Currency Challenge...

Imagine...when you go to pay your next month's mortgage or rent payment, the landlord or the bank ask you to no longer pay in $US dollars, but to convert your payment into Mexican pesos, or gold, according to the exchange rate on the first of each month.  

I have discovered in Albania that landlords want the monthly rent in currency that is not Albanian...the Lek.  They ask for payment in Euros or $US dollars...and it varies each month according to the strength of each currency.

Praise God....my landlord will allow me to pay each month in a flat rate Lek fee...no exchanging of currency or computing the exchange rate.

Miracle Water...Glina Mineral Water

During my first visit to Tirana, Albania a friend shared with me an amazing new secret.

Glina mineral water, when consumed with a meal that has
extra fat content...will allow the fat to just be washed right out of your system.

No longer do you have to worry about the fat that french
fries are cooked in...Glina mineral water will wash it away.

The cost of this amazing water...40 lek. 
(that's about 40 cents)

Breakfast in the Balkans

Each morning while I was staying at 
the Risto's Guest House, I was treated to a different amazing breakfast.

Today it was leek pita, meats and feta cheese, tomatoes, a marmalade pancake, bread and a boiled egg.  Oh yes....Nescafe.

The one thing that you can't see that 
made this breakfast special was the fresh morning air of the village, the donkey "braying", or the bells on the goats. There was also a wonderful view of Lake Ohrid.

Macedonian Alarm clock...

While staying at a guest house near Ohrid, in a small mountain village, each morning the guests were treated to the "braying" of the little donkey just across the path.  

7:20-7:30 am.

I would also hear this little guy at other times during the day, but it always made me laugh each morning.  

It is part of the charm of staying in a 
village...

Progress in Kosova's highways....

The typical road in the midst of the highway construction...
really slow, really rough

Notice the 130kph speed limit, about 80mph

This highway is nice, it is beautiful.  Amazing progress...!!!

Well, there are still cows crossing the highway.
Some things may never change...

SNAKE in the house...!

I was getting ready to go to bed early and got up to leave the living room. Across the kitchen floor was an uninvited guest, a 3 foot long snake. IN THE HOUSE...!  I called a close friend, ended up calling the police.    (I didn't know who else to call)  Jonathan, the son of a friend, came over to help...and eventually the "Animal Control" officer came.  He had this reacher thing...opened the closet where the snake was under the hot water heater...grabbed the snake...put it in a bucket and that was it...over.  No big deal for him.

The snake was not poisonous...I don't like any snake.  The animal control officer assured me that he would take the snake to an open wilderness area and release it. So no harm came to the snake that got my heart rate and adrenaline moving. We are still not sure how the snake got into the house...or how long it had been hiding out.  I slept very little that night.  

I am still a little nervous when I open that closet door.

Hannah Marie

Hannah, 1 week old

My new granddaughter...

Hannah Marie was born on June 1, 2012.  She is the first child of my
youngest daughter Elissa and her husband Sam.  She was born weighing 6#10oz.  Sam and Elissa are doing a great job adjusting to being new parents. 

This little girl will be spoiled, she is the first grandchild on both sides of the family.  Isn't that what grandparents are supposed to do...?

I think it is written somewhere that grandparents spoil precious, beautiful granddaughters. ;-)

What a blessing little Hannah is, my prayer is that she will grow up to be a woman that seeks after God with her whole heart.

Hannah and her daddy, Sam

        Isn't she the most beautiful baby...?!