Day 9 - Sunday

Happy Sunday! 

We had a big day today with lots of church activities. In the Sunday morning service, we sat in the very back in a little room so that Sally could discreetly translate for us. 

The church was completely full and overflowing. There was a university choir that sang several songs with beautiful voices. It's traditional and respectful for married women to wear a scarf or headband when in the church. Men sit on the left and women on the right. 

They do have an AC for the church, but it's never used because it's considered too modern. Having a breeze flowing through from the windows is believed to cause sicknes, so it was quite warm.

A visiting pastor delivered an excellent message. After the service we greeted people with "Pace" ("peace").

We were invited for lunch to the home of a family from church. Their hospitality is something we don't experience in the US. When we arrived, they had us visitors all sit around their dining table. They refused to sit with us. It's customary for a family to eat after the guests have left. They will eat whatever is left over. It made us feel kind of bad, but that's their culture. This family is so kind and sweet! It felt like we knew each other for a long while. 

(Feli and husband Vio with their kids) They were very animated and adorable. Vio told me to be the first one to start eating, since I looked the youngest. Ha!

Oh. My. Word. Romanians know how to cook! We've never been so full in our lives! 

First we had soup with homemade noodles.

Drinks aren't served with soup, since soup is already liquid. You also will not find ice anywhere for drinks. It is known here that having ice in your drink gives you a sore throat and illness. 

Then they brought out the next course of meat and potatoes. The mashed potatoes were made with pig lard and were amazing. The meat- oh wow. There was grilled chicken, fried chicken, chicken schnitzel, pork, and liver. 

For dessert Feli brought out bowls of ice cream piled high for us with whipped cream and a cookie biscuit. Then, out she came again with homemade tiramisu which was amazing. Then... She came out with a brownie. We've eaten more dessert in the last week than we've had in a year's time! Lol Everything has been so delicious. 

We've been amazed and blessed at how hospitable people are here. People genuinely care, and seem to be very happy. 

By the way, the kids here call me "paparazzi". :-)

After our sugar coma, we went back to Sally's to start getting ready for the dessert social after evening church. Church tonight was a bit earlier. Brian gave a nice greeting from Grace Bible Church.

Sally did more translating for us. 

Fans for the heat! :-)

This is funny, but the chairs here all have cushions on them. Women are supposed to sit on cushions because it is said that if you don't, it'll give you illness in your ovaries. An older lady this morning was quite concerned when one of the chairs didn't have a cushion on it. :-) 

After the service, people from church came over for a dessert social. We all said we wouldn't have more dessert tonight, but guess how long that lasted?! :-) 

  

Some of the village girls wanted photos with our team, so we did that with my other camera. Such sweet kids that we'll definitely miss. 

A fun treat tonight was to see our church back home through live feed. It's amazing to give God the praise for what he's doing here and back home. 

Our evenings here consist of gathering around the dining table and visiting into the wee hours of the morning. I don't know how Sally does it! She's an incredible lady in so many ways!

Sally said on our first day here that when we leave, that we'll leave a part of our hearts here. She was so right!  The kids are already asking us to come back next year. It's hard to imagine that tomorrow is our last full day here!