It's my last full day in Romania, and I am finally here writing a blog update. I am sorry for the delay, but we were gone the entire week at camp without any internet connection or access to the outside world. My week here has been very good, though it has felt long. I am looking forward to getting home tomorrow.
I arrived late Friday afternoon June 19 and was welcomed by Janelle and Dustin, cousins from San Diego. My relief upon their being here was evident, because I was informed that I would be here all alone... which I was not looking forward to trying to figure everything out myself in a foreign country without Nann and without English speakers. After a long two days of traveling and hearing a lot of other languages, it was wonderful to sit down to dinner and talk with Janelle and Dustin completely in English! We watched a movie and laughed and rather enjoyed ourselves.
Saturday morning, the three of us got up and packed to be ready at eleven when Carmelita would pick us up. From here, we drove to ROCK's office where we met all 27 foster children and their parents. It took almost two hours to get everyone together, all the luggage loaded, and seat all the people in the cars, but finally, we were on the road! Four hours of driving got us to Casa Elim. It was stunningly beautiful. The camp is nestled in the Romanian countryside surrounded by high mountains, fresh air, and beautiful green. Farms were everywhere, and for me atleast, it was a very different experience than my last time in Bucharest. It was incredibly quiet and quaint with a rooster and gorgeous sunshine waking us each morning. There were cows and horses on the side of the hill, gypsy wagons, and lots of people working hard in the middle of haying season.
The entire group settled in on Saturday night, and we were blessed with an amazing meal provided by the family who owns and runs Casa Elim.
The night cooled down and the view from our window was beautiful. The beds/sheets took a little getting used to, but we were all pretty tired, so falling asleep was not a problem. Sunday morning, Janelle, Dustin, and I were privileged to attend a church in the town of Salvatia with Gabi. It was an off-roading experience as we drove about 20 minutes down a dirt/stone road. The church experience was a lot of fun, and even more helpful when we were blessed to meet Lumi and Iunut who translated for us. The reason we went to church was because there was to be a traditional Romanian wedding that morning. The bride and groom were late, so the church service was a bit extended, but then we got to see the entire ceremony. Honestly, it was long and a lot (a LOT) of talking, but having a translator really helped. Ana and Nicu were a cute couple, and it was just really neat to see the Romanian Christian church customs for weddings.
Sunday afternoon after ice cream =) and a nap, we got our first VBS day underway. I was still trying to figure out who all of the children were, and things were disorganized from what I am used to, but we rolled with it, and the kids enjoyed it. The crafts especially were a big hit, and things really worked out even though we had only planned on having 25 kids and we had two over.
Monday, we stayed at camp and did VBS more in the morning, which actually didn't seem to work as well as we had hoped. The kids seemed, for some reason, more distracted. As far as VBS went for the remainder of the week, it got better as we got more familiar with the kids, but everything overall was never on schedule or on time. We Americans had to learn a lot of patience, a lot of flexibility, and a lot of shutting up and rolling with the punches, with whatever came our way.
Usually, by the time lunch was finished, Janelle, Dustin, and I were ready for a break from all of the Romanian and noise, so we'd retreat to the bedroom for an hour or two. Sometimes we napped (Yes, I was VERY lazy on this mission's trip), sometimes we read books, and sometimes, we just goofed off. Mostly, it was wonderful to speak English and have people who understood American ways to be around.
Monday evening, the three of us walked about 30 minutes to the small town of Predulut to get shampoo, snacks, and ice cream at the small store. That was nice, except it started to thunder and lightning on the way back.... and we were pretty wet by the time we finally made it back to camp. We hoofed it as fast as we could back to Casa Elim, and it was seriously one of the best workouts I have had in a long time! (The ice cream was soooo worth it though!)
Tuesday morning, it was decided that we should all walk to Bran (about 10 minutes walking past Predulut). It looked like rain and was even starting to sprinkle, but Carmelita looked at us and said... "it's not raining". So, half of us crammed into the van for Gabi to drive us, and the other half started walking.
We got to Bran, and Gabi went back to pick the walkers up. As we started walking into the center of town on our way to Dracula's castle, it began to DOWNPOUR. And we didn't have umbrellas. I rushed back to a stand on the way into town and bought three umbrellas (yes, now I am the proud owner of a purple umbrella!). By the time Dustin, Janelle, and I had gotten our tickets and walked up all the stairs to Dracula's castle, our pants were soaked to our knees, our bags were wet, we were wet.... and it was cold. It thundered and rained our entire trip through! It was cold! But the castle was awesome. Afterwards, we met up with Gabi who had already taken everyone else back to Casa Elim, and we got the most amazing hot chocolate at one of the cafes.
Of course, when we got back in the afternoon, the sun came out....
The days were usually sunny and nice, but storms rolled in every night. The showing of thunder and lightning was amazing... how great our God is to create such wonder in this earth! It was almost like watching a fireworks show out our window every night, and falling asleep to something incredible!
Wednesday.... ah yes, we walked/drove to a reservation/park thing which was about a good 30 minute drive from camp. I walked with a group for the first part for about an hour before the van came back to pick us up and take us the rest of the way.
Once at the park, we hiked through mountains and trees and little streams. It was actually very beautiful and fun, though the sun was hot, the rocks hurt to walk on, and we walked a lot. We were all very tired by the time we got back, not to mention lunch had to be postponed an hour for our late return.
Thursday morning, us three Americans took off back to Bran because we didn't get the chance to shop on Tuesday due to the rain.
The shopping there was really pretty awesome. They had a lot of cool things, and we had a great time. At the end of the morning, we stopped back at the same cafe and ate lunch which was very delicious. Thursday evening, the entire group had a bonfire, which was really cool.
Oh, and also on Thursday, we completed our final VBS craft which was having all of the children decorate their own t-shirt!
Friday morning, we all got up and packed. We left (AMAZINGLY) five minutes early and began the day with a group excursion to Rasnov which is a Romanian citadel.
After that, we drove an hour to Sinia, where Janelle, Dustin, and I were dropped off for a final day of sight-seeing. I came to Sinia last time I was here, but it was in the middle of winter, and I was excited to see it again. We mostly came for the Castle Peles, which was so worth it. We got train tickets for our return ($9!!!), and hiked up the hill to the castle. We took the tour, then came back down the hill and shopped through all the road side markets. We finished our Sinia tour with eating at a nice restaurant, then waiting for our train for an hour, and arriving back in Bucharest an hour late in the middle of (you guessed it!) another downpouring thunderstorm.
We arrived back at the aparment to find house guests still there, but we continued to roll with the punches just as we learned all week. It was nice to finally have email and internet again too! Yesterday, Dustin left to fly back to San Diego, so Janelle and I hung out with the house guests who left about 1. From there, Janelle and I went grocery shopping, came back, made dinner, and proceeded to talk unti 1 in the morning. We had a lot of fun! =)
Today, Janelle and I met up with a good friend, Marta, with the intent of getting pedicures. But both places we tried were too booked up...so instead we walked the mall, window shopped, went through a makeup store, and ate lunch. Right now, Janelle is cooking chicken soup for dinner, Marta is napping, and I am writing. Marta will come back to our apartment around five, and we plan to eat, work out together, give each other manicures and pedicures ( we bought the stuff at the mall!), and watch Persuasion.
So.... this hasn't been in any way what I have expected. It has been very relaxing, very exciting, and all together a goood experience for me. I have learned much this week... in many ways which would take all together too long to explain. I had a good time with the kids and gleaned a lot of Romanian from them, and though I know I came to work for them, it didn't necessarily end up being my main focus. And I am still not entirely sure the Lord's sole purpose in my being here, but perhaps I am not to know. He has been good and I am so glad to be able to back though it's entirely different than last time. This week alone has matured me and taught me things about myself and the world around me. It has strengthened me, made me stronger, made me more bold.. and help me regain perspective and priortity in many ways. It has increased my faith in little ways, made me see the Lord in other ways, and be blessed in so many ways! (especially by all of the hugs and kisses from those sweet kids!)
Thank you for all of your prayers, for reading this lengthly account, and for looking at the pictures! Have a blessed Sunday, and I shall see many of you soon!
