Kangoo Jumps~~~

 Ok...so my background in physical therapy had me scratching my head when a store opened up across from the market where I shop. Then I started seeing aerobic classes for adults, and children using these devices. My specialty in the US was "feet and ankles", and understanding gait, loading, and biomechanics of function.

I looked on the internet, and there have been some studies on the "claim" of reduced impact for athletes. In fact this is the claim, "with a lower risk of injury, providing significant protection to the joints, when compared to traditional sport shoes. Consequently, Kangoo Jumps rebound shoes could be considered the world’s lowest impact shoe."  

           

Really...???  I looked up to see how much these "impact shoes" cost.  In the US...the cheapest version is $179, with available spare parts at $20 and up. With an average monthly salary of $300-400 USD here in Albania,  I wonder how many pairs of Kangoo Jumps this store has actually sold...?  

No...I have no plans to go in and try on a pair...!

3.3 and 5.0...things are shaking....!

Early this morning there were two earthquakes, like seriously about 2-3 minutes apart.  So this is pretty new for me, no earthquakes in New Mexico.  I was in my living room, heard a commotion from all the dogs outside and then heard a loud rumbling...and the room was "rocking and rolling".  The first one made me think...wow what is going on?  Is there some heavy machinery work going on outside?  Then after the second one, I knew it was an earthquake.  I checked with my landlord...she is still probably laughing at me, as if this was just a normal day.  

Apparently, I found a site online that has mapped out the "earthquake risk for the Balkans" and surrounding countries.
http://horizon-magazine.eu/article/mapping-europe-s-earthquake-risk_en.html  

Yes...life is always an adventure...!  

Happy Birthday to me....!

Since I have been on the mission field, I have had the opportunity to celebrate my Birthday, in 7 different countries:  England, Kosova, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, and of course the US. 

Today I celebrated my 58th Birthday in Budva, Montenegro while attending the Albanian Mission's conference. The conference was an amazing blessing...!

I received the following video from my daughter Elissa and Sam, and my granddaughter Hannah, and grandson Ezekiel:

Then later in the day I received an e-card from my dear friends, Lirak and Suela Gjoshi in Prishtina, Kosova.  The front of the card said, "it is not proper to ask a woman her age.", then when you open the card it says, "so how much do you weigh?"   This so made me laugh, and I shared with my friends here at the conference...

Then...at dinner, I checked into the front table entering the cafeteria.  Just as I was sitting down with my food, a waiter brought me some red flowers and a candle for the table wishing me a Happy Birthday. (I think he spoke Montenegrin or Croatian?)  As I finished my meal, the waiter brought me a birthday cake, a knife and plates.  So I cut pieces and shared with my friends, it was about 8 inches square.  It was very cold, I thought it might be an ice cream cake. There were very thin layers of cake, with a tart strawberry filling and whipped cream in between, topped with more real whipped cream and walnuts...and delicate chocolate hearts on each corner. Sorry, no photo was taken...it was wonderful and not at all like the regular cakes/pastries in this part of the world.

The staff at the hotel looked at my passport when I checked in...this is a treat the hotel does for their guests, no one at the conference  told the hotel it was my birthday.

As I passed out cake to my friends, they sang Happy Birthday to me...in English of course, in Albanian, and in Spanish.

I will always miss "the chocolate cake" with my daughters in the US...but what a precious treat this was for me today. 

God's surprises...make me smile...! 

Road side signs...

During my travels exploring Montenegro recently I saw these two road side signs.  This first sign was just along side of the road, no crossing stripes on the highway, no stairs anywhere to be found.

This second sign was about 100 yards away from the first sign, no school any where, no real evidence of a residential area, no playground, no soccer field.

It is interesting to see signs, that you think should be "universally" understood to their meaning, and the warning they are presenting.  I really don't know what they mean...another one of the mysteries of traveling in the Balkans.  

By the way, in case you don't know where Montenegro is, find Italy on a world map, go east across the Adriatic, it is located between Croatia and Albania on the coast. It used to also be a part of former "Yugoslavia". 

Baby it is hot outside...!!!

Today is the last day of August. We have had a record setting hot summer, punishing heat and humidity, with evening lows only into the 80's.  The last few weeks have been much cooler, well only  into the 80's with lows at night into the upper 60's.  

Today...we hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or 38 Celsius,  with 40% humidity.

Just plain hot...everyone is ready for cooler fall weather...!

I think I will go have some ice cream...

Meet George...!

It took a lot of creativity, extra $$$ funds in my support funds, and a team willing to bring a full skeleton to Tirana.  George arrived two weeks ago...many thanks to the SBB team from CC Wildwood for bringing George in a bin.  It was very easy to put all together, and I think for the first time in my PT career, I have seen a skeleton with all the parts intact. 

George will be an important part of the Practical Anatomy class I will start teaching in two weeks.  It is for physical therapy students, medical students, doctors, or whoever wants to come. 

When George was first put together...the following comments were heard:

• Our nurse at ABC Health stated how good it would have been to see a skeleton like this while in nursing school. She had never seen a full size skeleton, only pictures.
• One of our medical interns stated that he also has never seen a full size skeleton, no such thing is available in medical school. He is a licensed doctor, and he has never seen a skeleton before.  I can not grasp that...and I hear it over and over. This intern will be attending my class. 
• Another medical intern wanted to know if it was a male or female...?  This intern will be attending my class. 

So starting September 5th, I will start teaching Practical Anatomy, to Albanian PT and  medical students.  I will challenge them to take all of their "rote memorization" of bones, muscles, ligaments, nerves, etc and put it all together. So they will better understand where each bone is, how the muscles function, and how does that help us provide better care to our patients. It will be a challenge for the students, and the teacher.  I took anatomy in 1984, and I have never taught it before.  But...I have George to help...!

Always an adventure~~~

The Air Conditioner, ice chips, and $10 ~~~

The summer heat has been brutal, even by Albanian standards it is hotter than normal for July.  I have a wonderful A/C-heater unit that works very well, I purchased it jointly with my landlord almost two years ago.

Three days ago...in the evening, small ice chips started flying out from my A/C unit.  I turned the unit off thinking I had it running too cold...I keep it on about 80 degrees because electricity is crazy expensive here. The next evening, the same thing happened, only the pieces of ice were much bigger.  I spoke with my pastor, Tom Grimes, and he had never heard of anything like that before. I am pretty sure he wondered what was really going on in my apartment..??? 

Another friend told me that they had their A/C unit worked on yesterday, using a man from one of the local churches.  This afternoon the A/C repairman and his two sons came to look at my A/C.  

Enter my landlady...!  (and more drama than was needed)

She was not happy that I called this man to look at "our" A/C unit.  Finally she gave in and left us alone.  The filters were rinsed off in my bathtub, put back into place and that was it. The A/C guy looked over everything else, gave me some tips for best results with this type of A/C...and I paid him $10.  

If you hear someone laughing really loudly...that would be my landlady...she started laughing when she found out that I paid this man $10.  He was here for about 35 minutes...he did a service for me, taught me how to clean my own filters, and I learned something new...in my mind $10 was a bargain. How much is a service call in the US...even if they don't fix anything...???

I guess the $10 was worth hearing my landlady laugh...she and her husband have been really stressed out lately. 

Yes, life in Albania still makes me laugh...!  ;-)