Do the Bernie!

The weather has been pretty chilly these days. In the morning I am reminded of the Calvin and Hobbes comic where Calvin goes outside, makes a face, and then mentions, "I hate it when my boogers freeze", or something along those lines... :)

The weeks continue to fly by, but each day is a treasure for me, especially as I sense the end approaching. I know it is a long way off, but I cannot help but begin to feel the loss. The more invested I/we become in lives, the more difficult it is to think about leaving. Of course we are excited for home and all the lovely people back there. 

Slowly in our groups we are each receiving more responsibility. In a couple weeks Shari and I will lead our first teen club all alone! It is a little daunting, but exciting. We actually are doing a "culture night" on Tuesday night. Last night we presented the USA. After a brief history and holiday power point, we taught them some American dances :) This included a country line dance, compliments of Amy, the two step, which was taught by Shari, and I showed the video of the Bernie dance--holler! I was a blast seeing the kids get into the dances; it seemed like they each enjoyed at least one of the dances. 

This Saturday is a very exciting time for us students...it is the beginning of our mid-semester break and start of our trip to Italia! Woohoo! All six of us are going and we are all very excited! We will fly into Milan from Romania. After a few hours of sightseeing in Milan, we will take a train to Verona, where we will enjoy dinner. If you didn't know, Verona is the place where part of Letters to Juliet takes place :). After dinner and sightseeing we will hop back on the train and a couple hours later arrive in Venice. We will spend a day or two in Venice, hopefully getting in a gondola ride! After Venice we will head out--by train--to Florence, which is halfway from Venice to Rome. We will spend a day or two there (depending on how long we staying in Venice) and then hop on over to Rome! We will spend the rest of our time in that lovely city. We recently watched a documentary on Michelangelo so we are all very excited to see his work--especially the Sistine Chapel!

Prayer requests:

• Our trip to Italy, that it is a safe trip but also that we have unity in the group! Also that it is a restful experience, as some of us are feeling like we need one. 
• Wisdom for us as we are given the responsibility to plan different activities in our groups.
• Also, something on our hearts is the different clients we are working with. It is hard as the cold comes and we wonder how they will stay warm in the winter, or if they have warm clothing...etc. Please pray for them and the rest of Romania, as it is a hurting country. 
• Finally, that we would keep God as our center through it all.

a little history

I thought I would tell you a little bit about the Roma (or we often know them as Gypsy) people, because they make up many of the Veritas programs. For example, most of the teens in the program are Roma.

Roma actually migrated many years ago (like 1,000 or something) from India. As you may know, India has the caste system; the Indians that migrated were the lowest. They went to many different parts of Europe, and probably some other places.

In Romania there are (obviously) the Romanian people. There are also Hungarians and Germans. My host mom is German, but she has lived in this area her whole life. And, finally, there are the Roma people. There are probably more ethnicity's here, but those are the ones off the top of my head.

The Roma people here, and in many other areas, are the poorest. In Sighisoara, at one point the Roma were moved to the outskirts of town, where they made their own little communities. Many of the houses are one room and scrunched together next to other homes. Many do not have running water and may be a family of six squished into one room.

Veritas serves the Roma people by providing clothing for the families, and also trying to help with other needs. For the teen program we had a day that the teens were able to go through a bunch of bags to pick out clothing for themselves and their families. In the program the kids are educated about different things. For example, Shari and I will be presenting for five weeks and we are choosing to present on bullying, drugs, smoking, alcohol, sex education, relationships, and a few other things.

I don't know if this is proven, but Charlie Chaplin may have been part Roma. His Grandmother I think prided herself on this fact. Also, Yul Brynner who played in "The King and I", "The Ten Commandments", and "The Magnificent Seven" was part Roma. To quote Wikipedia, "He was also a Romani on his mother's side, and in 1977, he was named Honorary President of the International Romani Union, an office that he kept until his death.

Also, one more little fact. I am not working in an orphanage. I think my Dad keeps telling people that I am, but I am not. 

If you have any questions, you can ask, otherwise you can research more about the Romani people. It is very fascinating!

day to day

I am gathering my thoughts and thinking about what to write about. I have mentioned things I do every week, but not much about the day-to-day living. It is hard to express some of this, but I will try.

Three days a week we have Romanian class, where we learn the language. It starts at 8:30 so Amy and I usually wake up around 7:15 or so. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I have teen club in the late afternoon/evening. For that Shari and I have to plan some different lessons/presentations. On Monday the younger group meets and Wednesday the older group, on Tuesday everyone comes for tea and games.

Romanians drink a lot of tea. It's nice. Especially since it's getting chillier. Today was the second day it's rained since we have been here; the first time is was just a light drizzle.

On Tuesday and Thursday I meet with the special needs group. Tuesday is workout day and also film club. The first hour and a half we work out and have some mini competitions (some of which I and another girl come up with) and the second part of the time we watched a movie. It is fun, we are currently watching Popeye with Robin Williams. A couple weeks ago we watched some Charlie Chaplin movies.  On Thursday we celebrate birthdays or do other group activities.

I also do English Club with a couple other of the girls. This meets once a week and is for some high school students to come and practice their English. We plan different games and discussion topics.

On Wednesday nights I go to Gospel Choir with a couple other of the girls. It has been fun so far. I have never been in a choir before, so I will admit I get a little nervous :). 

On weekends we do things that Dorothy (our supervisor) has planned for us, like go on hikes or outings to other cities. Or we have free weekends and plan our own thing. This weekend was lazier since Amy was sick (same flu thing I had last weekend). It is also chilly and rainy so we do not feel like doing much.

We walk everywhere here. Well, almost everywhere. Unless it is a great distance. Then we get a ride or a taxi. I like it. It takes up more time, but it's nice. We see people more.

Usually in the evenings Amy and I will watch an episode of some show online, read, or talk. We have also spent some evenings giving each other back massages. Some days when we come back earlier I like to play my ukulele on the porch. 

I cannot believe that this adventure is a third of the way done. In two weeks we will be in Italy for mid-semester break. After that we are halfway done.

I feel as though I just finished adjusting (still feel like I am a little). Time has flown so fast, and I feel as though I just dipped my toes in the water. I really desire to make an impact in my short time here, but I feel as though I have not done anything. You can pray for me in this area. I am praying that this week I really put myself out there with everything: the language, relationships, planning things, etc. I don't want to go back home feeling as though I wasted my time here. You can pray for wisdom as I follow God's plan for my time here, as well as love for those I am working with.

Thank you :) Hopefully this blog post was not too boring. I am not sure if I already posted about some of this stuff--hopefully not, but maybe! 

A month in!

Well...I am bad with time, but I think it has been about a month?

This past week has been good. The weeks go by so fast but so much happens in them!

So, some highlights.

• On Thursday I went on an all day trip with the special needs group. We went to a dam and spent the day by this small body of water. It was a little bit cold, but we had fun playing soccer, exploring, and having a nice picnic! It was a very relaxing day and a nice chance to get to know everyone better. We also had a really big bathroom...anywhere in nature! Haha :)
• On Friday we went out for dinner for Amy's birthday. That was fun! It was my first time at this restaurant called, "Quatro Amicii". It was just a nice time to hang out with girls and laugh! 
• On Saturday we went on an all-day trip for a hike and exploring the city of Brasov. The hike was beautiful. We followed a stream and ended up at a waterfall. We were then able to climb up ladders next to the waterfall. There were a lot of other people who went on the hike that day as well, so that was kind of cool! Sadly, I think I got the stomach flu (or something similar) and was feeling a little sick the whole hike... and then it got worse. I spent the time we had in Brasov sitting on some tile steps by the bathroom while everyone else explored and got McDonalds. It was alright though, I had some time to people watch and soak in the center of the town! :) There was also a piano player playing very loudly, so that drowned out most other noises--and the songs he played were pretty peaceful :). 
• Today I feel better but I am very fatigued. I spent most of the day in bed resting and reading. I am thankful that my sickness was not worse than it was!

 I am really excited about this upcoming week, but also slightly nervous. For the teen group I am giving my testimony and doing a slideshow of pictures, once for the younger group on Monday and then again for the older group on Wednesday. I am nervous for that and just praying that God will use me in that time. I also have some research to do this week and I just want to make sure I am staying on top of things and not procrastinating. 

You can also pray for our team as some of the girls are experiencing culture shock, or just feeling slightly down. 

Thank you :) 

Ps--Keep God as your Rock! [everything else is sinking sand...]