Favorite sightings from Albania

Greetings from Tirana, Albania. I’ve been here since Tuesday afternoon to speak to teachers and students from the GDQ School. Home school parents and children joined us, as well. It’s been great! Teachable, welcoming, joyful people live here, serving Christ. (I’m very impressed with the school – the staff and the amount of learning I see going on here. If you’re interested in a unique overseas experience, check out their website: www.gdqschool.org. Read about who the school is named for. It’s cool! Maybe you could join their staff!)

The conference is over so tomorrow morning I’ll be going up a mountain in a cable car. I’m looking forward to that and what I see there might end up being among my favorite things, but I decided not to wait to make my list. Here are my favorite sights so far: 

** A wire, collapsible music stand to hold my notes when I spoke. It reminded me of the ones I used when practicing the viola many, many years ago. I think they have more of a story to tell than the boring, black, heavy, music stands used in the States today. 

** Hunter, just about the cutest dog I’ve ever seen. He belongs to the family I’m staying with. I’ve never liked many dogs. My niece’s dog, Snickers, has been the exception up until now. Hunter makes the list. 

** Laundry hanging on ropes strung from windows. Laundry hanging from clothes lines on rooftops. I’ve seen this in other countries, too, and it makes me grateful for my dryer! 

** Old men gathered at little plastic tables on the sidewalks outside small stores. Some are just talking, others are playing chess. I think they’re content and not at all hurried even though so much of the world is. They remind me to slow down and visit with people. 

** Cars everywhere! Parked everywhere! Moving everywhere down streets that don’t seem wide enough, but are. 

** Eager teachers and parents ready to learn more, expressing their gratitude for an idea by nodding their approval and smiling as ideas click in their brains. 

** Students, some reluctant listeners at first, who sit up straighter and straighter as they recognize how God made them smart in particular ways. Looks of knowing, slight smiles that gradually take over their faces, and then quiet joy that erupts in perfect laughter. 

** One girl making intense eye contact with me every time she raised her hand to acknowledge she has that smart, too. She raised her hand all 8 times, easily believing she is smart and can make a difference with how she is smart. Her smile lit up the room. 

** Students grinning from ear to ear as they happily acknowledged they turn to God for answers to questions and solutions for their problems. 

** A student confidently explaining his brilliant reason for choosing Moses as  a role model. Yes, this is a favorite thing I heard, but it’s also a marvelous thing I saw as he stated, among his peers, with a confident body-language response that Moses was someone he admired. 

** A student confident in his own skin with obvious leadership qualities ready to serve who he can. 

** Teachers and parents and husbands and wives supporting each other with knowing looks, elbow jabs, pats on the back, and smiles from across the room and right next door.  

** Confidence, teachability, and joy. I’ve decided I like how these three qualities look when they reside in the same person. I’m going to look for more people like these. 

Okay – that’s it for tonight. More later from here, perhaps, and for sure from Hungary next week. 

Dr. Kathy