URIME, TETE MARS!! (Happy March 8th)
Pictures of Habibe, Advije and Nexhibe before the party started.
Habibe
Advije and Nexhibe
The cake and juice are all ready to be served.
Habibe shows Advije and Nexhibe the gifts that we have for each mother.
Head scarves that we purchased earlier in the week.
And gloves with hand cream that were sent to each mother from a very, special friend of mine- and my grandchildren's godmother (Ellen Vonderheide) in Jasper, Indiana.
Then the mothers arrive:
There was also a special mother that was able to enjoy the day's festivities with us: Habibe and Advije's mom.
We visited together, ate cake, gave and received presents, and talked about their children for almost 2 hours. There is no such thing as a private parent-teacher conference in the Albanian culture. Everybody talks about their child - discussing openly the areas that need to be improved and areas where they have excelled. So the room was "buzzing" with funny stories of the children's experiences at school, how well they were doing in certain subjects, and where each child needed to improve.
We visited together, ate cake, gave and received presents, and talked about their children for almost 2 hours. There is no such thing as a private parent-teacher conference in the Albanian culture. Everybody talks about their child - discussing openly the areas that need to be improved and areas where they have excelled. So the room was "buzzing" with funny stories of the children's experiences at school, how well they were doing in certain subjects, and where each child needed to improve.
Advije Speaking With the Mothers
Each of the teachers (Habibe, Advije, Nexhibe and I) had an opportunity to talk about ourselves, our families, and how much the school meant to us. When it was my turn, I thought that I might have to have some help with my Albanian because most of the women speak a very heavy dialect. I thought that they might not be able to understand my "Tirana" Albanian, but that was not the case.
They loved the story of how Habibe and I met when I first arrived in Skopje. That was 11 years ago this past January:
It was a very cold day, snow on the ground, and Habibe came to teach us how to make "byrek". The oven didn't work properly so what should have been about 2 hours took almost 5 to accomplish. During that time, we visited and laughed together. The beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Then I told the story of Habibe's dream to start the kindergarten. We talked about Kathy Smith (some of the mothers had older children that had been in the school and knew Kathy well). When I finished with my part, one of the mothers spoke for the others when she said how much the school had meant to her family. She said, "My children love to go to school. They would not miss unless they had to. This is the best gift that anyone has ever given our family. Please tell all the people in America that support this school that we thank them so much."
Habibe Speaking to the Mothers
Habibe, Advije, Nexhibe and I were given flowers by the mothers. Some of the ladies had taken clippings from their own flowerpots to make up these special gifts for each of us. Aren't they lovely?
Time to say good-bye. Since shoes were left at the door when they entered, it took some time for everyone to leave. So we did more visiting while each mother put their shoes back on and thanked each of us at the door.
What a wonderful Mother's Day it was!
Wish you could have been here to celebrate with us.
Shelia
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