Day THREE:

After finally waking up, I walked into town to exchange some money (about 2.50 RON to every 1$), check out the city and find a venti cup of joe. I was very intimidated by the buying experience b/c in Romania they speak their own language and do not know as much English. I finally found a Romanian Caffia and stood in line behind a big hairy nosed Popuska. He must have stood there rambling for 20 min. before I could get the worlds second smallest cup of coffee. They call it Italian coffee, I call it espresso. Of course the clerk lady had no clue what I wanted, so this time I tried to communicate with my hands. I pinched my thumb and pointer finger together for small and opened them wide for tall. She must have thought I was threatening to squash her like a worm b/c I still only got a couple of centimeters of coffee. whatever.

After I figured out communicating to people was not an option and a moment of loneliness set in, I quickly reverted to taking pictures. The old bldgs are very ornate, but the new ones are very blocked and flat. There are cool old doors, streets, and statues pretty much around every corner. I know that because I got lost on my way back to ITM Romainia. No lie, this is the picture I took right after I asked someone how to get to Albuicui (street). It would help if they put street names up that ended with Drive, Street, Court, or something indicating it was not just a sign. Oh yeah, they don’t have poles w/ street signs, they are actually on the houses or bldgs.

Tibor and Adina (semi English speakers) came by and picked me for lunch back at their home. They are authentic Hungarians and cooked me a traditional Hungarian meal. We had liver soup for the first portion of the meal, next came the filled steamed cabbage rolls, and lastly gusher cake surprise with icing. Tibor works for Romanian Telecommunications and Adina is and an Editor for ITM. They have a house which I envied, but made the mistake of telling them I was envious. I told them of how my family moved from a house into an apt and what happened to us in the short amount of time we had lived there. Come to find out, Tibor was signing a contract with an apartment complex in Romania today after he took me back to ITM. They then went on to explain how they could not afford their home anymore. Ay yi yi. They were actually extremely nice people and they did not hesitate at my ignorance. I have a feeling the people of Romania have been through rougher times than we could imagine.

Well after lunch, I put on my black tie and headed to Gypsy Church. The Gypsy people have there own way of living. It is sord of take what is given and then take whatever. Chaba was my interpreter for the evening. The congregation was very traditional, but the people are charismatic. The women sit on one side with the children and the men sit on the other side. Chaba and I showed up 30 minutes early and the Church was already filling up. Gypsy music is awesome and annoying (very much Mexicanish). I had no idea what was going on until an 1 and 30min later, it was batter up. I said my thang at the pulpit and I have no idea what the interpreter said. Afterward, the interpreter told me the people were smiling and laughing at me because everyone who comes and preaches takes 1-1:30hr. Mine only took 30 minutes with an interpreter. When they sang they were charismatic, but as soon as the pastor or interpreter would say something they would all fall asleep. So, I told a couple stories, shared a few verses and bodabing/bodabomb we’re out.

Key find Day THREE: I like Romania, alot.