Wedding Party #5

Our dear friends Albert (Bubba) and Lavinia threw a Romanian wedding shower for us on Sunday night. We invited all of our students and other people we know from our travels and met at the House of Culture for the event. About 30 people came.

The first house was spent welcoming people and enjoying the good food we had. Dana and I had brought a variety of Tillamook Cheese from Oregon and some salmon from Alaska. Dana created a very tasty salmon dip with it. It got rave reviews.

We then played some games. For the first one, they lined all the women up and blind folded me. I had to go down the line and feel every woman's hand and try to figure out which one belonged to Dana. By accident, I chose Lavina's hand (ooops). I had a chance to do it again later and was more successful.

We then played the newly-wed game. I didn't get many answers correct. I guess that Dana and I will have to talk about more things. Of course, some of the questions were ridiculous..... like, "What were you wearing on the day you went to get your marriage license?" Who knows that?!? Another question was, "What was the time you laughed the hardest together?" Our problem is that everyday we laugh about a bunch of things so neither of us chose the same event.

Albert brought back some of our wedding supplies like candles, bubble-tubes, and napkins and that added to the fun.

At the end, they gathered us in a circle and prayed for us. As people left, they gave us one more blessing. It was wonderful.

Ah.... the market

It is Saturday and, as planned, we decided to take it easy today. We thought it would be easiest not to travel too far from the apartment. Near our summer place (an apartment owned by Albert and Lavinia) is an out-door market. You can buy clothing there or food or pretty much anything. We spent time looking at the fruits and considered buying some pretty silverware but decided not to.

We got REALLY excited when we found some skeins of real-wool yarn. The man who sold it to us had bags of wool around him and I am pretty sure that he is the farmer who owned the sheep and spun the yarn. We bought several skeins for a very good price. The man insisted that Dana have her picture taken with him.


We continued to wander through the market and bought some cherries. We also found a country woman who was selling carved utensils. We bought something from her just so I could get her photo.


Later in the day, we went to the park and listened to a band. We then ate lunch and went to Albert and Lavinia's house to do some laundry and watch a movie. Dana just got done cutting my hair and we are going to spend the rest of the night trying not to get do anything that requires energy. We expect to have a very busy week with students next week.

Students and Co-workers

We are doing great. We are finally feeling like we are able to do what we came to do because we are building the relationships we desired with our students. My first student each day is Tudar (too-dar). He is 15 and is in an epic battle with his sister at home. We spent one whole class period this week talking about how to get along better with her and how to be more respectful with his parents. He seems receptive and has tried a few of my suggestions but Rome wasn't built in a day.

Another student of mine works in the city but has a unique hobby. He is a bee keeper. We spent time talking about the hobby and I want to read more on the subject now. He will bring us some honey next week. He wishes that people on earth were more like bees. Bees work together and don't get in each other's way. In other words, they don't sin.

I had a good conversation today with a lady. I took her over from another teacher who had to head back to the states. This lady and I talked about why Christians have more joy than non-Christians. It was a deep and rich conversation. I hope to meet with her again.
I have other students too and will share things that we talk about in the next week or so.

Carol and Caroline are our co-teachers from Alabama this year. They have been great to work with. They have such positive personalities and we have enjoyed getting to know them better. This was Carol's second year to work with me and Caroline's first. They both have wonderful senses of humor and they both love the Lord. We are sharing an apartment with them this year and have spent time getting to know them as we ride in taxis, metros, and busses.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for cooler weather. It is working. God has blessed us with temperatures in the 80s. I was even cold the other night (while sitting in the air-conditioning of my bedroom).

All Hail to the Red White and Blue

The weather continues to be hot but it is getting cooler a little at a time. I have had a few great studies. Yesterday I had a study with a lady who did nothing but tell jokes.... it was fun and a good way to build relationships. She laughed when I told her that nobody understood my jokes when I tell them in Romanian so she was doing well to tell me jokes in her second language.

Today at noon we went to the Cook's house and met up with some other missionaries. We had hamburgers, fries, and colas. We sang patriotic songs and shared a few minutes of America time with each other. It was very special. We finished the time by singing a bunch of songs about God and His love for us. It filled our tired spirits.

Last night, Dana and I went to dinner with Albert and Lavinia. We love them very much and they inspire us with their love for God. It was the best way I could think of to spend an evening.


We have fallen in love with their kids too. Bogdan is now 2 1/2 years old and busy as a bee but very friendly and I've yet to see him do anything but smile. Lara is 10 months old and seems to enjoy being passed around the room. I think she and I have a special bond going because she doesn't cry when I hold her much anymore. She is a cutie-pie.

This afternoon, I have several studies to lead.

HOT HOT HOT

It is very hot here this week in Bucharest. It is 40 degrees Celsius which translates to about 104 Fahrenheit. It is interfering with our studies because we are in a building that is not air-conditioned and we are having problems keeping awake while we listen to our students. PLEASE help us pray for cooler weather or we will melt.

In other news, we were thrilled to see several of our students from last year return for more instruction this year. One of mine, Laurentiu, we baptized this winter and it is exciting to see his new joy and commitment to Christ.

Also, our missionary friend, Albert, is a little bit famous in these parts now. His picture was selected to be on a pretzel bag. We think it is fun but I don't think he likes the photo they selected. We intend to bring lots of bags home and display them in our house.

We have spent our time-off trying to stay cool. Yesterday we went to the village museum where they have 50 traditional Romanian homes and buildings. It is a neat way to experience the culture of the country this way.

We hope you are all well and we look forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to email us.

Romania at Last

Hey All - Traveling overseas requires good problem solving skills and patience. We made it to Romania 12 hours later than we intended. Along the way, we survived a severe thunder storm in Chicago. A horrid security line in Warsaw. A re-route through Istanbul. A run fo r a plane. Two missed planes. Nobody in Romania to pick us up. And a taxi ride through Bucharest after dark and nobody at the apartment to let us in when we arrived. It was an adventure and an exhausting event.

We started meeting with students the next day (Friday) and will really get into our studies on Monday. We are eager to do that.

Yesterday we went to the mountains to relax and enjoy the view. It was very nice up there but we were tired and ended up napping in a park. The train ride was our favorite part.

All-in-all, it is feelingvery natural to be back in Romania. We are having no problem finding our way around and we are enjoying getting to reaquant ourselvs with our students and friends.

More later.