Albania or Bust!!

On the evening of October 5th, 2010, Steve and I started off on a wonderful adventure. We left Philadelphia around 6pm on our way to Rome, Italy, and then on to Tirana, Albania to pick up our missionary son, Geoffrey. (Elder Foulk)

The mission president and his wife, Pres. and Sis. Neil, met us at the airport since there was a new batch of five missionaries coming in just shortly after us. It was so wonderful to be able to see Geoffrey and give him a great big hug. It was also way fun to meet the Neils, the assistants to the president - Elders Swenson and Elder Griffin, and to see the new missionaries come in.

We rented a car then Geoffrey took us to the monument where they take all new missionaries when they get to Albania. Then we checked into our little hotel that we had rented online. It was kind of a funny little place, but it was clean and had three beds, so that worked.

We drove around Tirana a little and then went to the mission home to get Geoffrey's things. These photos were taken in the office. We were excited to see this place where Geoff spent six months as an office elder and another three as an assistant.

After seeing a few more Tirana sites we enjoyed a delicious dinner of two kinds of crepes....one was a main dish with meat and vegetables and the other was a dessert kind...DELICIOUS!! Then we headed home to our humble hotel room for a good night's sleep. ( Steve and I were awake at 2am and couldn't get back to sleep for quite a while....ahh jet lag.)

I think that we will all remember that little hotel room if only for one reason. When we woke up in the morning, Steve checked the computer to see what had happened the night before back in Philadelphia. The first round of post season play had started and we were curious to know how the Phillies had done. Imagine our amazement when Steve said, "Here's the headline....... " Doctober"". Our pitcher, Roy (Doc) Halladay had pitched a no-hitter in the game. We read and watched everything we could about the event from that little room. I bet Geoffrey said, fifty times over the next week, "I can't believe Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter!"

Later that morning we got some delicious pilaf for breakfast (yes, they eat rice pilaf for breakfast there) and headed toward Mt. Dajti. This mountain is right next to Tirana and the summit can be reached by tramcar.

At the top of the mountain there was a restaurant where we had a little treat of tres leche, cacao, and salep.....all were DELICIOUS!!

Then we headed to the Tirana Museum where we took this photo of Geoffrey and I by a statue of Skënderbeu. He is like the national hero of Albania.

Here we are in the center of Tirana, called the qendër. It was heavily under construction at the time but you can still see the mosque (Albania is primarily a Muslim country), the Albanian flag, and a statue of Skenderbeu on horse back.

After some tie shopping (I think that Geoffrey may have a slight obsession with ties), we left Tirana and headed west to Durrës. Durrës is a coastal town where Geoffrey served for a short time. We got into town after dark, parked our car and walked out along the equivalent of our NJ boardwalks and took in the night life. We lucked out and found a very nice hotel and then found a pizza place for dinner. The hotel breakfast the next morning was wonderful and we could see the sea from our table. Here is a photo out of our window toward the Adriatic Sea.

Next we toured an ancient amphitheater which was recently discovered right in the middle of the city. It was fascinating.

We also checked out the mosque here...

..and then drove past the place where Elder Foulk lived in Durres on our way to meet Zef. We had really looked forward to meeting this young man. Zef was one of the investigators that Geoffrey taught in Durres. He was not yet baptized when Geoffrey was transferred into Tirana to serve in the office. Zef was eventually baptized and then served as Geoffrey's companion as a mini missionary in Elbasan. I think he was 18 years old and a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood. He was too busy working at a car wash to allow us to take him to lunch, but we went to the place he was working and had him wash our car for us. The car wash (lavazh) was, coincidentally right across the street from the Durres chapel. That is where this photo was taken. It was one of my favorite moments in Albania when we got to meet this fine young man.

After our visit with Zef, we headed south to the village of Berat. Part of the city is built on a hillside. All of the houses are built from white stone or are whitewashed. Even the narrow roads through the village are white. At the top of the hill is an ancient castle. There more village homes inside the castle, too. We hiked up to the top and were able to see the whole surrounding area. Just amazing views. In the town, we also ate some fasule. This is a traditional bean soup and became one of Geoffrey's favorites while he was serving on his mission.

After our visit to Berat, we traveled Vlorë. Geoffrey began his mission in this beautiful coastal town. We were happy to see some of the sites that were in some of his first photos home. We also were able meet some great missionaries there and also some of the members. We ate sufllaqes (kind of a hamburger and fries minus the bun inside a pita) for dinner at one of the places that Geoffrey had frequented when he served there. The next morning we headed to the sea so that Steve and I could put our feet in the Adriatic. Steve was actually a little sick on that day but was a good sport as we got on the road again on our way to Elbasan.

After a short stop in Fier for some tie shopping (imagine that), we arrived in Elbasan. This is where Geoffrey spent his time in between his first office assignment and his last three months as an AP. He was able to really get to know the members and branch there well because he also served in the branch presidency. We got to meet so many amazing people. Here are a few of them.

This is Nena. Geoffrey was able to help teach her and baptize her. We visited her home and she welcomed us so warmly. What a sweet lady.

This is a group that came to the Saturday night FHE that they had at the chapel. I can't remember all of the names, but I am pretty sure I will not forgot their faces and their spirits.

Some of the great missionaries in Elbasan...

Elder Holmes (came into the Tirana airport a few minutes after us), Elder Foulk, Elder Fredrickson (Fredi), Geoffrey's companion in Elbasan, Sister and Elder Preston

We were able to witness the baptism of Zhani on Sunday. Her son, standing next to her, was baptized the next Sunday. She sat in on Nena's lessons, and after losing her job, she was able to start coming to church and was baptized.

Us with the old branch presidency of the Elbasan Branch

Some of the beautiful, plentiful olive trees found throughout Albania...so beautiful and peaceful.

After church and the baptism on Sunday, we took the road back to Tirana. It is a very windy mountain road with some absolutely beautiful views. I am imagining that during the winter, the road must be rather treacherous, though.

Upon arriving back at the mission home we repacked and weighed our bags in preparation for our trip to Rome the next day. As we went in to do some last minute things in the office, it was interesting to watch Geoffrey. He kept finding things that needed to be done. We could tell that he didn't really want to go. He knew he would soon be leaving this place that he loved so much and I know it was hard for him. Here is a photo of us with Beni. He was a less active member that Geoffrey had worked with before leaving the office.

Our trip to Albania ended with a night in another interesting little hotel by the airport. We got up early the next morning and boarded a plane to Rome where the rest of our adventure would continue. I am so glad we were able to see a little bit of this wonderful country and meet some of the amazing people that have touched our son's life forever.