Oh Silent Night!

It is  five minutes to Christmas here in Bucharest. Earlier in the day, Susan (who is visiting for the holidays :) :) :) ) and I were discussing how it just doesn't seem like Christmas without the candlelight service on Christmas Eve at Gordonsville Baptist Church. My church here has a Christmas Eve service so we went like good girls. It was the children's program along with the carols sung by the youth. I knew quite a few of these carols because I have been attending the practices for the past five Saturdays but didn't join in the singing because I missed a dress code memo (aka I thought it was okay to wear pants because it was the children's program but it really wasn't a good idea).

Anyways, towards the end of the service one of the leaders got up to lead the congregation in the closing hymn before being dismissed. Right as he stood, the electricity in the church went out. Everyone whipped out their cellphones lights to see. Then, they started to sing. It was Silent Night and we sang by cellphone light instead of candlelight. Susan and I sang along in English but we forgot a few verses. It was an awesome!
Merry Christmas everyone!

Residency!

After six months and six days of being in Romania, I am now officially a temporary resident. I was approved for residency for five years which is the longest period of time permitted without reapplying for Americans. It has been a long process full of surprises like having to be fingerprinted or cards not being printed but it is over :)

Thank you all for your prayers for this!

Also, thank you Madi and Mishi for all your trips to the Immigration Office and waiting in line for 2.5+ hours :).

Mos Nicolae

December 6th is Mos Nicolae or Saint Nicholas day. I didn't really know this nor do I keep up with saints' days because they are just way too many of them but Nicholas is special and very important to candy lovers. On the night of December 5th, children all over Romania and other countries put out their shoes. In the morning "Saint Nicholas" has filled them with candy. This is sort of a pre-Christmas holiday.
To celebrate this Christmas tradition, volunteers from the Romanian company InMedio came to visit. They held a Christmas program for the 1st and 2nd graders during which they made ornaments for their classroom trees, cards for their parents, and sang carols.

Thanksgiving!

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone. This year we had many things to be thankful for at Project Ruth and the Ruth School. During Thanksgiving week, there was a Gypsy Smith School session for 20+ Roma church leaders. Anna & I made and decorate cupcakes on Thanksgiving Day to give to the men to share a cross-cultural moment with them. We expressed how this year we are so thankful for the leadership they provide and the witness for Jesus that they are each day in their villages.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Also, Anna, Tammy and I were especially thankful for the end of many loads of laundry. Laundry is not one of my favorite things at all, just ask my mother or college roommate :). Yet, in mid-November we noticed that all of the linens that Project Ruth owned were in the dirty laundry mountain so we had to get washing.... Not only did things have to be washed, they had to be dried and ironed. Fortunately, Project Ruth has a clothes dryer which makes this process easier but it could only be run in the evenings when the school was closed because of electric limitations. Yes, we did cause the school to lose power but only once :)

Luminita, Anna, Atena and I
 the cooks and dishwashers :)

"Thanksgiving is all about food." This was my short answer when trying to explain one of the best days in American culture. In order to stay true to this, Anna & I ordered a pizza for dinner and I made mac-n-cheese while on the phone with my mother to make sure I got it just right. Now, we would have had a real Thanksgiving dinner but we were washing dishes for GSS and the kids all day (7:30, 11, 12, 1, 5). 

Party girls :)

On Saturday, Tammy, Anna and I organized an American Thanksgiving dinner for our co-workers and close friends (about 35 people). We cooked frantically all morning. Around ten, I had just put the sweet potato casserole in the oven and the power went out for over an hour. This put a bit of a kink in the cooking schedule but everything worked out. It was a wonderful afternoon of food, fellowship and crafts for the kids.

Library decorated for the
 American Thanksgiving Party!



Side note - I just finished decorating my apartment for Christmas! 23.5 days until Susan Shifflett arrives :) :) :)

Burlington Baptist Youth visits Project Ruth

The British Team

This past week we had a wonderful team of youth visiting from Burlington Baptist Church in Ipswich, England. There were seventeen total volunteers that were full of energy, activities and love to share with the students of the Ruth School. The 1st-4th graders were actually on vacation last week but over forty of them came each morning at ten for a Bible lesson, craft, games and fun songs. Through-out the school day, the team was involved in teaching music, PE, and art classes for the 5-8 graders.

In the afternoons, Anna and I were able to take them to hang out at the mall and in the park. It was great to hang out with youth and I love seeing all of them bond together. Them interacting made me miss GBC youth quite a bit.

Alex was the first one to club every morning!
And is still in need of a sponsor

My day to day activities are varied depending on what needs to be done. I have been helping get the child sponsorship information updated. We have over thirty students that are still in need of sponsors so if anyone is interested in sponsoring a student for $30 per month please let me know.




Random information about life here now...

Chips & Salsa :)

--- it gets dark around 5pm every night.
--- the grocery store has recently gotten baked Lay's potato chips which has made my week.
--- the students are getting use to the rountine of chapel and sing their little hearts out every week.
--- Anna and I discovered a Mexican restaurant in downtown Bucharest that is WONDERFUL :) :) :)
--- the leaves are beautiful in the parks here. I don't see many trees in my neighborhood so visits to parks are a treat. 

The leaves are changing

Finding the Small Town in the Big City

 Well folks, I have been in Romania for over four months now and I think it is safe to say that I have settled into life here in the city of 3 million people. Sometimes when I am roaming around the city, I find it hard to believe that I have gone from the small town of Gordonsville and relatively small town of Bluefield to Bucharest. Yet, God is revealing to me that cities have a small town feel to them when you know your neighbors or maybe this is just unique to Ferentari. Each and every time I feel slightly alone walking down the street or waiting for the bus and start to feel a little twinge of homesickness for good ole’ Gordonsville where I can always find someone I know in Food Lion, I see a familiar face. This afternoon I had an experience that felt like I was in a small town in the South. Last Thursday, Anna and I were craving raw veggies and ranch dip, so we went to the vegetable stand at the end of my street. While I was in the process of collecting my change from the veggie man, a man began to speak to Anna in Romanian and didn’t seem to back off when she said she didn’t speak Romanian. I figured he was begging for money but turns out he was trying to convert us to Christianity. We then proceeded to walk away because my Romanian isn’t strong enough to discuss theology in the middle of the street. Upon arriving home, we realized that in the confusion I had forgotten the red peppers. This afternoon, I decided to make some soup because it has gotten chilly here fast. Again, I made the pilgrimage to the veggie stand for some onions, turnips and whatever else is  in season. The veggie man quickly recognized me and insisted that I take a pound of peppers for free because he remembered that I had forgotten mine last week. I am so thankful for simple blessing like knowing the veggie man in the midst of this big city, I am a small town girl at heart.  

Please be in prayer for this church leader as
he goes back to minister to his community.

In other news, this past week was a Gypsy Smith School which is a leadership training program for Roma church leaders from churches all over Romania. There were 21 men in attendance. One of the men graduated from the program during this session because he had completed eight sessions. These men stayed in the Ruth Centre and ate all three meals at the Ruth School which meant that Anna and I were on major dish duty to help the kitchen staff with the increase in demand for their delicious food.

One busy week...

The nurse sharing about

 Women's Health at Mother's Club.

Mothers Club crafts

This week we were joined by a team from Anderson, South Carolina. On Monday, we hosted a Mothers Club for Ruth School moms. Twenty mothers were in attendance. The school nurse joined the festivities and gave some information regarding women's health in conjunction with breast cancer awareness month in October. The mothers then decorated frames and enjoyed snacks. We are really excited about this mother's outreach because it is a way for us to minister to the young mothers and encourage them to be involved in their children's academic careers.

First grade was the best class
 of recorder players

On Tuesday, the majority of the team took the Obed Day Centre students the Zoo and McDonald's for lunch which is pretty much the perfect day for them. From what I hear, the students loved the tigers and the Smurf Happy Meal toys :) I stayed at the Ruth School with two of the team members to lead makeshift music classes. One of the team members is a music minister and former music teacher. He brought 198 recorders for the Ruth School in his suitcase. The students have enjoyed learning to play them and only spend part of the practice time actually playing.

Sewing Club!

Sami, the youth minister at
 Providence Baptist, lead worship
 for chapel.

Chapel on Wednesday was a new experience for the Ruth School students. It was the first one in the history of Ruth School and will continue henceforth weekly. The team told the story of Ruth and then explained why the Ruth School is called Ruth. For those of you who don't know, Project Ruth is named Project Ruth because of the fact that like Ruth was welcomed in a land that was not her own, everyone is welcomed here. In the afternoon, we kicked off the sewing and craft club with scarves. We started the club with 9 machines working and by the end of the club we had two working. This was not the fault of the students but the fact that the machines are about 50+ years old. Needless to say, we are exploring ways to get new or newer machines.

Playing in the park
during the field trip

Thursday, the South Carolina team sponsored a trip to Targoviste, which is the former capital of Romania. The first, second and third grade classes piled onto the double decker bus this morning along with the team at 7. We visited the ruins of the Royal Palace which is where Vlad Tepes ruled from in the late 1400s. After visiting the ruins, we played in the park for an hour then feasted on our picnic. It was a fun filled day. The students enjoyed getting out of the city and were fascinated by open fields in the countryside. It truly is the little things in life!

Yesterday was our first open house and recorder concert for the parents of the Ruth School. It went fairly well. The students enjoyed playing their recorders for their parents but I'm not sure if their parents enjoyed the squeaking very much :) The turn out of parents was not as large as we had hoped but maybe next time. Many of the mothers who came to mother's club on Monday were happy to finally hear the concert they had hear about earlier in the week.

Open House

Thank you Boulevard Baptist in Anderson, SC for sending a team full of energy and ideas to help get all these new programs at Project Ruth up off the ground!

If you would like to see more pictures of what is happening at Project Ruth please follow this link and "like" us on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150392352047780.415437.578177779&l=59a1787f73&type=1

Back to School!

The first day of school is always exciting and full of possibilities. For the first time in sixteen years, it was not my first day of school. Watching new first graders parade to class hanging nervously to their parents' hands and older students reuniting with classmates is so much better than actually having to attend classes as a student :)

The Ruth School kicked off the school year with an opening celebration. The outgoing principal, Victoria, introduced the new principal who is also teaching first grade: Virginia. After a few words from these ladies, a Ruth School graduate addressed the student body. He graduated from the Ruth School four years ago and will be attending the university in the fall to study Systems Engineering. His message was meant to motivate the Ruth School pupils that they can attend high school and even university after finishing their time here at the Ruth School.

Robert has enrolled in the first grade. I was worried that he wasn't going to attend because he could have started last year but decided against it and his mother has been in and out of the hospital over the last month. Yet on Monday morning, he was there cling to his father's hand. Once he was in his classroom, he seemed very pleased with his new book bag and pencils. During his teacher's talk to the parents, he was already elbowing  his neighbor for a chat and to compare pencil colors. Luckily, he is always on the front row which is a blessing because he might be a bit talkative. I am so proud of him!

Nicu did not come to the first day of school nor the second. I fear that he has decided that he will not attend school anymore. He does not receive much encouragement at home to attend. Especially since he just had surgery his mother and grandmother are probably not inclined to push him. I will be visiting him and his family tomorrow evening to check up on his recovery and see if I can figure out this school situation.

The fourth graders made a flower arch for their peers to enter the school under.

Thank you all for your prayers about my residency paperwork. Mishi and I went to immigration on Monday and after paying tons of fees and running all over downtown my paperwork was accepted. On October 12, I will go back to immigration for my official id card complete with my unsmiling mug shot. Also, on October 12 I will find out how many years my residency is approved for.

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.

Strawberry yogurt is my favorite!

It's official! Strawberry yogurt is Nicu's favorite surgery recovery food. Zach and I have been to visit him several times since he arrived home and he seems to be doing very well. On Saturday, he informed us that he has very little pain in his legs but is just tired of sitting. Boredom effects us all in the summer time when we try to stay out of the heat but this little guy is about to go crazy just laying around because he is use to playing futbol with Zach all afternoon. Tomorrow, I am going to try to go to a toy store somewhere and find some board games. These will be fun to take on our visits to Nicu and also probably will be very useful on many such occasions in the future.


Nicu - I don't have any pictures of him post
surgery because I didn't want to make his
family uncomfortable by taking pictures of their
home. Just wanted you to be able to see the
precious little boy you have been praying for!


Aside from visiting and taking Nicu & his family food, Zach and I have been involved with the local group of boys as normal. Zach has continued to play soccer and build relationship with these boys. A few years ago, I met a young boy named Robert and his brother. After talking to their mother for a while, it became apparent that she did not value education for her children and did not wish to send them to the Ruth School. Three days ago, this mother proudly informed Zach and I that Robert will be attending the Ruth School in the fall pending registration. We praise God for the fact this mother has begun to realize just how life changing education can be for her son!

In the office, Ali & I have been working on school reports for all of the Ruth School children which has been quite a task. I am so glad that Ali was able to help us so much :) This coming week, I will be finishing those and then exploring some new design programs for Project Ruth newsletters and other print formats.

Casts, new shorts and watermelon...

Nicu had his surgery! We arrived at the hospital about two hours after his surgery was over and he was still very sleepy. He seems to be in a lot of pain and winces fairly frequently. Please be in prayer for his healing process and his mom who is his caretaker and is broken hearted to see her baby in pain. She was very happy to have lunch. After we talked to his mom for a bit, we went to buy Nicu some new shorts,. You see, he has casts cover his feet to his upper thighs so his jeans wouldn't fit. So to avoid him being completely embarrassed when he woke up we headed to a second hand store for some new shorts. I purchased to pair for three dollars so that he would have fashion options.

After visiting Nicu, we headed to his house to check on his brothers because theynhad been without their mother for two days. They seemed to be doing fine but were all very concerned about Nicu. We talked to his dad and Zach will probably be helping transport Nicu home tomorrow by carrying him since they don't have access to a wheelchair. More updates on that when it happens.

This evening we gathered some of the children for a night of soccer, spaghetti and watermelon. The soccer ball was quickly kicked over the fence into a construction yard so my cooking process had to be accelrate quite a bit because without a ball little boys become very hungry and loud very quickly. So I boiled the noodles really really fast... After spaghetti and all the mess associated with consuming it, Zach and Andrei went to visit the man who sells watermelon out the back of his truck on the sidewalk in front of the bank. They returned home with a beautiful and delicious eight pound watermelon for just over a dollar. This melon was enjoyed by all.

That's all for today. Thanks for all the prayers and words of encouragement for Nicu. I will pass on your love to him.

Hopefully tomorrow morning...

So today after making four calzones full of ham, cheese and veggies along with a loaf of zucchini bread Zach and I set out for the hospital to visit Nicu. Once we arrived at the hospital, I realized that I had little clue who to pronouce his last name and I am still not completely sure if Nicu is his full name. After some hand gestures, really bad Romanian on my part, and busting into some random hospital rooms, we found Nicu. He has not had his surgery yet. It was delayed until tomorrow morning at ten, hopefully. His spirits were good and his little face lit up when he saw Zach walk in the room behind me. We gave them the food unknowing that Nicu is not allowed to eat at all today. Whoops. We promised to visit tomorrow afternoon after his surgery. Our plan for tomorrow is to go the store early in the morning and get some supplies. nicu's family does not have hot water nor do they have money for bandages and ailments for his wounds. So we are going to buy an electric tea kettle very cheap here that can be used to heat water to keep his legs clean to prevent infection. We also might pick up a new outfit for him to wear home from the hospital because he is currently wearing jeans which will not fit over swollen legs. The social worker at the Ruth School informed us this morning that he desperately needs clothes. Tomorrow evening, it is our plan to take dinner to his siblings that are at home because their mom isn't there to care for them and we wouldn't want any hungry tummies.

Please continue to keep this family in your prayers and we will update you tomorrow :)

Nicu's surgery is tomorrow :)

A few weeks ago I mentioned a little boy named Nicu who has struggled with a physical disability all his life. He was suppose to have his surgery last Tuesday but it was postponed until tomorrow (Tuesday). Please be in prayer for him and his family as he undergoes this life changing surgery. Zach, Ali and I are planning on visiting him in the hospital tomorrow evening. This means that I will probably spend most of the day cooking and baking for Nicu and his family. I'll update this as soon as we know something :)

Thanks!

Thank God for Facebook!

Good morning everyone! I haven't posted in forever because of Switzerland. We had a wonderful time minister to the youth of EuroVenture by meeting their physical needs for hunger during their week long camp so that their could concentrate completely on their spiritual hunger for the love of Christ and the Bread of Life. After the camp of approximately 204 teenagers from 13 different countries was over, it was time to tell my mother goodbye and head back to Romania. This is where things got complicated. Our Passports were stolen in airport. I had put our travel bag with tickets, passports, money, camera so pretty much our entire lives down at my foot when I took my sweatshirt off and transferred some chocoladgr from checked bag to my carry on because my bag was overweight. When we went to grab all our bags our travel bag was no where to be found.

So in panic we all dumped out all the suitcases on the sidewalk of the airport. Dirty clothes everywhere! We even had British Airways pull mom's checked bag off her plane to make sure someone hadn't accidently thrown it in there but no luck. I ended up telling my mom goodbye while in the Swiss Policr station because I was filing a report for our two missing passports. Luckily, mom had her passport in her purse so only Zach and I were stranded. I then went to Lufhansa and cancelled our flight back to Bucharest which was nonrefundable of course. 

Then we were off to the American embassy which is located in the capital of Switzerland, Bern, which is of course not where the airport is. So we took the train. The first train ride was short from the airport to the main train station and we rode with the Waddells who had been in Switzerland with us and were headed to Austria to visit family for a few weeks. After arriving at the main train station we boarded the train to Bern.

 Once in Bern with all our luggage we set out on the quest to find cheap lodging. The American Embassy didn't open again until Monday morning at nine and this was just Saturday afternoon. After quite a long trek, we finally found a hotel that we could sort of afford with my mom's bank card. After checking in and each of us claiming our twin bed, we set out to the grocery store because we were pretty hungry by this point. We arrived at the store three blocks from the hotel just in time for the guy washing the store windows to tell us that it closed five minutes ago. What kind of store closed at eight on a Saturday? Luckily, we found a pizza shop and picked up a cheese pizza for dinner. 

After eating out pizza, I checked my Facebook so that I could message my dad so he would know what was going on. I figured my mom would still be in a state of panic when he picked her up at Dulles Airport that afternoon. When I logged in, I noticed a message in german which I thought was spam but opened it anyway so that Zach could practice his German. The only word I recognized before calling him over was passport. This man had found our passports. He listed his phone number but of course we didn't have a phone. So using Zach's four semesters of German and Google Translate we were able to message him back. We made plans to meet him on Monday morning in Zurich. We considered meeting him on Sunday but quickly decided not to because it would be much safer for us to meet him at his place of work rather than his home. 

On Sunday morning, we woke to the sound of pouring rain. After checking the weather it became very apparent that it would rain all day. So we packed up our stuff and checked out of the hotel and off to the store we went. Well, in Switzerland everything is pretty much closed on Sundays so no store. No store meant no food and no umbrellas. We walked back down to the main part of the city where we had reservations for the next night at a much cheaper rate. By the end of the 1.5 kilometer walk we looked like the people that you steer your children away from. I believe if we would have put out a cup we would have gotten some money. Soaking wet people with bags and pieces of bread look pretty pitiful. Around eleven or so, we found a McDonalds and got some good ole chicken nuggets. After devouring them, we proceeded to stay in the nice dry McDonalds for several hours. I even changed my shirt in the bathroom and attempted tin dry my other one under the hand dryer. Once we decided to brave rain again, we walked around the city some more and found another train station. In this train station were grocery stores that were actually opened. So we stocked up on sandwich supplies and instant soup mixes. Then it was check in time at our accommodations for the evening. After checking in, I had the hotel receptionist call the man who found our passports to confirm a meeting time and to make sure it wasn't some set up to get money. He seemed like a really nice guy and much to our surprise he found my purse along with the passports. 

Monday morning we got up at 5:45 and got on the first train to Zurich we could find. Once in Zurich, we jumped in a cab to the man's office (he is a doctor). He recognized us instantly because of our passport snapshots and the fact that we had all our luggage in the medical center. He had his nurse translate for us. He told us that his son found the bag with passports inside in the Marriott hotel in Zurich. My credit card and a necklace from Zach were the only two items missing which I feel like was a huge blessing. After thanking the man, Jorge, we headed back to the train station to catch a train to the airport. Once in the airport, I talked with a travel agent to figure out what mode of travel would be best to get us back to Romania: train or plane. After hearing that being on a train for 32 hours would save us less than a hundred dollars, we booked a flight. 

Our flight was from Zurich to Vienna and then Vienna to Bucharest. We had twelve hours of sitting around in Zurich before our first flight and then a nine hour layover in Vienna. In Vienna, I literally slept on the terminal floor using my book bag full of Swiss chocolate for a pillow. When we checked in our big bags, the lady made us take out some of the brownies mixes because the bag was overweight. Zachary then proceeded to shove the mixes in our carry-ons because "we have carried them this far. I want to eat them." Our flights went smoothly. Zach almost cried when security took away our two pound tub of peanut butter especially when I told him that there went his peanut butter cookies. It was a sad moment. 

We are now back in Bucharest and have been since Tuesday mid day. Our days have been full of seeing the kids who were shocked to have us back so soon because they thought they had to wait until next summer. Today, I have been making homemade pizza sauce to can and use in homemade calzones tonight for dinner. Time to get that pressure cooking going :)

Switzerland

Hey everyone!

Wee have officially arrived in Switzerland. We just finished dinner at restaurant right outside of Zurich. Tomorrow morning we will be meeting up with the rest of the team and headed to Interlaken. We will probably not have internet at the camp where we will be preparing meals for the teenagers so if I don't post for a while don't worry. Zach and I will return to Romania on July 16 and my mom will be back in Virginia on July 16.

Have a great week!

Updates on the week!

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the lack of posting but life here is in full swing and I have a hard time finding time to sit down and write out my thoughts. Last week we had what I like to call two a days which means we had club(VBS) in the mornings and in the afternoons. During the week we worked in three locations, the Ruth School and two villages. All of these clubs went very well and the new energy that Callom and Lakey from Mineral, Virginia brought to our group was amazing. In the midst of all these clubs, my mom and I were preparing three meals a day for our crew. I may have mentioned before that we were cooking on a hot plate with two eyes well two weeks ago I decided to can some homemade salsa for the winter and the weight of my pressure canner broke one of the eyes. So we got very creative at cooking a meal for five with one eye. Luckily, yesterday the cabinet man came and installed my kitchen cabinets along with my oven and stovetop. The oven had been installed maybe four hours before chocolate cupcakes were being baked. It was wonderful to now have a fully functional kitchen, it is really starting to feel like home!

Tomorrow, Mom, Zach and I will be heading to Switzerland. While there we will be cooking for a camp of about 200 high school students that live on US military basis all over Europe and Northern Africa. Zach and I will return to Romania on July 17. Our Internet there will be iffy but I'll try to update when I can.

Please be in prayer for one of our boys, Nicu, who has a severe birth defect that has made walking difficult for him his entire eight years of life. According to his older brothers, he broke his arm on Monday and went to the hospital. Now he has met a doctor that wants to do a surgery on his legs on July 19 to correct some of the problem. God really does use all things for good if he hadn't broken his arm he might not have ever met this doctor or had the hope of having this surgery.

Chicken salad and soccer!

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!

And then there were seven.

On Monday our crew of five (Dad, Zach, Mom, Ali and I) were joined by Csllom and Lakey. They will be helping do vacation bible school in four different locations. The morning before we got them from the airport, we had our first official day of bible school. Earlier in the week, we found several bible story cartoon movies in Romanian so we popped one of them in. No, we aren't incredibly lazy teachers we just feel like a video in their language may be a little more interesting and memorable for them. Plus, many of them rarely see movies much less a giant projection on the wall of Joseph and the multicolor coat! Our morning with them went amazingly well.

After picking up the guys in the afternoon, we prepared dinner in my apartment and then sent them off to bed. On Tuesday, we went touring in the mountains of Romania. This was a busy day!

Today, we had vacation bible school once again with almost thirty children in attendance which is quite good for it being the first week of summer vacation here. Tomorrow my dad is heading back to Virginia. He has accomplished all his dad tasks and has left Zach with the responsibility of assembling any purchases from Ikea in the next week. Luckily for Zach, I don't plan on buying anything else that requires assembling at this point.

Well I am off to make fruit salad and other things for dinner!

We found the toys!

Well today we went to church as normal and had lunch in between. But after church something wonderful happened!!! I found our recreation supplies from the pile of a mess that is our supply closet. We promptly took these newly found toys outside to play with the kids. Tonight playing went especially well because we had mainly younger children about eight of them, all who still respect us when we say no. :)

I'm pretty tired from running up and down the street playing soccer so will post more tomorrow. We are looking forward to Callom and Lakey Harkrader's arrival tomorrow evening and our first day of formal vacation bible school in the morning starring Zach telling the story of Joesph and the coat of many colors.

Our Saturday

We love Saturdays because they are our day to play catch up on everything that we have been putting off. For me this day meant grocery shopping and cleaning... This morning I took the whole crew on then public bus to Carrefour( like wal-mart) to get groceries for the next few days especially since Callom and Lakey will be joining us on Monday which means I have six mouths to feed.

After a long shopping trip and hauling heavy bags back on the bus, we had everything unpacked. This is when I set to work cleaning. The floors had been mopped all week which may not seem like a big deal but the city wind coming in my windows is dusty so cleaning has to occur more frerquently. Once the mopping was done, I sent Zach to the vegetable market to get some fresh cherries for about 75 cents a pound!!! When he arrived back at the apartment, we all gathered around the kitchen table to pit the cherries. The pitted cherries were then cooked in a light syrup and canned. We canned four pints of cherries which I think will make about two pies this winter:)

Today is also my mother's birthday so we celebrated! While at the store, Dad, Zach and I worked together on the secret mission of ice cream cake for Mom. We ended buying ice cream powder and then making it in the apartment. It worked out rather nicely. I topped it off with chocolate whipped cream, coconut, sprinkles and of course candles. We opted not to light the candles because they might have melted the ice cake.

Tomorrow is church day! So church in the morning and evening. I am hoping for a nap in between :)

My new home :) :) :)

At last, we can post pictures :)

Locking my apartment for the first time!

First meal in the apartment: Ramen Noodles!

Dad and Zach assembling furniture

Even the pots have to be assembled!

Zach taking a quick rest after a long day of work on my new couch! 

My bed

Geani & I hanging out after playing some futbol

Robert's first pull up of the summer. He is so glad Zach is back so he can work on his muscles!

Assembling the microwave cart!

Our gang with Robert

Our gang with Andrei and Mario. Robert was the photographer so that is why it is a little blurry.

Dad is here!

My dad, Chuck, arrived in Romania this afternoon. He will be here for just over a week to assemble my furniture and get all the dad type things done. We spent the evening eat shaormas (Romanian fast food) and playing with the boys on our street. At one point, Dad and I had a race with Robert and Andrei on our backs... It was quite the work-out.

Will write more tomorrow. Sorry for the short posting but it almost my bedtime here and we have a full day tomorrow.

Church, church and more church!!

Today is Sunday which is the day of rest here in Romania no work, no cooking, just church and family time. This day has been no different except for the fact that my brain has been in overdrive as I try to decipher more and more Romanian because it has occured to me that sermons in English here are going to be few and far between... I do plan on subscribing to some podcasts and watching sermons online in English (I believe Todd Freeman's are going to be at the top of my list) but I still will be attending church here so I need to learn the basics. In years past, I have discovered that hymns are a great way for me to learn the language because I can see it written and hear it multiple times especially if is part of the refrain. Henceforth, I will have google translate ready to go when I get home to look up words that I have scrawled in my sermon notes. :)

After morning church, we went to Oti, Cami and David's house for lunch and an afternoon of fellowship. Lunch was my personal favorite: pizza with chicken, corn, mushrooms and green peppers. For those of you who make think this is gross it is delicious and I must say is better than Denny's bacon ice cream sundaes even though Lydia, Emily and I love them quite a bit. 

These evening we were again at church. After which we dined with our brothers and sisters in Christ from Austria who were visiting Romania. We are now heading off to bed because we have had a busy day!

Screwdriver, please?

These past few days have been filled with activity and heavy lifting. Yesterday, the men from DOMO (like a Sears) delivered the appliances that we had selected on Wednesday. These appliances were delivered to the bottom door of the school which is on the first floor, my lovely apartment is on the third. Luckily, Aurel was working late on the Project Ruth newsletter and helped Zach carry the microwave, frig, stove, oven and washing machine up the steps.

For the remainder of the evening, Zach used a variety of screwdrivers to assembly my kitchen table and microwave stand. Mom and I pushed stuff around and pondered the arrangment of the kitchen. Oven and stove tops here are sold separately therefore I have to have a cabinet built to house them and measurements for this must be taken soon so decisions had to be made :)

Today, we tried to take Ali (summer intern from Kentucky) to a monastery on an island in a lake but after riding the metro for awhile it went in the opposite direction of where it said it was going to go so we decided to head back to the apartment for more furniture assembly. Mom and I will be heading out soon to the large grocery store in an effort to begin to stock the new frig with lots of tomatoes, diet coke and nutella!

Side note--- I have lots of pictures to post but am having technical difficulties posting them sorry.

Ikea!

Good evening all!

Today, Zach, Mom, Ali and I went to Ikea to purchase furniture for the apartment. I think Mishi thought it was going to be a short trip but it took us about four hours to pick eveerything out, find the boxes in the warehouse, check out and load up the van. We got everything we could think of.... Bed, wardrobe, sofa, tables, chairs, et cetera. All but thirteen boxed fit in the van :) They will be delivered to my apartment door tomorrow. The delivery fee was less than 35 US dollars total. Unfortunately, quite a few boxes fit in the van which we drove there. These will not be delievered with carrying included so we had to carry them up the 2.5 flights for stairs to my apartment. It was like a stair master but better because we had these huge weights!

This evening, we visited with Oti who is the founder of Project Ruth. After our visit with him, we cooked dinner for the children that down the street and ate outside. It was so great to see their little faces again and heartwarming as they asked and then piled bowls high for their mothers and fathers at home.

Tomorrow, we are going to go appliance shopping for the apartment and then who knows what else :)

I'll try to take some pictures of the apartment tomorrow. Everything has been so crazy I keep forgetting my camera.

Who needs a tire when we have wings?

Yesterday, we left Gordonsville at around 3:30 after a wonderful time of fellowship at church. Our travel to the airport went smoothly. All our bags were checked and nothing was said about the suitcase that was slightly overweight. Yay for being the first people to check in so the check in people are nice. :) 

Our first flight from DC to London went very well. I had a window seat next to Zach who had an aisle so I was able to stretch out and pretend like I was in a recliner. This worked fairly well until I would be asleep and Zach's leg would also fall asleep. Ginger was able to get some sleep on the flight but only Zachs leg got sleep... I believe he watched a lot of movies. And apparently, I woke up and repreimnaded him for laughing at me which was of course not happening because i was dreaming. 

We arrived in London all safe and sound. We did not love all carry on bags though going security. Brittany got the full body pat down and Zachs bible was swapped.

After we boarded our second flight bound for Bucharest, we wewre informed that one of the tires on the plane was flat. This took about two hours of just sitting on the plane go fix.

We finally arrived in Romania at 6 local time and so did all our luggage. Mishi picked us up and we went out to dinner. After dinner we went to visit what will be my home and unloaded some bags there :) the apartment is much bigger than expected. Zach got to see most of the boys before we turned in for the night and played a few brief games. We are headed out first thing in the morning to order apartment furniture.

Thanks for all the prayers! We love you all!

Are the clothes dry?

Well folks, I have officially done my last load of laundry in the States for a while. Zach arrived at my house yesterday evening. He had done a very nice job of packing his suitcase which I had to promptly unpack because I need more suitcase space. He does get to take all the clothes he needs but not every t shirt he owns :).

Last evening, we went to my last family dinner at Grandma and Nandaddy Hoffman's house. After a wonderful meal, we said very quick goodbyes because I don't like saying goodbye much and headed home for more packing.

Today,we attended our last church service in English for a while. After church, Zachary and I visited Annie and Griffin for a little while before he headed out for a birthday celebration.

Tomorrow morning, Dad will be getting in early but in time to drive the church bus to the airport. We will be gathering for fellowship and prayer at Gordonsville Baptist in the Adult Assembly room around 2:30. Our plane leaves at 8:40pm from Dulles International.

I will update either tomorrow or Tuesday once we land :)

Books, ice cream, and packing

Well, it's Tuesday already. This time next week, I'll be in Romania probably not sleeping a wink in anticipation of the shopping trips for Ikea and setting up my apartment.

But before we get to all that, there was and is still a lot to do here in the States before I depart with Ginger and Zach in tow. This past Sunday my Sunday school class spent the morning in fellowship over breakfast at the local Tastee Freeze. And yes, I did have an ice cream sundae for breakfast because my mother wasn't there to scold me and I feel like I might have to start being a grown-up next week.

After ice cream breakfast fellowship and church, I went to Louisa to meet up with my old fifth grade teacher and dear family friend, Maxine Ryan. Ms. Ryan had been collected some well loved but still readable children's books in English for the Ruth School library's English section. After chatting for a bit, we went out for ice cream cones. Those of you who love ice cream as much as I do realize that sundaes and cones are completely different food groups therefore completely acceptable for the same day. Plus, I have never managed to find cookie dough ice cream in Romania so I shouldn't pass up an opportunity to have my fill of it now.

Memorial day is typically a day of family time outside around the grill. The Garton family had family time but it was around suitcases and the scale. My dad took me for a last minute Wal-Mart trip for items like Pam cooking spray, cupcake tins, Cheez-Wiz, chocolate chips and variety of other things that are either not in Romania or easily accessible for me. After this trip, we continued the careful art of packing suitcases.These suitcases are jam packed full of things like my sewing machine, pressure cooker, 5 dozen canning jars, cupcake tins, Pyrex dishes, etc. After about three hours, everything was mostly packed and all bags weigh 48 pounds (50 is the limit). In order to make this weight goal, my mom currently has place settings for four of Corelleware in her carry on. Yes, there are plates in Romania but almost everyone in my family has a set of these dishes and they were on clearance at an outlet at the beach last summer so in the suitcase they go. What will be interesting is seeing Mom pass what we call the BA(British Airways) test which is lifting the bag in to the overhead bin without assistance. I think, Zachary might end up have to be Ginger when comes to that test :)

Commissioning Service at Gordonsville Baptist Church

Yesterday, May 22, was my commissioning service in Gordonsville. This church has been my home my entire life. I have fond memories of being at church at least three nights a week through-out much of grade school. It has always been a place of comfort, love and family. Having my church family pray over me and send me out with their love and support meant more than I can even begin to express.

This service took place two weeks prior to my departure so that I would not be an emotional wreck and be able to enjoy seeing close friends and family for potential the last time before I leave. After the service in which I shared my testimony, the hospitality committee provided a light lunch for all in attendance so that we could fellowship together.

My family that was able to come :)

GBC Hospitality Committee!

Thank you all for your support, attendance and gifts that have served as a way of encouragement as I seek to serve our heavenly Father in Romania.


I had several people asked for my contact information so here it is:

E-mail: Garton.Brittany@gmail.com

Home Address: 129 Jackson Street
                            Gordonsville, Virginia 22942

Church Address: P.O. Box 926
                              Gordonsville, Virginia 22942

Skype Account: Brittany_Garton