Shabby

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Being Home

You might be wondering how I am doing...since I haven't posted in awhile. You might ask if I am enjoying being home. You might think I've been uber busy.
Well, I am just going to let this picture speak for things:
(I am happy to be home, I am just in a daze!)
The first thing I did was see my family!

Here's me with my newly married sister:


Here's my brother and dad grilling out.

My mom and me.
I went to my college roommate's wedding.

Saw one of my Kosovar friends...here!

And yesterday, I went to The State Fair of Texas with my mom and sister...in the pouring rain!

We ate Texas shaped nachos- yum!

And just enjoyed being in my "grand ole state"!

It's good indeed to be home for a bit!

ID Card Fiasco

So, to live in Kosovo, you are required to possess what we foreigners call an "ID Card". Sounds simple enough, huh? Well...just read on!

So, last fall when I first arrived in Kosovo, I went down to Prishtina, the capital, and applied for one- easy enough. They said it would be ready in 2 weeks and to come back then...which we did (keep in mind Prishtina is almost 2 hours away from where I live, on a very bad road!). They weren't ready...nor were they ready every other time we returned for the next 9 months (they kept telling us each time that it would be "just 2 weeks more"). Finally our cards arrived! They expired in 3 months!!!

So, 3 weeks before my card expired I headed back to Prishtina to renew my card- no biggie, you'd think! Well, it turns out that the problem which delayed the cards 9 months was going to prevent this from working. You see, the UN had moved out of Kosovo and Eulex- the European Union's form of police- had moved in. A change in powers always results in difficulties for people just like me who think things should "just go smoothly"!

So, I went to the police station (you can read the previous post about driving to Prishtina...) SIX times before my paperwork was accepted. I won't bore you with all the details, but that is a lot of traveling, being frustrated, sometimes wanting to bite someone's head off but not knowing enough Albanian to, and work! Finally on the last time...it worked! And you wouldn't even believe that the same people who had been so rude to us before were all smiles and jokes this time- man, you just never know what you are going to get!

So, hopefully my ID card will be awaiting my arrival back in Kosovo in December...but then again, you just never know in Kosovo!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

In Texas

(this is how Dallas feels to me right now...)

Hello Everyone!


This last month or so has been pretty complex and busy. Therefore, my absence from the blogging world... But I will try to update with some pics soon. In the meanwhile, I am posting to ask for prayer in regards to my time home. I've been here for approx 3 days and have already begun to feel overwhelmed with the planning and organizing that I must do to meet with everyone and also work out some things for the coming year for my team. God's teaching me a lot, and I feel so blessed to be back home for a time.


I can't wait to see you (if you live in Texas)!