Hello everyone!
These past few days have been super busy so I apologize for not blogging as much as I once was. Since the arrival of Callom and Lakey we have been having club (VBS) with the children in the mornings and street ministry in the afternoons and more activities in the evenings. In the midst of all of this, I have been cooking each meal for the five of us (let me just say each of the three boys should count as five people :) ). So when I am not busy in the kitchen area, I am at least thinking about what to cook next.
Food is a big part of any culture and I have been adjusting to that here, yet not in the way you may think. I am plenty use to chicken snitzel, peasant potatoes, lots of soup, etc but what I am having to adjust to is the frequency of purchasing food. In order to get to a large grocery store about the size of a Wal-Mart food center, I have to take public transportation about 8 bus stops which isn't a huge deal at all until... I remember in the check out line that I have to carry everything I have purchased back on the bus. After a few heavy trips, I have begun recruiting at least one of the boys, most often Zach, to go with me to be my pack mule. There is a grocery store right down the road from my apartment that is about a 1/3 of the size of Food Lion in Gordonsville that I will frequent more when I am not shopping for six and can pay the slightly higher prices.
On Saturday, the boys hosted an all day soccer marathon on the sports court at the Ruth School. This resulted in lots of hunger little boys and big boys. So I introduced them to chicken salad. It was a huge hit. I put lots of apples in it to make it sweet and get the kids eating fruit. One boy, Nicu, ate 7 sandwiches which was good because normally he is a picky eater and his family was recently evicted from their home because of unabilitiy to pay rent so his belly probably needed those sandwiches. After lunch the soccer match resumed. As I was cleaning up the discarded pieces of bread crust, I noticed Nicu sitting off the side of the field looking rather down. You see, Nicu has a leg problem that prevents him from playing soccer with the big boys all of the time. Normally, he runs well with them and plays but on this day he had fallen just too many times. So Nicu and I headed off to the store because I always need groceries and it makes him feel important when he can help carry bags. On our short walk to the small store, Robert who had been playing soccer ran to catch up with us. Robert and Nicu are the best of friends and have missed each other greatly since Nicu's family moved. In the store, the boys began picking out groceries for me. They told me the oranges were good and that Zach would like them so they carefully selected them. Then potatoesand carrots. In Romania, you have to weigh your own produce and print out the sticker for the cashier to scan. After we finished weighing ours, an elderly lady asked me how to do it. Knowing that I speak only a little Romanian, the two young boys both about the age of 7 took over. They explained it to the lady and then proceed to bag and weigh all her produce. I was so proud of those boys who are normally viewed as problem children in the store. After we arrived back at the Ruth School, our fruit was quickly shared with all the others who were famished because of the tiring second half of the soccer game. Within about ten minutes, I had peeled and divided 5 oranges among hungry little hands and passed out a plethora of apples. Who could ever say no to children asking for fruit?
I wish I had time to share more with you but it is time to head out to evening church here in Bucharest. Have a great day!
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