We started our travel day on a five-hour bus ride from our debrief location on Lake Atitlan. This was a sweet week where we got to look back on our time in Guatemala and explore a new area of Guatemala. After the fun vacation, we got on a bus and went to the airport for the flight the next day. Sleepover in the airport!! We woke up at 3 am and checked our bags before going through security and then sitting at our gate for a few hours. We then took a plane to Miami, Florida, where we spent 9 hours. Shoutout to the people at the beginning of the alphabet for the fun plane rides! In Miami, we could leave the airport, and I got to meet up with my sweet mom!
We went to Target and walked around, eventually making it to a Walgreens and Sears, and then we ended it off with Chick-fil-A. As expected, I found ways to get free things and ended up with a free Starbucks drink and free 12-piece chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A. It was such a lovely day! We unpacked my stuff at the airport and replaced moldy clothes with new ones. I headed to the gate, where we rechecked our bags and went through security. A pro of having a last name at the beginning of the alphabet is you head through security in the first group. We then waited at that gate for a while before getting on a plane to Paris! Unfortunately, the layover was not long enough to leave, but the airport was very nice! We sat there and took naps and then went to our gate to head off to Romania! We made it to Bucharest late at night, and we quickly got a taste of the cold weather. I love it so much! Then we got on our first train ride, which was only 30 minutes, and then got on our second train ride, which was 4 hours. Everyone was exhausted, so we were moving slower and didn’t know where we were going. Romania is very timely, and we were pushing the time, so the conductor was not very happy with us and yelled for us to hurry up. My leader barely made it on before the train headed off. We all made it, and most of us slept on the ride. We made it to Craiova at around 1 am, then rode to our new home and unpacked. It is a three-story house, and it’s so nice! The first floor has a kitchen and a place to sit, along with an area where our ministry host lives. One level up is where I live with my team. We have our room, and I put my tent on my bed as I did in Guatemala because I love my tent so much! Also, it’s a way to get introvert time when needed. Across the hall from us are the guys, and next to us is the bathroom. On the other side of us is the rest of the guys. If you go up another level of stairs, the rest of the girls are in one big room where there is another bathroom. The leaders are in a space that is connected to the big room, along with another team that is in a different room attached. It is a very comfortable house where they use their space very well. We comfortably fit 42 people in the house. There is a gym where about twenty of us go in the mornings before ministry, and they have showers, so we shower there while the others shower at the house. It works very well! Each day three people stay home from ministry to clean and cook dinner for the squad. It’s a great system! While Romania can be dark, it’s also very beautiful. I love it here, and I have such a heart for it! We will be working with youth, evangelizing on the streets, and helping the church in any way they need. I am excited about what will come in these next couple of months! Now it’s time for some Romanian fun facts! Number one: they judge based on shoes, so they clean them for at least an hour a week, and when we are handing out flyers, they will take it from the person with the nicest shoes. Number two: they hate change, so most of the time, stores won’t give you change in their favor, or the change will just be lying around everywhere because people don’t want it, and they find it useless. Number three: Romanians don’t leave the house without getting dressed up. They are fashionable, and you probably won’t find them in sweatpants or leggings.
Number four: while we think very linear and would go from point a to b to c they will go b to c to a. So directions will most likely not be the best. Number five: for the most part, you walk everywhere, and you have a 50/50 shot of getting someone who is very friendly and wants to talk or someone who is busy and doesn’t want to talk.
I am learning new things daily and pressing into God as stuff from my past is being brought up because of the strong spiritual atmosphere. It can be very challenging and overwhelming at times because I am struggling with things together that, in the past, I struggled with separately. It has been sweet to lean into God and what he says about me. He is teaching me to believe the truth over lies, and he told me I would gain more confidence here. I am very expectant about these months, and I am so excited to be here!
Also, guess what?! I get to deep clean and organize the church and its office! It has become something that I do everywhere I go. 🙂 I also get to do an encouraging note project for the church, which is exciting! I have been able to write encouraging notes for each squad mate two times, and I plan on doing it more throughout our time together. All that to say, it is a sweet season with hard times, but it is teaching me to rely more on him and what he says about me.
