Okay, well I'm officially really bad at blogging. Things have been very busy here in Tinca lately with different teams coming in and plans being made for the lodge where teams will stay.
Last Sunday, the 17th, we had around 123 Americans at church, which was awesome. For the most part, the music is very similar to what we do at home, except in Romanian. Since there were so many Americans there, the worship team would sing in Romanian and then they would to a verse or chorus in English, so that was very cool. Jordan stayed home and Rachel was sick so we rode with Michelle and Urb to church and after church was over, their car wouldn't start. One of the guys from church jump-started their car so we would be able to drive back to Tinca. It turned out that Urb's alternator was broken or something. I don't really know anything about cars.
Monday & Tuesday we had teams from Team Mania come and help with the kids and clean the lodge. They were a big help. Tuesday Jordan & I found out that we have lice, which is always a good time. So that night we did lice treatments. We think I might've gotten it at the beginning of the summer because mine was really bad. Wednesday, Jordan, Brandi, and I took the day off and went into Oradea so Brandi could get a tattoo. We were planning on taking the bus to Oradea but it left at 7:30 in the morning and her appointment wasn't until 2. Mihai found out about it and told us his sons could just take us for 10 lei a piece. So Wednesday morning Mihai's 24 year old son, Cosmin, showed up. He was very attractive...yepp. We've all been boy deprived this summer so yeah, that's all I'm going to say about that. So we got to Oradea and he wouldn't let us pay him, which was super nice. We at lunch at a place called The Lactobar..it was a "retro bistro." So after lunch we walked to the tattoo parlor. While we were there, Jordan and I decided to get our noses pierced. I thought it would hurt a lot more than it did. It wasn't too bad and it was very clean mom, don't worry. The scary part of the day was trying to get a taxi to take us back home to Tinca, which is about an hour drive. We had our address written down so we talked to the taxi driver, kind of. He agreed to take us and he even spoke a little English. It was crazy how cheap it was to take a taxi. It was about 90 lei for the whole ride, which is about $30 USD. So it was $10 each. Back home it would be sooo expensive to take a taxi for an hour drive. But I think we were all just excited that we survived the trip.
Saturday Rachel picked us up to take us to the Center so we could have some internet time but on the way we stopped in the Gypsy village because two of our girls' house caught on fire the night before and she wanted to check it out and see how repairs were going. This was the first time we really got to go into the village and interact with the people. I've been in the village before, but every time it just really gets to me. No one should have to live like these people have to live. It was pretty muddy out from the rain. Some of our girls ran up to us when we got out of the van. Calina, the youngest, was sent home the day before with like two pairs of pants on and when we saw her all she had on was a t-shirt. We all just exchanged looks. There's a big difference between seeing pictures of people living in extreme poverty and then seeing and smelling it for yourself. It make me sad that our kids have to go home to this, but it makes me glad that there are organizations like Forget-Me-Not Ministries who are going out to these villages to help in any way possible. Yesterday we babysat Iza, Simona, Samuel, and Abel while Rachel and Erin went into Oradea to buy things for the lodge. They actually behaved pretty well except Simona was refusing to take a nap. We had to call Rachel and she talked to her and she finally laid down. About 5 minutes later she was in hysterics crying. I went in there to see what was wrong and she was like, there are monsters and they are going to come and kill me! So I held her and Iza looked for monsters in the closets and under the beds and outside. She eventually fell asleep on my lap and I fell asleep with her. Simona has a tendency to get close to people and then push them away. For a 5 year old, she is one angry little girl. But yesterday was one of the sweetest moments I had with her.
It's crazy how many days I have left here. We leave in like 8 days. Part of me is really happy to be able to go back home and see my family and friends and be with the things I am familiar with. God is definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone this summer, and I think it was something I definitely needed. I keep hearing the phrase, God gave you a ticket to go over there and he gave you a ticket to come back. As much as I would love to not get on that plane next week, there's a reason I am going back home. I've been given a great opportunity for a great education. I am a semester and an internship away from finishing my undergrad degree. After that, who knows. Who am I to say what God has in store for me. I never in my life thought I would spend a summer working with gypsies in Romania, until that opportunity opened for me. Now I am just excited and anxious to see what else God has in store for me, I just pray that I will be open and willing.
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