Easter in Elbasan

Yesterday a group of us got together and went to the Orthodox Church in the castle in Elbasan for Easter. Although there was no service (it was at midnight the night before) we held our own service, led by Lenae and got to talk to the Preist. He gave us died eggs and taught us the tradition of cracking them in a circle. We ate a nice lunch together at Meg & John's (which is so funny because we have a married couple in our group named Meg and John) and then hung out and went to the Gabby (or the thrift market) that is run by the Roma community in Elbasan. Apparently current volunteers find really cool stuff (clothes, house items) for really cheap. I got a plaid shirt in honor of my placement in Bajram Curri for the next two years. It was a good Easter but it was definatley hard to be away from my family. I got to talk to my family on the phone after dinner (10pm) which was a very nice end to my Easter celebration.