Yesterday was an amazing day. It was a day with our team to explore the
city of Brasov. It is a beautiful area, basically filling all
my dreams. The roof tops are red-orange
clay tiles, the buildings are old, there are stone walls that surround the old
city that served as transit check points in another era. The people are kind and speak with the
fluidity and grace of Latin languages.
People ride bicycles or walk around town. There is a fruit and vegetable market
adjacent to the colorful flower market in a large promenade. You can see people stick there heads out of
their apartment windows as you stroll past the store or restaurant they live
above. Side streets and alleyways are
full of good surprises.
Pastries, coffee, pretzels, shwarma and sweets are
abundantly available. People sit with
friends and enjoy a drink in the middle of pedestrian streets at the table and
chairs provided for such relational experiences. It has been a people-watchers
dream to stroll the streets and admire the sights. I am reveling in everything: the food, the
people, the language, the architecture, the spring weather! After the bus trip from the train station to
the hostel, I had almost decided to move here.
After 1.5 days in the city, I’m about ready to sign a lease. J
Sharing the city
with my teammates was fun.
We walked the
streets. We perused cafes.
We shopped in boutiques.
We (mostly me) made small awkward
conversation with strangers.
We took
pictures and we simply enjoyed each other.
It truly was a great way to spend a last day together as Team
Charis.
While at the grocery store, located in the basement of a
shopping mall, I found hair color! I
have been eager to dye my hair since beginning the race, even a little
before. It has been a hassle to find
just the right color; I found lots of shades of red, lots of brands with black
and a few violet/electric purples. Black
purple just isn’t as readily available as expected. We dyed a teammate’s hair just the other week
in our host’s large bathroom with tub…it really was an experience! LiAnna had in turn promised to dye mine when
we found the right color-finally, in Brasov,
after just talking about it for three months, we did it! J However, that isn’t the most exciting part of
the day…
