Well this month has certainly been an adjustment! We went from temperatures of over 35�C to temperatures as low as -25�C! We watched the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe the other day and I guess it is comparable to stepping through the wardrobe into the winter land that was Narnia.
Needless to say, that required a change of wardrobe – just like Peter, Susan, Edmond and Lucy had to grab some of the winter coats. But whilst I had a hoodie from home, a woman’s scarf purchased for part of my Halloween ninja costume, a newly purchased beanie from Swaziland and a rain jacket donated to me by a girl from P-Squad (it’s a boys jacket though), these did not make me warm enough, strange as that may sound 😛
<— OLD COAT
Since we had 14 hours (although it was supposed to be 12) in the train station I went and purchased some warmer clothes – a thick hoodie/trouser combination, some wool socks and some lined gloves – and that started me off. It was however, very cold to be outside for any length of time.
Our first full day in our ministry, Mihai took us into the local town centre, Lipova, so that we could peruse second hand shops for more suitable attire. I got me a nice warm coat that way which has served me well.
NEW COAT —>
These were good but I found that if we were sat in the top house (where the internet is but heating isn’t) for an extended period of time my feet would feel like my toes were going to drop off.
Fortunately, a few days later a group of us went into the nearest city, Arad, to look around and whilst there I was also able to buy me some thick, lined winter boots and some thick, lined socks. Now I can be in the cold for ages and my feet stay lovely and comfortable.
Admittedly my hands still get cold if I have to pick up things from the snow for more than ten minutes (with gloves, it’s about 30 seconds without gloves :-P).
So, I have gone from having tan lines on my feet from my flip flops, different shades on my trousers where the zip off bottoms hadn’t gotten sun-bleached whilst the rest of them had, and having the sleeves cut off of two of my t-shirts to make them more comfortable for working high heats, I’m not layered up to my eyeballs to stay warm.
It’s funny what this race looks like from week to week!
