Linda! The 3 Hensleys pulled away at airport in San Francisco to a cheering Linda proclaiming her victory. She gets the Romania Survivor Sausage Award. Romania is a country of many sausages and we tried a few of them. I think we are ready to try a few old familiar items. I know my first meal back at home was pancakes and eggs...and a milkshake.
Thanks to everyone who read our blog and enjoyed all the pictures. The future is full of possibilities in Romania and hope more of you will join us on our next adventure!
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Survivor Romania
We have decided that this year it was 'Survivor Romania" as first Doug was off, then we left Victor as the team went to Vienna. Then we left Don as the remaining 4 survivors stayed behind in Washington DC. Who will be next?
One at a time the team dwindles...
Here is how the DC thing happened. Imagine that you have just been in Romania for 2 weeks, gotten on a prop jet for 2 hours into Vienna, spent 4 hours walking and eating in Vienna, crashed in bed, got up the next morning to board a 9 hour flight to Washington, DC.
We arrive in DC, go through customs and make our way to our gate for ANOTHER 5 1/2 hour flight to San Francisco. You just imagine how excited we were about getting on that next flight.
When the announcement came that they were overbooked and looking for volunteers to stay overnight on the airlines tab 4 of us jumped on it. It didn't hurt when a little girl watching all of this happen ask us if we are bumping so she and her family can get on the plane. Her family stopped by to thank us and the airline staff also thanked us. What better ending could there be to a mission trip?
Now, to say more about Vienna...
Yes, Vienna was beautiful! We got to the hotel about 5 pm after sharing a cab with the trumpet soloist, his wife and the violin soloist from the concert we had been to in Sibiu the night before. What a small world! The violinist, Daniel, was originally from Sibiu and now lives in the US.
Daniel was staying at the same hotel we were and flying out on the same flight the next day. The other couple was staying on in Vienna for a while and had a hotel in the center of the city. Since they had to get a cab into the city anyway, we were able to share cab fare again. Also, during the flight to Vienna our public relations expert, Linda, made friends with Harold and he gave her a list, including phone numbers and directions, to his top three places to eat in Vienna. Two of them were quite close to the hotel the cab would be dropping us off at and close to 1 hour walk Harold outlined for us. We walked to Plachutta and sat down to eat around 7 pm. We just beat the crowds that Harold said made it almost impossible to get a table.
There are no words to say how wonderful the food was...and it was traditional Austrian fare. The meat was very tender and served with a unexpectedly good horseradish applesauce. Everywhere we looked on our walk was art, architecture, and beauty! More on this later...too tired to go on! Must eat! Must sleep!
One at a time the team dwindles...
Here is how the DC thing happened. Imagine that you have just been in Romania for 2 weeks, gotten on a prop jet for 2 hours into Vienna, spent 4 hours walking and eating in Vienna, crashed in bed, got up the next morning to board a 9 hour flight to Washington, DC.
We arrive in DC, go through customs and make our way to our gate for ANOTHER 5 1/2 hour flight to San Francisco. You just imagine how excited we were about getting on that next flight.
When the announcement came that they were overbooked and looking for volunteers to stay overnight on the airlines tab 4 of us jumped on it. It didn't hurt when a little girl watching all of this happen ask us if we are bumping so she and her family can get on the plane. Her family stopped by to thank us and the airline staff also thanked us. What better ending could there be to a mission trip?
Now, to say more about Vienna...
Yes, Vienna was beautiful! We got to the hotel about 5 pm after sharing a cab with the trumpet soloist, his wife and the violin soloist from the concert we had been to in Sibiu the night before. What a small world! The violinist, Daniel, was originally from Sibiu and now lives in the US.
Daniel was staying at the same hotel we were and flying out on the same flight the next day. The other couple was staying on in Vienna for a while and had a hotel in the center of the city. Since they had to get a cab into the city anyway, we were able to share cab fare again. Also, during the flight to Vienna our public relations expert, Linda, made friends with Harold and he gave her a list, including phone numbers and directions, to his top three places to eat in Vienna. Two of them were quite close to the hotel the cab would be dropping us off at and close to 1 hour walk Harold outlined for us. We walked to Plachutta and sat down to eat around 7 pm. We just beat the crowds that Harold said made it almost impossible to get a table.
There are no words to say how wonderful the food was...and it was traditional Austrian fare. The meat was very tender and served with a unexpectedly good horseradish applesauce. Everywhere we looked on our walk was art, architecture, and beauty! More on this later...too tired to go on! Must eat! Must sleep!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Vienna
Ok, it took about three seconds (once we got into Vienna) for it to become one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited (waaaay better than Paris). Then we went to dinner and had the best meal I have EVER had. Could it get any better?
Funny note: On the way to the hotel we ran into some people from the concert in Sibiu. They said hi to Daniel.
Running to the airport, bye!
Funny note: On the way to the hotel we ran into some people from the concert in Sibiu. They said hi to Daniel.
Running to the airport, bye!
One more trip in the van
I will title each section, so you don't have to read the crazy irrelevant ramblings if you don't want to.
Goodbye Sibiu:
Ah, the van! I don't know if I can explain the feelings that I have about the van. We have spent sooo much time in there. I learned to appreciate a slight breeze in the van. Today will be out last trip (a short one) as it takes us to the Sibiu airport. We leave at 2:45 heading to Vienna for our overnight stay (awesome!!!) and the it's back to the states.
My pants:
Mom and I went on a last shopping venture in an attempt to find me a laptop bag (no luck there) and I FINALLY found a pair of jeans that fit! Apparently no one in Romania is a size 31. Needless to say, that helps me feel good about my recent clothing size increase. Not only can I not find any pants in the US, but now I know that it is almost impossible in two countries! Lame. Luckily I have a bunch of self esteem, or I would be feeling really bummed right now. On the upside, I have a pair of pants without a hole in an inconvenient place! Let's just say that the last few days have been...breezy.
Pictures:
I have a lot of pictures (although not anywhere near as many as Linda), but I probably won;'t get them up till I get home. I will put something up with this post, but the rest will have to wait.
The first picture is our team picture (sans Victor who came later) This is at the natural springs that we visited the first day. The second picture is the Romanian McDonald's menu. We ate there one our way to Sibiu from Bucharest. And finally....Marcel the turtle! Good old Marcel.
Linda wants me to tell you all that she put the last of her picture on the Costco website.
See you in a couple days!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Photos of the Trip
Here is a link to all the photos posted on the Costco website:
http://www.costcophotocenter.com/groups/romaniamissionstrip2007
http://www.costcophotocenter.com/groups/romaniamissionstrip2007
Bye bye Doug and Slimnic
So...in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday (midnightish?) Doug left for Bucharest to fly home to Fremont. I think Grace may be in her daddy's arms for at least 24 hours straight when he gets home...maybe he will put her down long enough to kiss Christy!
Today was our last day of VBS in Slimnic. We have only done about 1 1/2 hours of VBS each day and we feel a little lazy but God has given us so much to take in that I can't complain.
We had a guest, Andy, from Long Beach today. He is a friend of Radu's and is here for a week or so. It was funny that today as I was searching online for a skit to do for VBS, I chose one with two characters...Andy and Jill. It is a skit about prayer. Since Doug was gone, I changed Andy's part to Lisa. It was funny to have Andrew show up and take the part! God has a sense of humor, no?
Elizabeth did an invitation after the skit and did an amazing job. The kids all stood and prayed like the adults do here. Each one ended their prayer with 'Amen' and the rest all answered with 'Amen'. Elizabeth asked them all what they thought we should pray about and then took turns praying about those things. I am impressed that these children are less shy about praying than telling you their name.
We are having some thunder and lightening today, but it held off during VBS. Please pray that the weathere will be good as we take off in our teansy weensy plane in Sibiu on Friday afternoon!
Today was our last day of VBS in Slimnic. We have only done about 1 1/2 hours of VBS each day and we feel a little lazy but God has given us so much to take in that I can't complain.
We had a guest, Andy, from Long Beach today. He is a friend of Radu's and is here for a week or so. It was funny that today as I was searching online for a skit to do for VBS, I chose one with two characters...Andy and Jill. It is a skit about prayer. Since Doug was gone, I changed Andy's part to Lisa. It was funny to have Andrew show up and take the part! God has a sense of humor, no?
Elizabeth did an invitation after the skit and did an amazing job. The kids all stood and prayed like the adults do here. Each one ended their prayer with 'Amen' and the rest all answered with 'Amen'. Elizabeth asked them all what they thought we should pray about and then took turns praying about those things. I am impressed that these children are less shy about praying than telling you their name.
We are having some thunder and lightening today, but it held off during VBS. Please pray that the weathere will be good as we take off in our teansy weensy plane in Sibiu on Friday afternoon!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Top 10 things you need to know about Romania
10. If you are planning to visit make sure that you bring your own index cards.
9. It is required to eat sausage, bell peppers, cheese and tomatoes at least once a day.
8. Stoves and water heaters don't light themselves.
7. Avoid talking about rivers at all costs--especially little ones.
6. If your squeamish about roller costers, keep your eyes closed when in any cars.
5. At least half the guys will be named Georghe and half the women will be named Maria.
4. Make sure you know the Romanian word for thank you, "Multsumesk", as Romanians overflow with hospitality.
3. Romania time = under 4 hours: +30 minutes, over 4 hours: +2-5 hours.
2. The Romanian word for ice is: "Gheati" (gee-aht'-ts [with a tiny little "ih" at the end]).
1. Make sure that you budget for daily gelato!
(Don't worry about the gelato, you will have a blast working it off in a million different ways.)
9. It is required to eat sausage, bell peppers, cheese and tomatoes at least once a day.
8. Stoves and water heaters don't light themselves.
7. Avoid talking about rivers at all costs--especially little ones.
6. If your squeamish about roller costers, keep your eyes closed when in any cars.
5. At least half the guys will be named Georghe and half the women will be named Maria.
4. Make sure you know the Romanian word for thank you, "Multsumesk", as Romanians overflow with hospitality.
3. Romania time = under 4 hours: +30 minutes, over 4 hours: +2-5 hours.
2. The Romanian word for ice is: "Gheati" (gee-aht'-ts [with a tiny little "ih" at the end]).
1. Make sure that you budget for daily gelato!
(Don't worry about the gelato, you will have a blast working it off in a million different ways.)
Monday, June 25, 2007
VBS and the Seniors Home
No, we didn't do VBS with the seniors...although that would be fun, I think!
We had our first day of VBS in Slimnic today with 17 children in attendance. We weren't as prepareed as I would have liked, but we just were too busy beforehand to lay out a cohesive plan...plus we aren't exactly a group of planners and you can't have non-plan following types stick to a plan anyway.
We started by letting the kids tear into all the play time stuff. Tomorow I think we will keep the sports and drawing stuff hidden away until after the inside stuff is done. I opened up in prayer and then Doug atempted to lead us with a guitar that was missing several strings. We ended up singing a capella...and none of us are worship leader material. I don't think the kids cared though. They enjoyed watching us jump around and sing with them. Doug even acted out a song with them. That got the boys to join in which is a hard thing to do.
Then, when it came time to memorize a Bible verse, we realized that nobody brought their Bible with them. We each thought the others had one. So, what verse does everyone know by heart? John 3:16, of course. I asked if any of the kids knew this verse in Romanian and would they like to come and try to say it in front of the group. One boy did and he rattled it off quickly. We all clapped for him. Then we all took turns leading the kids through the verse in English. Really they all seemed to know it even in English, but it was good to say it anyway.
We have two girls who live in Slimnic who helped us translate. Elizabeth told the story of King George and the Duckies (Veggie Tales). That was a challenge for our interpreters since rubber duckies isn't in the common vocabulary. We drew a picture of a duck and colored it in with yellow chalk.
Once the story and another song or two were done, we went back outside to draw with sidewalk chalk, play hopscotch, and play a soccer goalie/header game. Radu and Doug were amazing at keeping goal against some very serious soccer players. We also got to do something I have been dying to try. We asked the kids what they thought would happen if we put Mentos into a bottle of diet Coke. They said the candy would dissolve. It was fun to throw two Mentos into a small bottle of Coke and watch the fountain. I don't know if the kids found it as satisfying as we did.
Tomorrow I think we may try an experiment with three bottles and differing numbers of Mentos tossed in. I think some of the kids would like to drop the Mentos in this time. Warning: If you decide to try this at home, make sure you are a couple of feet away from anything you don't want to have diet Coke get on.
On to the Seniors Home. Our project in the afternoon in Slimnic is to recover the second greenhouse with plastic. Victor and Don did the first one last week, so we have a model to follow. Victor made some improvements to the design so that the fans will have to run less and more can be grown in each greenhouse. This is good because the Senior Home has to get everything they can out of every penny they get. They care for seniors who have little or no source of money. There was a tool missing so we had to wait till tomorrow to start on the greenhouse.
Instead, we ate lunch and then got to go to each senior resident's room to meet them and hear their individual stories. Many came to Christ here and the home. This home is so far different from our convalescent homes. I noticed right away that the smell was nicer. The residents have made themselves at home in their rooms and although most have no families coming to visit them, they seem to be very happy to have a family/home here. They pray, read the Bible, work hard around the property (kitchen, garden, etc). This is not a group of people waiting to die and being cared for by shifts of strangers. The couple who run this place know each of them and care deeply for them. One man staying here came parylized and now he can walk with the aid of a walker or cane. Several of the women told similar stories of being kicked out of their homes after raising thier children...usually by the daughter-in-law. There is so much to share and not enough room here. Linda took notes on each person we met and Elizabeth took pictures. I would like to get to know these amazing people better...there is one lady who has lived through WWI and WWII and the stories she must have to tell! Another was sent at least twice off to labor camps in Russia...the first time at the age of 16. She has no idea why...she was told that it was because she was involved politically...a girl in Eastern Europe.
Pray that we would be inspired as we share time with the children tomorrow. We are having some trouble focusing!
We had our first day of VBS in Slimnic today with 17 children in attendance. We weren't as prepareed as I would have liked, but we just were too busy beforehand to lay out a cohesive plan...plus we aren't exactly a group of planners and you can't have non-plan following types stick to a plan anyway.
We started by letting the kids tear into all the play time stuff. Tomorow I think we will keep the sports and drawing stuff hidden away until after the inside stuff is done. I opened up in prayer and then Doug atempted to lead us with a guitar that was missing several strings. We ended up singing a capella...and none of us are worship leader material. I don't think the kids cared though. They enjoyed watching us jump around and sing with them. Doug even acted out a song with them. That got the boys to join in which is a hard thing to do.
Then, when it came time to memorize a Bible verse, we realized that nobody brought their Bible with them. We each thought the others had one. So, what verse does everyone know by heart? John 3:16, of course. I asked if any of the kids knew this verse in Romanian and would they like to come and try to say it in front of the group. One boy did and he rattled it off quickly. We all clapped for him. Then we all took turns leading the kids through the verse in English. Really they all seemed to know it even in English, but it was good to say it anyway.
We have two girls who live in Slimnic who helped us translate. Elizabeth told the story of King George and the Duckies (Veggie Tales). That was a challenge for our interpreters since rubber duckies isn't in the common vocabulary. We drew a picture of a duck and colored it in with yellow chalk.
Once the story and another song or two were done, we went back outside to draw with sidewalk chalk, play hopscotch, and play a soccer goalie/header game. Radu and Doug were amazing at keeping goal against some very serious soccer players. We also got to do something I have been dying to try. We asked the kids what they thought would happen if we put Mentos into a bottle of diet Coke. They said the candy would dissolve. It was fun to throw two Mentos into a small bottle of Coke and watch the fountain. I don't know if the kids found it as satisfying as we did.
Tomorrow I think we may try an experiment with three bottles and differing numbers of Mentos tossed in. I think some of the kids would like to drop the Mentos in this time. Warning: If you decide to try this at home, make sure you are a couple of feet away from anything you don't want to have diet Coke get on.
On to the Seniors Home. Our project in the afternoon in Slimnic is to recover the second greenhouse with plastic. Victor and Don did the first one last week, so we have a model to follow. Victor made some improvements to the design so that the fans will have to run less and more can be grown in each greenhouse. This is good because the Senior Home has to get everything they can out of every penny they get. They care for seniors who have little or no source of money. There was a tool missing so we had to wait till tomorrow to start on the greenhouse.
Instead, we ate lunch and then got to go to each senior resident's room to meet them and hear their individual stories. Many came to Christ here and the home. This home is so far different from our convalescent homes. I noticed right away that the smell was nicer. The residents have made themselves at home in their rooms and although most have no families coming to visit them, they seem to be very happy to have a family/home here. They pray, read the Bible, work hard around the property (kitchen, garden, etc). This is not a group of people waiting to die and being cared for by shifts of strangers. The couple who run this place know each of them and care deeply for them. One man staying here came parylized and now he can walk with the aid of a walker or cane. Several of the women told similar stories of being kicked out of their homes after raising thier children...usually by the daughter-in-law. There is so much to share and not enough room here. Linda took notes on each person we met and Elizabeth took pictures. I would like to get to know these amazing people better...there is one lady who has lived through WWI and WWII and the stories she must have to tell! Another was sent at least twice off to labor camps in Russia...the first time at the age of 16. She has no idea why...she was told that it was because she was involved politically...a girl in Eastern Europe.
Pray that we would be inspired as we share time with the children tomorrow. We are having some trouble focusing!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Video Translation
If you haven't watched the video mentioned in an earlier post, you should before you read this. I'm going to put the translation in a comment to this post, so it won't spoil the fun. Remember, the goal is to figure out what the ladies are saying and/or asking (while you listen to Kim, Elizabeth, and Linda guessing/responding).
BTW, not only is Elizabeth working hard over here, she started a class in "Medical Terminology" and had to take her first test (online) yesterday. So she is simultaneously learning Greek, Latin, and Romanian. While certain other member of the team lapse into French or Spanish when they get confused.
And I still have a desire to laugh every time I see the "Bank of Transylvania" (which is NOT a blood bank).
BTW, not only is Elizabeth working hard over here, she started a class in "Medical Terminology" and had to take her first test (online) yesterday. So she is simultaneously learning Greek, Latin, and Romanian. While certain other member of the team lapse into French or Spanish when they get confused.
And I still have a desire to laugh every time I see the "Bank of Transylvania" (which is NOT a blood bank).
Saturday, June 23, 2007
The Pizza Was Great!
Kim has not adequately conveyed the challenges involved in making Chicago-style pizza (from scratch!) in Romania.
Last trip, after several days of effort and 2 dictionaries, we finally found out how to say "basil" in Romanian (we were walking by a store and finally spotted a picture of basil on a package).
She already mentioned the oven temperatures, but she didn't mention how much fun it was trying to light the gas ovens. We finally got some help from the B&G guy at the church (who didn't really know, but figured it out). Part of the problem was that there are two "burners" in the oven, one on top and one on bottom, and the dial only controls one at a time. I figured out how to light the burner in the top, but that is for broiling (and it doesn't have any temperature adjustment at all). The B&G guy (I think his name is "Marcel") showed me how to light the hidden bottom burner.
To open the cans of tomatoes, we tried a can opener we found (made in the 1800's?) with no luck, but no lost fingers. Marcel grabbed a really big knife and cut the cans open. Important safety tip: never let a cook (like Kim) see you use a knife to cut open a can!
There's more, but the important thing is, it tasted wonderful! Of course, we had the usual lunch here earlier (large, high calorie, excellent food), so I'm afraid I may actually be gaining weight. I spend my days working on computer and network issues here at the church, not hauling away large buckets of rock and concrete like everyone else. Happily, the only scale I've seen doesn't have any numbers on it (not even kilograms, just a blank dial) so I can't tell for sure.
Someone tell Steve Lopez I can use his help, if he can catch a plane over. FCC can survive without both of us for a few weeks, right? :)
They have a really nice video setup in their production room. They only have 1 video camera, but rather than the type of switch we have at FCC, they have a computer-based switch. It has 16 inputs, and a USB physical switch to control it. I'm taking notes -- we could use something like that some day.
We are experimenting with live webcasts of the Sunday morning services. We can stream them over the LAN (that is, within the chuch), and I've re-configured the internet connection so that we can make them available over the internet, but the upload speed is too slow to support more than 2-3 viewers at a time (it's actually about the same as our upload speed at FCC), so it's just an experiment for now.
The ministry here is so "outward bound", with so many challenges, it's hard to know where to look next. Radu told me his vision is for there to be NO young people in the church here in Sibiu on Sunday -- instead, they are all out ministering in the villages. Kim got to listen to them practice singing while she was making the pizza.
The difference between Sibiu and the villages is even greater than it was two years ago. Romania is showing signs of greatly increasing prosperity (although not fast enough for, especially, the young people), and you can really see it in Sibiu. Being the "Capital of Culture for Europe for 2007" has been an obvious boost to the economy. But, although it looks like there are some improvements in the villages, leaving Sibiu for Slimnic is like stepping back in time a few hundred years. And, while most people in Sibiu seem to have their eyes turned outward to what they hope to acquire (not necessarily in a bad way), the people we've met here at the church have their eyes on those still in the greatest need, both for material things (which here means medicine, etc.) and for the gospel. Keep them in your prayers.
Last trip, after several days of effort and 2 dictionaries, we finally found out how to say "basil" in Romanian (we were walking by a store and finally spotted a picture of basil on a package).
She already mentioned the oven temperatures, but she didn't mention how much fun it was trying to light the gas ovens. We finally got some help from the B&G guy at the church (who didn't really know, but figured it out). Part of the problem was that there are two "burners" in the oven, one on top and one on bottom, and the dial only controls one at a time. I figured out how to light the burner in the top, but that is for broiling (and it doesn't have any temperature adjustment at all). The B&G guy (I think his name is "Marcel") showed me how to light the hidden bottom burner.
To open the cans of tomatoes, we tried a can opener we found (made in the 1800's?) with no luck, but no lost fingers. Marcel grabbed a really big knife and cut the cans open. Important safety tip: never let a cook (like Kim) see you use a knife to cut open a can!
There's more, but the important thing is, it tasted wonderful! Of course, we had the usual lunch here earlier (large, high calorie, excellent food), so I'm afraid I may actually be gaining weight. I spend my days working on computer and network issues here at the church, not hauling away large buckets of rock and concrete like everyone else. Happily, the only scale I've seen doesn't have any numbers on it (not even kilograms, just a blank dial) so I can't tell for sure.
Someone tell Steve Lopez I can use his help, if he can catch a plane over. FCC can survive without both of us for a few weeks, right? :)
They have a really nice video setup in their production room. They only have 1 video camera, but rather than the type of switch we have at FCC, they have a computer-based switch. It has 16 inputs, and a USB physical switch to control it. I'm taking notes -- we could use something like that some day.
We are experimenting with live webcasts of the Sunday morning services. We can stream them over the LAN (that is, within the chuch), and I've re-configured the internet connection so that we can make them available over the internet, but the upload speed is too slow to support more than 2-3 viewers at a time (it's actually about the same as our upload speed at FCC), so it's just an experiment for now.
The ministry here is so "outward bound", with so many challenges, it's hard to know where to look next. Radu told me his vision is for there to be NO young people in the church here in Sibiu on Sunday -- instead, they are all out ministering in the villages. Kim got to listen to them practice singing while she was making the pizza.
The difference between Sibiu and the villages is even greater than it was two years ago. Romania is showing signs of greatly increasing prosperity (although not fast enough for, especially, the young people), and you can really see it in Sibiu. Being the "Capital of Culture for Europe for 2007" has been an obvious boost to the economy. But, although it looks like there are some improvements in the villages, leaving Sibiu for Slimnic is like stepping back in time a few hundred years. And, while most people in Sibiu seem to have their eyes turned outward to what they hope to acquire (not necessarily in a bad way), the people we've met here at the church have their eyes on those still in the greatest need, both for material things (which here means medicine, etc.) and for the gospel. Keep them in your prayers.
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