so here i am, sat in the coombe on broadband. mmm, this is just the start of my culture shock; i am been feeling it coming on this afternoon. getting ready for camp since my return has kept me busy. however now into the running of camp and having that extra time with the boys it is really startingf to creak in.
and the weird things are that it is in teh normal small things. thankfully the kids in my cabin are great as in the new leader who i am teamed up with. they have all really slotted into camp with is great. just a few of the younger ones i hear are a bit homesick else its all gd. spending all day up in the hills tomorrow so really looking forward to it!
bring on map and compass (haha, thats right phil and dad, they think i can teach kids how to read an map)
Monday, 27 July 2009
Saturday, 25 July 2009
TOTAL >>> 285 days not in the UK
so i left the uk 301 days again, so head off on my journeys. to head off on my journey of physical and personal exploration of the world and myself. it has taken me to many places, meet totally awesome people, lived on the other side of the world, and followed the sun and the summer to receive all the vitamin D i could find for 10months.
i am hoping that the sun will still be out for my vitamin D intake as it is what i am used to now, and this rain things scares me and makes me really cold. but as i arrived back to the UK after 298 days which did include an two week visit to Bristol; i still don't feel that my year has finished. i still have an few challenges to face before i face the next step that UNI.
the last few days have been packed with visits to friends, and missing out lots of others and i am sorry. but i return am in church from the 9th aug; so as you may have guessed, I'm going away again. i am heading off to SU camps for two weeks, the first heading down today to Quantock hills to have an week in the forest playing, spending time with God, and allowing boys to be boys; from there i train (and sleep) all the way to Norfolk and my little train station Hoveton and Wroxham where i spend my second week on the broads sailing, having fun, and equipping the boys with ways to explore and learn more about God.
finally arriving home and maybe receiving an update. but as i sit here and think where i was just an couple of days again, i really miss it especially living out there had become so normal for me, it felt that Albania was were i was living. but at least i know it takes an month of being in one place i will look forward for it for when i move to Plymouth in september.
i am hoping that the sun will still be out for my vitamin D intake as it is what i am used to now, and this rain things scares me and makes me really cold. but as i arrived back to the UK after 298 days which did include an two week visit to Bristol; i still don't feel that my year has finished. i still have an few challenges to face before i face the next step that UNI.
the last few days have been packed with visits to friends, and missing out lots of others and i am sorry. but i return am in church from the 9th aug; so as you may have guessed, I'm going away again. i am heading off to SU camps for two weeks, the first heading down today to Quantock hills to have an week in the forest playing, spending time with God, and allowing boys to be boys; from there i train (and sleep) all the way to Norfolk and my little train station Hoveton and Wroxham where i spend my second week on the broads sailing, having fun, and equipping the boys with ways to explore and learn more about God.
finally arriving home and maybe receiving an update. but as i sit here and think where i was just an couple of days again, i really miss it especially living out there had become so normal for me, it felt that Albania was were i was living. but at least i know it takes an month of being in one place i will look forward for it for when i move to Plymouth in september.
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
my last flight of the year!
i sit here, and ignore the idea of checking for things i have forgotten to pack; its ok i will do it later! lol,
so it is coming up to my last flight of the year and i sit here, feeling sorry for mim to have put up with four males in one flat. its the idea that i will be waking up at 'home' which shocks me most! both the fact that i will actually be in England, and there to stay, but also that tomorrow is an new country to me (or feels that way as been away so long).
as i have been scarily surprised by who reads these, i am sorry for the random waffle often found on here. but you have chosen to read this, so i maybe we can share the blame.
luckily i have an friend who has a few similar of my major experiences, mainly in africa, and as we are talking both of us have realised that we have changed, but mainly in ways that aren't seen day to day. i hadn't really been able to put things into words, especially when been talking to josh about random things. everything and nothing, with all the cracks in between; making sure that we leave no stone unturned. Albania has been a great time for thinking through my year and i am glad of all the space i have had here.
these last few days have been great, sunday was church (both Durres and Sukth) and monday was going to see Ali Kali and his horse; sadly we didn't see the whole show but this is it! an link from a friends previous visit :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsSGKCio_sA
with tuesday an day of cafes and views as we visited Tirana (capital city) and went there by public transport. of the fun of making your own way to places.
today is our last day, and i am sad to be leaving; as life here has just started becoming normal. but I'm off to my final destination, so today was visit a few shops and the post office; then onto missionary lane to say goodbye to an few friends that we have made and to the people of the CEF office here.
now i leave you in our final moments to build up the return of besi from an long day before we return to my penultimate airport for the year. or even longer, that's one strange feeling as they have become something i do in my sleep (or is that sleep in :S).
Tirana; Gatwick here i come
so it is coming up to my last flight of the year and i sit here, feeling sorry for mim to have put up with four males in one flat. its the idea that i will be waking up at 'home' which shocks me most! both the fact that i will actually be in England, and there to stay, but also that tomorrow is an new country to me (or feels that way as been away so long).
as i have been scarily surprised by who reads these, i am sorry for the random waffle often found on here. but you have chosen to read this, so i maybe we can share the blame.
luckily i have an friend who has a few similar of my major experiences, mainly in africa, and as we are talking both of us have realised that we have changed, but mainly in ways that aren't seen day to day. i hadn't really been able to put things into words, especially when been talking to josh about random things. everything and nothing, with all the cracks in between; making sure that we leave no stone unturned. Albania has been a great time for thinking through my year and i am glad of all the space i have had here.
these last few days have been great, sunday was church (both Durres and Sukth) and monday was going to see Ali Kali and his horse; sadly we didn't see the whole show but this is it! an link from a friends previous visit :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsSGKCio_sA
with tuesday an day of cafes and views as we visited Tirana (capital city) and went there by public transport. of the fun of making your own way to places.
today is our last day, and i am sad to be leaving; as life here has just started becoming normal. but I'm off to my final destination, so today was visit a few shops and the post office; then onto missionary lane to say goodbye to an few friends that we have made and to the people of the CEF office here.
now i leave you in our final moments to build up the return of besi from an long day before we return to my penultimate airport for the year. or even longer, that's one strange feeling as they have become something i do in my sleep (or is that sleep in :S).
Tirana; Gatwick here i come
Monday, 20 July 2009
two more sleeps!
so i am starting to get jitters about returning home now. i think it is down to the concept of staying put in one country for longer than an month. as i look at it now for 2009 the longest i have slept in one location is January when i had my last month working in Cambridge (NZ); with coming up very close second now is Albania while staying with mim and besi.
so i have two sleeps to go to the last place that i will end up for the year. even though i am not really staying around for the longest time (three weeks) when i am in Bristol for the last three weeks of august. and as it stands i am unsure where i am for 2weeks in September after holiday and before i have to be at uni. i have a choice to be in my new home that will be Plymouth or to continue my visit to my parents house.
as i look at it i have moved out of home last September and even though i have set up my new home in New Zealand and then completely left it again after starting to feel at home. so the concept of returning to the country where home isn't for me is totally odd. and the black clouds that is what is an home and will i find it again?? as these silly questions fly around my head, as they have been on and off since arriving in south Africa, i am beginning to realise that home cant always be where my bags are.
the next base i am going to have is my uni halls, and this is the next part of my life. this is where i have been heading for the last few years with my choices in life.
i finally get my home starting in September, but i just hope that it will begin to feel like home as well.
so i have two sleeps to go to the last place that i will end up for the year. even though i am not really staying around for the longest time (three weeks) when i am in Bristol for the last three weeks of august. and as it stands i am unsure where i am for 2weeks in September after holiday and before i have to be at uni. i have a choice to be in my new home that will be Plymouth or to continue my visit to my parents house.
as i look at it i have moved out of home last September and even though i have set up my new home in New Zealand and then completely left it again after starting to feel at home. so the concept of returning to the country where home isn't for me is totally odd. and the black clouds that is what is an home and will i find it again?? as these silly questions fly around my head, as they have been on and off since arriving in south Africa, i am beginning to realise that home cant always be where my bags are.
the next base i am going to have is my uni halls, and this is the next part of my life. this is where i have been heading for the last few years with my choices in life.
i finally get my home starting in September, but i just hope that it will begin to feel like home as well.
Saturday, 18 July 2009
last saturday in Albania!
so we are an week on from my last update, and an lot has happened again.
i find it very strange to find that i am planning my summer camps in the UK which start this time next week; i still cant get over that i am in a different country to where i will be helping lead camps. so the planning is going well through emails, luckily i can still be involved due to the awesome technology that the Internet.
so it comes to this week, and we have been from one style of living to another through our experiences.
we started off last sunday with having an ill house, so it was me alone who took myself off to church and sat all alone while i didn't understand a word that was going on. i was then invited to lunch and off to the beach with one of the missionary families that have recently moved out here.
monday brought me up nice and early to go with besi out to an village next to sukth to visit one of the families that besi works with through his 'missions without borders' and i got the first glimpse of what it means to live truly rural Albanian. it was interesting place to see and also then to meet one of the local bar owners who helped them run summer camps last year in the village.
woke tuesday to no reply about what CEF had in mind for us to do that day. as we were getting up we then had two forms of information of ideas for the day. josh and i choose different ones; josh went off to CEF and to help run 'targeted' good news clubs while i went off with some of the missionaries to the pool. we then were joined by josh as the invited kids didn't turn up for the club. we had an great day playing with the kids and encouraging them in water confidence and starting to teach one of them a bit more swimming. from there we had a few jobs in town and back for an nap.
sadly i was woken badly from my sleep too early to then head up to the stadium (yes, where Albanian have been seen training) however we were there because it is one of the spots where people 'hang out' during the evenings. we were starting to build relations with people for CEF and spent the evening face painting (well, josh was while i hung around and kinda chatted and then couldn't, silly language).
wednesday saw josh and i standing on the side of an motorway while we waited for an bus to take up north. we took and 4ish hour journey to some town near puke. then waited for a while and a dodgy car journey further up the mountains to the top of one. this was to be our home for the next 3nights.
during our time in the mountains we sat in many conversations completely out of what they are talking about. and as the time drew on the amount of raki consumed each day grew. it started at 6:30 one morning and today as we left it was 5:45. so that has to be an record that i wont be breaking in an while to start drinking for the day. raki is an homemade spirit that is usually of high percent. i managed 5 throughout the whole day before i decided to draw the line after 2 in an row.
we were staying with an local who lived in sukth but had gone up to this land to work it for 2weeks. ok, well it was one of besi's uncles who took us with him back to his land up north. the forests of Albania was where we were; yes, i even say an dog that looked just like an certain black dog from harry potter (so i am debating the existence of the real harry potter, lol) ok; but it made for some conversation with josh while we were in the middle of nowhere without an english speaker around.
we were back in the stigs, and it was awesome. ok, it couldn't be much longer as not being able to understand what was being said, and as besi came to join us last night and brought us back this morning. it was a real communist style house, and it was definitely something to actually think about. also the local town, was just a communist style flats complex, just like everywhere.
it is making me think about what it was like to have been living in communist times, and it is hard to really figure it out. i still really cannot image it.
i find it very strange to find that i am planning my summer camps in the UK which start this time next week; i still cant get over that i am in a different country to where i will be helping lead camps. so the planning is going well through emails, luckily i can still be involved due to the awesome technology that the Internet.
so it comes to this week, and we have been from one style of living to another through our experiences.
we started off last sunday with having an ill house, so it was me alone who took myself off to church and sat all alone while i didn't understand a word that was going on. i was then invited to lunch and off to the beach with one of the missionary families that have recently moved out here.
monday brought me up nice and early to go with besi out to an village next to sukth to visit one of the families that besi works with through his 'missions without borders' and i got the first glimpse of what it means to live truly rural Albanian. it was interesting place to see and also then to meet one of the local bar owners who helped them run summer camps last year in the village.
woke tuesday to no reply about what CEF had in mind for us to do that day. as we were getting up we then had two forms of information of ideas for the day. josh and i choose different ones; josh went off to CEF and to help run 'targeted' good news clubs while i went off with some of the missionaries to the pool. we then were joined by josh as the invited kids didn't turn up for the club. we had an great day playing with the kids and encouraging them in water confidence and starting to teach one of them a bit more swimming. from there we had a few jobs in town and back for an nap.
sadly i was woken badly from my sleep too early to then head up to the stadium (yes, where Albanian have been seen training) however we were there because it is one of the spots where people 'hang out' during the evenings. we were starting to build relations with people for CEF and spent the evening face painting (well, josh was while i hung around and kinda chatted and then couldn't, silly language).
wednesday saw josh and i standing on the side of an motorway while we waited for an bus to take up north. we took and 4ish hour journey to some town near puke. then waited for a while and a dodgy car journey further up the mountains to the top of one. this was to be our home for the next 3nights.
during our time in the mountains we sat in many conversations completely out of what they are talking about. and as the time drew on the amount of raki consumed each day grew. it started at 6:30 one morning and today as we left it was 5:45. so that has to be an record that i wont be breaking in an while to start drinking for the day. raki is an homemade spirit that is usually of high percent. i managed 5 throughout the whole day before i decided to draw the line after 2 in an row.
we were staying with an local who lived in sukth but had gone up to this land to work it for 2weeks. ok, well it was one of besi's uncles who took us with him back to his land up north. the forests of Albania was where we were; yes, i even say an dog that looked just like an certain black dog from harry potter (so i am debating the existence of the real harry potter, lol) ok; but it made for some conversation with josh while we were in the middle of nowhere without an english speaker around.
we were back in the stigs, and it was awesome. ok, it couldn't be much longer as not being able to understand what was being said, and as besi came to join us last night and brought us back this morning. it was a real communist style house, and it was definitely something to actually think about. also the local town, was just a communist style flats complex, just like everywhere.
it is making me think about what it was like to have been living in communist times, and it is hard to really figure it out. i still really cannot image it.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
another saturday! wait where has the week gone?
mim and besi with the clouds that appeared over tirana when we were on the mountain
the most tasty ice cream that josh and i have tasted. we may actually go back for another one before we leave albania
the ampetheatre that is mega old (2AD) and we just got to walk over it freely
the view from a near by tower looking over at the oldest part of durres that still exists
looking down out to the waterfront where many locals spend their evenings walking, and we live near tothis week and been on the quiet side as i took an day off on tuesday morning to spend some time alone. i ended up using this time to start to get my head around this summer and the future of uni. i also received my uni accommodation which is a bonus to know that i will not sleeping in a tent of a friend who already has a house down in Plymouth. now i just have enjoy the fun again of organising uni from different places in the world.
the rest of tuesday was being a tourist after i met up with josh in town. i popped into the post office to send my mother an post card (she wont believe this) we headed off to the Amphitheatre that has been here in Durres since its construction of i think 2AD. so freely walking around such an piece of history and walking down the tunnels that would have been used 2000yrs ago for entertainment really made me realise the unique position that i have had the chance of so much this year. as well and the blessing God has given me with ability to have 'in sites' into some places that i have visited.
we then headed up to the top of an massive hill (few perspirations, lol) and up an lift to the top to receive some of the most expensive ice cream desserts I've paid for in an long time but one of the best views over an city i have seen. worth the walk, that is all that i can say.
wednesday saw us changing our plans early in the morning due to an invite from the pastor and his family of the Durres church (which Besmir is an elder for and is Ruth and Maki's church also) to head down to their place and then head out to the beach to test out one of the biggest inflatables i have seen. their son (4yr old who has awesome english [ok, may have used him as a translator at one point that day]) was brought this from a friend who had been away for work. we had great fun. and what we though would just be a few hours turned into the beach and we also really got to know their family throughout the day. it's sad but exciting to see them heading off to Macedonia with another family to church plant out there, and hoping to set up an community centre.
there is a lot that is going on in the countries around us in Europe, it is crazy to know that they are unable to preach in the country that is next to where i am currently sat but totally exciting to know that God is calling these 2 families out to where God is not being taught.
as i feel this is going into an Zoe post, i apologise but i will not cut it down, sorry Byatt.
we had set an date and went to Tirane (capital of Albania) and we were going to get an overview of the capital. we took the cable car up the mountain, this was great memories as it was the only tourist thing that i did last time i was out here 3years ago when i came to help with CEF 'Good News Camp'. we had great time to hang out with both Besi and Mim. it's hard to realised but Besi is mega busy; but then that's not really an surprise when he is juggling his paid job for 'mission without borders', and unpaid jobs: pastor of the church in Sukth, elder of the church in Durres, building site manager (what we would call here in western culture), and being an married man. then add on two visitors to his flat and it all seems a bit mad, luckily God is really blessing Mim and Besi and i just pray that josh and i are a part of this. they seem to juggle all this and it has taken me 2weeks to fully work out all that Besi does here, but it wouldn't surprise me what else is going on that i don't know about.
as the end of the week approached we went into friday and back to CEF to help with one of their kids rally again. this was a craft morning and was a nicer than the busy last week's version of the same. we had a great ratio with the kids and this meant that we weren't ran off our feet always looking at what was needed to be done. the afternoon saw us moving the CEF centre around as it has been hired out for an retreat for a group of Christians in the south. and then down to the village of Duskth for one of the clubs that CEF run, we went 2weeks ago and the kids saw us and were very happy to see us again. i have to say i was shocked that they even remembered out names let along run inside to the meeting room to tell everyone else that Josh and Dave were here again. luckily Steve wasn't with us (was on holiday 2weeks ago when we arrived here) when Maki made us sing to them in english during an song part of the session.
now it is the weekend and today we are crashing, before we go to sunday and our 2 church services which we spend our own time with God due to the lack of understanding the language. we may head off to the beach across the road. we shall see! Durres is our oyster, haha
Friday, 10 July 2009
emotional blog
this is my 3rd attempt at writing this:
the first deleted it's self somehow and the second i am unsure if it makes sense, that is completely normal if you are following these blogs.
this is what i have been discussing with an friend which sums up an lot;
'especially trying to fit my views of the world and how it and God fit together with me and who i am turning into and therefore will be at uni'
which was replied with;
'that sounds like a bit of a mammoth task'
'it must be confusing going to so many countries!'
and that is just what my mind is going through at the moment, it is all very confusing but slowly getting easier. my mind is getting clearer all the time as time goes on here and i use my plenty of spare time to contemplate my year. and the 14 countries that i have visited this year.
man it get scarier as i am realising that i am growing older and becoming an adult! this is what in turn scares me as well as what my year may have turned me into ready for uni. and the challenge of is that the person God is calling me to be.
the first deleted it's self somehow and the second i am unsure if it makes sense, that is completely normal if you are following these blogs.
this is what i have been discussing with an friend which sums up an lot;
'especially trying to fit my views of the world and how it and God fit together with me and who i am turning into and therefore will be at uni'
which was replied with;
'that sounds like a bit of a mammoth task'
'it must be confusing going to so many countries!'
and that is just what my mind is going through at the moment, it is all very confusing but slowly getting easier. my mind is getting clearer all the time as time goes on here and i use my plenty of spare time to contemplate my year. and the 14 countries that i have visited this year.
man it get scarier as i am realising that i am growing older and becoming an adult! this is what in turn scares me as well as what my year may have turned me into ready for uni. and the challenge of is that the person God is calling me to be.
Monday, 6 July 2009
blogs im following!
currently none!! i know shock horror, ok so i log on all to update you lovely guys only to find that the page hasn't fully uploaded yet. OH NO, it has decided that it doesnt like me and wants to delete all my blogs that i am following, just because only a few are actually updated. doesnt mean that they shouldnt still be easy to follow.
well after this i will have to spend the next 10mins finding everybody's blog. EFFORT
so i left you last hanging on to the excitement to see if josh's cooking killed or poisioned me. i'll let you into an secret, it was nice [thanks to mim for idea of meal and no whats so ever having half of it left overs from previous meals]. lol, only joking but it was gd.
saturday saw our return to the village of sukth and an update on the house. it is looking great and see mim's fb is your interested and know her also. i am currently in CEF offices so dont have an card reader with me to put up pics. and also back for lunch and a nap before hitting the waves at the beach.
sunday was church, mens bbq in some woods next to an beach; and then sukth for eve service and meet some of the church goers there. and of course crash in the eve and start some of my planning for the summer camps im helping on this year back in england. was a very challenging day as also during morning sermon i spent my time with my bible and making notes and things as really couldnt understand.
monday has been so far kids rally this morn, followed by afternoon in the CEF office, i have printed and bound an language book i was working on last week and also done some editing for the teenagers camp invite that should have been ready before today. well it is now but had to reshecdual a few things to tomorrow, ops. now i am left here while water is being sorted for maki's house as i was talking to an friend online. so thought that i would update you on the weekend.
i leave you now as i start to think about food and what i should do for dinner, mmm
well after this i will have to spend the next 10mins finding everybody's blog. EFFORT
so i left you last hanging on to the excitement to see if josh's cooking killed or poisioned me. i'll let you into an secret, it was nice [thanks to mim for idea of meal and no whats so ever having half of it left overs from previous meals]. lol, only joking but it was gd.
saturday saw our return to the village of sukth and an update on the house. it is looking great and see mim's fb is your interested and know her also. i am currently in CEF offices so dont have an card reader with me to put up pics. and also back for lunch and a nap before hitting the waves at the beach.
sunday was church, mens bbq in some woods next to an beach; and then sukth for eve service and meet some of the church goers there. and of course crash in the eve and start some of my planning for the summer camps im helping on this year back in england. was a very challenging day as also during morning sermon i spent my time with my bible and making notes and things as really couldnt understand.
monday has been so far kids rally this morn, followed by afternoon in the CEF office, i have printed and bound an language book i was working on last week and also done some editing for the teenagers camp invite that should have been ready before today. well it is now but had to reshecdual a few things to tomorrow, ops. now i am left here while water is being sorted for maki's house as i was talking to an friend online. so thought that i would update you on the weekend.
i leave you now as i start to think about food and what i should do for dinner, mmm
Friday, 3 July 2009
our time in albania
so from miss shqiperia to kids rally to Josh's cooking. this is the brief highlights of whats been going on since weds afternoon.
so we left wednesday night to head out to the waterfront (ok, that's not far as we have sea ish view from the flat) but along to the tower next to the square [ok i cant remember what it is called]. this was the location of the final of miss Albania, yes we went to miss shqiperia. ok i cant actually believe that i payed to see 30 anorectic girls compete for who is the the 'best'. but all i can say is that it was an experience and i don't need to do it again, and thankfully we couldn't understand what was going on so made our own commentary.
but then thursday saw josh and myself preparing for the 3rd kids rally of the week for CEF however instead of holding it inside an mega sports complex (ok, and an 5 a side football pitch which has a tent roof over it) we were going to have an crafts session at the CEF Albania building. we had a meeting on wednesday so know ish what was going to be happening that day. we moved lots of things around and finalised the last of the crafts for friday.
we had the rally and felt that it went really well, only to find out that it was possibly the most attended rally. this was God's blessing as we felt that today was the best that we have been too and also someone else thought of this summer so far. this i feel is confirmation that God is using our times with the kids to show them God's love and also that we are there for them. out of choice and completely out of the norm for the culture here. this picture is of one of the Albanian CEF staff teaching an bible session to the kids during today's craft 'rally'.
so also thursday night saw my return to one of the best restaurants ever! :D we went to a friends of maki (one of the missionaries we are visiting) who owns and fish restaurant; come and taste for your selves is all i have to say.
so now it is my time to taste joshuawa's cooking as dinner is served! ciao
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
