about Kosovo... I'm pretty obsessed, so I would LOVE to talk to you about it too!

Tung!

Decisions, Decisions

I have almost decided to go back next summer, but am still lifting that idea up to the big guy. I keep my thoughts open to other plans, but there always seems to be some large flaw in them when I compare them to the pros and cons of going to Kosova again. I am, however, also praying that others might be led to come with me to Kosova. I don't have a fear of traveling alone, but it would be nice to have someone there with me. And it's always refreshing too, to have a familiar face from home right beside you when you're in such unfamiliar territory. Granted, Kosova isn't "unfamiliar" to me anymore, but you get my drift... despite how wonderful things can be over there, it's so easy to become drained and to start to miss the familiarity of home. (But I DO realize that this earth isn't my home anyway... for real) So I'm hoping that I can bring a piece of "home" WITH ME. :) Maybe it's you? Please be lifting that up with me, that our Father would send others to come with me if I go. I love those students! I am pumped... and can't wait to hug them and tell them how much I have missed them for the past year.

Pray

Please pray for Kristen, a sweet friend of mine who lost her daddy on Monday unexpectedly.

Also, please be lifting me up. I am feeling discouraged and need to really take some intense time in HIM but everything about this week tells me I have no time to do so. I have a big test on Friday and am feeling less and less prepared each moment that goes by.... bleh.

Thanks friends.

For Kaylee

So apparently I am supposed to be using this blog to update people on my life, as well as my adventures through the summer. I don't know how I feel about writing about my daily adventures (as amazing as they are...), but I guess I could update once in a while on what God is doing in my life.

I am still trying to decide where to go next summer, or if I am supposed to go anywhere for that matter. I have three options as of now. Maybe more options will open up, but I am praying through these things as best I can. Feel free to lift a sista up--- I could use a little intercession because I think I am a little biased as to what I want to do next summer. Let's just say that I miss my sweet Albanian people more than you can imagine. I just don't want to make a decision based on emotions. I want to make sure that I am exactly where the Lord wants me. So I'll wait and see what happens. My last summer before graduation. That's kind of depressing.

T-minus 213 days or something crazy like that until Kaylee gets married. Weird. Just sayin... maybe she'll get her engagement pictures by then... snail mail is slow as molasses.

Oh, and I'm graduating a semester late--- December 2009, BABY! Changing majors sophomore year and never taking one summer class has its consequences, but I am completely ok with that; it gives me more time to figure out the who/what/where/when of my life, relying on God alone to direct me in all those things. Man, being a Christian is hard. Easy, but hard. :) So often I am waiting patiently (sometimes not-so-patiently) for direction, but I will wait as long as He leads me to wait, because what better hands to be in? I can't think of any. If you can, let me know. I'd be interested to get that answer.

Missing My Homies

So I really really miss my Kosovar friends! It has been so great being back home and still being able to talk to them via msn messenger. Sometimes they will have web cams and I will get to see their sweet faces! It always brightens my day! But it is so hard to have eternal conversation over msn messenger. I am just lifting up this year until I can possibly see them again, hoping that these small and trivial conversations will keep up the relationships so that when I go back (when... that's the question right now... maybe next summer? Please pray for me in that! I need guidance!) the relationships will still be there and I can hopefully pick up where I left off. Joanna has a phone that I can just call with my cell phone here and it's AMAZING! I love technology. And I love Kosova!

Tungi Tungi

I am so sorry I have been the worst blog updater in the history of blog updaters... :)

Yes, I am home and safe, along with the others on the team. Joanna left Ks at the same time to come back to the States, but is now back in Ks safe and sound, starting right back where she left off with the leadership club! Our trip home was eventful and hilarious, involving a funny overnight layover in London, with Laura, Kaylee, Mrs. Jan, Trent, and I sleeping in the same room in a guy's flat. Trent was just going to stay there, but the guy offered for us to stay there and wouldn't take no for an answer, and it was such an answer to pr*yr! We all got to stay together (though Trent wanted to ditch us in London the second he stepped off the plane!), and we didn't have to pay for a hotel that night. And we got to walk around London a little bit that night with a local, so he was able to point out a few interesting things along the way!

I am back at school and starting the semester. It's going to be one crazy semester with 19 hours, an internship, various ministry events throughout every week, and trying to learn a little bit of Albanian this semester on my own as well! I am still keeping up with the students in Ks and miss them so much! I'll definitely be going back to that place. It is my second home and I can't wait to see all my sweet friends again! Until then, they will be on my heart and lifted up daily. Please keep them on yours and do the same!

I am SO GRATEFUL for all of my supporters and can't THANK YOU enough for allowing me to go to Ks. It has been a life changing experience and I have learned so much from it all! Please call me to talk to me about the trip any time! I would love to tell you all about it!

Well... Tung until next time! :)

A rainy day

So today Joanna, Laura, and I went to see Senada's family for the last time before we leave on Wednesday. It has rained a good deal this past week and so the little "rivers" flowing through town are going at a pretty fast pace. We saw tons of random things floating downstream today, like bottles, light bulbs, etc, but we saw an entire bag of trash floating and Laura made a noteworthy comment:

"It's just like baby Moses!"


They made us a traditional meal of leqenik (Not sure on the spelling??) and it tasted like cornbread. We ate it with honey and it was pretty good! When I had to say goodbye to them, I almost cried. I had to tell myself, "Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry."

We had coffee with Drini today at a place off the Korza. While we were drinking our juice, it started POURING down raining. We were under a big awning and there were lots of guys who worked there pushing the awning up so that the water would stretch out the fabric.
Well, apparently there was a little leak. It got on Kaylee's leg a few times, but it wasn't anything big...


But then... the awning leaked a LOT... right on top of Kaylee's HEAD and on Laura's pants! hahahahahhahahahaha! It was hilarious and the whole coffee shop was laughing. What a day.

Thank Goodness for Digestive Systems

Hello from Kosov!

So the last 24 hours have been a pretty impressive feat. I think I have consumed my body weight in food and beverages but my limbs are still intact, and I have yet to explode. Laura and I walked about 45 minutes to reach Senada's house, which is a good thing because when we got there, we ate SO MUCH FOOD! Her mom cooked us potatoe pite and it was phenomenal. Then we played three games of Dutch Blitz and her family was so funny! It was a great time with lots of laughter and I really got to practice my Albanian! Below is her youngest brother, Kujtimi, and he has the cutest little smile I've ever seen!
We woke up this morning, a new day to try and be better and eat less... Then Senada's mom made us Petulla, a donut-like food that is essentially fried dough. To top it off, we ate it with eurocream, making it kind of like chocolate donuts. Keep adding the calories... it was GOOD. :)

From Senada's house, we walked to the bus station and took a 50 cent bus ride to a nearby city to visit Donika, a girl that Laura had met 2 years ago. Ok, about this bus ride... We were sitting on the bus, minding our own business, when this old guy gets on the bus and sits right behind us in the seat. No big deal, right? Well, you'd think so, but then again, you wouldn't be thinking of this old man. He smelled like coffee, and I'm not talking about a slight coffee aroma. I'm talking COFFEE. This man smelled like he had been the coffee grinds, steeping in a coffee pot for the past year and a half. He smelled so strongly that we kept gagging. It didn't help either that as soon as he sad down he let out the biggest belch I have ever heard. I think he got a little of his breakfast in our hair... So Laura and I decided to take pictures to capture the moment. It worked out perfectly that the stinker behind us decided to unknowingly debut in our photography endeavors, making some of the funniest faces EVER!

We got there, drank our 3rd cup of Turkish coffee since leaving our house the previous night, and walked around the little city in their park. The park was beautiful, or at least it would have been had not every inch of it been covered in trash. I am not exaggerating: This park had trash EVERYWHERE. There were beautiful trees and flowers, and all around them was bottles, bags, broken glass, lids, half eaten food, you name it! It truly depicts the mentality of most Kosovars; who cares about the environment???

Donika's family raises bees and sells the honey. It was pretty cool to see their little bee houses in their front walkway. Donika's mom served us various snack foods while we were there, but also gave us each little plates of honey and part of the honeycomb with a spoon... so we ate honey... it was good, but I'm not one to usually down a jar of honey for a snack, so it was a little odd. It was really cool to see how they raise the bees though!After our walk, we went back to Donika's house and were invited to stay for dinner... so we ATE some MORE. :) We had home made speca dollma, which was AMAZING. (It's a stuffed pepper filled with ground beef, onion, rice, tomato, and other various spices) Laura and I were still full from breakfast at Senada's but we both ate seconds of the speca dollma. It was wonderful!

We then took the bus home with the roses Donika's mom gave us as a little parting gift, and it was so funny watching people stare at us as we walked on the street. It's especially entertaining when the Albanian boys say random English phrases. One guy outstretched his hand toward us today and said, "Oh, Thank you!" in a girly voice, implying that the flowers were for him. Both of us just busted out laughing at that one. We usually try our hardest to ignore comments from the Albanian boys, but the guy today was pretty creative in his limited knowledge of the English language, so we laughed outloud. :)
click here for PICTURES of our adventure!

Have a wonderful day! We leave in less than a week... be lifting us up as we try and meet with as many kids as possible before stepping on that plane. I am going to miss everyone terribly and I can't imagine my life looking out my front window and NOT seeing these mountains! I am going to go through some serious withdrawal.

My Macedonian Adventure

A few of my sweet Albanian friends have left Ks on vacation and I am missing them greatly! We got back from camp and about 5 of our close high school friends left almost immediately for vacation with their families and won't be back for over a month...after we leave... :( So I was thinking today about when we watched the EuroCup 2008 and Germany lost to Spain. I had made a bet with one of the competitive kids that the losing team would have to do something crazy (at the other team's disposal... scary, I know). Well, Germany lost and so me and the other faithful supporters of Germany had to down some nasty, rotten bananas. Kaylee was gracious enough to top them with whipped cream....

but I still gagged... I can't think of many things that I hate worse than mushy bananas. They have to be GREEN for me to eat them and these were almost black. SICK!!! :) Oh good times with my favorite Albanians!


So last Thursday (for LAURA'S BIRTHDAY!), we went on a little day trip to Macedonia! They picked me up from Senada's house and we were on our way South! What we didn't realize is that we were in for quite the trip. We had the opportunity to converse with the officials not once, but twice before we even reached our destination. haha it was a hilarious day:

We had to drive through a town that Joanna used to live in, but as we were driving down this one street in particular, we didn't notice people's odd stares and gaping mouths until all of a sudden we see a police car coming from the opposite direction turning on its lights and waving us down. Well, it turns out that it had gone from a two-way street to a one-way... hind sight is 20-20, right? Not only was the police officer a butt about it, they blocked traffic for us to turn around and he made us follow him to the police station. The only word we understood was "TICKET!" and he motioned for us to follow. Notice in the picture below that the police car is in FRONT of us...So we followed him there and Joanna went inside to talk to the po po and the Big Guy was looking out for us because we didn't get a ticket after all. WHEW!

Ok, that was #1... #2 didn't happen until we were IN Macedonia where apparently she was speeding, but I'm not convinced. I think they pulled us over because we had Ks tags on the car and they don't like Ks plates. But we didn't get a ticket then either. They said "20 Euros... Bank..." and let us go. We didn't know what the heck that meant, but we were outta there! I sneaked a picture of Jo and the Macedonian officers... hee hee :)
The rest of the day consisted of: McDonalds, buying tortilla chips at the grocery store, visiting a castle, driving around the city for 30 minutes looking for a Turkish Bazaar that apparently doesn't exist anymore, walking around aimlessly in an outdoor/indoor mall only to realize that the dinar-dollar exchange rate is ridiculously expensive, eating ice cream, and saying, "Well... guys.... what do you want to do now??.............we could go home??........" So we left and drove back to Ks to eat some Mexican for dinner with our newly purchased tortilla chips!

I uploaded PICTURES from our Macedonian adventure onto facebook. Click on the link and check them out! Make sure to read the captions below the pictures :)

Random note: I just downloaded the "Viva la Vida" song by Coldplay that I used to always see on the iPod commercials in the States. The orchestra in the background is phenomenal and it makes me want to play my cello more :)

Ok, naten e mire.

Wednesday Night

Senada, Me, her sister

Last night I spent the night at Senada's house and I had the best time ever! I met up with her at her work and we walked to her home. I had 2 cups of Turkish coffee and experienced a WONDERFUL dinner of this really yummy bean and potato soup. I am going to learn how to make it, because the recipe was delicious! I had a chance to hang out with Senada, her sister, her 3 brothers, and her mother, all of whom are hilarious! We laughed so much together and thinking back, what a blessing it was to spend time with them and actually be able to communicate like we did! They speak a little English so it was very helpful, but I also had to search my brain for the scattered remnants of Albanian that I knew. All glory goes to the Father for that one, because I recalled words I didn't know were in there! :) It was encouraging to know that I was actually able to understand most of what they were saying. I have been really discouraged in trying to learn Albanian because it requires so much more time than I have to put into it, but I was shown last night that it's possible, despite what I may tell myself in all my frustration!
Senada's sweet mother!

I also had the chance to teach them how to play a game called Dutch Blitz. It was soooo funny trying to explain the rules in simplified English and broken Albanian! After about 4 practice rounds, they finally got it and we were able to play a pretty competitive game! They were so funny to play with!

Camp was Awesome

Ok, I have more time to update now! Camp was absolutely amazing and when I got back home (well, my home away from home in Ks that is), I was sooo wiped out and tired! The week was filled with nonstop activities for the campers and nightly meetings for the trainers after a full day's work. It was quite a challenging week in the sense that it was very draining, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We were all tired physically from lack of sleep, tired emotionally from constantly being in conversations with the students and each other, and tired spiritually because there is nothing like a full week of camp about leadership, integrity, communication, and acting in love towards others to make me realize a few things that I need to work on :) It is always a blessing to be broken by the Father so that He can build me back up in Him alone. It is so easy to have earthly confidence, but how much greater is confidence in someone greater???!!! Now that I am back from camp, I have been doing a lot of self-evaluation and taking lots of mental notes as to how I can become more like JC; I know no better example of whom I should aspire to be like! He is the perfect example and the main thing about Him that I love is that He was a lover of ALL people.

I had the best group ever! (look below!)
It was such an encouragement to see how the kids come from such different backgrounds, yet work together as a group and trust each other more and more each day. They worked wonderfully together through all of the exercises and listened carefully and respectfully through the lessons, and I was (and still am) impressed by their heart for each other and their visions for their country. Ks has a lot to work on, but with young leaders like them, I hope that Ks will change for the better with this generation of people! They have such precious hearts!


I briefly mentioned this in the last post, but I'll go into more detail now. This past Monday we got to go on an excursion with the students and trainers to a pool about 25km away from the city. We took a bus there, stayed all day, and took the bus back... well, we tried at least. Apparently there is a curse when it comes to the bus rides on excursions because it turns out that every year the bus ends up breaking down in some way, shape, or form. About 5 minutes after we had left the pool, the bus driver suddenly pulled the bus to a stop. He kept checking things and trying to start the bus again, but nothing would work. Apparently there was some sort of hole in "something" (we later heard that it was a hole in the gas pump, but we heard that from hearsay, so who knows... haha). All I know is that WHATEVER this hole was in, the bus driver had some of the students start to chew massive quantities of chewing gum, which he then placed in the spot with the hole in a pitiful attempt to "fix" the bus. hahahahaha! Did he actually think that would work??? Well... it didn't. :) So we ended up piling (and I literally mean PILING) on another bus with more kids. It was a hilarious situation and we got back to the city safe and sound. It was a great day at the pool!

I'm back! But leaving again for a day... Talk to you soon!

I wish I had time to update more, but I at least uploaded some pictures that you can look at!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=
2397010&l=fdfff&id=4925881

Camp was really great and the kids that we met are so awesome! Now we are back and starting to get ready for the next camp. Kaylee and Mrs. Jan will be going up to that camp, while Trent, Laura, and I hang back in the city to do conversation classes and game nights for the high school students. Tonight I am going to spend the night with Senada and tomorrow me, the roomies, and Trent are going to Macedonia for the day! I will be sure to update as soon as possible! I can't wait to see Mrs. Jan on Friday! Tomorrow (the 17th) is Laura's birthday and Friday (the 18th!) is my Mom's birthday!!!! YAAAAYYYY!

Also, check out the camp video! It's awesome!

I'll write again in a week!

Hey there!

Today was another crazy day of camp preparation. We woke up this morning and had a big breakfast, went hiking in the mountains where our camp is going to be this week, and then came back to start doing more camp preparation. The hike today was more of an upward climb at most points, but it was fun and a challenge! We will be doing it again on Wednesday with the students so I hope we aren't too sore... :) Going down the mountain was harder for my knees, so you can definitely be lifting that up--- that there would be no injuries with the team and/or the students throughout the week. The picture below is of our dog, Mia, who got to experience the hike with us as well :) I am glad she got to get out and run around today and get out of our small apartment!


I won't have internet access or phone service at the camp, so I will update about the camp when I return! I hope that you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Katie

Camp is quickly approaching!

Hello everyone!

Things here have been crazy! Our team is finally here, (after 2 bags lost coming from Canada, and one team member almost missing his flight!) and we have been trying to get settled here and prepare for camp. Things have come together very well in the past 24 hours and our team has really been working together to help one another and get things accomplished. I have been trying to prepare my lesson on "Spreading your Vision" (that I will be speaking about on Wednesday) and I can say that our team is truly one with a vision here: We all desire to make a lasting impact here and to really cultivate the friendships that we have made here. Please be lifting that up this week and for the rest of our time here.

I have been put in charge of handling the money for the camps and it's a hilarious job considering Joanna and I have no clue what to do with some of the receipts, etc.  Pray that I don't 1) Go crazy, and 2) Lose anything! hahaha

On July 4th, the faithful day of our nation's independence :) I went to Senada's house to visit and to bring over some little apple desserts I had made. (I mean what is more American than apple pie??) On that day, I experienced my first (and second) taxi ride ever in my life, I walked through a torrential downpour of rain in high heel shoes, ate a massive quantity of fli(a traditional meal of layered pastry/bread-like substance that is quite tasty, but VERY filling) and tried my hardest to avoid eating a massive quantity of cos (it tastes like sour yogurt...I dipped my fli in it and it wasn't that bad but they were eating spoonfulls of it and I think I would throw up if I did that! haha my American stomach isn't strong enough for that!). Oh, and don't let me forget: I got a marriage proposal to a random neighbor guy of theirs. GREAT. Apparently these neighbors had never stepped foot in their house in the 15-20 years they have lived there, but they saw me walking down the street to their house with Senada and decided to "Drop by" for a visit and conveniently try and fix me up with their son. (How rude of them to act in such a way to Senada's family!) The word JO was very helpful tonight... (Jo, pronounced in English "yo"=NO!) hahaha so awkward and funny!

Tomorrow we are planning to go hiking at the camp location and just really take a day to get mentally prepared for the camp. It will be such a nice day to really focus on things above and to spend time unifying as a team through Him who redeems!

If you read this in time, I would really like to ask some of you to take a day and really focus on lifting me and my team up. If you could just reply to this post and let me know which day you will be focusing on, I would really appreciate it! Knowing that others around the world are lifting this camp, the high school students coming to the camp, the weather, the timely preparation of food, the presentations and the hope that the power will stay on for the powerpoint presentations, and the relationships we will be building this week, will really mean a lot to me and I know that it will make such a difference!

Thank you all for your continual support! I can't wait to tell you all about it in person! (Ok, actually... I CAN wait because I don't want to leave! hahaha, but no worries... I'll be forced to at the end of the month by Kaylee and Laura, and Joanna wanting her apartment to herself again! heehee)

And last but not least, today is my Dad's BIRTHDAY! So Happy Birthday, Dad! You're no longer Emily's favorite number, but I'm sure you're still her favorite "pappy" so please don't cry yourself to sleep tonight :) I love you and wish I could be there with you at your birthday par-tay, but we'll just have to celebrate when I get home! I'll be sure to do the Albanian birthday tradition and yank your earlobes upward for as many years as you are old! (kind of like birthday spankings, but this one just gives you really cool looking Yoda ears, so be looking forward to it!) hahaha HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

P.S.

Our first camp (the high school camp) starts on Monday. We will be at the camp Monday-Friday next week (so no updates during that time... I know...don't cry...). We have part of our team coming in Thursday and then the rest of our team coming in on Friday. Please be lifting them up for traveling and also lifting us all up for the camp next week. We will be teaching leadership qualities to around 30 students from the high school here and I am really hoping that they will listen to us and apply what they learn in the community here and in their lives. Even simple things like integrity and loving others could be an amazing thing for them to really grasp a hold of! I will be speaking on Wednesday on "Spreading Your Vision" and teaching on how to have clear goals and how to get others involved in making dreams a reality! Please be in constant thought of us and lift us up, that would be able to really focus on what is truly important in this life and share the love of our Father with the people around us here! I am having a hard time staying focused when there is so much to do around me constantly, so please ask on my behalf for a clear focus on HIM above! :)

Love you all!

Un buena dia

Today was a good day! We woke up and went to the local pool here with 3 of the high school guys we have been getting to know and that will be at the camp next week. The pool here... is... not very clean. haha! I have heard many different stories about how they clean the pool each night and what chemicals they use (or don't use) to kill the bacteria. Let's just say that I was very self conscious about ingesting the water! :) I learned a new card came as well that I'll be sure to teach you when I get home if you want! Also, according to one of the guys, my skin is the color of cheese. Considering the fact that they only have white cheese here (no cheddar for miles!), I am assuming that my skin being the color of cheese can't be a good thing. I know I'm white...but cheese??? Thanks........ oh the condemnation that comes with being a pale redhead! haha!

After the pool, I went home and showered the pool slime off me and then met Senada to go to coffee at her house. I went with her to her home and it was so cute! I met her sister, 2 brothers, her cousin, and her mother. Senada, her sister, her cousin, and I sat in her living room and drank coke, Turkish coffee, ate these really awesome fruits that I don't even have a name for in English (nor can I remember the name in Albanian), and just sat around and chatted in a mixture of broken English, Albanian, and the occasional Spanish. It really was a nice time! Her mother was so sweet and I wish I knew the language more so I could have spoken more with her, but I don't think she held it against me... :) I was amazed with their garden in their backyard. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it, but they had a garden with everything you could imagine that they would need to eat. They had all sorts of fruit trees including apples, peaches, pears, the awesome unknown name fruit, grapes, peppers, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and who knows what else! And they also had about 20 chickens and a plethora of beautiful flowers! Her mother makes traditional tablecloths, aprons, pillowcases, and anything else you can imagine out of white fabric with gorgeous embroidered lace patterns. When you get married in Ks, you get these things made. Senada's mom is very talented!

I also experienced my first Russian tea tonight, and am going to buy a Russian tea set to bring back home so I can drink it whenever I want! I don't even like tea, but it was YUM. Granted you put about 2 spoon fulls of sugar in each 4oz glass so your teeth have a coat of sugar when you're done drinking your 3-5 glasses (any less and it would be rude... remember that this is after drinking juice, eating a huge meal, then drinking more juice, eating more snacks, and then drinking tea...). It was a great day!

I can't believe it's July already!

Today Laura and I went walking with our dog Mia to the local park here. Along the way, we saw more men than I can count (ok that's exaggerating, but still...) who had the front of their shirts raised up exposing their large stomachs while sauntering down the street hocking big spit balls. hahahaha SICK. I mean, I know it's hot here, but really...??? While on our walk, we heard all sorts of noises from the city (I swear this city is alive 24/7 talking, breathing, and moving around), but the funniest noise of the night was one of the local mosques. Usually they all sing over loudspeakers at the exact same time and so it's a really funny sound all over the city, but today when we were walking, this one mosque was just blaring their music (they always sing a call to prayer or something like that) over the loudspeaker. I don't know if their speakers were busted or what, but the man singing sounded like he was screaming in agony, kind of like a dying animal. It was probably the funniest thing I have heard all week. Just think of the movie dumb and dumber: "You want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?"

Now we are back at the apartment and there is some sort of wedding party down the street. They have been playing music all night and now they are banging on drums... haha! Speaking of loud noises, this morning at 6am I was woken up by people in the apartment complex next to my window who apparently decided to start building something...at 6am. It sounded like they were repeatedly dropping metal pipes on the ground. Over and over and over and over. It was kind of funny...but then I went back to sleep. :)

Ok, it's really late so I will update more later. Naten e mire!

Lift those hands up!

BEST NEWS EVER: Erjon's mother is out of the hospital and back at home! When I got this news, I was smiling ear to ear jumping for joy! Continue to lift her health up so she is able to stay healthy, doing the Father's work in her home town.

Well, this week has been a busy one! Besides my various adventures on Monday and Tuesday, I have been busy meeting with people for coffee which has become sort of like a full time job. It is an especially hard job when you meet with people in the middle of the day in 95 degree heat for around 1-2 hours! Going to coffee is what people do here... It doesn't matter what time of day or what time of year; it's how people hang out and it brings people together. My favorite phrase has become "nje gote uje, ju luten" which means, "A glass of water, please" :) Going to "coffee" (or whatever you choose to drink!) is our main way of getting to know the students and building relationships with them. It may not sound like much, but I have already been able to have some really great conversations in reference to the one above all things. I will be very sad when I go back to the USA and order a coffee and not only will it not be as good, but it will cost 6 times as much and will be 4 times as big. I like my little petite coffees that only cost 50 cents!

Last night, we had a movie night for girls and it was a wonderful time! We set up a projector and played Father of the Bride for us to watch and the girls really liked it. Too bad the power went out in the last 10 minutes... it figures! :) I made some burnt popcorn (I don't take full responsibility for it, but I won't place blame either- haha!), and Laura made some awesome banana bread, and we cut up a huge watermelon (6 kilos that only cost around 2.20 Euros) that I actually ate a lot of. I haven't really ever liked watermelon in my whole lifetime, but the food here is so fresh that I can't help but like it! But Dad and Emily, no salt needed on the watermelon here... that would just ruin it!

I had coffee with Senada again today and she made me a really awesome necklace, bracelet, and ring out of beads. And she even made it in my favorite color! She is becoming such a sweet friend! I am going to her house next Wednesday and I am really excited about it! Going to people's houses here is kind of a big deal... like an honor, I guess you could say... so I can't wait to meet her family!


Today I ate a hamburger with meat, cheese, tomato, mayo, ketchup, egg, cucumber, and french fries on it and it was REALLY GOOD. I have learned not to ask questions about the food here. It is so different from American food, but it always ends up being really tasty! Maybe McDonald's will make a change in the States? I hope so... but that would only make people's cholesterol get even higher, so maybe not.

Tung!

While you were sleeping...

I think I experienced the most hilarious/ frustrating/ embarrassing/ disappointing/ completely fitting (considering my awful habit of getting myself into ridiculous situations) morning. Today I was supposed to get on a bus and go up to the mountains nearby to help do some work at a friend's camp there. I talked with them last night about possibly coming and sent a text message this morning saying I was coming but I needed someone to pick me up from the stop once I got up there, because the bus doesn't go the entire way up to the camp (nor do I know how to get there!). So, I'm not sure if the text went through or not, because I was sending it from one provider to another, using a special code to send it and sometimes I have heard that the text messages don't always go through...

So I was up and at 'em this morning at 6am. I left the house at 6:40 and trucked my way to the bus stop because I didn't even know which bus to get on, though I knew it was a smaller blue van looking thing. I got to the station and after talking to 2 random people, another random dude (who told me that there was no bus that goes to the mountains, only taxis... he was misinformed...), and a taxi driver who finally told me where to go. After about 5 minutes, the blue van that goes up to the mountains showed up and I piled on it with everyone else. There were many differences between me and them, but the main ones were that 1) They speak Albanian, and 2) They probably knew where they were going. I, on the other hand, was just getting on the bus to the mountains hoping that my text message had gone through and that someone would be waiting for me at a bus stop. It only occurred to me as I was on this bus full of people whom I could not communicate with, that I would be completely SOL should no one be waiting for me... so I pr*yed and kind of laughed at the situation, hoping for the best. wishful thinking...

Well, as we rode up the mountain, people would get off at random stops that didn't really look like stops and so I figured, "Surely I'm not supposed to get off here... I'll wait." So we were almost up to the end of the road, almost to where our camps will be this summer, when the last of the passengers got off. The lady had tried to communicate with me to see where I needed to go, but seeing as how I didn't speak Albanian or German, I just said I needed to go to the camp with the Americans that were around there. The driver then drove me a little further up where the road splits and the van doesn't drive anymore. We were out of the van, trying to understand each other; he was drawing me a map telling me to walk either 4km or 8km either way and I was saying, "I need a telephone!" Obviously my phone here isn't Verizon with it's "more places" slogan...

So because I didn't want to be stranded in the mountains with no phone and no idea where I was going, and because the driver thought the word camp ("kampi") meant that I was looking for a Hotel, I got back in the van and he drove me about half way back down and we stopped at "Hotel Kamp" (Of course.... my luck that the hotel would be called that, hahahaha) in search of a phone. We found some lady there (who had been smoking WAY too many cigarettes) and she got this Albanian guy to go wake up his buddy because he speaks a little English. Well, I was so thankful for that, but still no one could help me, because I couldn't get in contact with the people at the camp, and I didn't know where the camp WAS. So... we drove back down the mountain to the city.

A guy had gotten back in the van at "Hotel Kamp" and had a 044 phone (mine is a different provider that doesn't work in the mountains), and so I used it to call the people at the camp. Turns out, my stop had been almost all the way up the mountain where the driver had tried to draw me a map of other hotels to find. haha, SO... if you're one of those people who likes to skip the details and read the ending, here it is: I am now writing this blog post at 10am at my apartment. Looks like the Big Guy upstairs had other plans for me today. (I just wish He had told me that earlier because I'm running off of 4.5 hours of sleep!) hahaha "C'est la vie." Such is life! (or at least MINE, that is!)

What I've learned: I need to be more like my parents and make sure every detail is planned out before embarking on a journey. (I KNOW Dad... I know...) I need to practice my Albanian or apparently I need to learn German, because I think everyone on that bus spoke German as well! English and Spanish can only get me so far in Ks... and apparently the "kampi" is too far a distance! :)

Have a wonderful day! I am going to take a nap, and enjoy the rest of mine! :)

The Painting is OVER!

Ok, so I have realized that painting 12 classrooms is hard work! We ended up getting all cleaned up and going to dinner at the rotating restaurant here that night. They actually had things on the menu like avocados with mozzarella and various pasta dishes... rarities here for sure! I didn't try the avocados because I haven't seen one EVER at any of the stores, so I was a little skeptical, but it's nice to know that they exist here should I want one. (IF they really DO exist here, that is...) One thing I have learned about ordering food here is that even though it's on the menu, it doesn't mean that they actually have it. And also, ordering tap water is next to impossible! Everyone calls it something different so it's hilarious ordering water here. Yesterday Laura ordered water and they came out with a beer! HA! All they could do was laugh and say "no no no" and try to explain themselves better. So funny!

So far we have had camp meetings with the high school and university students. The camps will be focusing on servant leadership, where they will be learning that you don't have to be rich and famous to be a servant leader to others. We are all hoping that they learn a lot from the camps and that they put their servant leadership knowledge to good use here in the community! It's going to take many student leaders here to make a difference, but it's wonderful how things happen one day at a time. I am hopeful that one day, this city and this country will be full of servant leaders, treating others above his or herself. Until then, continue to lift this place up!

Until next time...
Katie

Be cool: paint a school.

Ok, if anyone has EVER thought badly about his or her school building, think again. Today we painted 3 classrooms (8 to go) in the local high school here and when I walked in, I was shocked. The walls are completely covered in graffiti from kids coming in and spray painting or simply writing random nonsense on the walls during class, etc. We are working with a local leadership club here and it is their project to repaint the school that they started about a year ago and are just now getting on with it. They spent some of their winter break patching holes in the walls, etc. but it is too cold to paint in the winter, so we are finally getting on that bandwagon and it will be done within the week! What a blessing it was to receive funds from the States to be able to finish this project. Their leadership club still had a lot of money to raise to be able to finish this project and we received donations from some people back home and now it's becoming a reality! THANK YOU!Here is a picture of the finished product.... I know, it doesn't look DONE, but we left the bottom portion of the wall unpainted because eventually, they are going to add molding along the midsection of the room and paint the lower half with an oil-based paint so the kids have a little challenge before them should they plan to write on the walls again. :) I hope it gets done before school starts again in the fall or else our painting will have been for nothing because the kids will just start over with their lovely art on the walls. Their mentality is that it's just normal to mess things up. They aren't that great to begin with, so what does it matter? This is a mentality that is set in many hearts here, as displayed by their other actions such as just throwing trash on the ground wherever and whenever they feel like it... I hope it will change. It will... One step at a time...

A few pictures for you!

This is Ibish, Matt, and Beni. Matt is from Oklahoma but comes to Ks at random times throughout the year. He will be helping with the University camp. Ibish is Kaylee's friend from years past, and he is a wonderful guy. She gave him a UGA hat, so now we have people sporting the red and black all over the world! Beni is Ibish's colleague who was there that day on the excursion trip as well.
Meet Drini. He has a scooter. He never speaks English to us even though he understands English and can speak a good bit of it too. He took Kaylee, Laura, and I on a ride around the city and I told him that my Dad has a motorcycle and all of a sudden he's speaking all sorts of English, asking about motorcycles and stuff. Figures! boys....... :)
This is Donjeta. She is so funny and sweet. She is one tough Albanian teacher!
Jessie... this picture is for you. I saw a pony while riding up to the place where we have camp, and thought of you. I still think ponies are really ugly, but if you like them, then I guess they're alright....
This is our dog, Mia. She is super cute and sweet, but it's sad because she doesn't have a yard to run around in now that we live in an apartment and not a house. We are trying to find her a place to live where she will be able to do more than bark at random people that pass by from our second story balcony. She's really smart and I love her! (especially because when I take her on a walk, the crowds of people part like Moses and the Red Sea because everyone here is terribly afraid of dogs! hahaha it is hilarious watching a guy who is trying to be all cocky all of a sudden jump away from us because we have a "cheni" (dog))
This is Arzana, another sweet girl. She has also given us some Albanian lessons!

Father's Day

DAD!

I wrote the previous post a day before now, but the power went out last night right when I was about to post THE POWER WENT OUT. SO... I was thinking of you at midnight last night and just wanted to say I LOVE YOU and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Love,
-Katie

Clap for the Americans

Hello there!

Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. Our internet has been a little temperamental and we have been super busy. The combination hasn't been good for my blogging reputation. Forgive me?

As far as I know, my friend's mother is still in the hospital. She is getting better (I think) but please continue to lift her up as I know her physical heart is weak... other than that, her heart is made of gold. :)

This week has been filled with lots of coffees with the girls that we are meeting with and more language lessons. I think it's official that Albanian is the hardest language on the face of the planet to learn. It's ok though. I am willing to try and I really want to get a grasp on it! I am going to search this entire country to find a book that will help me learn when I go back to the States.

Last Thursday, we went to a nearby city and met up with Ibish, a friend of Kaylee's from years past. We got to look around the city and meet some of his students. He had come with some of his colleagues and students on an excursion and it was soooo funny getting to meet them. Kaylee and I rode on their bus for about 10 minutes, and one of his colleagues kept announcing over the loudspeaker, "Welcome the Americans!" And then everyone would clap and cheer. He kept doing it to embarass us! haha it was hilarious! Let me rephrase that: I was embarrassed. If you know Kaylee, you will know that she was NOT and quite loved the attention! haha it was a funny 10 minutes and I wished we would have come on the bus with them the whole way!

Dad, in case you are reading this, it is officially Father's Day in Ks, so I want to say HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! I am glad we got to celebrate it early since I can't be there today! I love you bunches! Make sure Emily gives you a super big hug from me, ok?

In case anyone was wondering, organized pillow fights don't work. In case anyone was wondering....organized food fights are AWESOME. I have learned both from experience. One in my back yard at home, one here.... haha, tonight we had a birthday party for a friend here and we tried the pillow fight thing... it was super funny but I didn't like having to sit still while people came at me with pillows trying to beat my face in. People get violent with a pillow in their hand! :)

I'll update again soon! This entire next week we will be working to paint 11 classrooms in the local high school here!

Please...

Please lift up a dear friend's mother (Erjon's) who is in the hospital. She will have to stay there for at least a week, though I hope her stay will be less...

Be Jealous of the Mountains Here...

So yesterday, we took a little girls day out and drove along the winding roads to the place where we will have the camps this summer. It was about an hour long drive, where we experienced numerous cows and random people walking in the middle of the street in the middle of the mountains... what they were doing there? Who knows! haha I have come to realize that I don't need to understand everything because here, there is no way for me to do that, so why try??? The funny thing about Ks is that no one here drives according to the rules. The mountain roads are tiny and huge buses and semi trucks drive on them (how? I have NO CLUE). Thankfully, we didn't meet up with any of them to OR from our trip so YAY for that. I think I would have screamed. haha! Joanna (the awesome chica we're staying with here) drove and was a baller. She handled that manual transmission up those HUGE hills like a pro. She told me she started driving a stick-shift when she was 10 so that definitely helps. :) Ruston, if you're reading this... aren't you glad I didn't drive???? hahahaha

We have had a great time getting coffee with a few of the girls here and I am slowly but surely getting to know some of the students. It's wonderful here and the kids all have such a funny sense of humor! They are a joy to be around!


Here is a picture of Laura, Me, Kaylee, and Joanna at my favorite restaurant!

HI! Ok, so we have wireless internet at our apartment (yes, we are spoiled I think). I will put some pictures of our apartment once I get all unpacked and can put up a picture of a clean room so my dad won't have a heart attack at how messy it is right now. (heehee) We still have to get a few storage units for clothes and other random things because there aren't any shelves in our room. Laura and I are sharing a room and Kaylee sleeps all by herself in the next room. We figured she's shared a room with me long enough that she shouldn't have to suffer anymore. Now it's Laura's turn... muahahaha

We had our first little Albanian lesson today and it was funny because I knew that I had a lot to learn, but didn't know that it was going to be so hard! PLEASE be pr*ying for quick learning!

So I have exciting news for Sherry and Lance... apparently there is RC cola in Ks. haha, on the way home from the airport, I saw this truck (actually, we passed this truck b/c it was driving so SLOW). I thought it was funny and it made me think of you guys!





We walked around today and saw a lot of the city today and it was really funny watching people's reaction to us. Needless to say, there aren't many foreigners here so people would stop their conversations to look at us. There are a few gypsy children that come to the city and beg for money (we only saw 2 kids today so there aren't many, I don't think), but one little boy followed us down the street and despite us telling him to go away, he didn't. When we finally went to cross the street, he walked away...right after slapping my butt. I would have liked to tell him off, but considering I don't know Albanian, I just gave him an evil glare and left it at that. (I didn't think hurting an Albanian child my second day in the city would set a very good reputation...haha!) Hopefully that will be my first and only experience like that. :)

The pictures below are of the city, taken from the top of a rotating restaurant they have here. Pretty fancy for this little town! Actually, I was expecting this city to be smaller, but it is actually quite large! My favorite part is that you look up, and there are the mountains. I love it here already. Our Father made some pretty amazing scenery and I am blessed to lay eyes on it every day here!















My new favorite drink is Fanta EXOTICA! It's yum. They also have all sorts of juices here. Today I tried Peach (Kaylee's favorite) and blueberry. They were both really good! So the food...is AWESOME. And really cheap for the amount of food you get. Perfect for Katie the cheapo.


Anyway, I love you guys and pr*y you are well. I am feeling nice and healthy so no worries about that, ok parents? haha, and feel better--- we have a doctor's office below us, an ambulance place across the street, and a pharmacy a few doors down. If I get sick, I'm all good. :) But hopefully, I won't get sick.... knock on wood.... :)

Tung, (bye)

-Katie

p.s. I am going to try and get emails together to send out an email for those who don't check the blog (or even those who do I guess). I know that I don't have everyone's email address, so please send it to me at katiembrewer@gmail.com! Also, that is my skype name as well, so add me on skype and we can video chat for free!