Howe time flies! A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. We have much to talk about. Life here at camp is pretty busy. Like I mentioned in my previous blog we are getting it prepared for campers in the summer. We spend a lot of time cutting and raking grass, cutting down trees, picking up trash, and painting……lots of painting. We also got to help Marishka (a 91yr old woman) plow her field and get it ready to plant crops (by the way she usually does this all by herself and has done it every year since she was six!) . And while we may work hard, we play just as hard. After clearing a yard of grass, trees, and debris, that night we celebrated by having 3 giant bonfires. On the weekend of the 17th we took a train to the city of Arad where we spent the day exploring the city and hanging with Romi and his family (Romi is the pastor of the church who runs the camp). We all had an amazing time! Quite by accident while exploring the city we stumbled upon an old, historic opera house/theatre. The front doors were unlocked so we invited ourselves in. To our surprise there was NO ONE inside! NO ONE! It was completely empty. We had the entire opera house to ourselves! There were even instruments on the stage as if they were preparing for some big event. I wanted a better view so I went up on the balcony. Sitting up there staring down I felt a bit like Abraham Lincoln. Overall it was a crazy experience and one I thoroughly enjoyed. Later that night we ate outside at a really nice restaurant and then returned to Romi’s house where we all slept in his attic for the night. On Sunday morning we all attended Romi’s church. What a surprise that was. So much nicer and larger than I expected. Romi told me they have about 1,000 members! Anyway, the service was a great cultural experience. Afterwards Romi ordered us pizza which we all quickly devoured, and then we left on the train back to camp. On Friday morning of last week, a friend of mine and myself took an 8 hour train ride down to Brasov for the weekend. Brasov is a beautiful city with big mountains and a lot of history. While there we were able to tour the city, enjoy some great, cheap food, and spend some time just catching up on some much needed rest. Also, the famous Bran Castle (or Dracula’s Castle) in Transylvania is just a short bus ride away from where we were staying, so we of course jumped at the opportunity to check it out. This was especially important to me because it was one of the few items left unaccomplished on my bucket list. So it was nice to go and I greatly enjoyed my time there. Well now that I’ve caught you up on everything so far I guess it’s time for me to go. Thanks for listening! Stay tuned for more adventures to come……..this weekend we are going to Budapest, Hungary. Should make for some interesting stories……..
