Life in a Construction Zone

Do you know the first sound that I heard the first morning I woke up in Albania? It was a loud, annoying jackhammer that sounded as if it was right outside my bedroom window. This jackhammer began about 7:00 am every day (including Saturday and Sunday) for two months. There was major construction going on to the apartment building next to the school. I walked my students to music and art with the very real possibility of debris falling on their cute little heads or having a cement truck bury us all. Then, all of a sudden, the noise stopped. The workers were beginning to stucco the outside walls of the apartment. Ah...peace. There was still the very real danger for our passing times, but at least I was getting to sleep in!

Then, oh, then, a new construction project started. This time, it's a road that runs between our apartment and the school (we are losing about 1/2 the playground). It's actually a good thing, but very inconvenient currently. Last Friday, a bulldozer nearly took out my entire class, including Miss Egla and me. Our administration found an alternative route which goes through private property (the children go to our school). At least, now the kids are safe. I don't know about us teachers though! I didn't go on a hash hike last weekend, but I did hike in our field! It's crazy. We're still a little puzzled about what will happen when it begins to rain again. We might need a ferry to get across. Pictures speak better than words in this case...



Here is Ilira, our librarian, crossing the torn up area. She lives a few apartment buildings away from us. This is the front of my apartment. Amy and I almost took each other down a few days ago.



Horray! Ilira made it across to live another day! Sometimes I like to pretend I'm living in Little House on the Prairie time and must ford a stream to get to school. Flights of fantasy help me to keep my sense of humor. (And don't ask me why this is underlined..)



So you can actually see the apartment building that is under construction (it's the closest in the foreground). The bridge across is for the 9 year old and above teachers who still have to make it to the lower campus in the morning. The green gate is their entrance.
It doesn't look that deep, but it is! See all the trash along the road? Our landlord is slowly removing it so that we can cross by. All Saturday, our landlord and his sons, were outside our illegal apartment building yelling. Apparently, they have to knock down some walls.... No, there haven't been any stand offs yet! Adula, though, was very good about helping me to cross on Saturday when the cranes were not stopping for me. He is protective of us (in a weird way). Think of me in this crazy wonderful developing nation!