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.
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