Day 7 and 8: We are so hardcore!

I feel really bad that I keep forgetting to blog, but I'll just try to catch up as much as I can.
Last night, Katie and I finally got to catch up a little bit on sleep and it was LOVELY. It has been raining for two days straight and this weather is NASTY. But as gross as the weather is, Romania is still the most beautiful country I've ever been in.

Yesterday ended our first week of teaching, and this weekend is Pentecost, so we don't have class on Monday. We had to help Attila find some clothes for his 10 year reunion, so we went to Targu Mures. We went to a mall first, but then ended up going to this outdoor market that had all kinds of clothes and shoes and accessories. It was pretty sweet. I liked it so much better than the mall, because the mall was too close to being back in the materialistic States. I just wasn't impressed at all. I'm definitely not missing that part of America AT ALL. In fact, really the only thing I miss is my family and easy macaroni.

While we were out shopping yesterday, Attila said the funniest thing. I can't really remember how it came up, but Katie and I were talking about cooking for him, and he said something about making a traditional Hungarian dish for us, but this is how it came out, "Oooohh! I will cook you!!"And I started laughing and said, "What will you eat us with?" And he said, "Mmmm, I will eat you with mushrooms." I thought I would die I was laughing so hard.

Last night we bought our plane tickets for Budapest!! I'm so excited that we're going!! I've always wanted to go to Budapest, and a little holiday will be nice for a couple of days. We still don't know where we're staying but we'll figure it out. And our tickets were so cheap it was amazing. I still can't believe we got such a good deal for the three of us.

I found out today from Abigail the name of those beautiful pink and white flowers that our children gave us on our first day here . She said they call them "The Rose of Pentecost" because they always bloom right around Pentecost. How beautiful is that?

On a more adventurous note: I tried raw pig today. Yes that's right, it was raw. Mom, maybe you shouldn't read this. I didn't know it was raw until it was in my mouth...and by that point I figured it was too late, so I just swallowed it. Zolie asked us if we would like to try ham, and I thought "Real homemade ham, heck yeah!" But then when it was in my mouth we were informed it wasn't cooked. I guess I should've known because it was a purplish-brown color but ohwell. I mean, I've eaten a lot of sushi in my day, but maybe raw pork is more dangerous than fish? It was really good actually, as far as raw meat goes. If I hadn't known it was raw I probably really would've liked it. It was really smoky and not too salty...ok it was really good haha.

We went to two different gypsy villages today. I will have to ask Zolie or Zozo what the names were because I forgot, but both of them are even poorer than Apalina. I am looking forward to getting to know some of the children from these villages at our second camp in July. I remember initially how slow our relationships with the Apalina children were until the camp, and then we just fell in love with them. Saturday is usually our day to go to Apalina, so I really missed my kids today, but I was glad for the opportunity to spend time with these new children. There is just so much hurt and hardship that I cannot even fathom in these little lives, and I know that there are villages like this all over Romania. My heart just breaks for these children, and I pray that God will continue to give hearts of ministry and servitude to people like He has done with Attila, Zolie and Zozo so that the people in the gypsy villages will come to know Him and His great love for us. These men and their families are so dedicated to bringing His word and spreading His love; it is incredible! "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!"