It's the second car you have to worry about.

Another week has passed. It is unbelievable that I have been here two weeks already. It really feels like just yesterday I was flying into Bucharest but that is not the case. The past two weeks have been wonderful. It is amazing to see how my practicum is really unfolding. The first week my advisor was gone to a training so I was not able to meet her. However, I was warmly welcomed by another employee and she introduced me to the organization. This past week I was able to meet my advisor and she is marvelous. She has really put her heart and hard-work into my time here. It is amazing how much she is putting into my practicum here. So this is what I mean by watching my practicum unfolding. I am able to see what I will be doing this semester. I will be able to see how social work is taught and practiced in Romania, while still adding to the organization I am working in. This week I felt much more of the groups I attended. I was able to lead a game in each group and I felt the games were well received in both groups. This really helped the kids in the groups feel I was there to contribute (more than last week when I was much more of an observer).

The home stay is still going amazingly well. I really enjoy the family and they are very welcoming. I said the other day to my advisor that when I go home at the end of them night I truly feel like when I go home at the end of the night I feel like I am going home. It is a great feeling. I thank the family for that because they are the ones who have created that type of environment.

I still enjoy my walk each day. I will admit some days after I'm done working I dread that I know I still have that walk to complete but then when I am on it I realize how great it is for me to have that time. The walk I complete is on the road with vary little room for a car someone walking in most places. This story is where my title of my blog comes in. One afternoon I was walking home. When I am walking on the road I am very attentive to listening for cars coming up behind me. So as I was walking and heard a car coming behind me so I moved over. After the car passed I moved back over only to get honked at by another car that was behind me. This event caused me to say, "Self it is the second car you have to worry about because you can't hear that one. The noise is covered by the first one."

Anyway, overall this week was another good week here. This afternoon I am going ice skating with one of the groups I am apart of which should be fun.

Praises

Completing a second week!

Feeling apart of the group!

Wonderful kids who will translate for me!

A wonderful supervisor.

My host family

Requests

I've been having a few stomach issues this week. I am really not sure what it is but pray it heals.

That I will sleep well at night.

Blessings,

Heidi

Garbage, Cat, and Dog - Quite the Combination

This marks the end of the first week of being in Lupeni. I arrived on a Saturday and now it is Sunday again. It has been a fairly uneventful week. I will be working with the New Horizons Foundation and this week the thing I did most there was just read and observe. I am giving myself sometime to adjust and learn about the place in which I am working. I feel this is the most important thing I can do right now because I want to work very competently and in order to do that I need to learn the culture.

I am very excited to "dig in" and begin working. From the learning I have done about the organization I believe in what they are doing very much and am excited to see where I can use my skills to enhance their mission. It will be very much a learning experience for me. In the end I hope that the organization feels I have contributed to their mission because I know I will take so much away from this experience.

While observing the culture there are things I have found that I really enjoy. Such as the pace at which people move. It never seems that anyone is in a hurry to get anywhere. They will get there when they get there. This is a contrast to the American way I feel. We never take time to enjoy the in between trip. We simply want to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Because of this mentality of speed is good I find myself constantly reminding myself to slow down as I walk otherwise I am passing everyone on the street. The other thing I have found so beautiful about this culture is the fact that they pull their children on sleds down the streets.

Every morning I have a 35 minute walk into work which I have found to be such a blessing. On this morning walk I really take time to pray and prepare for the things I will face during the day. It is a great time for me to just be with God and just be. This is also the time I try to observe what the culture is like. I then have a 45 minute walk home. (This way is longer because it is going up towards a mountain). I am sure as I get more in shape the walk will decrease in time. This was is great also because it gives me time to think through the day and then leave the day behind me so I can focus on the family at home. Overall, I love the walks I must do.

The family I am staying with is wonderful. The mother is such a gem! She is very, very welcoming and has helped me to feel right at home here. She speaks english very well (even though she says she doesn't). We have had some great opportunities to talk. She also keeps me very well feed. I do not think I have ever eaten this much. I am taking this opportunity to try all different things. It is also great because I can experience the culture first hand this way. If I was living in an apartment there is no way I would get the knowledge I am getting in the house. Just about the food and the way things are done in a household. I think this home stay is such a blessing from God. The other blessing is that they have the internet at their home. The reason this is such a blessing is because on Friday nights I have class but it is class in Iowa so it is over the internet. If I didn't have internet at home I would have to walk all the way to town just for an hour and a half of class and then walk back. Overall, this family is beautiful and so far would not change the experience for anything. One cultural adjustment I am finding I have to make is what my palate believes is breakfast food. Here savory things are for breakfast what I mean by that is things I think should be lunch are breakfast. Such as a ham sandwich or a pork spread with tomatoes. I do not believe this is a bad thing but it is definitely an adjustment from the usual cereal for breakfast mode. Sometimes I get a sweet roll and eggs (that is by far my favorite breakfast).

I know this a long post and probably quite boring but I'll end on with a funny story.

One night as we were sitting down to eat the mother was telling me what the dish we were having was.

She says, "I really like this. This is garbage."

My response to this was an immediate shaking of my head and saying, "No, no, no. I don't think it is garbage."

This resulted in having a nice explanation of what garbage actually was and a time of laughter.

The next night we were eating again and she asked, "Do you know what type of animal that is?"

I said, "Pig?"

She shook her head and said, "No, cat."

Which shocked me and the father just started laughing.

She realized she was wrong in saying cat and proceeded to, "Moo" so I would know it was cow in reality.

She said the next night we would have dog!

Prayer Requests

- That I will allow myself to take time to adjust to being here and not jumping in too soon.

-That I will continue to have a great experience with my host family

- For all of those in Haiti who have lost so much

-That I will learn the language

-That my stomach continues to stay strong so I can eat everything my host mom prepares (I eat everything now and she likes that)

-For safe travel for everyone in the organization as most people were gone this week and will return this weekend.

Beginning

I have finally begun my practicum/internship whatever makes sense to you. The beginning of this week has been filled with meeting many different people both those who work in the organization and those who benefit from the organization. It has been an introduction to the organization which involves reading and some other things. So far I have really enjoyed finding out what I will be doing and how I will be completing things. It will be a great learning process that I look forward to.

I have also started my home stay which has been a blessings so far. My family is very nice and have provided my own room for me. They also have internet which is wonderful! The mother is so beautiful she is always making sure I am comfortable and well feed. I find that her feeding me is such a blessing because if I would have moved into an apartment I would not have eaten very well in the beginning probably. Each day I also have a 40 minute walk to and from work. This is because the house I am staying at is up a mountain towards the main skiing area. As you can imagine where the area in which I am staying in is quite gorgeous and beautiful. I think this walk will be quite enjoyable for the most part because it will give me time to both review my day and prepare for my day.

If you want to know anything else or anything explained please ask!

Blessings!

Arrived!

Just a quick update. I have finally arrived in the final destination. Now that I am here I cannot wait to begin what God has prepared for me. It shall be an adventurous learning experience!

In Transit

I have started the journey towards Lupeni! As I am writing this post I am sitting on April and Kelly's couch in Spain typing one-handed because I have a sleeping baby in the other. I realize how much of a blessing it is to have family to stay with for a little while I'm adjusting to Europe and the time zone. I realized this even more last night when I was awake for an hour and a half.

As I get closer to my final destination I grow more excited and nervous! It will be a growing and learning experience. I also realize how this experience is such a blessing from God!

Waiting

The first adventure I will be writing about will be the adventure of doing my practicum in Romania. I was supposed to be on my way to beginning this adventure but instead I am still in Orange City because of the delay of weather. This has been tough on me mentally because I was prepared to leave and now I am waiting.

I am very excited to begin this adventure and look forward to the opportunity. Here is to the beginning of something great!

The Beginning

Here is the beginning of my blog. This blog will be a place to update what is going on in my life. I am not promising profound or even interesting posts. They will be life posts which could be very short or could be quite long. I guess we will have to wait and see what comes of it.