A Christmas Recap!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are preparing to have a Happy New Year! My Christmas this year was great and completely different. I experienced new traditions and had fellowship with new friends. The children of Casa de Copii went to relatives homes and the mommy's homes for Christmas... with the exception of the 3 older boys. On Christmas morning me, Jennifer, Elijah and Shawn got up and went to church. Jennifer is awesome at Romanian since she is in the Peace Corps and has been here for almost 2 years so she was able to translate the sermon for us. Afterward we at Sarmale (cabbage rolls, a very traditional Romanian Christmas meal) with some of the older boys at the orphanage. Later that afternoon the four of us went to the hospital here in Lupeni and sang carols (in Romanian) to some of the children and nurses there.




During the days leading up to Christmas and the days after I experienced new traditions... even ones dating back 2,000 years! We had multiple carolers on Christmas eve and we were expected to give them fruits, sweets or money. One group of adult carolers came to my apartment and all of us stood in the stairwell and listened to them sing. We gave them sugar cookies I had made earlier and they gave us homemade pretzels and oranges. It really made it feel more like Christmas. I also got to meet my neighbors which was nice!

Another tradition I encountered was an old pagan one that gyspy men participate in. They run around town banging drums and chanting while wearing traditional Romanian garb and bear skins. Yes, it's true. It was so neat to see this take place and hear them coming! The purpose of this is to ward of "evil spirits" for the new year... and also to make money because they look for tips.




On Saturday Jennifer, Elijah, Shawn and myself decided to go up to Straja. Straja is the big mountain here in Lupeni where there is skiing and hiking. It was the most perfect day for this venture! It was clear and there were blue skies. We all enjoyed the beauty and majesty of the mountains. The day came to a close and the boys had to catch their train home. I was sad to see them go but appreciated their company while I had it! Jenn and I hung out on Sunday and ate more Sarmale and she caught a ride home with some friends of friends! The Lord is such an awesome provider!



I missed everyone back home but the I really loved experiencing Christmas in a different culture and having more quiet time to reflect on the birth of our Savior!