So..... Let me fill you all in for the last few days.....

Some of you may know, that I have since departed the lands of Albania.... Temporarily..... Last Thursday, I spent the 8-hour bus journey from Sarande to the capital of Albania - Tirana. Yes, it was exactly as bad as everyone had told me. My first mistake was to drink a coffee before leaving. Half an hour later - I was busting for the loo, and unable to translate the words "stop", "can we pull over" or "I need a wee". I managed to hang on for two hours until we stopped for a break, but trust me - it wasn't easy!!

In Tirana, I sampled my first curry in 6 weeks, thanks to Magdalena. That was a definate highlight. I also spent the whole of Friday drinking coffee with friends and looking around the town. I then secretly sneeked off back to the UK on Saturday.

Due to the fog situation, I arrive in London far too late to catch the last train to Reading. Thankfully, Tim offered me a couch for the night, which was awesome of him. Thanks dude - very much appreciated, as Clapham Junction gets a tad chilly at night!!

Anna was totally unaware of all of this, thanks to everyone who was in on the secret, and who kept it that way. On Christmas day - I drove down to Taunton, and shocked her!! I then gave her a ring and asked her to marry me. She said 'Get down on one knee and ask me again!!' So - I did, and she said 'Yes!!'. So my big news everybody.... I'm engaged!!

I will be returning to Albania on the 2nd of January, so I will continue with all updates on my return.

On the eve of the Sarande all-churches concert.... I've developed a cold. My throat really hurts, and I'm meant to sing tomorrow. Its a concert which all the churches of Sarande are contributing to. It was aranged at slightly short notice, so I hope people turn up!! I'll tell you how it goes tomorrow.

On a happy note.... We've got rain - lots of it. Ive soaked through 2 pairs of shoes today. I was being sarcastic about it being a happy note. I hate having damp feet :o(

Today I went to the Cuke gypsy camp once again. But the weather today was so good, I took my camera for the first time since arriving here. I wanted to give you guys a feel of life there. There are some great characters there. Some of them young and some slightly older...





There are also some really cute babies!!!



This is where they live..... There are a couple of houses (well.... shacks really) either side of this road.


This is their church. It was fairly packed today.... It also doubles as their school during the week.



I'll leave you with a picture I took later on today, when we had our usual 6 o clock power cut. Apparently theres only enough water left to create (using hydroelectricty) another 10 days of power. Then the country is in trouble. We need rain!!! The town being so dark, brought the stars out in such an amazing way. Unfortunately - this picture REALLY doesn't do it any justice. But I thought I'd put it on here anyway. Naten e mir. :o)

Ouch.

I'm in total agony today. Wednesday I played my first game of football in over two years. And its this morning that I am feeling the after effects. My joints are stiff and my entire lower half just generally hurts :o( On the plus side.... we won, and I scored a cracking volley, beating a defender and my Diti (who was on my side) to the ball, and put it past the keeper in the bottom corner. Beautiful.

I think I'm getting old though.

Thank goodness for an internet connection!!! :o) No more smokey atmosphere of the Internet Cafe! Hooray!!

I've not quite managed to get one for the house yet... That is apparently on its way. However - today I spent all day working at the Lidia Foundation headquaters in Sarande, organising their network. This is so that they now have a little room of 6 computers, all hooked up to the internet. This is in preperation for the lessons that I am to be giving after Christmas. It took all day... I've never seen things happen so fast. Normally in the UK, if you need a hole in the wall, you have to wait months for the builders to come round!! These guys took half-an-hour!!! The guys who came, also just drilled a hole. Now keep in mind that there was an electricity socket about 30cms away from the hole.... This didn't seem to worry them. They just drilled. They also found that the wall was thicker than their drill bit, so they seemed to guess at where the first incision was made, from the opposite side, resulting in what can only be described as 'one and a half holes in the wall'. It made me chuckle!!

Cable problems aside (these were handmade cables, and they were a little troublesome) the network was succesfully installed. I was proud of myself for remembering my University training on using hubs in networks and the fact that you need a crossover cable hooked to the router. Sorry - teccy stuff I know, but I was pleased :o)

Not much news apart from that. Weather has been a little overcast, but thats nothing to the rain that the UK has apparently been suffering. Ha ha ha... Sorry - I have to laugh!!

The other day I took a walk around town with my camera. The weather, as you can see was superb. Just thought I'd put the best ones on here, so you can see. Hope you enjoy.

As Christmas comes near, plans for Christmas here are hotting up. Christmas is celebrated here, but apparently its nowhere near as popular as new year. From what I gather, the church here is going to celebrate by having a big all-day party, with a large sheep or goat on a spit roast, a drama of the nativity (which I’ve had to write) presents for each other and a lot of singing!!

New year here is a much celebrated event, and it involves fireworks – lots of them!! Apparently its like a war zone here on new years, so I’ll be with camera at the ready, and I’ll try and get some pictures. The best fireworks display I’ve been to was for the July 6th Independence day celebrations at San Francisco harbour, with the Golden Gate bridge as a backdrop… These fireworks had better be good to beat them!! :o)

I preached on Sunday… It was a sermon on sex before marriage! It was quite a difficult topic to raise with the younger generation, especially when a lot of their parents were there too! My translator did very well too, as I said some very rude words in church, which she translated, despite originally refusing to translate them!! Next Sunday, I am going to preach another one on sex within marriage, and how that is a blessing which is blessed by God.

Cuke on Saturday was rather entertaining. I was the only older guy there, and the women asked me to look after the children just outside the room where they were sitting, so that they could have a bit of a ‘womans chat’ with some of the cuke women. So I took the guitar outside and sang some songs. Most of the kids songs here have actions. One in particular has evolved into pushing and shoving during one part of the song…. This could only result in injuries! Thankfully they’re tough kids, but they were practically jumping on top of each other during the song…. I’ve now banned the song. Until next week.

Yesterday, I visited the local High School. On arriving, we walked into one of the worst smells in the world!! Someone had let off a stink bomb, and it was dee-sgusting. It reminded me of my school in Cardiff though!! I have been told that they do not have Internet there, and they have asked me to install the internet, and distribute the connection around the 20 or so computers (HP I might add – thought it could be worth a publicity shot perhaps?) in the computer room. The cables are all plumbed in, and all I will need to do is configure the ADSL, configure the network and most importantly – restrict the website access!! Its probably the first thing these cheeky kids would do!!

Keep your messages coming in. Its really good to hear from you all. I will try and write some more before Christmas, but its going to be hectic here up until then.

Those of you who know me know that me and early mornings do not mix. This morning I was awoken at 6.15am to go to Greece, and was ushered out of the house before I took even one sip of the coffee I had managed to put together in a doze. Therefore, a happy Siôn this does not make.

The reason for this impromptu trip across the border was that today was exactly one month since I arrived here in Albania (only two more months to go before I return home!!) and therefore according to Albanian visa laws, my visa had now expired. Its strange though, as none of the policemen we have talked to seem to know about this law, and I would probably have no trouble staying here longer. But at the end of the day – its not worth the risk.

So Bimi and I started off at around 6:30 this morning to head for Greece. The road started off ok – many twists and turns, but not too bad. However – as we got to more open countryside, the roads also got a little bit more rural. I think I hit my head on the roof at least 3 times!! Bimi’s car isn’t in the best of shapes either. Bimi has frequently recalled the numerous accidents this car has been involved in. He calls it a ‘lucky’ car. I would hesitate that it is no more than a ‘death trap’, but I’m not sure of the Albanian for this, so we’ll leave it at that. Anyway – thank God – I’m back home in one piece.

On our travels, we met two policemen – one on the way there, and one on the way back, and we gave them lifts to their destinations. We also came across some sheep and some goats. In the middle of the road. Kind of reminded me of back home in Wales really :o)

As you can see from the photos too – the road was incredibly picturesque. The views at Butrint were amazing, and the pictures we took in the summer of this castle pale into comparison with the ones I took this morning.

My apologies for not writing for a while. I’ve been busy doing mostly church related things – encouraging and teaching Diti and Kiko – the band at church. I’ve also started writing a sermon on marriage. Its not from an ‘experience’ perpective, of course, but as most of you know – I’m going to ask Anna to marry me sometime soon, and so am just checking out all the small print ? My favourite quote is from Proverbs 27:15 – “A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day”. I didn’t know my mother featured in the Bible :o) Just kidding mum!!

Things are going well, but I miss you all very much at home. Keep your comments and emails coming in. Thanks to the two of you who offered some help with the Buggy for Iliar. I haven’t got a reply from the company I wrote to yet, so am trying again today.