It's been a whirlwind transition. New team, new country, new temperature, new culture. 

It's freezing cold here in Albania. A big change from our average of 90° in Nicaragua. We all scrambled to get warm clothes from home to Miami where we had a layover on our way here. I also got myself a new tent and a block of Velveeta cheese. Yes, I said cheese. After only finding mozzarella in Central America I was desperate. I also wanted to redeem the family mac and cheese recipe that I butchered for my first team. (Imagine me rolling my eyes as Jose is reading this over my shoulder and telling me how great it was anyway.) 

The 7 hour layover in Miami flew by, pardon the pun. We had been split into 3 flights and I was on the one with a quick layover in El Salvador and even with that plane delayed almost an hour, made it ahead of the other two flights to Miami. There we had to wait for 40 minutes for our bags before finally making it out to where our families waited. There were only 6 of us on that first flight; Abby W, Brittany and Taleyah, Aliseya, Jacob, and myself. It was only a couple of minutes after we came out that we were bombarded with parents asking where the rest of us were. I suppose not everyone heard about the 3 different flights. It was only an hour or so before the next flight came in and 30 minutes more for the last one. 

We swapped out gear and clothes and had lunch before getting in line to check back in. The line took forever because a flight to Italy had been canceled due to flight attendants protesting in Italy and they all had to get new flights. By the time that was done the Munich flight was getting ready to leave so anyone flying to Munich got to cut to the front of the line. Finally, the line started moving and I could check in for Zurich. I then walked mom down to her check-in on the other side of the airport before rushing back to get through security and get to my own flight. 

We were split between two different flights for the next leg. Just under half of us were flying to Zurich for a very quick layover before flying on to Tirana, Albania. The rest were on the flight to Munich for a 10 hour layover before flying on to Tirana. 

Our flight was late and our layover in Zurich was non-existent. We ran from our flight to the bus that took us straight to our much smaller plane. Once we boarded the doors closed and we took off. Our bags did not make the flight with us and were sent to Munich to catch the next flight. Yes, the flight with the rest of our squad. So we arrived in Tirana at about 12:30pm local time and the Munich flight was due to land at 11:30pm. We spent the day hanging out at and around the airport looking for places to stay the night. 

The next morning we split into our new teams and headed for our ministry locations. My team had a nice drive through the mountains to a small town called Polican (poly-chon) just south of Barat and nestled in a valley between snow capped mountains. What a beautiful place to call home.

There is a reason our co-ed team was requested for this particular location. The culture here Muslim though the people aren’t. The men are pretty much the only ones to go walk around town. Women must be accompanied by a man unless they have earned the right not to. We obviously aren’t going to be here long enough to earn that. We also can’t go out as just one guy and one girl because that makes us look like a couple living together above the church which of course reflects poorly on the church. So in order for us girls to go out we need 2 girls and 1 guy. With only 3 girls on the team it’s not easy. We all have to be very flexible with our plans. Our host is one of the few women that can go around town on her own. Mimoza has a lot of personality and loves to be near us. She is always helping to show us how things are done around here. She took us on a tour of the town one day and the market the next. She is always willing to make time in her schedule to come help us with anything we need. 

As for our actual ministry this month, it’s fairly simple. Help with church on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings help with the children’s ministry. The rest of our ministry is to just pour into Mimoza.  We’ve been here for a week and it’s a cute small town but there really isn’t much for a girl to do that isn’t cooking and cleaning. We have Joey to cook for us and the meals are fantastic. And we each take turns cleaning. With the small space we occupy it doesn’t leave much to be done. 

Pray for our patience and for contentment and peace with our ministry and location this month. 

So I was done with this blog but some things happened before I posted so I decided to update you here.

1. I made mac n' cheese for Christmas using the Velveeta and oh how I've missed it! I also made potato candy and put Jack in a sugar coma. It's not my fault he ate so much at once! the recipe calls for 1 mashed potato and 8-10 cups of powdered sugar! Plus I added a swirl of Nutella! Besides that Jacob made mashed potatoes and I made some white sauce to go with it since we didn't have a way to make gravy. Joey made fried chicken and I'm about to beg him to make it again because it was so good!

2. Kosovo is no longer a possibility. They changed their Covid restrictions and we are no longer going. Instead we will be staying here in Albania an extra 2 weeks before heading to Romania!

3. Jose went home. He’s not the first or even the second but he was someone I was very close to. Prayers as I mourn the loss of the presence of a good friend and try to readjust to the team without him. 

4. Abby M. came and stayed with our team for the week of Christmas and we said our goodbyes to her as well because she's heading back to the States in another week now that the raised up SQLs are in place. 

5. I found out some news about a friend back home that is very sad. Pray for them to have strength and lean on God in this troubling time.

6. We spent a weekend in Tirana to get a change of scene and played around at the fair, went ice skating, went to a movie, and ate out at some wonderful restaurants! We head back to Polican in the morning and I can’t wait to get back to our gorgeous views and beautiful stars!

P.S. Can someone please define the word "vibe" as it's used in modern speech. I've heard it used about the atmosphere at restaurants, people's clothing choices, a washing machine, and several other situations and I'm admitting defeat. I truly don't understand this word. HELP!

P.P.S. I won't lie to ya'll, I've been pretty sad for the last week. My new team has probably seen me cry more this last week than I've cried in the last couple of years. I was close with Jose and having him leave was a very hard blow. Then I found out about my friend and my heart just broke all over again. At the beginning of this trip I got a key with the words "hold strong" carved into it. I've been wearing it and digging for what it could mean besides the obvious definition. In this moment though, when I want to go home because my closest friend isn't here anymore and another is struggling back home, I truly believe it means exactly what it says and therefore I am to stay right where I am, so I will. God called me on this trip and here I'll stay even when it's hard.