Trying to be a Light

I was very encouraged by P.C.'s message that I watched on Wednesday. It reminded me to be a light while I am here in Romania.

We went on our fourth home visit yesterday. It went well. We have been able to meet two of the potential teens that will be coming to the program this summer. Please pray that things work out with this program. I have been having not uplifting feelings from the beginning, only because I found out this is what I would be doing the first day I was here. So I've just been going along with it. I have not been able to as involved as I would like with the other programs and that has been hard. The other group that was here with us will be leaving tomm. So we will see how things change. I'm hoping to be able to work with the elderly club for the next couple of weeks before our program begins. I will also be able to work with the special needs club. I'm just really missing being involved in people's life's. So I would ask that you pray I have a good attitude.

I was given the opportunity this past Thursday to go on a day trip with the special needs club and I think after going on that is what has made me have the above feelings. When I was with them I was doing things that I love and having fun. I just want to be able to pour myself into the people's lives here and not have the worry in the back of my mind of all the things I need to get done. I do not want any regrets with this summer.

So back to the day outing it was a long drive (3 hours one way)to where we were going but when we got there it was well worth it. It was a lake that use to be a volcano. I told Dorothy that I wanted to build a house just up the road from the lake. And I believe my home in heaven might be quite similar to how this place looked. Pictures would not do it justice so I took video and have attached it so you could see. It wasn't that busy but all the noise you hear is from a school group that was there for a little while but for the most part it was just our group. We had lunch there and just stayed for a while. Thursday was also a pretty big day because it was the first day I was able to put my hair in little pig tails!!! One of the adults that went on the trip kept playing with them and told Eva they looked like paint brushes, that made me smile :oD Right before we were about to leave we took a group photo and one of the adults decided he would put his arm around me (not knowing any better) well my host father did not agree with this and told him to take is arm off and said something about me being his daughter :) Then there was another guy Alex who was kind of teasing my dad by pretending to put his arm around me to see what my dad's reaction would be. It was a wonderful trip. And again I wish I could speak more of their language.

I still have anxiety with going to language class. I dread going. There is seriously something wrong with my brain when it comes to trying to remember sounds and how to read words. I pray before I go that I will get better but I don't feel like I am and I get very frustrated with myself.

Dorothy is having us read this cross cultural book and it is very enlightening. Has some great points that open up my eyes to certain things.

We had dinner with the girls tonight that will be leaving tomm. it was hard to say goodbye to them. I will miss them greatly. When I look at my clock counter I do not feel like I have been here for 18 days, it has gone way to fast and will continue to go fast, which I'm not a fan of.

This past week I got a glimpse of what it would feel like to live with six other sisters and one bathroom. Lets just say it equals craziness :) Our youngest sister had to other friends spend the night and in the morning it was everyone for themselves when it came to bathroom time.

We had some great sister bonding time last night with our host sisters we were all in the kitchen doing the dishes and singing along to Michael Buble's "Just haven't met you yet." One of the fondest memories I will have and it was pretty appropriate seeing how we are all single. :) And then one of my sisters borrowed an article of my clothing and I borrowed a pair of another sisters jeans, because today was the first day we did laundry since leaving home (amazing I know) so I think that makes us officially sisters :)

Mom, the package arrived on Thursday but I was not able to get it yet, hopefully Monday. Thanks again for sending the extra things!

I hope all is well at home and that you enjoy the video.

Much Love and prayers from Romania :)

Nopte Buna

Sunshine how I love thee...

What has happened in the past few days...

We went to a near by village to teach a Sunday school lesson. Our story we chose was the conversion of Saul. We asked the story out first and then did a little game where one child was blind folded and the other had to lead him/her to try and find and object. It was again difficult because of the language barrier. As a craft we had the children think of what would be something that they would miss if they were blind and then draw it on a piece of paper. Many children decided to draw their house. It went very well. The kids were adorable :) But it was also heartbreaking to see the living conditions that they had to live in. It was here that I finally got the chance to kick around a football(soccer ball) with some kids. It felt great! As a snack we gave the children bananas and we told them to put the peels in the trash but as we were leaving we joked about following the banana peels to find the way out and sure enough there was a trail. :)

We went for a three hour hike yesterday in the rain to a Monastery. It was very much worth the walk because it was very beautiful. Their were preparing for people to come today to celebrate Pentecost. Dorothy told us about different historical parts and about the Orthodox religion. When we were inside I was overwhelmed with the beauty of all the paintings on the walls and ceilings. Dorothy said if someone wanted to paint the inside of an Monastery they needed to go to seminary, be a great painter and the priest had to approve you. And inside there were not a lot of sits and Dorothy said it was because people were expected to stand during the whole three hour service. And the few seats that were in there were meant for elderly and the sick. That was part of their discipline.

We took communion today at church and it was different from any other way I have ever taken it. Because today was the celebration of Pentecost we did communion. Up front was one glass with some juice in it and a loaf of unbroken bread. Roberta (the pastor) took the bread and broke it while reciting the scripture "this is my body..." I like the visualization of how they did it. My first thought when I only saw the one cup was 'are we all going to drink out of the same cup?' me being a germ a fobe when it comes to sharing drinks was not so kine on that idea :) but we went up in a line one by one, each breaking off a piece of bread dipping it in the glass and then eating it. It was different from any other way I had ever taken communion. But I liked how they had a real loaf of bread and they were able to break it in front of the congregation. I know it would take our church a while to do it that way. I was able to watch P.C.'s message on Lettuce Not on Friday. I would make one small suggest, to add the worship portion to the videos If anyone out there reading this has the power to make that happen I would be one happy camper :)

We have one more week with the other girls who are here. They only came for three weeks. Once they are gone it will be interesting to see how things change. Next week Angie and myself will be going on a few different home visits of teens who may potentially be in the program we will be starting this summer. We will also be checking out a couple other organizations who are already have different programs for teens with disabilities.

Our host sister made us Cheesecake today! It was delicious!

Today was the first day of sunshine with out any rain! It has been cloudy and rainy the past 4 or 5 days. The days have began to blend together. Angie, Rachael and I went for a Sunday stroll and photo date. Or as Rachael likes to say lets go pose. :)



As I'm writing this I think of everyone back at home and of my church family. It is about 11am your time so it makes me miss you all and church. I hope all is well!

One Week Anniversiry

I've been in Sighisoara for one week now. Time flys when you are trying to adjust to a new culture.

Yesterday Angie and I met with the directors to talk about the program we will be starting. I'm getting more excited to see how it will go. We had to put together a questionnaire that we will take with us to a few families that might want their teens to be enrolled in our program. Next week we will be going on home visits of the teens that may be in our program this summer. There are about 7-8 that might be interested. We need to find out more about their needs before we can fully develop the program. Angie had a vision to develop this program two years ago when she was last here. While here on her visit she notices a teenage boy sitting alone in the park who seemed to have a disability of some kind and it made her think what types of programs are provided for teens with disabilities. After brain storming over this program for the last two years God has brought her back to Romania to try and start a program. Between Angie (an education major), myself (Recreational Therapy major) and one of the Head staff members (social worker), we should be able to come up with a unique program that will hopefully benefit many teens with disabilities.

Mom, you would of been proud of me I ate mushrooms today :-/ I try almost everything once. And I'm finding there are very few things that I do not like.

I made my first purchase today at a store, I bought a yard of ribbon that is the colors of the Romanian flag.

We had our second language class today I was dreading going but it turned out to go fairly smoothly, much better then the first one. I try to use it as much as possible with others so it sticks in my brain. We got our first home work assignment today! I was excited about that and already have it completed.

Pedro, I see random kids kicking around a football (soccer ball) and get very close to running up and kicking the ball around with them. One of these times I will, when I do not have to be some where. I will just go walking around town looking for kids playing soccer :)

I went on a home visit to a families house near by. It was an eye opening experience. Being here has helped me realize what I take for granted back home.

Tomm. we will be traveling to another town where we will lead a Sunday school class by telling a story, playing a couple games, doing a craft and having a snack.

I went out for Pizza tonight with the girls from the other group that is here and our little sister. It was very good and I'm very full now. And one of the girls from our group knew someone else in the pizza place who was also from America. They had both worked at a camp together and now the they were here trying to start a foster care program. Pretty crazy it reminded me of the time that Cherie saw a girl from high school in Spain. What are the chances.

We were given two different books to read:
Romania-Out of the Gray
and
Cross Cultural Connections, on Fridays we will meet with another staff member to discuss the book. I'm enjoying this one much more.

Mark,
If you are reading this we have devotions with the staff on Fridays and they mentioned the Greek word for fellowship (Koinonia) I was like hey I learned about that in Klema class.

I am keeping the people I love back home in my prayers!
Miss you and GN

Language class

Today was our first day of sleeping in :)

Angie and I both went to the elderly club. Again very hard to communicate with the people. But we still had a good time.

We also had our first language class today. Which was very overwellming for me. I have a hard enough time trying to spell and read in English let along Romanian :) I know it will get easier with time. It was just a lot in an hour and fifteen minutes. We will have language classes monday, tuesday and thursday every week from now until middle of July. So Here is another Romanian work for you Buna Dimineata! (Good Morning) There is suppose to be a little symbol above the a in Buna and a little tail below the t in Dimineata.

Tonight we will work with the teens club, should be fun.

Angie received her luggage tonight (Saturday night)!
Yesterday was a very long day of just sitting. We did devotions with the rest of the Veritas staff. Then we went to the international cafe (inside the House on the Rocks)and sat and talked some more. Then we got to visit the directors house where you guessed it sat some more and watch a pretty deep movie. After that we were off to an organ concert. I was beat when I finally made it home.

On Saturday we were also able to help with the with the English camp reunion. It was so fun getting to know the students. I was talking with a small group of them and I asked if they liked soccer, and I was not ready for their responses. They had nothing but negative comment to say about it. I just laughed because I was beside myself and did not know what to say. They said they were more a fan of basketball.

We also took a trip to Narcissus Meadow & Corund (Cherie and Christina I found a little something for both of you here ;) )

And then Saturday night we went to Night of the Museums. Which is when all of the museums are free to go into. There are only three but it was still fun and we were able to go to the top of the clock tower. The rain cut the festivities short. Our baby sister was part of a little skit.

We went to church on Sunday which was good, the service is translated so we knew what they were saying. There was one song where we sang in English while the rest of the congregation sang in Romanian. giving us a little taste of what heaven will be like :)

Sunday Afternoon was full of lunch with the family, movies (Horten hears a who and rrrrrrrrrrrrr-Hungarian movie that we watched with English subtitles), chocolate chip cookies (which are a delicacy here, our family was in Heaven when they were eating them and it just goes to show how fun can become so boring to you when you have it so often) and card games.

Today we did devotions with the staff again. Then I was given the chance to sit in with the special needs club. I so badly just wanted to talk with them. I think that has been the hardest part about this experience is not being able to carry on a conversation. It makes you value non-verbals so much more and I do not think I have talked with my hands so much in my life :) my ta ta (host papa) does not speak very good English which is said because I would really like to get to know him better. I treasure the small conversation we are able to have. He is such a loving father to his girls, I enjoy watching them interact with each other. It makes my heart happy.

I was also able to help out with the teen club and I really enjoyed that.

We start language classes tomm. which I am happy about. Learning the language has been hard for me. I have a hard time pronouncing some things. But I want to learn so I am able to talk with my Ta Ta better and other people of Sighisoara. This experience has helped me realize how someone might feel who is visiting America for the first time.

I think of home when I look at my watch and try and think what everyone back some might be doing. Like yesterday I looked at my watch and everyone back at home would of just been going to first service at church and that kind of made me sad to think about. But I was on the church website and was able to watch some of P.C.'s messages so that made me happy that I will be able to still get a taste of home.

Amber know that I miss our bike rides.

My Junior High girls-I hope you are learning new things about Christ and that school is going well for you.

And my family I miss you bunches- this includes Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents, and of course my familia (mom, dad, big sis, brother Pookie, Bob a lue, Chico, Mama Cita, Dot Dot, Zoey and I suppose Sadie too :)

I would say that Prayer requests would include God giving me the energy to do what I am suppose to do here. And wisdom with how best I can help the people of Romania.

If my readers have any prayer request feel free to post them and I will make sure to pray for them.

Love you all!


Romanian word for the day: Buna! Hello!

Delays, Dogs and Jet lag

After long months of preparation I am finally here in Romania. It still has not fully hit me and not sure when it will. I can say that a couple things I will not miss about traveling is the packing part and the security part at air ports :)

How the journey here went... it started with a long ride to Chi town with mom and dad. Once at O'hare I found out my flight would not be leaving until 10pm instead of 8. This was a bummer but things happen. The reason for the delay was because of the ash. I was nervous to go through security but everything went fine. I then was able to meet up with Angie. I believe we will get along very well this summer. You can tell she is passionate about the program we will be starting and has a love for the Romanian people.

On the flight I sat with an older lady who was on her was on vacation with her husband. And an Indian girl who had just graduated college and was returning home to get married. (She said there would be 5,000 people at her wedding! 5,000!) So we had good conversations together. Did sleep well, plus my TV or light didn't work :( so needless to say it was an even longer flight then what it seemed. Toward the end I felt like I was going crazy.

My ears were not bothered by the altitude which I was happy for :)Taking off was pretty fun with how fast you get going and landing is a little scary. But both my flights were fine.

It was an amazing view looking down on London, reminded me of a model rail road set. And seeing the cars drive on the opposite side of the road was a dead give away that I was no longer in Michigan.

Because of my flight in Chi town being delayed we (Angie and I) now had a six hour lay over in London. Right from the start this air port gave me trouble first off I almost left my jacket on the plane because I tucked it so far under the sit. So I ended up having to go back on the plane to get it. Then when we were going through security I put my stuff in the little bins and some how my passport fell between the rollers and into another bin. So I had to wait for someone to pull that bin. The security guard just shook his head because as he was checking me in I put some cash money in the bin and he told me to take it out if I didn't want to lose it. So now having to go back to claim my passport he gave me a hard time. All in fun of course.

We flew out of London at 6pm London time, reached Bucharest around 11pm (Romanian time) I sat next to a Romania business man and we talked on and off. It was kind of scary landing at night plus there was a storm so that made it a little tricky landing the plane. When it came time to get our luggage, Angie found out hers was lost. I felt bad because earlier I asked her if she had ever lost it and she said no. But it should arrive tomm.

We ended up staying with a family that night so we would not have to make the five hour drive to Sigh. Which I was very thankful for. I feel asleep within a couple minutes. It felt like some of the best sleep I had gotten in months.

So then today we hit the road for Sigh. We were able to stop at a castle and take a tour. It took 40 years for the castle to be built. It was so beautiful and overwhelming how much detail was put into the decorations.

We arrived here at our host families house around 7pm their time so around noon back at home. It was so wonderful to finally arrive. It has been a LONG two days, but the moment I met my family it was all worth it. They have three girls living at home still who all speak English very well. They were so welcoming, mama had made a pizza like dish and even though both Angie and I said we were not hungry we got to sample some :) Our host family has hosted well over 50 or so students so this is nothing new for them. They are currently remodeling their house, it looks very nice.

Some things that were surprising to me is how many stray dogs there are running around, they are everywhere you turn. Something that broke my heart was while we were driving through Bucharest a young man with a disability came up to our car and started singing trying to get money. Dorothy said that there are not many resources for people with disabilities so they must beg.


I have been able to shower and now feel ready for bed :) Need to get rest for the fun to begin.

I hope everyone is doing well back home. And know that I am thinking of you and miss you bunches. Until next time.