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| Castlemania '08Today we took the day off. We went hiking up very high mountains in search of adventure. Fortunately for us, when castles are the adventure one is seeking, it really isn't too hard to find one over here. I mean, they are pretty big and usually situated up high on a mountain. Honestly, one does not have an excuse for not finding one.
Anyways, I can't remember the name of the first castle we went to. It mostly wasn't there, however. The tram up the mountain was not working, and so ended up hiking up. The trip was beautiful. We were largely in the shade and were surrounded by old moldy-mossy rock formations. I would call it a wall. But yeah it was really cool. At the top we were surprised to find signs saying "warning vipers" or something to that effect. Fortunately I was able to convince some of the team members who didn't know what a viper was, that it was a small harmless bug. :P Did I mention in yesterdays blog that I found a giant beetle? it was as big as my thumb and had these mean looking 1/2" pincers. I so wanted to bring it home with me. To bad I didn't have a glass jar. This was the only time I came close to imitating Janet's love for felines. Speaking of which, Janet happened to find some cats in the second castle we went to.
The second castle was in better condition than the first one. However, it suffered a fire about a hundred years ago. Thus, it was a little empty furniture wise and what not. Anyways, the really funny part was that the drawbridge was constructed with some styrofoam painted to look like a brick. I thought this was pretty hilarious. It's almost like the TLC shows where one family goes to their neighbors house and tries to make it look like a million bucks with $25 or something around that number. Beyond the fact that the second castle had some resident cats, it also had 4 tourist traps (shops), luckily I dodged all four. Unfortunately, this will show when my gifts are getting divied out. Sorry fam.
The one cool part about the second castle was the fact that at one time they imprisoned 3 turkish people there . Although this isn't cool in and of itself, the cool part is the story surrounding it. Apparently they were promised freedom after they dug a well 28 meters down by the kind of the place. when they almost had finished he died. His wife made them finish but decided to kill them instead of let them go. One asked to be able to inscribe something before he died. he wrote something to the effect of "you may have water but you have no soul." Then some other romanian translated it to something else harmless. Anyways, I found it funny. Later taters.
Bryan, over and out of here. (the rest of the team too).
so it Luckily the team members we hiked up
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| Janet Loves CATS!!!! Deal with it! ;) Correction: She loves Romeo (her precious cat).Hello all of you faithful readers. Unfortunately, we are not faithful bloggers. Have no fear; Bryan (and Janet) are here. We are going to fill you in on the many wonders and wonderful-ness that we have been blessed to partake in on the past few days. Our humblest apologies on behalf of our team, nevertheless.
Let's begin with Sunday. According to Janet, "'up and at 'em (atom ant), eggs are up' begins the morning." We ate breakfast and went to Church. I thought that this week's message was particularly delightful, but I must admit my own bias--the people speaking were from the U.K. There is something different about their sermons. The seem to be a bit more intellectual or something; i.e. the person speaking suggested a shift in Christ's thought towards the Samaritans. I would need to take a look at it myself, but the idea of Christ changing his mind is a bit unorthodox in my humble opinion. After church we got ready to lead church at Jackie's church that afternoon. This started at 3:30. It included flanelgraph, a wonderful presentation of the change purse by Matt (according to Anita and Mama Rose, he is the best one in all their years using it), songs (directed by Janet--and my we sounded delightful), and also some 3-5 minute sermons by Janet, Paige, and myself. The church itself was pretty interesting. It just got "completed" that week. When I say completed I mean it could hold a service in it. It was basically bricks and drywall, with a roof put in--but it was full. I counted at least 60 individuals, about 40 of which were children. One guy was playing the accordian and singing loudly in Romanian. It didn't take long to discover that pretty much all Romanian songs have 7-8 verses, or so they seem. Anyways, church went well. Afterwards, we were honored by one of the families in the congregation by a homecooked meal. Towards the end of the meal, the man of the family put his arm on my shoulder and announced that the message that I had given was special for him.
I had given a sermon on a song that I had happened to stumble across that morning. The song was 'All Are Welcome', which had been tucked away in my Bible from my church and I about which I had totally forgotten about. Anyways, I felt lead to discuss it albeit I felt it would be awkward. The awkwardness involved me encouraging them to be more welcoming as a community to others. This was especially awkward as I had not been there before and had no clue what they were like. I only knew that they were Gypsies. Gypsies are basically looked down upon, so it seemed really bizarre for me to tell the group at the bottom of the totem pole to reach out to others. I did it anyways and hoped for the best. Returning to the specialness that my sermon had for the man, he said that he hadn't heard that song in a long time but had wanted to share it with the congregation, but they didn't know it. More significantly however, he said that he had dreamt about that song that very night. Weird. Now I felt even more awkward, because I am only too aware of how unspecial I am, especially in the sense of religion. I feel like I want to tear it down so much, questioning what's what. But yeah, for me to have been used by God felt awkward at best. I also wasn't sure as if I believed him. I do now, having talked with Jackie since. Essentially, all I can say is that even if he was lying, albeit I'm not sure what he would have gained by doing so, Jackie described how she was similiarly used. Thus, even if mine wasn't legit, I don't want to say that it cannot happen in general.
Enough of that though. I don't like to hijack this blog with my own life and thoughts, but I thought that event was especially meaningful.
Monday:
Woke up. Went to Bed. It was a fulfilling day.
ha. fooled you. On monday we went to a drop-in center for street people early in the morning. I will let Janet discuss her thoughts on this... The center is run by a couple from Scotland. We came up on the center and it looked more like a secret garden. I walked through the iron gate coming off the quaint little street into a flowered courtyard covered in ivy. The house was covered in ivy and there were freshly planted marigolds in the windowboxes.
If I had kept my thoughts on these things I might not have been so disturbed by what happened next. Inside the house was painted a daffodil yellow and there were tables and chairs all around and in the front room there were bigger tables with coloring books on them. We were there for the mother and children drop-in time. (This was for mothers and children who lived on the street to come in and have a cup of coffee, have a shower, etc.) Then a woman walks in covered in bright colored clothing from head to toe. She has 2 older girls with her, a younger girl and a new baby. We were then told by Katie that this was Nando, Bobo and TsuTsu's mother (note from Bryan: Nando, Bobo and TsuTsu are orphans at Oaza that we have gotten to know and love). This was the woman who doesnt want those children. I couldnt believe it. I knew that they were practically orphaned, but to see the woman standing there in such a cheery little room knowing that her 3 children are waiting at Oaza (a children's home), hoping for her to come back for them. It broke my heart in a way that I find hard to put into words.
Thanks Janet. After this, I was privileged to go visit two older women who are pretty much isolated in their communist bloc-style apartments. The one, who's name I cannot remember due to it, was such a sweetheart. I really enjoy opportunities to help older people. The other one, Katrina, was also nice. Essentially, Jackie has been helping these two women (probably others as well, I didn't really inquire, although I probably will tomorrow). The first of which almost died of starvation. Brief note, since it came to mind. Jackie was telling us on the ride over to the widow's apartment of some six year old that had gotten syphilus. Just breaks ones heart. I'm sorry this seems really tangential and what not, but these past days have been a whir. Later that day we hung out with 4 other orphans and just did crafts and jump-roped and played frisbee.
Today (Tuesday): Today we went to play with some mentally challenged children. I believe there were about 20 in all. It was uncomfortable at first but then I got into the swing of things. On one level it really isn't too difficult to bring some joy into their lives. I basically spent the first half an hour making animal noises and saying "whee"--apparently that's a universal phrase--to one girl as she swang on a swing. In case you were wondering I am quite proficient at meowing- meows were her favorite, mooing, quacking, and making chicken noises. Basicaly like the cadbury bunny does. I also danced with the kids. Oh my goodness, you would be surprised how good some of them are. It's quite uncanny. One was even showing me dance moves!!!!!!! But yeah, the awesomeness sorta began to wear off as the hours moved on--we were there over 6--and were outside in the sunshine (it's about 80 degrees here). I got sunburned on the top of my feet. Go figure. :( After that, some of us went swimming. I forgot to bring my swimsuit so I naturally just followed the old adage, when in Rome do what the romans do. I went swimming in the nude it was pretty good. And for any of you who have yet to discover the enjoyment of skinning dipping, I highly recommend it. I jest (slightly) on all parts of this swimming discussion. However, I did swim and I did forget my suit.
After the swimming we went out to a missionary's house for an awesome BBQ. The chicken was delicious after todays long work with the children. We all climbed a mountain, well Janet didn't climb it. I had to carry her up it and then she sorta fell down it. Don't worry. She's as pretty as ever. I promise this will get updated tomorrow. We love you all. Please pray that we will continue to keep on trucking. I think many of our bodies are starting to feel the effects of this hard work in the sun we are doing. (I accidentally overslept a 20 minute nap yesterday night, it turned into about a 10 hour nap!!!).
But yes, Later taters. Have a good one and God bless. | | |
| The Hot Springs at the CastleToday we had the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful day off...which was greatly needed after completing all the hard work at the Shalom House (Oaza ministry). Our team met Jackie (one of the American missionaries who now lives here) at this castle in a village outside of Arad. We were all very excited, as it was very hot and would be able to go swimming. When we arrived at the hot springs...we found the "swimming pool" to be a dark organish/black color. It was very interesting, as it came directly out of the ground, no purification. It was straight mineral water. The good thing about it was..is that it made our skin softer. However it was by no means refreshing as it was pretty hot. It was relaxing just the same. It was nice to be able to relax as a team and enjoy the sun. Later that evening, Paula (another American missionary) took us out for a treat. She took us to an American coffee shop called Three Bean Coffee Co. It was owned by an American, so all of the food and drinks were what we would have back in the US. It was so nice to be able to taste the American food again. I think all of us needed a break from the Romanian food for just a little bit. It was such a wonderful treat. As always, we were all enjoying ourselves; making silly jokes and what not. There was a joke going on about one of the girls who came out with us-Nicole who graduated from Roberts this past December and has lived here since Jan. (last year she went on the Romanian missions trip). It had been prophesized by someone in Romania that Nicole had to be engaged a year from the date the man had said this- which just happen to be in about a week. To be funny..our little jokester Bryan decided to be funny and took a rubber band and made it in into an "engagement ring." We got pictures of the whole thing, and decided to play a trick on Dr.Rose. After eating, we took a trip over to the flower shop to pick up a rose to really play out the whole thing. After we left the flower shop we ran into a little mishap..or should I say..someone ran into a little mishap. Janet being her excited little self..was running to the front of the group to capture the special moment...taking pictures in front of the church. While running, Janet hit a little bump and took a nose dive for the pavement. We were all very concerned, as Janet was laying on the ground- none of us were sure that she was ok. Matt and I who were walking behind Janet, saw the whole thing happen. Much to our surprise, Janet was ok...all she was concerned about was taking the "engagement picture." If seeing the accidnet occur, Janet's wounds should have been much worse than they were. It was only a scrap on the knee, hip and hand. But thank goodness for the wonderful nursing skills I learned at good ole Roberts. I nursed her back to health in no time and she was as good as new. She was feeling a little sore, but everything was ok-and that's all that mattered! When we walked in the door, we all played our parts of the wonderful surprise of the "engagement." It only took about 2 min. before Dr.Rose knew it was all a joke. But it was fun in the mean time. All this trouble to play a little ole joke. We have such a great group, we are a big family each contributing in our own way. We all seem to be having such a great time together, and working hard to help out the ministries who are need of our help. God is really opening up so many great opportunities for us to experience. We are learning most importantly that this trip is not about us, but for God and all his glory. Not only are we blessing the lives of those we work with, but we too are receiving so many blessings. Lots of love -Emily and the Team | | |
| Well it has been another exciting two days over here. Yesterday we had our hardest day of work yet. With the OAZA open house rapidly approaching we did as much as we could to get the house all ready to go. We started by disassembling another enormous bed and hauling it up to the attic. Then Paige, Bryan and I went outside and began work on digging a ditch. Now digging a ditch is probably not the worst thing in the world, unless someone has dumped enormous concrete blocks where you are trying to dig  Thankfully no one threw out their backs and after a few hours we finally had a decent looking ditch.
After another delicious lunch of PB&J some people finished up painting while Paige, Bryan, and I again braved the 90+ degree weather. We leveled some dirt out in the yard, but eventually Anita decided it was time to call it quits...we didn't want to have to rush to a Romanian hospital for heat stroke 
We finished our last official day with the kids with some more crocheting, as well as a few rousing games of Pick-Up-Sticks and Jenga, which I think all the kids love.
We left the house around dinner time and headed over once again to Mama Maria's. I don't think it is possible to describe here how amazing this woman is. This time I think there were ten of us eating (Jackie and Nicole joined us), and we still couldn't finish all the food. Last night's menu was soup, chicken, potatoes, and salad. Bryan, Jackie and I braved some of the hot peppers, which we all immediately regretted 
After a delicious desert of fresh strawberry something or other (whip, foam, smoothie? I don't know what to call it) we headed back to the hotel.
Today was a really taxing day for all of us. We spent the day sun bathing next to a thermal pool, reading, and stuffing our faces with a sheep/pork sausage type thing. I think we all had a great day and it was a nice break from the past few days of work. Dr. Rose made sure she got pictures of us "slaving for the Lord in Romania".
After a tough day of swimming we came back and started planning our programs for the next few days. Them Paula came over and picked us up and took us downtown again. She surprised us with a trip to Three Bean Coffee Co...a coffee shop owned by an American! Most of us were pretty excited as it was the closet to American food that we have had in a while. Now it's time for bed...we are leaving for Mocrea (the mental hospital) in the morning. We will be updating again soon and we miss you all.
-Matt and the rest of the team
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| Well I think everyone would agree that the past two days have been rather exhausting. OAZA has their open house coming up on Saturday, where they are showing the house to everyone that has worked on it in the past year...and that means that we are being put to work
Yesterday we showed up in the morning and Scott was waiting for us. Janet and Susan started painting while Paige, Bryan and I helped Scott move a bunch of bricks over to the Joy House (we have been primarily at the Shalom House up until now). After we dropped off the bricks we picked up a bunch of computers to bring back over to the other house. I guess Paula and some others are going to be starting up some computer classes for community kids around the house. There was only one computer over there the other day but hopefully by tomorrow there will be more than 10 up and running.
After we dropped off the computers the rest of us joined Janet and Susan who were still painting. You'd be amazed at how much painting five people can get done in one afternoon. After some more PB&J's for lunch (surprisingly I don't think any one is sick of those sandwiches yet ) Bryan, Paige, and Janet kept painting while Susan, Dr. Rose, Anita, and I kept crocheting with the kids (truth be told, I don't think I have developed my crocheting talents enough to help any of the kids, but they seem to be getting along fine without my abilities ).
Yesterday I had a traumatic experience when one of the kids accidentally dropped my camera. I was getting close to a nervous breakdown without my camera...but Paula Dunn (who has been absolutely amazing to us since we got here) and came thorough again and got my camera fixed.
After OAZA we went over to Mama Maria's again and had another enormous dinner. This time there was more soup (Janet is calling it Chicken-Veggie-Sour-Cream-Soup) and it was once again delicious. After the soup we had huge plates of Chicken and Rice and Corn. After dinner we got to meet Idina's friend Nora who is a nurse in Romania and she told us a lot about what health care is like over here. Apparently Mama Maria was not satisfied with stuffing us to the gills with dinner, so after Nora left she brought out two enormous plates of homemade donuts. They looked absolutely delicious so of course we ate dozens of them on full stomachs. I am surprised we are not all in food-induced comas today.
Today we went back over to the house and got working again. Janet (who loves painting so much that I am under the opinion that she should take up interior designing when she is not teaching) continued painting the kitchen with Bryan while Susan, Paige, and I tore up the ground out front in an attempt to level it out. If anyone had been watching, I'm sure we would have looked as if we were doing nothing more than swinging shovels around and pushing piles of dirt...but after a couple of hours it miraculously looked pretty decent. Hopefully there will be some turf down for Saturday.
After lunch (can you guess what we ate?) Susan and I undertook the Herculean task of moving a multitude of wooden pieces up into the attic. I'm not sure how many of you spend your days in attics in 90 degree days, but I can tell you that they can get quite toasty. Somehow (after an hour of sweating more than I ever have in my entire life) we managed to get most of the wood upstairs, while the others continued to paint. We then sat down for some more crocheting time with the kids.
We left around 5 and when we got back Paula ordered us some pizza. For some reason Dr. Rose thought the total was 91 lei so we just gave the guy 100 to cover the tip. However after looking at the receipt we realized that the total was 74...no wonder the guy was so happy when we told him to keep the change 
After consuming almost three enormous pizzas (one of which a delicious Romanian specialty of ham and corn) Paula took us downtown for ice cream. Now we are back at the hotel, ready for our beauty sleep. Hope everyone is doing well back across the ocean...we will see you soon!
- Matt and the rest of the team
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