Bringing Smiles to Romania Part 2 of 7

A Rude Awakening


My alarm rudely interrupted my dreams this morning. I was unimpressed with it's lack of respect for being quiet when people are sleeping. As my eyes narrowly squinted open, I dragged my heavy limbs to the edge of the bed, turned off my alarm (whilst silently cursing my phone for waking me) and faceplanted back into the welcoming embrace of my pillow. The sun's beaming rays streamed from the window tickling and growing across my face, gently waking me for a second time this morning. Finally I got up. 

The houses here are very beautiful and ecclectic. Each have a unique personality. It's not like home where we have groups of identical houses built for efficiency amd profit. No. These people have their own land in which they've built their own houses to represent their tastes. You could have a giant house with iron gates and a balcony fit for for a scene of Romeo and Juliet...beside a small house with a yard for animals and an orchard for plums and grape vines. The colours of houses are vibrant and expressive. Some houses are mustard yellow, others are a brilliant white, some are even painted red or blue! They don't just paint their doors like we do at home. 

The church service was just as random as the countryside and equally as beautiful. With a brief talk on scripture followed by an open stage for people to share prayer, thoughts or songs of praise. Children from the Romani Gypsy community took on the challenge and sang songs in both Romanian and their own language. We got up and attempted two songs unexpectedly and unrehearsed so it must have been an interesting performance... 

Do you know how you know you're on holiday in Europe? 


I had some after lunch and it made me feel like I was definitely on holidays alongside the weight of my sunglasses on my head, the oiliness of my face and scalp from the humidity (even though I had showered this morning) the stench of suncream and greasy texture of my arms from an unpleasant mix of sweat and suncream. 



We piled off the minibus for a walking tour of Oradea. I have never felt such passion for a city before. A passion for change. The city was old and the architecture was stunning. The old buildings have started to crumble and I wished I was a billionaire who could come and renovate them back to their previous glory. It was a city of great potential. It just needs some love and a visionary. The city has already undergone some of this work with roads being fixed and the beginning of some buildings being reinstated back to their previous beauty. 









Then the remarkable happened. 

We found the rain the UK has lost!! A thunderstorm so heavy burst from the clouds soaking my skin under my clothes in the few seconds I ran from shelter to the minibus which would take us home. The windows became misty as the minibus filled with the smell of warm, damp clothes. The roads began to flood and cars on the other lane  splashed our windows with water from puddles as they sped past. The sky was alive with the rumble of thunder and flashes of lightening. I hadn't seen weather like this in a long time! 



After dinner in the centre, we revisited the planning meeting we had after church this morning to discuss the areas we would be working in over the next few days. The timetable has now been confirmed and I'm very excited! I have been delegated a little bit of everything... but I'll keep those details for my next few blogs 😉

A summary of my experience so far is:
Romania is a little random, in church services and in housing. Oradea is an old tired city with great history and architecture that needs some love so people can appreciate its true beauty restored - an ongoing project which will make beautiful hotels, restaurants and apartments for the wave of future tourists. I have no doubt of this..
..and at least we know where all of the rain that was supposed to hit the UK went 🤷 

I am so excited to get started on the real work tomorrow now that I've had the chance to warm to my surroundings and gain some knowledge of the area. I can't wait to bring hope to the people here. Tomorrow my real work begins.

NPK X 

Comments

  1. Kelly11 July 2018 at 23:27

    Love these photos...just gorgeous! You’re a wonderful writer too!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nicole PK (NPK)17 July 2018 at 23:12

      Thank you Kelly! I'm glad you've enjoyed them!

      Delete

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