I love love love people. The similarities and differences between my culture and others always astounds me. Travel is truly the most educational activity! Since this month is rather limited in personal exploration I did not expect to gleen as much cultural awareness and experience as I might otherwise with personal freedom. However, I have been uniquely blessed. Our host family has been a wealth of knowledge and an open book for questions and conversation. Chrisiti is also eager to share his country and his ministry heart-beat with us. We have visited many things and have plans for more.
The first day after I arrived, he took us to the Market. This is the “mall” for the people in southern Oltenia, Romania. It is the only place where people happy; some even smile in the early morning crowds. There are vendors selling fruits, vegetables, cheeses, plants, animals, seeds and clothes. I bought apples, potatoes, cheese and was given an onion. Apparently, not many people buy a single of anything priced/sold by the KG. We browsed the piles of clothes heaped on tarps, finding a variety of second-hand items, though deciding our packs just don’t have enough room for anything else!
woman selling turkeys and hens…live ones!
picking out apples 🙂 yum. 2 Lei/KG = $0.25/1 lbs
fresh cheese. fresh = cow cheese made daily! this farmer also had goat cheese aged 1 year. It was literally the best thing I’ve tasted in months! YUM
Market mornings are great, but they end too early in the day. During the afternoons, when the sun is out and the temperature is up, it is perfect for being out. One afternoon, while we should have been working (in the house, on the computer), Crisiti decided to make a regular trip to the grocery, an adventure! We all, Cristi, Adena, Eduard and Team Charis, piled in the car. Instead of heading straight to the Penny Market, we went to visit Roman ruins. It was amazing to see the preservation of things made so long ago; especially in light of how temporary modern construction is.
group standing amongst roman architecture
From here we could see the Danube River on the horizon. However, there was a closer access point…so we went there too! Yay 🙂 Roman history, Danube, and new grocery all in one day…oh my!
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me, “diving” into the Danube. Planning a swim upriver to Croatia 😉
Not only are we getting to stay with a family that welcomes us in and teaches us about Romanian life, Team Charis is getting to see a bit of the country. Olt county is a large one and we’ve already seen homes, ruins, markets, farms, geese, horse/donkey drawn carts, and a River! I can’t wait to see what unfolds during the rest of the month. Stay tuned!
