A Day in the Life of a Berati Mother

By Gentiana Vodica

          Berat is a small town and everything I need is in walking distance. My typical day starts early by getting ready for work and making breakfast for my two beautiful children, Alexi (8) and Irsa (4), and husband.

          Once my children and I are dressed and fed, I walk the children to school then take a 20 minute bus ride to a nearby village to work as a school teacher. I am very happy as a teacher and my coworkers are a pleasure to work with. I have 10 years with this school and the people in the community are like family. I teach 6th to 9th grade pupils the proper form of the Albanian language. Some days are tiring and some are exciting when the children learn. I love my job. (My qualifications are from Aleksander Xhuvani University in Elbasan, Albania. A challenging but wonderful experience.)

          After work I always need rest but never get it. I believe this is the same around the world for mothers. When I return home I begin to take care of my children by asking them to rest, helping with their homework, preparing dinner for my whole family and parents-in-law, and playing with my daughter instead of sleeping as I love to play with her.

          Before the day is over I spend 2 to 3 hours preparing for my classes the next day. Sometimes when I finish early, around 7pm, I call my mother and we and the children go play outside with futbols, drawing, or chatting with my lovely sister over a coffee.

          Usually a day is finished when the sky is dark and everyone is happy and tired. Tomorrow is another day!