Saturday in Pogradec

So we arrived in Pogradec around 5:30 am and went back to bed. The day (Saturday) started with breakfast at 11 am and around 12:30 pm we started some cultural lessons and then the Cramer's took us down to the lake to debrief on camp that will start first thing Monday morning. After debriefing we came back to the house to get started on learning the dance to the camp song. It's going to get a little silly and crazy at camp but no doubt lots of fun!

We then left at 4:00 pm to head to Korce for youth group. We pulled up through a beautiful stone paved alley and we entered one of the doors which led up to the top floor where there were at least 30 kids waiting for youth group to start. 

The men and women came up to lead worship, it was beautiful! Being in youth ministry for 8 years I can tell you there is just something special about listening to a place full of teenagers worshipping God that melts your heart and even more so in another country. Of course I didn't understand most words but it was seriously awesome! Some of the songs I did recognize but was so concentrated on the Albanian words that I couldn't remember the English ones. The youth pastor gave a message and again I didn't understand a word but you could get a feel for his love for The Lord and the way he challenged the kids. 

After church we got to go eat at this wonderful Italian restaurant... I wish I would have taken a picture, the food was so yummy and fresh! The olive oil was literally nothing like ours. The pizza and pasta was excellent! And each dish cost around 500 leks which is $5. I've never had a better Italian dish and especially not for $5. 

Afterwards we all took a short walk to a Greek Orthodox Church down the street for a few minutes before our taxi showed up. Taxi rides are similar to rides you would expect in other countries... A bit scary. This particular ride consisted of someone hitching a ride in the tiny little compartment in the back of the van. The others named him Shawn. 

We arrived back at Cory and Kristine's only to leave again for a walk downtown to see the night life. On the main drag you will find hundreds of people just hanging out with each other having coffee or other drinks and talking for hours. We met an English speaking Albanian teenager and I asked him if this is what they do... walking, talking and just hanging out. He said yes!

From what I have seen so far I love this culture! ... they love each other, they hug, boys will lock arms with other boys who are friends (and no it doesn't mean anything here), girls do the same, and they take time to talk and be with each other at all hours of the day and night. I know because I hear them outside of my window at all hours having conversations. 

There are cultures around the world that are not glued to their phones, these are not heads down people. It's about community here. My soul longs for it but most days at home I'm content to be with myself. I am a product of my American culture. I can't imagine anymore what it would look like where I live for people to be so focused on each other and community that we wouldn't know what to do without it. It seems like we will never gain that back. I love the Albanian culture because they are 20 years behind us and I hope they stay there. 

Back to the young man... we talked about the relationship between boys and girls and why you won't see an Albanian boy walking with a girl unless they are together or married. They also will not sit and have coffee together either. The parents must approve first and if the brothers find out you are in trouble he said. I said oh well that's good.. He said no! I guess the young people don't like that about their culture. We talked about the process of marriage and dating. This young man didn't know it but this random conversation helped me a lot since I will be teaching on marriage at camp.