Who says Mennonites can't dance???

It was the afternoon before New Years and all I could think about was what was going to happen in the upcoming hours. I'd heard rumors of dancing, loud music and lots of fireworks. The fireworks I looked forward to, but the dancing, that was where I got a little jittery. That evening our team was invited to two parties. We went to the first house around 7 o'clock, watched some music videos and just enjoyed talking to with the family. The house was warm, decorated with balloons and had two coffee tables full of little snacks. This is the second time our team had been to this apartment and this visit just confirmed that this family was so similar to my own. All the siblings were joking around, laughing and picking on each other (in the most loving of way). It was a relaxed atmosphere, which made everything just feel comfortable. It got to be about 11 pm and we were soon getting our stuff together to head out to our next destination, our landlords apartment. But before we left a few of the kids showed us the traditional Albanian dance. They made it look so easy. I watched them intently, taking any type of mental note that could help me if I was brought into a similar "dance situation." We said our goodbyes "mireupafshims" with hopes of meeting up with a few members of the family later. Off we went and as we walked down the street I started to hear some loud music. As we got closer and closer to our apartment I realized it was coming from our landlords house. Right there and then I knew that this was going to be a very different experience. We walked in and were quickly greeted by the family. I sat down on the couch, had a pretzel, then was coaxed onto the dance floor. Oh my, I've never felt so out of my comfort zone then I did in that very moment. All of us joined hands and did a kind of 4 step move around in the circle. The first person led the line and they held tissue or napkin and twirled it around. I can't quite describe it without actually doing it. So, we danced and danced and danced, and with the occasional 'OPPAH' the clock struck 12. We all ran out to the balcony and began to set off fireworks mostly just little firecrackers. Once the fireworks from our house ended we put on our shoes and sweatshirts and headed out of the center street where tons of larger fireworks were being set off. Everything happened so fast. Fireworks were set off in every directions, little firecrackers blew up on the snow covered ground right next to our feet. It was exciting and scary all at the same time. 12 am turned into 2 and New Years was still going strong. It was a late night, but I don't regret the loss of sleep because it was all worth having great food, fun music and wonderful time spent with our new friends. During this time the team got to really connect with the youth at both houses and I felt like they really helped us to experience a New Years in the Balkans. I'm still not the best dancer but I'm quickly learning some new moves.

Prayer Requests:
Continued prayer for our language classes, our physical health and for building strong and healthy relationships.

-minda