The sky looking out from the window of my apartment was indescribably beautiful this morning. Having lived in the Seattle area for most of my life, I am acquainted with clouds. The Albanian Alps have a way of turning suspended moisture into rich, shifting tapestries. I have only seen clouds like these in Albania and they alone are reason enough to visit this place. How awesome is the Creator of all of this?
At the International Church in Tirana we had a full crew today. Robin brought Phil, his father-in-law, who is visiting from Scotland. Cleon was back to lend a hand painting. The church was relatively busy with people coming and going. I of course had Mosi and Mustafa to help in the area we are excavating. We should have removed enough material by Tuesday of next week to start building the forms for, and setting the rebar for the first run of footing. The next step is always right where we need it to be.
I have many reasons to be thankful after a day like this one. I was in harm’s way for much of the time, yet I was not injured and, more importantly, I did not injure anyone. On at least two occasions I have only God to thank for this. In the States we would have thousands of dollars in equipment to aid in the process of taking apart this structure. Here we are blessed to have whatever we can find to aid us. Most everything can be described in Albania in a single word: precious.
Things are precious because they tend to be irreplaceable here. Our sledge hammer is a steel cylinder welded on the end of a steel shaft which has also been welded out of two pieces of steel; where would we be without it? The spades at the end of our shovels are so thin that the metal bends as they make contact with the ground; the pick-axe is for excavating and the shovels are only for scooping the loose dirt. I ordered a 4×8 yesterday, a common nominal piece of lumber. What was delivered was a single member composed of two pieces of 2×8 sandwiched and then screwed together; it is now an essential part of my shoring for the frame of the building. I would have discarded all of these things if I could have replaced them with something better.
I am beginning to understand.
albaniacalling 