Cook-out, wedding and cast free!

 This past weekend, I attended Sami & Irina Crisan's wedding in Sebis, Romania. On Thursday, I travelled with the Bunacius and Stocks to Almas. Almas is Oti Bunaciu's mother's home village so we went two days early in order to spend sometime with his family. Oti spent many summers in this villages with his cousins and maternal grandparents and was a wonderful tour guide of this rustic village. On Friday, Oti's family exposed us to a Romanian cook-out at its finest. There were micis (Romanian sausages), pork fillets, chicken, kebabs, home-fried potatoes along with some vegetables. Smoked pig fat is a popular cook-out food in this region of Romania so I proceeded to eat some melted over bread and it was delicious but probably not very healthy :).

On Saturday, we attended the beautiful wedding and reception of the Crisans. The wedding itself was gorgeous with loads bright flowers and precious flower girls. The wedding reception consisted of a 5 course meal complete with wedding cake served at midnight. During the reception, some of the guests played a game that was sort of like a scavenger hunt race meets musical chairs. For instance, if there were 10 guests playing and the first nine back to the chairs with a wallet that was not their own progressed to the next round. The loser had to do something for the couple during their first year of marriage and were assigned what to do (example: take them to a movie in April).

Since returning to Bucharest after the wedding festivities, I have been working on the documents to obtain a residency permit. Aside from doing paperwork and running all over the city with Mishi to get signatures and stamps for this, my Romanian language studies have taken high priority because of my increasing frustration with not being able to communicate very well with those I come in contact with. Today, for instance, I have spent about five hours memorizing the definitions and correct Romanian spellings for the hundred vocabulary words in my Romanian textbook for this week. Now it is time to get started on the grammar sections... joy!

This evening, I went to visit Nicu and his family because he had his casts off while I was gone to the wedding. He seems really happy to be able to move his legs again. His mother is confident that he will be walking well enough to return to school on September 12. Currently, he is walking with the aid of a walker but should be able to, according to the doctor, stop using that in a few days. I will be checking up on him as school approaches to see if he will in fact be able to come to school without physical aid.



The cook-out crew



Prayer Concerns:

- Nicu as he learns to walk flat footed for the first time & praise that he is doing well and has no infection!
- Faculty, staff and students of Ruth School (school starts September 12th)

- my residency permit :)

Chicken Salad+ Soccer Ball = Perfect Summer Afternoon :)

Well folks, I think it is safe to say that I am settled into life here in Romania. Things have been going really well and I have been keeping busy. Nicu continues to heal very well and is looking forward to getting his casts off towards the end of the month.

The Ruth School is getting ready for another fantastic school year. Our teachers come back to school next Monday and the students on September 12.

Also, I am loving my new neighborhood. Living in the school definitely has its perks. The students associate me with Project Ruth and everything that goes on here so I have quite a few friends to wave to and say hello as we pass on the street. Yesterday, I had a young man that had frequented our activities this summer and enjoyed a few games of football & snacks with Zach wait with me at the bus stop for ten minutes talking to me about school. We were actually conversing in Romanian which limited the conversation topics but it certainly nice to chat with him  :).

Zach's crew of boys ask where he is every time I see them. When I tell them, he is at home. They automatically think he is back in his room in Bucharest then I have to explain that he is at home with his family in Virginia. This typically brings great sadness yet yesterday I combated the sadness with their favorite lunch: chicken salad sandwiches and cookies. After lunch, I pulled out a soccer ball from my bag which made me almost as cool as Zach. It was a great afternoon. While I was watching the boys play soccer tennis, a young girl emerged from their house. Turns out the boys have several sisters which I am now starting to form relationships as I sit watching the boys play soccer.

This weekend I will be traveling to the northern part of Romania for Sami's, the youth pastor at Providenta, wedding. It will be my first Romanian wedding so I am looking forward to the new cultural experience and seeing Sami tie the knot :)

Please continue to pray for the students and teachers of the Ruth School as they gear up for the new school year.

Connect Four and Goodbyes

 

This past week has been a busy one full all kinds of activities. The high points of my week continue to involve visiting Nicu and his family. As I mentioned in my last post, board games and other activities have enhanced these visits quite a bit. Instead of sitting around with me speaking very badly broken Romanian, we spend the afternoon laughing and playing. The boys personal favorite family game is Rummicube but Zach and I still do not understand their 'interpretation' of the rules so Connect Four has been a huge hit. The boys quickly organized a tournament amongst the five of us and even allowed Alexis (their four year-old sister) to join in on the festivities. Nicu seems to be recovering fairly well and has little pain in his legs. His arm is still giving him a bit of trouble.

Several evenings this past week, Zach and I had the crew over for some soccer and hanging out. Apparently, they had never had chocolate chip cookies and grabbed them off the plate after consuming their first so fast that Zach didn't get any. Andrei was the first to notice Zach's empty hands and sad eyes which prompted him to quickly hand over one of his spare cookies. Following in suit, all the boys promptly shared an extra cookie with him. It was an amazing thing to see.

On Saturday, Zach and I went to visit Nicu in the morning so that Zach could say farewell to his friend. After visiting, we joined Ali to go pick her mom who is Romania for the week before Ali goes back to the States. We then visited an antique shopping for nifty souvenirs for Ali and her mom. After an afternoon of pursuing shops and Zach patiently walking along, we headed out to dinner with Oti and his wife, Cami. It was great to be around the table with friends and laugh over delicious food that I didn't have to cook :).

Sunday was church and Zach's last full day in Romania.  In between services we went to the big grocery store to get treats for Zach to haul home to his family and mine. Hopefully, both of my grandmothers will be able to sample the instant cake creme mix that I am currently using as icing, my dad will be able to have some delicious Romanian chocolate and my mom can munch on some paprika potato chips. After shopping, we had nachos for lunch using taco seasoning and Cheez-Wiz which he hauled over the Atlantic and it was so worth it! In the evening, Zach said la revedere (see you soon) to the boys who have grown so accustomed to seeing him on the street with soccer ball in hand ready to run and play all afternoon.

Early Monday morning, Zach headed to the airport after we said goodbye for a while. And I went back to bed because it was way too early to start the day. Zach has since arrived safely back in the States and is anxious to get back to Newbern to see his family. I have been busy working on school reports for all the students of the Ruth School and other various office tasks. Tomorrow, I hope to finish them all and possible visit some of the soccer boys. I can't play soccer like Zach can but I can certainly take a soccer ball along with some baked goods and spend the afternoon with some pretty awesome boys.

Thanks for all the prayers and words of encouragement as I face each new day full of possibilities. My phone number on my contact card is wrong so if you would like my correct USA number please email me at Garton.Brittany@gmail.com.