In love with Guitar!

watching madagascar

Brown Bear Brown Bear what do you see?

why are you smiling?

did i do that!

    So we just finished our second week of language lessons, which means now we have no idea what is going on but we get excited when we hear a vocab word we recognize. We are also able to say who we are, who you are, who they are, what we want/need, what we know (nimic(nothing)), etc. My first real attempt to speak Romanian resulted in me speaking way to loudly and slowly at a lady trying to find out where the bus stop was. She looked at me like she wasn't sure if she should answer or give me a dollar, but she responded in perfectly clear english "What bus are you looking for?" and then proceded to walk us to our bus stop! I felt like I was on one of those commercials where someone steps in and saves the day for some individual unknowingly about to walk in front of a moving bus.
   We also ventured out into the city and visited Lipscan in the Unirii district of Bucaresti. The area was once populated by old antique shops and artisan glass blowers/shops. The walls were covered in graffiti, the streets populated by stray dogs, and the roads all cobblestone. Today Lipscan has undergone a San Diego Gaslamp like transformation. The cobblestones and vintage architecture pave the way for a unique and quaint European setting, while the old shops filled with chachkeys have now been replaced by independent designers, anthropologie-esque clothing botiques (yes this is steven writing, yes I know what anthropologie is, and yes I do have a deep love for a store that sells nothing but women's clothing.), coffee shops, and many great restaurants.
   While there we visited a hat store that is owned and operated by an older man named Nicu. His hats have been featured in advertisements, newspaper articles, and magazines. He was extremely charming and kind and invited us back to watch him make some hats. He determined my head was too large for most hats, (it's not by the way I can't even find hats small enough in the states unless they are child/women sizes). I tried on a cioban (Shepherds) hat, a top hat, a taran (farmer) hat, some awesome fedora's that didn't fit, and some pretty sweet grandpa hats. The hat I really wanted happened to be on his head, but with my head being so large he said it would not fit and unfortunately he did not have the proper material in stock to fashion me one of my own. He also decided that he will come back with me to the U.S. and start a shop there.
   In another news the weather has dropped 30 degrees, we are now driving the Damas (see previous posts) into the next town to get a ride into the city from other team members, and we (by we I mean I) have affectionately named the Damas "Cochran" (Survivor fans, you will understand this reference.) I also had a zipper break on my messenger bag, which drove me nuts, but I was blessed by the presence of a man sitting on a chair outside of the subway stop fixing zippers at 2 bucks a pop!
Cheers-
s

   It's fall and the kids are all back in school... and so are we!  We have just finished our first week of language lessons- and we have already learned so much.  After 3 lessons, we already have 600 flashcards, so it's going to be a long path to fluency!  We have really been enjoying learning Romanian.  It is a latin-based language, so it has similarities to Spanish and Italian, but also has some Slavic and German sounding words as well!  We also get help from the kiddies- when we say something wrong, they correct us!
   We have been spending our time at the baby hospital, and the orphanages.  We get to help with youth group for the middle and high school aged kids.  This is a really cool gathering because the kids do not have to come to this, so the ones who come are choosing to come learn about God (and of course play fun games.)  Steven is helping to lead worship for the kids- and they love to sing!  We don't know the words in Romanian yet, but the kids try to help us :)

little cutie pie with some school supplies that H2H was able to donate to the orphanage school

our lego people- he was trying to make mine talk to his, but I only have limited phrases to choose from!

Steven is not actually holding this kid- his legs are wrapped around him like a monkey!

a new little buddy

  We got to spend this past Saturday at the orphanage for a play day.  It has dropped about 35 degrees in the past two days, so we spent lots of time indoors that day playing cards and building with legos (although Steven was of course playing futbol with the boys outside!)

the classic long-arm shot

   This boy is one that I met the first time I came to Romania in 2006.  When Steven and I came together on a trip in 2007, he performed a "wedding" for us when he found out we were engaged.  He even put a tissue on my head like a veil!  He is very charismatic, knows a good chunk of English, and LOVES High School Musical!  When we were hanging out the other day, he went back into his room and came back with a picture of the 3 of us we had sent him back in 2007.  It is very special to know that he saved this- the kids lose stuff a lot, or it gets stolen, so it made us feel so special that he kept it all this time.  It is amazing that we have come here to serve these kids and love them, and yet they end up blessing us with their genuineness and love.  It truly made us so thankful to be here!