This morning we awoke to wonderful breakfast of bread, salami, and peanut butter. I know it sounds weird, but it was actually quite good. After, we went to the market. It was a crazy experience. It was jam-packed on every side, vendors selling everything from produce to wicker baskets to leather shoes to animals to power drills. Outside of the cheese strip, there was a baby goat tied to the back of a car. Not twenty feet away was a man selling veal heads from the trunk of his car. I bought some local honey, Hungarian paprika, a hand-carved wooden spoon, and a tile. I needed a nap by the time I was done. However, our agenda did not allow. We departed the clinic once more to see the local elementary school. We visited the third grade-a class of about twenty students (Pami and Delia, two of the Casa Josef girls, were in the class). We started by singing together (Father, I adore You) then proceeded to introduce ourselves.
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| Third Graders at Nicolae Popovicu School. |
After each introduction, the students had the opportunity to ask us questions. Many chose "What is your favorite color?" or "What sport do you like?" Although, some were more difficult: "Who was your favorite king in the Bible?" and "Which is your favorite Psalm?" To the latter, Dr. Miller replied, "You all guess: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." Hands flew into the air. The girl whom he called upon rose from her seat and declared "That is Psalm 23." She took a breath and began to recite the entire Psalm in Romanian. It was beautiful to watch. We visited for a while longer, but then they were dismissed at noon. After class, we stayed and talked to the teacher, Catrina. She is a woman of amazing faith. She said that, of the fifty teachers at the school, only four were Christians. She talked about that struggle, how it was easier for her to see the flaws in her fellow staff rather than their qualities but, with the help of the Lord "acting as a mirror inside her" she tried her hardest to love them. She believes with all her heart that God charged her with the duty of planting seeds within the children she teaches. It was evident from the manner in which she spoke that she was being genuine. As if on cue, a student told us that Catrina taught "with all her heart" because she loved each one of them.
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| Catrina Sharing her Story. |
Suddenly, there was a cry of "Elliottttttt!!!!" It was Geta. Upon passing the classroom, she saw him and immediately changed course and came hurtling at breakneck speed towards him. Elliot dropped his guitar, fell to his knees and simply held her for the longest time. Not gonna lie, I cried a little bit. He later told us that she had never done that before, that it always took her hours to warm up to his presence. I honestly don't know how he does it-his love for her is so apparent and yet he manages to go on with his day to day life, continually awaiting the day when she can finally join him in the US.
After a lunch of soup, bread, and bread with cheese and tomatoes, we headed to Casa Josef to sort clothes for the Agape run tomorrow. Geta found us once again and we spent a while playing. Sadly, we could not stay long. The rain came in (so beautiful here in all weather) and we had to head back to the clinic for Anka's birthday celebration. We had a greek feast-chicken, lamb, tzatziki, orzo, cucumber, tomato, goat cheese, pita, and eggplant hummus followed by a wonderful cake made by The Bridge (REMM's local coffee house). It was by far the longest meal we've had so far-there was no rush so it was nice to talk with everyone. A great ending to a truly amazing day.
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