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.