Albania

Before I get into our trip to Albania I will say that maybe I didn’t do things so wrong after all with the hot water heater.  Gary tried to add water into it on Saturday, and it started leaking again.  Thankfully just a little this time.  However, we had to leave the house for Albania without it being completely fine and weren’t able to shut the water off to the house.  So, I hope and pray that it will be fine.

Soon after arriving to the hotel in Albania, we opened our curtains, and there was an ostrich just standing at our window.  I was quite surprised.  Ethan and I walked by them this morning.  As we got closer he kept pointing to them, but didn’t want to get too close to them (which I was glad because I think they can bite and kick).  Ethan and the ostrich checking each other out.

It’s very different being here with the Albanians this year than it was last year.  One, we are in a different location than what we’ve done the last 4 years, so that makes things a little more challenging in some cases.  Second, last year Ethan wasn’t even crawling.  We could sit him somewhere and he stayed.  This year, he is running everywhere.  The area around the hotel is much  larger than where we used to stay.  I don’t think Ethan has ever seen so much space, which I’m sure looks like freedom.  We have a fence around our yard (as does everyone in Hungary since it’s the law), and all the other places where we are either have a fence, or we are inside with walls.  Here, there is a hotel, a building where they serve the meals, and then a lot of smaller buildings with rooms which is where all of us are staying for the conference.  On the way to dinner a family stopped us to give us their pack and play to use.  We stopped and focused our attention on them for a moment, and then all of a sudden Ethan was gone.  There were a lot of people around.  This happens at church, but we quickly see him and know the limited area that he is in.  So, this was our first experience that I assume all parents have at one time or another with it happening out in the open.  Gary went in one direction, and I went in the other.  After a few minutes we found him.  We aren’t worried about him being kidnapped over here like we would be in the States, though it is still a possibility.  But, it is more of a concern here with a pool and the sea nearby.  I was definitely wishing that I had one of those kid leashes yesterday.  We will probably need one on our next trip to the States, because Ethan goes up to anyone and holds his arms up for them to hold him.  There were several waiters who held him at dinner last night.  The cleaning lady held him today and even played with him some.  We will have to do some major stranger training for the States too.

Our dinner time didn’t start until 8:00 last night.  By the time they got everyone served and we were finished, it was close to 9:30.  Then we needed to go set up the pack and play and get Ethan ready for bed.  So, he didn’t go to bed until 10:00, two hours after his normal bedtime.  You would think that he would have showed signs of being tired after having only slept for 15 minutes in the car on the way to the airport in the morning and only 10 minutes in the van on the way from the airport in Tirana to here.  But, no, at 9:30, he was running and dancing around (music was playing outside of where we ate dinner).  Many of the Albanians have already commented about how much energy he has.  One of them said that he looks like Gary but takes after me with the energy and social part.

There is one area that has a wireless connection, and I’ve been told that it is real slow.  So, thanks to Julie, I can work on some blog posts on my computer without internet access and just post them when I get connected.  So, who knows when these posts will appear.