Starting School

It's the calm before the storm as far as school in Albania is concerned, although we did have a literal storm today of great intensity. 
This week has marked the start of preparation day for staff at GDQ School with the children returning back next Tuesday into the classrooms. This has meant 7.30 departures from my home in Schoze and then deciding how I will cover the five miles to the school building. Yesterday I took the bus to the centre of Tirana and walked the rest. It took just over an hour. This morning I waited for the same bus, but was given a lift to the city by great neighbours Ermiliano and Alda. This saved time and also the uncomfortable proposition of standing squashed like sardines for twenty minutes.
From the centre, it's a twenty minute walk to GDQ down Don Bosco street and past the huge Catholic Church.
There have been a variety of school meetings with plenty of new information to absorb and names to remember. There have been great lunches put on by kind-hearted staff, with the byrek and fruit much appreciated today. There has also been the joy of getting my Year 6 ( I should say Grade 5 as we use American numbering) classroom organised. 
Back to the storm. Around two o'clock this afternoon the clouds gathered over the mountains and they looked angry. A few rumbles of thunder with lightning and then heavy rain fell on the city. It's a little fresher with temperatures about 21 degrees tonight, but with more rain tomorrow. I reckon it was darker than on the final day of the Ashes Test at The Oval.
This brings me to cricket. Albanians don't get it. Americans sometimes think they understand it, and most other staff members just looked confused. But the Grade 5 class (all girls at the moment) will soon be playing and reliving important matches of the past. They are so lucky.

Love
Steve x