House Hunting

There are so many things we love about our home here in Pogradec. 

View from our balcony

We love that it is in the center of town and it's easy for people to stop by. 

We love the spaciousness of our kitchen and the busy view outside. 

We love that we have space for teams, family and guests. 

We love it. But one day, we would like to move. 

Not from Albania, not from Pogradec. Just to a different home. 

We are so thankful for where we are right now but would eventually like to find something with more longevity. 

Right now, we live on THE single highway/road/freeway that runs through Albania. 

Like living on a 405 on ramp. If the 405 wasn't paved and there were just as many people as there are cars...and a few donkeys.

It is extremely loud and dusty and busy. 

I love to look out the window and watch the busyness as I drink my coffee in the morning, but I also don't like the 18 wheeler earthquakes at midnight. 

We would like a place where we can sit outside. We would like a place with some sunlight in the winter. We would like a place with an entry way instead of 25 marble steps right inside the front door. 

Just one day. 

But that kinda means that we have to keep our eyes and ears open right now. 

Why? 

There are no "homes for sale" listings in the newspaper. 
There's no website.
There are no realtors. 
There are no "for sale" signs. 
There are no new developments being built. 

So what do we do? 

We walk around Pogradec and if we see a house that might work, we ask in our broken Albanian if it is for rent. 

We ask the shopkeeper across the street. 
We ask kids in the youth group if they know of anything. 

The reason it is hard to find something here is that families build their own houses. Grandparents, aunts and uncles all live together. 

So people don't commonly rent homes. They rent apartments. And the homes are custom built. 

When people do rent homes, that usually means them moving out of their home and renting a smaller apartment so someone else can live in their home. 

Sometimes we hear of homes that are for rent and have to go find them. I think there are addresses here but nobody goes by them. Everyone gives directions based on landmarks. 

So today Melodie heard from a taxi driver that one floor of his home was for rent. 

These were the directions we were given: 

It is behind the pazaar, behind the school. It is the house across from the house with the big chimney...

There are like dozens of homes back there. They all have chimneys. What's a big chimney? 

We walked around for about a half hour and asked for the house of the taxi driver and we actually ended up finding it. 

The Grandma was there taking care of her grandson and very graciously showed us the home. It was beautiful but only one floor was for rent and there weren't separate entrances. 

When we were saying goodbye, she offered us a candy (Albanians always have a bowl of candy they offer you when you visit). Cory and I both took one and then she offered Shiloh one. 

(Shiloh scooped up the last 8 pieces into her arms and took off running the other way...we are working on her manners, among other things.)

So we will continue to house hunt until one day we hopefully find something new. 

This is also an illustration of how life just "takes longer." 


For instance last Tuesday our power was out all day because our landlord had backed up bills she hadn't paid for since before we moved in. 

Cory went outside to flip the power switch and their was a locked padlock on the box...

He has spent hours going around to offices, talking to the landlord, trying to get the bill figured out. 

It ended up coming back on 5 hours later. But in the meantime there wasn't much we could get done. No oven, no internet, no washing machine. 

I understand that some people live like that some places but their life is set up for that. 

On the contrary our life is set up for electricity. But then the electricity doesn't work. 

Cory fixing the overflowing toilet in the dark

So it feels like we are living in a houseboat that has holes in it. It kinda floats...but it kinda...sinks. 

So it just "takes longer." 

On Sunday Shiloh had some kind an allergic reaction that literally covered her body. It was really scary looking. We ended up driving to Greece to see a doctor and get some groceries like I have mentioned HERE. 

We drove two hours only to find out it was a Greek holiday (they have SO many holidays) and the doctor wasn't there. 

Thankfully she came into the office when I called her and took a look a Shiloh. 

But that was our whole day. The doctor. 

Before we moved here people would ask, "What will you do every day?" 

I had a broad idea. I knew what our goals would be. I knew what our mission would be. And since moving to Albania, I have written about our bible studies and youth group and meeting with kids and the drama and the 6 week challenge and the women's bible study. 

But, 

what is hard to put into words is that sometimes, the every day tasks take much longer than we are used to. 

This is partly because of the language barrier. 
This is partly because of the cultural barrier. 
This is partly because some things are simply less streamlined here. 

Sometimes entire days are wrapped up in solving one problem. 

In fact, often many days are wrapped up in solving one problem. 

Many hours are spent trying to complete a seemingly simple task. 

Many hours are spent trying to fix a problem that we spent hours accidentally creating. 

Such is our new "normal." 

And I know that working through these things and solving these problems is part of obeying God. 

He has called us here and that doesn't just mean that we get to lead bible studies and watch people come to Christ. 

While that is our greatest joy and our ultimate motivation, it is not what we do 24/7. 

We also "live life." But that's part of what God has called us to here. 

And even though I want to bang my head against the wall sometimes, it is also an extremely incredible adventure. 

Kind of like being Shiloh Belle's mom :)