As I mentioned in my post, "Our First Week Away from the US," our rental house in Tirana had an issue with mold. We found that it didn't seem to be affecting us if the windows were open. Obviously that is fine in warm weather, but when we visited there in September, I knew that when we would visit a month or so later, it would probably be too cold to leave the windows open.
We headed to Tirana on the first Saturday of November. It was sprinkling as we made the twenty minute walk to the city center. There they have one bus going to Tirana every hour. It costs about $4 per person for the two hour bus ride.
When we make these trips, we are quite a site. People look at us as we walk by the shops and cafes. We are loaded down with luggage for our family of twelve to spend a week away. We have an older child pushing a stroller loaded down with as much as it will hold. Another grown child pushes our three-year-old in a different stroller. The other four youngest children are each holding the hand of a mature (or somewhat mature😉) family member.
It started pouring rain moments after we arrived at the outdoor bus station in Tirana. As we made the fairly short walk to another bus that would take us to the city's center, we did our best to avoid walking in the flowing water and deep puddles on the edge of the road. The day before, it had rained so much that the drain canal, or river, which runs through the city overflowed, flooding the streets pretty badly.
After the 10-15 minute ride to the center, we got off of that bus and walked through the pouring rain to the bus stop, which was missing its roof, to wait for the bus that would drop us off near our house. There were many other people, young and old, out in this rain. Our two umbrellas did very little to keep us dry. By the time we got on the bus, we were pretty wet and cold.
On our 5-10 minute walk to the house, my shoes and socks got completely soaked. My thick winter coat that I've been wearing for the past twenty, yes twenty, years became so saturated that I felt the cold water running down my sleeve. Somewhat "soaking" in the adventure of it all, I laughingly shouted above the noise of the pounding rain and the city streets, asking my family if anyone had shampoo. The rain had soaked the scarf that I had on my head and began to drench my relatively thick hair.
Being from suburban America where nearly everyone gets around by personal vehicles, I don't remember ever being in such a situation. There's almost never a reason that one would have to stay out in the rain for so long without a shelter to escape to.
When we arrived at the house, there was water streaming down the walls in four different places.
The real straw that broke the camel's back was a fifth leak. Water was streaming out of a light fixture above our bed. Our blanket, sheets and mattress were soaked.
Looking at the forecast for the upcoming week, it had mostly a 90° chance of rain, rain and more rain. The reason that we had chosen to go to Tirana that particular week is because Edward and our oldest two sons had tickets to fly to Bucharest, Romania to visit a man that they had recently met at a conference. They would be there for a few days with his family.
Knowing ahead of time that it was supposed to be a rainy week, I had prepared to mostly stay in the house with the kids. We had bought a 1,000 piece puzzle and several young children and I each had crocheting projects that we intended to work on. I figured that we could find a place to buy firewood for the wood stove and enjoy a quiet and cozy week.
With the present condition of the house, the very rainy forecast, along with Edward's upcoming absence, we debated what to do. Should we risk staying, or should those of us who wouldn't be going to Romania, head back to the bus for Shkoder, where the house would truly be dry and cozy?
I hated to miss the few opportunities that we might have to go to church as well as to get together with friends. However, I couldn't see going out and getting completely soaked every time. Clothes dryers aren't standard here, as they are in America. They are nearly unheard of. It's hard to dry wet clothes out, especially when it's wet indoors and outdoors! We had only brought a limited amount of clothing for the week.
We were very cold and wet. Our younger kids were shaking from the cold. Many of the clothes in the luggage had also gotten wet. Those who needed to change did so. We had a light lunch as we decided what to do. The rain had stopped not long after we got to the house. The sun even came out. According to the forecast, we had a very short window of time before the rain would begin again. We had to make a decision quickly.
We decided to pack up and return to Shkoder. We also knew that we needed to get out of our rental agreement. Edward decided to come back with a friend who has a taxi service who could help us move our Tirana belongings back to Shkoder.
Twelve people, many of them being children, can make a big mess in a short amount of time. There were wet shoes, socks, and clothes strewn about. Amongst the frazzled chaos, I had our oldest two sons going around the house gathering any wet clothes or shoes and putting them in bags for us to take back with us on the bus. While they did that, I gave them instructions on gathering all of our Tirana belongings (dishes, pillows, and linens) to one spot to make it easier for Edward to grab and go once he returned with the taxi in a week or so.
It was such a blessing that many in the family had left their warmest coats in Tirana throughout the summer, as we hadn't needed them, and tried to limit how much we traveled with on each trip. Several kids whose coats were soaked, had nice, warm, dry coats to wear on the way home. I was thankful to God for His providence in this.
As we were about to head out, it began to rain. We prayed, and thankfully we were able to make it to the bus and then finally back to our house in Shkoder without getting wet.
It was so nice to feel the warmth of the house when we entered. It took several days to wash and dry everything out and get the house in order. Without a dryer and without sunshine, we hung clothes on drying racks and anywhere that we could.
In the meantime, Edward and the boys stayed in the Tirana house for a few nights before heading to Romania. Thankfully the kitchen and largest bedroom were dry and comfortable, although somewhat musty.
By the time Edward and the boys returned from their trip to Romania, the Shkoder house was back in order. Not wanting to stay another night in the Tirana house, they had taken a taxi from the Tirana airport straight to the Shkoder house. They arrived just in time for us all to enjoy a special meal that we had cooked for them.
When Edward returned last week to get our belongings, he said that the house was much worse. The ceiling was hanging down and the mold was growing.
As Edward has said about many things in our lives this past year, "It's the end of an era." We will miss our monthly or bi-monthly trips to Tirana. We enjoyed meeting with churches there and getting together with our friends. There were places that we looked forward to going to that we will miss. There are things that we can buy in Tirana that we can't get in Shkoder. We will save money without the extra monthly rental expense, so that is a bonus. I look forward to seeing what God's good plans are!