some photos

Gjushja is showing Nathan (& Luke) a little scene she has set up for them.  She's explaining the characters in this little play, where they're going, what they're doing.

Gjushja is taking the boys to get ice cream at the store nearby.

The hostel

There's a little miniature amusement park near the hostel.  If the kids are reasonable in the morning (i.e. if they don't hurt each other too much or fight too much or tell on each other about every little thing), then we do a couple of rides on the walk to Gjushja's house.

People are a lot more physical with each other.  Arm/hand holding is very common among friends (female-female, male-male, female-male, relatives, etc.)

We visited our usual barber.  This time Luke actually let someone cut his hair!

Nathan on the balcony of one of Genci's cousin's apartment.

Genci's cousins (3 sisters) and the sons of one

walking in the marketplace

The kids were very good this morning.  They spent quite a bit of time on these trampolines on our morning walk.

A beggar's son sleeping in the park.

In the early 90's, there were a lot of water shortages.  This container was used to store water in.  When the water came, they filled as many containers of water as they could.  They still fill a few large ones, but that is enough now.  Genci's mother wanted to know if I needed this container at home.  She keeps trying to give me all kinds of things, including plastic containers, tin foil containers that food had come in, caps of former ice cream containers, clothing from when Genci was a teenager, anything and everything.  She saves everything that crosses her path;  she does want to get rid of them, but she will only get rid of things that she can give to a family member, so it's not wasted.  She won't even let us just give things to people in the park.  That would be wasting them.  I've learned to say no.

Today it rained.  Genci's mother puts up a piece of plastic over the steps to her house door to keep that rain/water out.  She holds it in place with plastic containers filled with water.  Uncle Vic would be proud of her ingenious reuse of items.