**Sorry it’s sooo late!!
What’s the weirdest food you’ve eaten so far? Favorite?
We did all of our own grocery shopping & cooking so we didn’t get to try many traditional dishes. But here are the ones I did get to try!
The only weird food I tried was pig skin! It was so chewy, slimy & yucky, haha! Our Romanian friends were watching us so we had to disguise really how we felt about it.
My favorite Pastry was the cherry filled pretzel from Gigi’s or the honey pretzel from Pierre’s.
My favorite meal to get was the best chicken sandwich I’ve ever had from a bakery shop called Maestro’s!!
My favorite traditional dish would be Mici which is a really good meat that looks like sausage with homemade mustard & it’s served with flatbread!! Also, a dessert called Papanasi which is a donut with cheese inside it & covered with sour cream and blueberry jam. Sounds odd but it’s sooo good!
What’s your favorite part of Romania?
The town I lived in & the people I became friends with!! The town went ALL OUT for Christmas and it’s my most favorite season! It had such cute little shops and we became regulars & made friends with the workers there. The friends I made were selfless & so kind.
Do you go out in groups or by yourself to talk with people?
The World Race has a buddy rule so we needed at least one other person. So anytime I met up with my Romanian friends or evangelized, I would bring a buddy. We also had group evangelism where we passed out invitations or Bible’s in our town & sometimes goody bags to people in the local markets.
How many people did you talk with while you were there?
SO MANY! This is one of those questions I cannot wait to ask God when I get to Heaven. Everyday I talked to new people while I evangelized whether that was in Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania or Macedonia!!
What’s one physical thing you wish you would have brought with you that you didn’t pack?
Duct tape & zip lock baggies! There’s nothing that compares to a good roll of American duct tape! At least in Romania, zip lock baggies are not a thing. My karaoke microphone!
What’s the weather like?
So much like Oregon!!! Sometimes I would look up the weather at home & it would be the same as Romania. The trees were so beautiful during fall & reminded me of home.
Did you stay in the same house the whole time?
Yes!! During month two half of my group moved to Dragenest-Olt which was like 2 hours away but then moved back at the end of month two.
Did you have your own room?
Each team had their own room or living space. We had to move rooms a couple times so I lived in a room with bunk beds & then a living room floor with beds.
Do they speak English? How many?
Most everyone spoke a little bit of English which made it easy to communicate. A lot of people said they learned in school or by just watching movies. The older generation don’t speak English though.
How difficult was the language barrier?
At first it was hard because I didn’t realize that I could still communicate with the locals even though we didn’t speak the same language. I quickly realized that we can actually understand what each other are saying by hand motions, facial expressions & I could pick up on some words.
What has God taught you?
This question is LOADED & so difficult to answer because He has taught more than I could ever describe. I feel like each day was something new. A small percentage of what I learned I was happy to share with you all in my previous blogs. I think one of the main things He taught me was to rely on Him for literally everything. He also taught me (& is continuing to teach me) what it looks like to have him as my best friend & have an intimate relationship with Him.
What’s the hardest thing about being away from home?
Trying to find time & wifi to communicate with my family. Also just being away from everything & everyone I knew and having to restart.
What has been the most unexpected?
I’m becoming a morning person & I’m starting to like coffee!!!
Why doesn’t Romania have much toilet paper?
Hahaha! Good question! In our house we had to buy our own & when you’re living with 29 other people they run out fast!! We were just pretty bad about keeping track of when to buy it! But a lot of places don’t have toilet paper in their bathrooms so that was like the one thing we had to always bring with us.
Is the World Race all you thought it to be?
It’s so crazy that months ago I was watching their pump up video & now I’m living it! It’s different than I thought but also the same in all the best ways!!!
What advice would you give to someone who was just thinking about doing a mission trip?
Drop all your expectations!!
Be willing to sacrifice & to grow!
Be flexible!
It’s really important to learn about the culture in order to respect the locals!
Expect to be used by God & to be changed!
Be open to the Holy Spirit & partner with Him… You can’t do it alone.
Say YES more!!! Don’t wait for someone else to step up when you have been given all you need through the Holy Spirit.
How many times have you offended the locals?
Oops! Sadly once. I was in Greece at our crepe breakfast place and I had just learned how to say “thank you” in Greek so I thought I’d try it out to the cute little old lady who was our server. Bad mistake, very bad mistake! Who in the world thought it’d be a good idea to make “thank you” and “a-hole” that close together?!! Won’t be doing that again.
Did you experienced culture shock?
The first two days, I did a little bit. I was so shocked at how fast I adapted to the culture and how fast it felt like normal life. We had Starbucks, KFC, H&M & everywhere there was American music playing in the background.
What is something that you experienced that you would like to see more in our country?
A requirement to learn a second language all throughout elementary through high school.
