Coming Out of the Fog (Albanian Intermission Day 10)

I slept past 3am the last two nights (thank you Nyquil!) so I feel pretty safe declaring we have beat jet lag's booty...you know, 10 days later *eyeroll* (there is just no good way to conquer jet lag is there?)

Dealing with any kind of emotions when your brain is in a totally different space time continuum is nearly impossible. But I did unpack my girly's clothes this week and straightened up her closet. I also put fresh flowers in her room--that felt good. It felt...expectant. Someone is coming. We need to be so emotionally prepared that we can't let the fresh cut flowers die. Is it weird? Maybe, but it is working right now. My girly with a name that means 'sweet flower of hope' will have fresh flowers in her room. 

As I am coming out of the fog, I am sorting through the 2,357 photos and videos (that is NOT an exaggeration) and finding myself giggling at some of the memories. Isaac was looking at one photo of the apartment kitchen to which he said "hey, that's where we made toast!" (Toast is a very important part of his day). It sure is!  Lets keep that memory alive--so then we watched the video of our last day with my girly that involved a full-on Down syndrome dance party with my two children and three of her roommates and two Sisters of Charity who totally got their jiggy on!  Imagine rosary beads knocking and crucifixes bouncing off their hips! (I seriously can't make this stuff up!) When I tell that story, 100% of people respond is shock: "the NUNS did that?!"  *hehe* Yup!  They did EXACTLY what Jesus would have done--they danced with joy with a bunch of kids with Down syndrome. I am so very proud that these women are the ones caring for my daughter. 

So, maybe in the coming weeks I'll share a few more of the more random and goofy stories from our trip. Most involve food. Some are made up stories of murder and espionage that Annie and I invented to keep ourselves entertained without wifi, TV or radio. Some made me laugh so hard I nearly wet myself (or did. That is not an important detail). Some felt like near death experiences. All helped form our 60 days in Albania into the experience that it was. 

Stay tuned...