One last day

Today was my last in Romania and it was sad to see it go. However, it was perhaps my best here, and I have a strange but nice feeling of finality that is more joyful than sad. I did the dishes after breakfast (Lou made some awesome pancakes with raspberry/blueberry sauce), went to the orphanage and saw the girls, cleaned up the yard a little, ate lunch (chile made by Anca), took a nap, went back to the orphanage and played some more (getting some quality time with both Nati and Gabi (the one I'd take home with me and the one who is an imp but likes me alot)), helped the guys spread out a HUGE pile of sand over the existing sandbox, ate a candlelit spaghetti with vodka sauce dinner made by Andrea, laughed a ton with the whole crew, including Peter and Ana, went to gelato again with the younger crowd, and overall had a great day. I will miss these people and this place, but I know this is not the end of my time being connected with this mission - it really has just begun. One of the best times I've had in this country was working hard to move a boatload of sand while listening to Jackson and Lou tell their stories - how God met them and brought them to himself, and led them here. It was neat to share my story and know that the same God is working in all of us at once - wherever we are.
Tomorrow I am headed to Hungary, to stay with a missionary I met while in Switzerland - her name is Arden and we met on a 5 minute bus ride but she offered to put me up if I needed it coming from Romania - so that's how this came to be! I am looking forward to seeing her again - I could tell that I would like her a lot even after so short a time to meet her.

Things I'm looking forward to when I get back:
- a new change of clothes
- brushing my hair with a hairbrush and not a comb (and honestly, I haven't brushed my hair anyway in a couple of days)
- having a good long talk, face to face, with Mom since I haven't been able to call her in over a week
- putting things in a dresser
- not having to remember 8 different currency conversions in my head (and not having to keep track of all the little lost coins I have collected in each country)
- showering with a loofa and not a small sliver of soap
- having my cell phone back (I know, its pathetic - I really haven't missed it except when I see other people talking on theirs)
- going wakeboarding
- working out and especially sprinting and lifting

Things I am thankful for:
- Italian gelato - limone most of all
- super light Bible Mom got me before I left
- Timex Ironman watches in 24Hr, because everything is listed in military time in Europe
- Smith sunglasses that haven't broken even though I've hit my head (with them on my head) on a bunch of things here - Romanians are typically short
- new card games - ever heard of "euchar?"
- mini bottles of hand sanitizer
- Facebook! I never realized how incredibly handy it was in keeping people together. All of the guys I met in Switzerland I have already kept in contact with and got messages from via facebook.

Things I never expected to do:
- share a bottle of wine over a candlelit dinner with a mission staff in Romania
- watch a movie still out in theatres with the same group (minus the parents)
- dance with a little girl in a courtyard in an orphanage in Romania, while she sang the tune we danced to, all the while not speaking a word but understanding each other anyway