A week, seven days, 168 hours.

10:38 AM

We've been here a week, or seven days, or approximately168 hours. It's Monday (ok it's not Monday, it's Tuesday now, but this blog took longer than expected), which means back in the states I would text my brother "I'm a Horse!" (in reference to our favorite sports talk radio show), but here, there is no sports talk radio... at least any that I can understand. Experiences have come at us slowly at some points, and other times, like a swarm of bees, and all we can do is run and hope relief comes in the form of something familiar or someone who speaks english.

Some Romanian firsts include;

Daewoo Damas The Ultimate Driving Machine

Stranger Danger!! Ohh nevermind just a Maxi Taxi.

a trip to the grocery store that lasted way longer than it should have, and ended with us bringing home some unique products (think ham flavored cheese...not us, our roommates, but still!)
Push starting a Daewoo Damas, celebrating the fact we got it started by taking it for a joy ride, putting gas in the little damas that could, then having it completely die at the gas station and having Romanians point, laugh, and stare, as the Americani's pushed the damas up and down the drive for 30 minutes trying to get it started again. (we did eventually make it home)
Going for a run/jog ( I believe it is called yogging) and having people stare at you like you must have just committed a crime because this is the only logical reason one would be running. Even the stray dogs looked at us confused and afraid, which is better than them looking at us like we are a meal.
We learned to use the public transportation system which is, actually, more than adequate-it is down right efficient! There are buses, subways (referred to as The Metro), trolleys, and Maxi Taxi's (Remember how they always told you not to get in the big white van with a stranger? well we do, and that is how we get into the city.) If you need a visual think of a fifteen passenger van, then think of one of those college contests where you see how many people you can fit inside of it.
Other interesting points include; we can walk to a beautiful lake that has a view of a monastery that supposedly holds Dracula's head; it is also the start of leaf burning season (also known as fall) so small piles of leaves and trash are up in flames in every other front yard, and...
We absolutely love being here!

~Steven

with the roommates at the lake near our house in Snagov

This week has definitely been full of firsts, new experiences, and many blessings! We have spent a lot of time with the H2H staff, hanging out, in meetings, and in getting to know our roommates (Josh and Missy, Mark and Rebecca.) We have been hanging out between two different orphanages; one we have been to every time we have come here, and the second is new to us. Orphanage #1 has kids from about ages 5-18. #2 has kids as young as 3!

note the strained muscles
and bald spots forming!

At #1, we got to reconnect with several kids that we have loved and missed! Getting and giving hugs, playing hours of tag and futbol, and having my hair braided (read: ripped right out of my head) has been pure joy! We got hugs from two of "our boys" that we met when they were first dropped off at the orphanage. Vic and Nicu are brothers who really impacted us and are part of why we decided to move here. Getting hugs from them and getting to ask them questions was amazing, and we were excited to tell them we will be staying a while to spend time with them!

At #2, we met tons of adorable little cuties who basically climbed all over us like monkeys! They wanted hugs, to ride on our shoulders, and were talking a million miles a minute. When I said "nu inteleg" ("I don't understand") to one little guy, he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled the same Romanian phrase in my ear, thinking I must be deaf! We are enjoying our time, and also looking forward to starting language lessons next Monday. Please pray for: quick language learning for us, and Josh and Missy, so we can communicate better with the kids soon! Pray that each child will know the love of our Father. Also, please pray (hard!) for international adoption to be opened so that every child can have a loving home.
-Haley