Velcome to Transylvania... vould you like some... vine?

We have been staying with Ana's friend Stephanie, here in beautiful Sibiu, Romania.  It was really funny to get off the train in the station at Sibiu and hear a Texas accent say "Y'all lookin' for someone?"  It has been such a blessing to stay with these two wonderfully sweet, generous women.  Stephanie and Leslie, her roommate, are both from TX but met here in Romania while doing mission work.  I think it's quite amazing how they help native Romanians to better the lives of their fellow citizens.  They also travel to India quite a bit to share the gospel with the people there.  Meeting people whom God has worked such great things through has been a huge blessing for me, as I'm only starting to feel comfortable sharing my faith and where I am in my own journey with the Lord.  I love to sit back and listen to the three of them talk.

We have met a wide range of people from different nationalities here.  Not only Romanians, but also a Brit, a couple Germans, an Ethiopian, a Spaniard and probably quite a few more that I was not actually able to converse with at Leslie's birthday party.  We've been to the Christmas market in Sibiu, the normal market where they sell produce and other stuff, we drove to Bran to see Dracula's castle (which was more airy and light than I had expected), Rasnov which is a fortified citadel and offers a BEATUFIUL view of the valley and the Carpathian mountains surrounding it and ended up in Brasov for dinner.  We had some amazing cabbage rolls there, which we were told is a VERY traditional Romanian meal and I had some unfiltered white beer which was also very good.  Stephanie was so sweet to drive the whole day, and I am very impressed with how she manages the traffic.  Personally I nearly have a heart attack every time I enter a roundabout in the states, and that's pretty much all they have over here!

I was also told by Claudia, a teacher in a school in Bucharest, that her school is looking for a native English speaker for the next term (January to June).  I won't lie, I was very tempted to consider it, but alas, we have plans for January.  I will look into this when I leave Europe, though, because if I can get a job here, I would definitly come back.  Not only to Romania, but really to wherever I could get a job.  Six months seems like a long time, but it's not near enough to see everything.  I'm also starting to consider coming here for my Master's degree (if I ever decide what to specialize in).  It would be great to learn another language, and have more time to see more things.  Really, without anything keeping me in the states, I have to go with my general motto which would be "why not?"  Of course, both Ana and I are keeping the option of finding husbands open (he he he - although she is a much better flirt than I am), however it turns out that I am pretty darn picky when it comes to guys.  Go figure, go through about 23 years of having no standards and then setting down pretty high standards.  Guess that's the way it goes. 

I'm not sure if I can really convey how much I appreciate being able to stay with Leslie and Stephanie.  In the words of Ana, "They're super sweet."  Their friends have all been really nice and friendly to us, some want to do the same thing that we are and others just aren't travelers.  It's been an eye opener because it's true, people are people everywhere and sometimes you meet good ones and sometimes you meet not so good ones.  They have some of the same kinds of problems here that they do in the States, the only real difference is that they have much longer memories here.  (I say that because in Romania many years ago, they invited the Saxons to come here to help them against the Turks, so you'll be driving and hear "That's a typical Saxon thing" and our German friend we met has referred to herself as a "Saxon" as well.  Not really something we've heard much of anywhere else.)

And now there is chips and salsa happening in the kitchen... as you all know, that is my kryptonite so I bid you a fair adeui until next time!