Yes, I'm Still Alive (it's just been awhile...)!

I know it's been a few days since my last post.... sorry! Not much is that different from last week so there hasn't been too much new stuff to add.

On Sunday, we had services in Severin (morning and evening) and Lupsa (in the afternoon). In Lupsa, I went down with Becky with the kids (all 3 or 4 of them) and we made friendship bracelets for awhile. That has started us on a friendship bracelet making trend here and we've gotten everyone involved! Chad, Becky, Dragosh and I have all been making them and just giving them to different people. I brought a ton of packaged of lots of string and I'm so glad I did that! We also performed Saturday night in Rogova, Sunday morning in Severin, and Sunday afternoon in Lupsa on the violin and mandolin. In Rogova, Chad and I played our instruments while Becky and Cathy sang and we also played with the group and sang with some of the teens (in Romanian). Sammy (who leads the orchestra) was like "if Chad can learn the mandolin in 5 days, you all should be able to play this song that you've had for awhile!" We got a good laugh out of that while some of the kids sulked off to practice more! In the evening service in Severin, Chad and I picked out another song that we might do tomorrow night (if we have time to practice some tomorrow).

On Monday, Becky and I had some fun in the morning and in the evening, we played volleyball again with the teens. Guess who was still as bad as last week?! I did manage to hit the ball a few more times than last time but not many of them (aside from my serves which were actually decent) made it the right way over the net!

Then, today we were busy with some manual labor! We spent the morning painting some of the rooms in the orphanage. The girls got a makeover from pale pink to a pretty light purple and the boys got a refreshing blue (the other rooms are getting done after I leave). We painted for a few hours and then came back to the house for orchestra/choir practice. I didn't join in this time since I won't be here this Sunday to perform but I hung out and worked on a bracelet while I watched them practice. Then, we went out and walked around Severin with Dorin, Dragosh, Sammy, and Becky. We went to this main area where there is like a pedestrian walkway and walked down to sit at the big city fountain for awhile. On the way back, we picked up some "donuts" and enjoyed them on the way home. We also enjoyed jumping over water fountains and pushing through the crowds (since cutting in line is like the norm here) while waiting for those donuts!

Tomorrow, we're planning a small shopping day. I need to buy some food stuff to bring home (if anyone wants anything, let me know!) and then we're just checking out some other shopping areas. On Thursday, I head out and so it's likely that this might be my last post from here (I might not have time to post again tomorrow). Sammy, Cathy, Chad and I will all be heading out to Bucharest early Thursday morning so that I can get to my 2:00 pm flight from there (it's like a 6, 7, or 8 hour drive from here to there; I don't know the exact time in the car). Then, I'll be back in the states around midnight on Thursday! I'm happy to be going back home but as always, I hate to leave. I totally wish that I could stay longer because everything is now becoming more routine and normal feeling here so it's such a bummer to leave when you feel start to feel like you're fitting in more :( And of course, I hate to leave all the awesome friends and teens/kids here that I've connected with. But of course, I see it only as an "I'll see you next time" rather than a goodbye so I've already started thinking about when I can come back again!

All About Food!

At this point, you would think I have learned my lesson regarding food here. I mean, seriously, I know better than to take a big portion of something that I'm unsure of. Yet, that still doesn't seem to stop me. Yesterday was an interesting food day. I started with french toast for breakfast. This french toast though was not as sweet as it is in the states (I've had sweet french toast here but this was different for some reason). It almost tasted like the egg was cooked in bacon grease first and then lightly placed over the bread (but didn't soak in at all). That was different but still ok. The interesting part came when I ate my third piece. It had salt on it. Now, that was weird. I've put salt on a lot here (that's kind of normal) but this was a stretch for me and I don't think I'll be repeating that anytime soon. Then, at lunch, I didn't really have anything unusual. I think it was soup (which was really good) and like fried squash (it looked like that but I'm not 100% sure if it actually was that; it was still good though). Then, I got offered Fanta. I'm not a fan of soda in the first place but I've had a lot here since that is what we've had at meals. Orange Fanta though is definitely not a favorite of mine. I drank the big glass of it because I didn't want to be rude and let it go to waste but I was working hard to keep a straight face and not a "echk" face! After lunch, we had some apples. I thought, yum, apples. I like apples. I got a bigger one (they were still all small though which should've been my first red flag) and realized with my first bite that it was ridiculously sour. Like Sour Patch Kids sour. I had to literally turn my head towards the wall as my lips and face puckered up! I only made it through a few more bites before I had to throw it away as all the kids were just munching away on their second and third apples!

Now, that was all the questionable food (aside from the bread I prepared for Claudia this morning that had the following layers on it: butter, pork liver paste, apricot jelly, and cherry jelly; my bread with butter and apricot jelly that had just been made the night before was fabulous). The really good food from Cathy, Becky, and Sammy has been awesome! We had eggplant salad one day that was delicious (with the eggplant grilled first) and then we just had tuna salad for lunch today that was also scrumptious! We have had all this fresh food and veggies with super fresh bread and it's been hard to stop eating!

Aside from the food, nothing too eventful has been happening. I went with Cathy to Rogova last night and shared some parenting information with the women there who meet for Bible study on Friday nights. It is always amazing to hear about the differences between countries, especially regarding parenting strategies, concerns/issues, and the kinds of resources they have (or don't have as is the case here). Today, we're headed back to Rogova in about 20 minutes for orchestra practice (finally there!) and services tonight. I'm for sure playing with the mandolin orchestra and Chad doesn't know yet if he'll play today. We're both playing a song though at some point tonight and tomorrow with him on the mandolin, me on the violin, Sammy on the piano, and Becky singing. It's going to be pretty awesome and hopefully, I'll get a good recording of it to post sometime in the next few days.

Off to practice for a few minutes. I hear Chad in the other room on the mandolin and he wanted to practice a little more before we leave!

Farmacia!

We've had some relaxing down time for the last two days (we've pretty much just been hanging out) and so I thought posting about one of the things I like the most about Romania would be good to do right now. And what is that thing you might be wondering? Aside from the obvious (everything and everyone that I've already posted about!), I like the farmacias (pharmacies). Basically, you can get any medicine over the counter here. Instead of getting a prescription from the doctor, you just go into the pharmacy and the pharmacists can tell you what you need and just give it to you right then. Can you imagine if it was like that in the states? Instead of wasting money to go to the doctor to have them tell you what you already know, you could just skip that middle step and go right for what will make you feel better!

Ok... on to actual trip stuff! Yesterday was fairly quiet. After the orchestra and choir practice on Tuesday night, Chad and I spent some time Wednesday practicing a variety of instruments and singing. I ended up playing a song on the violin at the service on Wednesday night and it wasn't great but it was still pretty cool. We picked a song we both really liked last night and we're planning on playing it at the services this weekend (me on the violin, Chad on the mandolin). Obviously, next time I come, I'll have to bring my viola with me!

Today was also pretty calm and slow. Becky and Sammy had to go into Bucharest and Feli had to take one of the kids to get some glasses. So, for awhile, I hung out at the orphanage while the kids took naps (or really just played around in their rooms since I kept hearing random noises upstairs!) and Adina (the oldest girl) and I watched tv. Then, I came over to the house in the late afternoon to practice on the violin some. Right before Chad was going out with Rica, little Sammy had a bit of an accident (involving the couch and an end table) but everything is alright now and we're all just here just hanging out some more! Tomorrow, I think we might be trying for Herculane again since it's supposed to be warm.

I probably won't get another post up until Sunday or Monday. The weekends are pretty busy so I might just wait and get everything up at once when it's all over. This is my last weekend here so it will be my last time to see the kids in Lupsa and Rogova I think :(  That means.... lots of pictures to come I'm sure!

Hiking in Lupsa

Yesterday afternoon, we took all the kids out to Lupsa to go hiking through the woods. We left a little before lunchtime (since it's about an hour drive to Lupsa) and then we ate some lunch and hung out for a bit in the feeding center there before starting our hike. Then, like 2-3 hours and a ton of bug bites later, we finished our hike! We all had a pretty good time and the kids seemed to really enjoy running through the woods and seeing all the little bugs that we kept finding. When we made it out of the woods, we hung out at the feeding center for a little longer (we were snacking) and then came back with a bunch of sleeping children in the van (which by the way, I was totally right about the no car seats; we [the adults] were the car seats yesterday!). 

We got back around 6:00 and had just under an hour to recover before volleyball with the teens (Monday night is like youth night where they come over to the orphanage to play). Of course, the previously sleeping kids were wide awake 5 seconds after getting home and immediately put on their bathing suits to swim in the pool thing we have set up in the yard. They begged me to come in and even though I didn't bring a bathing suit, I jumped in with some of my quick drying running shorts and a t-shirt. I was in there for about 20 minutes and then sat on the ladder to provide towel service ever time water got in someone's eyes! At 7:00, we started playing volleyball and I think it's safe to say that volleyball is not my best sport. It's prob. not even my mediocre sport! However, I did manage to get the ball over the net some although I was never on the winning team (we came close a lot though)! After we were done playing, I came back over to the house to finish doing some work stuff and then wandered back to the orphanage around 10:30 pm (don't worry; Sammy and Chad walked me over... no walking by myself at night!). Around 11:00, it started to rain (hallelujah!). The wind was crazy and I think I might have finally gotten a bit of a breeze in my room.

The rain was supposed to continue today but it didn't. However, it's still "cold" (like 80) and a little windy so we've all been inside today. We were supposed to go to the hot spring pools in Herculane but the weather put a dent in that plan. All the kids were super bummed but we'll try to go again later in the week I think. So now, it's lunch time and I'm just hanging out at the house uploading pictures and my student's papers. In a bit (at 5:30 pm), we'll have orchestra practice here at the house (not in Rogova like I keep thinking before) and I'll get to try my hand at the violin! This should be interesting....!

Here are pictures from our hike in Lupsa!

Carrefour Carnival

Last night, Rogova was awesome (as always). Chad and I talked about our stories/history with the teens (when they broke off from the main service) and it was fun and funny! The teens in Rogova are and have always been my favorite so any time I get to spend with them there is the best! When we got back from Rogova, Sammy dropped us off at Carrefour and we picked up a few things for dinner. One the way back, we walked through the carnival that has been set up for the weekend in the parking lot. We picked up some hollow bread (there was a stand there) and we ate that and some cotton candy last night (and some more today!). When we got back to the house, Cathy was telling us that she was making sandwiches with yogurt for dinner and Chad and I both thought there was going to be yogurt in the sandwich. We later found out though that it was just grilled cheese with yogurt to drink (which was delicious)! I got back to the orphanage last night around 10:30 and everything was quite. I thought everyone was asleep but of course, I was wrong! Feli got back with the older kids just a few minutes after me; they picked up some food from Carrefour and we all sat around eating it. Well, I tried it instead of really sitting down to eat since I had already stuffed my face at the house. Plus, it was little fishies that had a very strong flavor so I only ate one little one! Around 11:00 or so, I went upstairs to bed and it was super hot outside (and inside). I was just laying there on top of the covers sweating profusely. And that was with the fan on me on full blast! I had the windows closed since the carnival music was so loud but fortunately, it stopped around 12:30 and I opened the windows. It was much cooler then because a cold front came through. Today, it was pleasant (figuratively speaking; it's still hot and we sweat all the time but at least it's like 85 now instead of 95) in the morning during the first service of the day but it's gotten a bit hot this afternoon. We're all resting for a little bit now since we took the kids to  the carnival earlier and it wiped us all out! We have about another hour and a half to kill before the evening service and I'm busy working on getting my pictures up and catching up on work stuff!

Pictures from the past two days!

General observations over the last two days:

1) I don't think there are car seats here.

2) People here are totally acclimated to the heat. When they turn the air on, they only leave it one for like 3 minutes and then turn it off. A woman in the service this morning was cold after the air was on for just a few minutes even though it was still pretty warm in the room.

Coco Puffs and Milk; You Can't Go Wrong There!

Actually, you can go wrong with coco puffs and milk. How, you might ask? Well, you can put the coco puffs in hot milk. Yes, that's right. Milk that was warmed up on the stove and wasn't just lukewarm, but was actually hot. Now, I could handle warm milk with cereal I think. But when you put hot milk with chocolate cereal and then let it sit for like 5-10 minutes while you get the rest of breakfast together, that totally changes things. That was breakfast this morning, along with bread, cheese, butter, salami ham slice things, yogurt (that was pretty liquidy) and I think that was it. Add that to the massive sausage and mashed potatoes for lunch (with soup and bread of course), and we're 2 for 2 on interesting meals for the day! Becky was trying to explain how people here don't really do cold things, like ice because there's a fear that it will lead to sore throats and sickness (or something like that). I can only assume that is why or part of the reason why everything (e.g., coke, milk, water) is typically warm. The soda isn't even kept in the refrigerator in most cases. What is even funnier is the fact that Feli (the house mom) wants to wait until later in the day when the water in the temporary pool is warmer to let the kids swim. I'm like "the cool water would feel so good!" but they still wait for the sun to warm it up a bit.

All for now... we're all about to head out to Rogova for the afternoon/night!

I Heart Rogova!

So I know I said I was going to post like every other day from now on but I just remembered a few things on the drive to Rogova and I wanted to post them now before I forgot.

1) Instead of honking at a car when it veers into your lane, drivers here simply just merge into the oncoming traffic (lane) instead to avoid it. I'm not even sure why they have lane dividers here. Literally no one follows them. Most people drive 3/4 of the way in one lane and 1/4 of the way in another!

2) I think I'm getting a tan. It's either that or I'm just dirty. I haven't been able to figure it out yet.

3) Men like to go shirtless here. Like a lot. I've see quite a few guys working on houses, in fields, or even just walking around sans shirts.

4) Adina and I walked to Lidl (another store here) to get bread today and we also ended up with some ice cream for the walk home. It was neat walking through a different part of Severin and seeing the differences in  the houses all around here.

5) There are super clear gender roles here that almost everyone follows. You almost never see the men with the children or in the kitchens/houses. The men mostly work I guess even though I have yet to figure out what  exactly it is that some of them do (like the men you see wandering around during the day and what not).

Here are some pictures in Severin and Rogova from today!