Third day in Rosia

Our third day...not the band :)



So, Michael has successfuly cured the internet service problems...for now. They are digging up and resurfacing the street outside the church, and let us just say it feels like little earthquakes all the time. This can't be good for the internet connection. Of course this is minor to the problem of the older less maintained houses on the street that are slowly turning to dust as the plaster is being shaken.



Doug has been playing rugby and wrestling with one crazy young man we work with in Rosia. We think this guy, Valo?, is trying to show off to some of the girls next door. None of the folks in Rosia speak English, so the person who drives us or the Swiss man, Daniel, has to translate for us and that is hard when there is a jack hammer going! We are grateful for the jack hammer though because until we got it today we were using hand picks, buckets and shovels to remove a rock and dirt foundation down about 4 feet.



We are too sore to snap our fingers (these are the muscles that hurt most). Today the trailer we were using to dump all the dirt and rocks into got a flat tire on the way back from a dump run. While we waited for the repair, Maria took Elizabeth, Linda and me to her home. She is probably at least 60 years old and moves like a spring chicken as she winks and puts her finger over lips to indicate we are sneaking and waves us to follow her through the gently slopping pasture behind the church to her home. She lives there with many of her children and it is out of the last century. She and her daughter and daughter-in-law show us to chairs under an umbrella outside the kitchen door. There are flowers in pots everywhere, a dog, cat and some ducks wandering around. It is a small courtyard with a barn, stable, shed and rambling house surrounding it.



We are offered apple flavored soda and hot coffee boiled directly in a coffee pan...no filter, no cream, no sugar. Hot and black! Since I don't drink coffee unless it doctored up to taste like coffee ice cream, this was an unusual experience for me but there is something different about coffee in Europe.



They asked about our homes and what they were like...in Romanian and with much hand gestures. They smiled, laughed and clearly looked up to something as they pulled back a curtain covering a doorway near the chairs we occupied. They kept saying the word for kitchen in Romanian (I know it becuase I keep asking to go to the kitchen for something at the church). As I entered I see a neat but small kitchen. It really is smaller than it looks due to the low ceilings. Even Linda and I look quite tall next to these ladies! As we survey the kitchen, they confirm what we have told them about where we live. Then they point through an archway to a beautifully tiled bathroom that just has a tub in it. No toilet. They indicate that I should go in and see. So I step in and what do I see? Once inside I can see they have their stove in there rather than in the kitchen! The ladies all laugh at our reaction. We tell them it is beautiful in our broken Romanian.



Once back outside with our drinks, Linda records our conversation with her camera. It is too funny to even convey...hopefully we will be able to post part of it so you can hear us struggle to communicate. This is one of the most special moments in Rosia, I think. I will never feel the same about a cup of coffee again.



Tomorrow Maria and her daughters will show us how they make brooms from twigs and bark. We hope to make our own miniature ones to bring home to show everyone. Hopefully our tired fingers will be up to the task.



This evening Radu, the pastor we are working most with here, walked into Sibiu with us to help with a money exchange and then we taught him how to play spoons. If you don't know what spoons is, ask someone to show you. We added a rule though. The dealer gets to make up a rule, or task, for the loser of the current hand as they deal. Once Linda and I lost the round together (we played two spoons short instead of one) and had to stand on one leg, hop and down while singing 'I'm a Little Tea Pot'. The loosers of another round had to play True/False and another round was to share your testimony in 60 seconds or less. It was so much fun and I think Radu really enjoyed himself. Of course, he may be thinking we are all a little crazy now...but aren't we all?





More later....keep the comments coming!