You are hearing the "i".

This is probably the most common phrase so far in our 3 days of Romanian language class. Our teacher Simona looks at us, all six Servant Team members crowded around her desk, as she is holding a regular sized piece of paper with a vocab word written (both the singular and plural forms, because there are masculine and feminine words) in regular ball-point pen, and as we are repeating the word, she says all the time "You are hearing the 'i' ?" Are you confused yet? So am I. She writes a word, we write it down frantically before she gets excited and moves to something else. Romanian has what I like to call the silent but deadly "i". Like in the name of my town, Galati, for example. You pronounce the "i" but you don't at the same time. It's there, but not emphasized. In any case, the reality of learning a new language hit this week. Lots of straight memorization.

Other things of interest?

As of the first full week, the servant team's main activity has been to eat with the kids at 1:30 everyday, and then play with them. Since it was cold the last couple of days (in the 30's with wind. Yes people. It was cold.), we played games inside with them. A favorite here is Dutch Blitz. Can't get away from things Dutch. A few of us have been playing outside during playtime with the kids--a great game called "Chaos" (kids pronounce it "house"). It's dodge ball on crack, kind of. Anyway, as you know sporty-things are not my spriritual gift, but I still love to run around with them during this time.

I am hoping to volunteer at the Heart of the Child's home for a group of mentally handicapped young adults for a few hours each week. We visited there this week, and I think I can learn a lot there.

We have language class on M-W-F for about an hour & a half at Simona's office in the Art Museum. Wednesday (day two of language study) I was excited to use some new phrases (well, at least one) with a table of all Romanians. Well, then I was so intimidated that I didn't say ANYTHING during the whole meal. Kids didn't really notice, but it made me laugh. Friday went better.

We finished Nouwen's "In the Name of Jesus" this week for our book study. Read it. Next we will be reading Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. This will be really challenging I think. A lot of the staff and team members have totally different views from me on issues like war, politics, economics, etc. I knew this before I left, and am looking forward to having to hash through what I believe the role of the Church and individual Christians should be when it comes to these topics. It is hard, but good. Let's be honest, I hope I take the time to do so. The first couple of days we spent time studying poverty--discussing issues that cause poverty, looking at what Scripture has to say about the poor. I realized I have never spent a lot of time thinking about this group of people, and am ashamed to admit that. This is all part of openning myself up to new ideas and culture, and really, taking a posture of the assumption that I may not be right.

The center (Casa Vale) puts out a newsletter each quarter to all the churches in Galati. This issue is on women and girls who are caught in prostitution. It is a very real concern for the staff because some of the girls are at risk for this.

Other random things: we organized the staff library at the center yesterday. Loved it. I took a real shower (instead of the bucket kind) on Friday. Lovely. Found out that one of my teammates can twirl a flaming baton, another can rap all the lyrics to very old school DC Talk, another can sing and play piano, another was in dance throughout high school. We hung out at a great coffee shop/cafe type thing on Wednesday(heavy on the smoke but really great drinks), and thought a no-talent show is definitely in order. I think my teammates are trying to forget that we thought it was such a great idea in the moment...I however, will not. :)

The servant team leaders, Josh and Robin, love a game called Carcassonne. Think Settlers of Catan, but not exactly. We are all hooked.

Three or four of us are going to the opera on Sunday night ( I am really excited, but I think the others not as much). We are going to see Traviotta (sp?). I'll have to tell you how it goes.

Doamna Dabija is great. We watch a turkish soap opera together, also other random things. Today something special was going on, and although she thouroughly explained it to me, I have no idea what she said. I will have to report back on that.

Lastly, I will try to update this blog more often. Also, I have no idea at this point how I can get pictures from my camera to this blog...so I am still working on that.

Take care and feel free to post questions.
Annie

We're Here!

Our Servant Team arrived safely and without any mishaps in Galati on Tuesday, 10 Feb. (We were even able to stand outside on English concrete for a while in London, watching the buses and taxis drive by the airport.)Josh and Robin, our Servant Team directors from Word Made Flesh, met us in the airport in Bucharest, where we spent the night at a really nice hostel. The four hour train ride to Galati went quickly on Wednesday. So far, Galati is similar to any other Eastern European city, although I know that the more I get to know this place the more unique it will become to me. I simply haven't discovered all of what makes Galati, Galati.

The Word Made Flesh staff have been very welcoming, and Josh and Robin continue to do a great job of introducing us to the Romanian culture, as well as the ministry at the Casa Vale. They have been very patient with all our questions, and already I can tell they want to encourage our spiritual as well as physical wellbeing. Casa Vale really is in the valley, and we take a bus and about a 10 minute walk to get there each day. I hope to post pictures as I figure this blog thing out. We played basketball and a version of dodge ball on Friday. I also bumped a "volleyball" around with a girl on Friday. We bonded a bit, so I hope to see her on Monday.

We went directly from the train to our host families. My host mom (I like to think of her as my Romanian grandma) knows no English, and I am way past limited on my Romanian as of yet, but we have been able to communicate...I think... This is her first time to host anyone, so it should be pretty interesting. Her daughter has come to visit a couple of times, and she knows a bit of English. Currently, our favorite activity (Dowmna. Dubija--my host gma and I) is to watch tv together. I get home, eat, and watch whatever she's watching for awhile. Think Romanian versions of telenovelas. Ha. Love it. She doesn't quite know what to feed me yet, so she's serving a ton for bfast and dinner. It's pretty endearing...and a bit funny. The first night I had 2 slices of chicken, pickled red bell pepper, bread and cheese. The next morning I had the bell peppers again, a sausage similar to hot dogs, bread and butter/apricot jam, coffee, and french fries. It was awesome.

This weekend the team has spent time together listening to each other's stories and expectations or goals that we have for the next 4 months. Though a bit of a vulnerable activity for our first week together, it is such a gift to be able to hear their stories. My teammates are Jordan and Angelique, Mary Margaret, Caitlin, and Laura. Hopefully through this blog you'll also get to meet them in a sense. They are cool. Pray for them too, please. :)

One question I find myself wrestling with at the begining of this time is "Is God enough?" It is as though His answer to my question of "what is my specific task or purpose in coming to this community? What gift do I bring?" is simply "Do you trust me? Is it enough to glorify me as I AM?"

Feel free to post questions...I'll answer them as I'm able!