The grass doesn't grow any faster if you pull on it...

Half a year has passed since the launch of bilbil-e-palloi. Half a year in which I didn't dare to touch this website at first. Because the time that still lay ahead of us somehow seemed like a huge sweet, sticky toffee - promising but also so oversized in our mouths.

And there was still so much ahead of us that didn't go as quickly or as smoothly as we would have liked. Starting with our plans for the outside details of the house: colour, shape, size of stones, tiles, windows, doors, bricks... the whole of November was full of discussions, decisions, changes and new decisions..., because every little change in the outer appearance also required an adjustment of the planning application.

In December, we were finally ready and our architect Azbie promised us a quick process and the first cut of the spade in January.

But December and January passed without any progress in the approval process.

I remained calm and relaxed – since I still had to endure the rest of the school year here anyway – and moreover I was struggling with my winter blues and the never-ending stress at school. My sweet toffee had turned into a tenacious piece of chewing gum, whose sticky threads had glued me to the sofa, demotivated and depressed. But in Tutzing, all nerves were on edge. The dream of getting into the car with bag and baggage at the 1st of May and waiting in Sterbeg a few days later for the shipping company to unload all their belongings and carry them into the house seemed less and less realistic.

At the beginning of February, we finally received the relieving message that the permit had been obtained. And the picture of the empty, construction-machine-trenched area where the old house had once stood made us dance with joy...

...at least until it turned out that we still couldn't build! But at least we could sign all the preparatory contracts for the construction that had finally been drafted, approved, notarised and sent back and forth between us.

It was March before the first cut of spade actually took place. And although Azbie assured us that the pace at which a house is built in Albania cannot be compared to that in Germany, none of us believed that it would be anywhere near ready at the beginning of May.

But spending another month or even two in Germany was also unthinkable for Elmar and Andrea.

So they decided to postpone the shipping company's delivery, but to get there with the car and campervan. After all, they were used to getting by with only the bare necessities for weeks during their holidays.

And at least this picture from Azbie on the 14th of March was a first step.

I felt a bit envy and a huge yearning. How should I ever be able to hold out here until August. So I booked a flight to Albania during the Easter holidays, to be close to my dream - at least for some days.

On the 6th of April I was to meet Azbie at our building site and she had purposely not sent any more pictures, because she wanted me to be surprised by the changes that had taken place in the last three weeks.

And the change exceeded all our expectations! And also the assurance that at least the basic structural work would be completed in another three weeks.