Christmas eve was spent in the morning preparing for the afternoon with youth from Patos on 'the meaning of christmas' which went quite well i think. Then we all headed to Lushnje for a dinner with the church there. That was great, with good food, company and some Albanian dancing. Emily and ShaRon in particular were a real hit with the guys there..... Unfortunately for Tony and I the culture is not one where girls ask guys to dance - but we had enough fun videoing and phtographing E and S with their numerous guys :)
On christmas morning there was a service at 9 for kids, which had over 180 kids in attendance. Packed out the church, was very cool. T, E & S all stood around the edge like hall monitors trying to keep them all quiet - worked fairly well i think.
Then it was the adults service, which was really cool. Its great hearing the christmas carols sung in a different language. The uni students who study in Vlore also did a really cool drama kinda thing.
After this all of us except Murray went for a drive to Vlore. Its a nice ('almost looks like a real city') city on the coast. Its the closest port to italy so apparently the most popular port for sumgglers.
We saw one of Hoxha's old houses, and then had pizza and coffee at a restaurant overlooking the sea (wouldnt recommend the restaurant)
Tony and i then went for a swim. I thought it was pretty cool swimming by moonlight on christmas day in the Adriatic Sea. Actually surprisingly warm for the middle of winter.
Since then we have gone visiting again, to Berat yesterday - the oldest city in Albania, older even than London. Quite a nice place. got a few good photos, particularly of a huge old castle up above the town.
Today M,F,E and S were all invited out for lunch, and Tony and i are in Fier before M picks us up to take us to Lushnje for our last study there (on Purpose)
On the health front, F,E & S are all crook at the moment. Hopefully everyone is well again before we head off to Paris.
Crazy to think that we only have 2 days left here, it has all gone so fast.
Well i should head off
Hope everyone is well, and had a great christmas
Have a Happy New Year
Zoti ju bekofte
