I celebrated my birthday while in Albania. The team and the Yoders went to a pizza joint and they even got me a cake!

The cake had sparklers instead of candles, but I tried to blow them out anyway. Needless to say, I was unsuccessful.

The Yoder boys and I left after the meal to try to find a book I was looking for, and the rest of the team stayed and danced (really, I have footage.)

We had taken a big, slow boat into Albania from the port in Italy. It was smooth, spacious and comfortable. On the way back to Italy, we took La Vikinga. They said the weather was nice that day. I can't imagine what it would be like otherwise, because the speedboat bounced so much it was impossible to read, drink or even sit still. Above is a picture of us before boarding, oblivious to the treacherous four-hour ordeal that was before us. Below are some photos taken during the voyage.

While in Italy for a day, we were blessed to hang out with some of our missionaries there (namely, the Stevanus and Zook families). Daniel Stevanus paid me a visit. To the right is a picture of us.

Overall, I would say this trip was even more successful and memorable than the last in 1996. There was so much accomplished and still we had a great time.