What a year so far! After a full summer of catching up with family and connecting with friends, I found myself in the position of leading prayer updates regarding my girlfriend’s nerve-wracking journey out of a dangerous part of the world. Now she’s back safe, and we’re engaged! And even so, it feels like life hasn’t slowed down yet. Lots of introductions of family and friends. Cultural hoops and protocols. Unexpected adjustment reactions including some health crisis stuff. Life apart again while she works in another city nearby. All while “yours truly” teaches and adapts new classes on top of other courses and school responsibilities. And wedding planning is beginning to start in earnest for our big date in March…Phew! This is the story God’s given us. Gratefulness is almost certainly the right response, but it has been a lot to handle, in a sort of relentless way.
Since moving to Albania in 2016 I have yet to experience what I’d call a routine year, and school year 2021-22 is no exception to this “norm”. Gratefully, I can say that God has visibly provided our needs week to week, but the stress and activity have remained high. My sixth year at GDQ has been a mixture of “first-year” stress and veteran expectations. I’ve taken on the Algebra II course with an entirely new curriculum, and I’m teaching the normal at-level (non-AP) Physics with some major, on-the-fly renovations since I taught it my actual first year here (…my implementation of labs is still pathetic, but the lessons are greatly improved). Even our beloved Worldviews class requires regular tweaking and updating week-to-week still trying to find a well-paced groove for the course in its current iteration. (Probably needless to say, I intend to take on no new courses next school year—I’m feeling the need for a break!) But the students have all been fantastic and seem to be genuinely benefiting from my efforts. Thank you for your support. Once again, I want to encourage you that your participation with me here directly impacts students’ lives from various backgrounds and on many diverse paths into adulthood and community elsewhere. What an amazing privilege for all of us!
A few weeks ago, part of our rented high school property was purchased by a new landlord, none other than the neighborhood mosque for eventual office-space! There were a few weeks of heightened uncertainty, but thankfully we have come to an agreement allowing us to keep our school in its current location for a couple more years yet. This provides a tidy deadline and clear urgency for GDQ to renew its efforts in earnest for finding a combined K-12 property somewhere in or around Tirana. Please pray for wisdom and guidance in the building search!
As I write, Omicron continues to set records, Europe groans under the threat of another geopolitical crisis, and the States suffer inflation and the pangs of a labor shortage. Happy New Year everybody! Ana and I get to be a pandemic couple, hoping that we can swing a normal wedding even as travel restrictions remain very fluid for all. But, God continues to work his plans that are so much more loving and compassionate and just than our own. I do ask that you pray for my mother, who just recently tested positive for a Covid variant and may have a tough battle ahead of her.
Instead of updating this blog every two or three months (as was my original intent starting this), I think I’ll send briefer video updates through email at those intervals, with these more detailed updates with pictures at larger intervals. For now, enjoy more pictures from this first half of the school year.
Blessings in Christ!
Nate
I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord. ~ Psalm 27:13-14
The flurry of activity that was Summer 2021. Lots of needed time with family and some visits with friends. 
As soon as Ana made it back safe to Tirana I popped the question, and she said yes! 
Ana’s return to Tirana and our engagement was followed by a flurry of attention and protocol, such as a big Albanian family engagement dinner! We were able to take the opportunity for our parents to meet online. It’s so good to have our families be so supportive as we progress through a moderately cross-cultural experience towards marriage. 
Behold, the Berkey filter donated to us by a missionary friend, Noelle, before her departure from the country. Thank you so much Noelle! This is a wonderful gift. My (soon our) chances of imbibing carcinogenic materials in the tap water are now greatly reduced. Also, this image features a glimpse of my new apartment this year. I’ve swapped apartments to save some money and simultaneously bless some GDQ coworkers who can actually benefit from my old two-bedroom apartment. God is already using this to bless community in unexpected ways. And so this apartment will be Ana’s and my first home together. 
Bike surgery is a process. I guess our own bodies are kind of like that, eventually. Imagine my surprise when my seat broke off while going down a step on my normal commute! Had to ride it the rest of the way standing up that morning. The new seat does not retain rainwater like a sponge, so I count it as a win. 
Football (soccer) season was very strained under the continuing pandemic conditions. Only a couple other private schools joined us in our league. This is one of I think two games our boys played with another school. They did very well, but that sun was brutal too. 
Ana and I stuck to a regular routine of attending her home church while she was in the city this past fall. Here she’s practicing for performing her own song for a Sunday morning service. 
Robert, leader of “Thrive” youth group, was home in the States for most of the fall semester, but he made-do creating some video recordings that served pretty well as our “talks”. 
I was impressed by how fluid and connected he made the experience feel throughout the semester by coming to teach in person for a couple of the talks mid-semester, mitigating the impact of his being away for most of it. 
With her starting work for another NGO company up north, Ana and I have had some opportunities to visit other parts of Albania, such as Shkoder, cultural center of northern Albania. Here’s its walking street, full of shops and quaint activity. It was quite nice during Christmas time. You can see the nearby church’s tower and the tops of twin minarets of the neighboring mosque across from each other in the distance. 
Shkoder castle is an impressive ruin with breath-taking views. We were able to find some spare time on certain weekends to see the sights and take things in like chill tourists with some of her coworkers. 
Here the GDQ staff honor a long-time Albanian security guard, Besnik, who retired after serving the school from the beginning, back in the mid-90’s! He will be missed, I know. 
Christmastime at a Christian school. For chapel we had the worship team lead us in a number of carols/hymns. Some in English, some in Albanian (Shqip). 
We were treated to a massive pot-luck many of the GDQ parents for our Christmas staff party. The food was excellent! I should learn that green curry recipe. 
As has become a sort of tradition, I sent home some gifts to my family via a friend who was traveling home to the states for the break. International life isn’t easy, but we make most of the memories as we can. 
Christmas conveniently fell on a weekend and Ana and I took full advantage of that to spend our first Christmas together traveling with some friends and teammates. We were even able to visit across the border to Montenegro days before a major Covid closure. Here we are taking in the sights in lovely Kotor. 
Back in Tirana, Christmastime shut down fast after New Years festivities were complete. Here the “tree” in Skanderbeg square is disassembled with alacrity. 
Physics class has had a good start to the new year launching into actual Newtonian physics and free-body-diagrams. Many old textbooks have poor pedagogy on the topic, so I’m constantly adjusting the lessons to help students learn good. 
Though the names are obscured for privacy, this picture gets the idea across: we have had a lot of illnesses this January. As I write I have to take Monday off due to our 72-hour quarantine policy for having experienced a fever on Friday. Please pray for mercy as we soldier on through this season. Can it all be Omicron? There must be other viruses at work too! 
Last week we had some professional development discussing cross-cultural considerations when dealing with students (and parents too!). Although GDQ is not a completely unique organism on this planet, it is a rare place with a special level of diversity in outlook, behavior, temperament, and expectations. Do you know what a third- or fourth-culture kid is? 
Sunset at the high school. I am so relieved and grateful that we will be able to remain here for a couple more years as GDQ searches for a new facility for all of K-12. Another happy update is that one of our own teachers has stepped up to the task of heading the high school administration next year. I gave a personal standing ovation when Elizabeth’s decision was announced! 
This Monday we’ll be handing out free bibles to all our high school students during chapel. All the teachers have highlighted a particular verse with our name beside it for the students to find, which I think will be very encouraging or at least interesting to our non-believing students. I picked one of my all time favorites: Isaiah 41:10. It seems especially applicable as we continue to venture through these uncertain times with family members sick with Covid and pre-existing conditions. Lord help us all!
Set Your Hope Fully on Christ 