Mi Casa

Well, house isn't "casa" in Albanian, but I figured you would know what that meant more than: shtepia im... So, welcome- please come in! I can't promise it is clean, but I am glad you're here (I love visitors!).

Now that you've hiked the flight of stairs, you are ready to take off your shoes. It is so impolite to wear your shoes in someone's home; plus it is so dirty over here you wouldn't want to.
As you look down the main hall, my room is to the right and my Albanian teammate is on the left, along with the bathroom. The hall dumps out into the living room and kitchen. We are going to visit my room first.

Here's my lovely door. What idiot decided a bedroom door should have a window on it...I don't know. I have covered that up since taking the picture.

Welcome to my room. It is pretty much the size of a classroom- I am thinking about holding an exercise class in it! :) The sad part is that I have nothing to put in my room- just one suitcase of stuff. It feels empty; I am glad you're visiting to fill up some of the space!

Here's my bed. I am not sure what to call the thing that covers it, or for that matter what I sleep on. It isn't a blanket, duvet, or sheets. It needs some help. I will keep you posted on what I figure out to do with it!

Oh, there you are (maybe, if I had your picture). These keep me

company when I am lonely and sad that you aren't here with me.

Oh yeah, my Korean roommate's room connects to mine. Let's see if she is at home right now.

Yay- she is, and she even says that it is okay for us to take a peek into her room. (Yep- those are fish curtains separating our rooms!)

It is half the size of my room, but it is pretty cozy with the walls sponged a warm color, and she has a balcony that connects to her room!

Okay, you have to be bored with my room now- let's go explore the rest of the house. Oh, and those pillars I have in the corners are ashtray

stands that I hope to soon have plants on. :)

Well, this is the bathroom; if you can't tell. I am sure you have many questions when you walk into this room. Like: Why do you have a time machine in here? Why are there two "toilets"? Why is this room the size of a bedroom? My answer: I am not sure...it is Europe, you just learn to not ask questions!

So, my shower!!! It was installed after the war for an American UN soldier who needed the comforts of home (so I've heard). Well, my American home didn't have these comforts in it- not sure where he was from! But it has four shower settings on it. I think it once had the option of playing CDs and a bunch of other stuff. That stuff is all deactivated now, err...I mean it doesn't work. However, when you step inside the doors seal shut and you feel like you are getting

ready for take off.

My personal favorite part of the shower: the overhead nozzle! No shower will ever compare to this one...haha, and to think it is in Kosova!

The rest of the bathroom isn't too exciting.

Wait, on closer look- how in the world does this thing work? My advice: just push and twist until something happens! Just be prepared, it takes two hours to have your clothes cleaned (I don't know why or what it is doing for all that time- it refused to answer me when I demanded to know what was happening). After it finishes, you get to step out onto the balcony to hang out the wash and maybe a few days later they will finally be dry (feel grateful for your own washer and dryer now?). Whew!

On to the kitchen- yes, that small thing next to the oven is our fridge. It is like a sport to try and fit groceries from 3 girls from 3 different cultures inside. Okay, so you've noticed that we have another fridge- that thing doesn't work. I don't know why we have it; I guess it would look bad if we threw it away and just had a hole there. Who knows...

Here's the other half of the kitchen.

We just got our stove last week. I would make another fire for you, but there are some problems with that. First, the wood we bought months ago somehow just got delivered and is too fresh to burn. Second, when we light a fire smoke goes into our team leader's house upstair- this interesting problem needs to be resolved soon. We were told the workers were coming to fix it last week; this means they should be here in a few weeks.

Another benefit to having a home owned previously by a UN soldier- comfy, expensive couches! Have a seat. It isn't too freezing outside right now, so your butt might stand a chance of staying warm for a few minutes.

Oh hey, it is my Albanian roommate! If you think she looks stressed, it is because she is probably attempting to get online. We don't understand what happens most of the time- it has a mind of its own!

I am so sad to see you leave! I wish you could've stayed longer. You will have to come visit again soon. I promise this next time

I will have some tea ready and the house will be cleaner.

Oh yeah, don't forget to watch your step- the wood was dumped into the road, so we had to quickly move the pile into our courtyard. I have started to stack it, but that is a lot of wood and my hands haven't healed fully

from the last bout with the wood!

***So that is my house! Thanks for touring with me. It is very nice, and I love it so much! I've heard horrible rumors of the previous houses; not a day goes by that I don't thank God for moving my team here a few weeks before I arrived! haha. I wish you could be here with me in person, but this will have to suffice until you come visit! :) Miss y'all!