wedding schmedding

sheepy sheep right outside the center door.
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personal victory!

yesterday i made my first trip to the store BY MYSELF to get some blueberry juice (it was delicious, too).  okay, so maybe i only spoke two words to the man, but still - i made an albanian monetary transaction without other north americans there.

blueberry juice? yep. be jealous.

my albanian is coming along quite well. i  know important words like, "i don't speak albanian" (un nuk flas schip) and thank you (fallemenderit) and goodbye in serbian (caio).  i love this language. it's so deep and beautiful.

the view from my window.
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as far as food goes, albanians like two main ingredients in their meals: bread and oil.  and there is extra oil on the oil.  did i mention they like oil?  but their bakeries are to die for here. everything is fresh and i haven't eaten a single preservative in 6 days.

so i went on my first "visit" yesterday to an albanian home in the village.  there they showed me pictures of an albanian wedding.  i only have two words for this: outta control.

the grooms party arrives at here house in the morning and as they take her away, the bride's family kneels as she leaves as a sign of mourning (the bride's family doesn't attend the wedding).

near where we visited.
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then more partying and dancing takes place at the groom's house. he wears nice sunday dress up pants, and she wears a traditional white dress but often has 12 or 16 meters of fabric in her dress (36 to 48 feet)!  her makeup and hair can compete with that of a drag queen's, and she's not supposed to smile all day (b/c of mourning).

then there's more festivities at the local restaurant, where they serve more food and have a six-tier cake - the base cake is the size of a table (for two) at a nice restaurant.

at the end of the day both bride and groom are exhausted, but they still have a long week of events ahead of them.

you all should google images albanian wedding (a modern one). it is crazytown.

this morning as i walked to the center there were cows grazing on the football field.  i guess this is normal.  but it's so beautiful here. and so are the people.

anyway's i'm off to go buy a chicken for dinner (don't worry, it's dead)

i love you all!

shout out to craigy!  you'd like it here.