Shqipopoly…This may be the most amazing game ever. True, it’s a complete rip-off of Monopoly® but it’s way cooler. Shqipopoly is our version of Albanian Monopoly® (Shqip is the word for Albanian language in Albanian).
The game was created one Wednesday afternoon when fellow volunteers were passing through Berat and staying the night at my place. They arrived in the middle of the day, just as it was getting really hot. After we hiked up to my place to drop off luggage and for me to eat lunch, we didn’t feel like leaving for anything.
I suggested Monopoly® because the visiting family now living in Ohio had brought it with them. We were pretty excited by this prospect. However when I went to borrow it, I found out that they had taken the game with them while visiting the beach. With our spirits crushed, we sat devastated in the heat of the day. At one point I suggested we make our own Monopoly® board but make it better by Albanianizing it. However, without the game to copy or any real office supplies, we decided it would be a good winter activity one day. We continued in our misery of heat and lack of electricity trying to figure out what we could do that did not require venturing outside and down the hill (which then requires a return hike up the hill).
Finally, the draw of Monopoly®, even a ghetto, hand-made version, was too powerful. We started with a sheet of graph paper and some colored pens I had. We called Katie and gave her the mission of finding poster board (She was given that task because she had not yet come up the hill to my place). Katie was a trouper and trekked down the street and found a large sheet of paper, roughly 36” x 48”. When she arrived we got to work. First we decided which properties should be on the board. Katie was in charge of the creating graphics for each property. Ryan (from neighboring Kucove) and I worked on creating “Fat” cards, which means luck and is our combined Chance and Community Chest. Through the guidance of the visiting volunteer, we were able to make property cards with the prices and rents, with houses or hotels.
With the game board complete, we started our game. It was an intensive game that lasted for about four with a break in there for dinner. Katie had a run of luck, landing on Free Parking, with a kitty of $1100, drawing the Fat card, “Your family pays for your plane ticket home, Collect $500”, right after Ryan had drawn the opposite Fat card requiring him to PAY $500 (guess who made those two cards), and to seal the deal, she acquired a large number of properties in a trade for The Block in Tirana (that’s Boardwalk to you guys). As the game continued, and as Katie grew more and more tired, I staged a stealthy comeback and won the game. Woohoo. I love winning at Monopoly®, just ask my sisters.

Be Aggressive, B-E Aggressive…Congratulations are in order to my niece Mariah. She is the newest member of the cheerleading squad at Carmel-Clay Middle School (I think that’s the name). She loves cheerleading. I think she even practiced during the summer to be ready, which is even more impressive because she was at her dad’s most of the summer. My sister wasn’t there to make her train. She’ll be awesome. She loves cheerleading and has dabbled in gymnastics in her childhood years. Plus I am sure the squad could use the addition of my little ghetto white girl niece. Respect. Got nothin’ but luv4ya Riah.
On a completely different note, I have some more exciting news. My sister Tamara who had been living in Bemidji, Minnesota has moved to the South Bend area in northern Indiana. She will be about 3.5 hrs away, which is much better than the 14hrs she was before. Her husband will be working in private dental practice (he had been doing dental work on a reservation for the Navy). The job sounds like a great fit. He will be able to work in some underserved areas and will still be able to do mission work.
In September of last year, Terralyn moved from Orlando to Indianapolis, where she had lived for the last 17 years. Now Tamara is back in the state of Indiana, which is much more convenient than north central Montana. Now that was a pain to get to. Except for the little problem of me being on a different continent, we are all back in the same state for the first time since I was 13 years old and my parents and I moved to Indiana from Florida. Hopefully, everybody will hang around in roughly the same place for the next two years.


Preposterous processing power…
If you can’t buy the foods you’re craving somethin’ fierce, you might as well just make them yourself. This culinary quest is exponentially aided by the proper equipment. A couple weeks ago Katie and I decided to go crazy and split the cost of a food processor. Now we are both out $12, which reminds me I still owe her for my portion.
The first fabulous fabrication was fruit smoothies. The second endeavor yielded a fantastically frothy Frappe (cold coffee drink).
Thanks to the kindness of my friend David, a missionary now living in Berat, and his generous gift of pseudo nacho chips, I was inspired to make some fresh salsa. One day when I had a couple people over, I felt the time was right for my first attempt at salsa. I used tomatoes, less than half an onion (they’re really strong here), cucumber, and the actually hot peppers we were lucky enough to find at one of the produce shops. I sliced and diced the fresh ingredients, added a small bottle of the closest thing to salsa you can find here (trust me, it leaves some room for improvement), and viola, we had fresh, homemade salsa.
You know me and my love affair with salsa. How many times did Nick come home to find me sitting in front of the TV eating my dinner of blue corn chips from Aldi and my favorite salsa from Kroger? Though it wasn’t perfect, it was close enough. I thought it was super good. I got compliments and I was not the only one eating so I think they actually liked it. The whole bowl was quickly consumed with me licking the bowl clean. Yummy!
Next on the list for the crazy concoctions? Peanut Butter. I’m already excited thinking about it. I LOVE peanut butter. Cross your fingers for me.


Hard hearted…Good job Dad! My father had a triple bypass last week. He did quite well I believe. He was supposed to get a quintuple (whatever the word for five times is) bypass. Once the docs got to the ol’ ticker, they only needed to do three. Now the hard part comes in. My father, who is a fan of all things fried, will have to adopt a new healthy lifestyle. First he’ll have to endure the recuperation period. I think he said he can’t leave the house for a while and then he can’t drive for two months. That’s gonna be very strange for my father. The man is always working. He won’t know what to do with himself. Can you catch up for a lifetime’s lack of sleep in two months?
Though I am sure the recovery will be difficult, I am very happy the surgery went well. I know my dad is a strong man but it still made me nervous. Plus I didn’t like the fact that I was an ocean away while some doctors were playing with his heart with the potential for many things to go wrong. I guess God thought my dad had some more work to do down here. I’m not gonna lie, I’m glad that he’s still around :)