A Year In Numbers

The day after we arrived in Albania last year.  The entire meal cost us $3.60.

We arrived in Albania exactly one year ago today.  For those of you who have been following my blog since the beginning, you know it wasn't an easy trip over.  We're as settled as we'll ever be so in honor of our one year Albanian anniversary, here's a recap of our year:

Albanian Life

548      days until we depart Post
365      days since we arrived at Post
364      days that I've wondered what we have gotten ourselves into
50        the percentage by which my Albanian skills have actually diminished since arriving here- 
                 Sidney is the only Brown whose Albanian has actually improved over the past year
40        in dollars, the cost for the best haircut and color I have ever had
20        in dollars, the cost of a lunch out at a sit down restaurant, including wine and beer and a 
                generous tip, for the three of us
6          number of months we've agreed to stay beyond our original two year orders
5         average number of pizzas consumed by the Brown boys each week
2         times we've run out of water to the house
1         car accident


Wildlife

1000+ number of "gows"- cows behaving like mountain goats- we have seen on our travels into the
              country   
99%   the chances we will see at least one donkey drawn cart each day
50       grazing sheep and cows we see when driving to the grocery store
32       number of traffic jams that have resulted due to sheep and goat herds in the road
10       number of near miss accidents that have occurred because of animals jumping out into the
              road
3         the number of chickens I saw in our neighbor's tree (I'm serious)
2         number of cows living in our neighborhood

Diplomatic Life

430   people who have dined at our house
150   bottles of wine we've been gifted (and drank)
39     official receptions and dinners attended
32     dinners and receptions hosted; I did the cooking for all but two of them
31     number of days of solo parenting while Glenn has been out of the country
24     guests for our largest sit down dinner.  I did all of the cooking and after the dinner Glenn
            found me laying on the kitchen floor muttering the words "never again....never again"
20     the time in minutes it takes to drive from our house to the Embassy on a bad day (the distance
            is less than a mile)
17     bottles of raki we've been gifted and not drank
4       number of times mail has arrived at the Embassy and we haven't had at least one package (at
            an average of two deliveries at week, that is a lot of online shopping).
3       the number of times I've eaten questionable organ meats in the name of diplomacy
1       number of raki burnings attended (again, in the name of diplomacy)

Traveling Life 

1000+  number of cups of coffee I have consumed over the past year
34        days until our summer vacation
23        castle themed restaurants visited
11        actual castles visited
9          countries visited (plus 3 separate trips to Italy)
8          days until our next foreign trip
5          castles converted to cafes visited
4          ferry trips across the Adriatic
3          overnight stays in questionable hotels
2          average number of hours it takes to eat an Albanian lunch
1         number of times I flew Albanian Airlines before it was shut down due to safety concerns
0         number of our bags lost by airlines flying in and out of Tirana (we are very lucky)



Its been quite a year!

One year later and the menu hasn't changed