A friend of mine from Dudley School in Fairport came to visit Albania in April. Lindsay brought her friend Rachel with her. They spent their first 24 hours in Tirana and then were off with a rental car to tour the rest of this beautiful country.
It was wonderful to have Lindsay visit because it felt like a touch of Fairport was right here in Albania.
We ate dinner at our local zgara. A zgara is a restaurant that serves traditional Albanian food with lots of grilled meats and vegetables. The four of us had a huge meal including wine, beer and leftovers to take home for $26. Another example of the low cost of living here.
The following day Lindsay and Rachel came to Albanian College Tirana (ACT) to meet my students. As is true of most Albanians, the kids seem to love Americans and were excited to meet my friends.
Dudley School has been very generous by donating books to Albanian College. Dudley has a beautiful, well stocked library. As they receive new books, they discard books they no longer need. Albanian College has been fortunate to receive these books. ACT has the largest library in the entire country of Albania which is amazing to me. The country has no public libraries. Even though it has the largest library, the ACT library is still very minimal compared to American standards especially when it comes to nonfiction books written at a level appropriate for young children. Christina, the Dudley school librarian has been wonderful about sorting through Dudley’s discarded books and sending them our way. When Lindsay came to visit she and her friend brought two suitcases full of books. Also, whenever Randy goes back to the States, Christina puts together books for him to bring back to Albania. ACT lacks a sufficient supply of leveled guided reading books which are used to teach young children to read. Christina has sent many leveled books to ACT. Words cannot adequately express what a wonderful gift this has been to Albanian College. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Dudley School, Christina, Lindsay, Rachel and Randy for helping to grow our school library.
Here are my students with some of their favorite books that came from Dudley School. I have enjoyed exposing the children to so many nonfiction books. It is interesting to see how much the kids love them plus they are a great way to help the children increase their knowledge of not only the subject matter of the book but these books help grow the vocabularies of these young English language learners.
Teaching in Albania 
Wow, I haven’t even been thinking. Of course you need books! I still have a huge supply from when I was teaching. They’re mostly picture books for young kids, but I have both fiction and nonfiction. Would you like more sent your way? Think about it and let me know. And I’m so glad that Lindsay was able to visit! 😀
Monica
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Thanks so much, Monica! We will be back in the States for a few weeks this summer and perhaps we could get together at that time. If we have enough room in our luggage I would love to bring some of your books back to Albania.Thanks again!
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Sounds like a plan!
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Sarah, this is one of my favorites, of all of your posts! It gave me a much needed perspective of how fortunate we are here, to have such wonderful public libraries, such fantastic public schools and the ability to share with others!
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What a great way of saying it, Ann! Sometimes we do forget how fortunate we are as Americans.
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What wonderful gifts those students are receiving-not only having you as their teacher, but also the resources you have available. What am impact you are making. I love reading through your updates.
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Thanks, Jan! I really do enjoy sharing some of our Albanian life with friends and family.
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Sarah, you have left such an impact on Albania: those books (and your teaching) will always remain with your kiddos.
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Thanks for your kind words, Lisa! Those kids and their country are also having a big impact on me. 🙂
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How awesome to see Lindsey visiting, and how wonderful to see all the books. You are making such a difference! I certainly take our Dudley book room for granted. It is heart warming to see Dudley books in your school and so loved by the children !
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Sarah-I love reading your posts and hearing of all the great things you are doing there. Thanks so much. XO.
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Thanks for reading my blog, Mary! I hope all is well with you and your family. xo
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I always look forward to reading your blog and learning something new! So glad you are having a good time there!!
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