ca la douazeci de ani, fără griji şi fără bani

oh the stories that could be told. oh the adventures that have been had!
life is neater when you're living it in romania. just saying.

cliff notes version, because details would take too many years:

i learned the reason for all the stray dogs in romania. (they're everywhere!) i'm reading a book about romania right now whenever i have a free minute at home. it's super interesting.

(in case you were wondering, it's because when Ceauşescu forced the people out of their homes and into the blocs, there wasn't enough room in the blocs for the family pets. because the point of blocs is having many people in as little space as possible, thus leaving people with not enough room.)

though i've yet to find a reason for the pigeons. or a method of killing the two lovebirds that are outside our window every morning, starting at 5am doing their morning cooing to each other. we want to kill them. don't think i'm kidding. roslyn has been considering buying an axe, if she can find one. or maybe putting poison on some bread and feed it to them. haaaaa. but really. we're serious.

exploring the little shops behind hala centrala.

adventures on a whim that lead to dacia and discovering a big field that looks like the countryside. BEAUTIFUL!

(just a few photos to wet your whistle. until i have a computer again to put them on. just believe me. it was like a dream.

and the wind sweeping through the long grasses and horses' manes and tails only added to it.)

mikey went a little crazy with taking pictures. he was like you, steve. hahahaha.

 wild daisies!

"i love daisies! don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower?"

harses, harses, harses, harses, harses, ring-a-ling-a-ling! this one's for you, kaitlin. :)

cleaning the church building, and having everything we cleaned gone over again by the relief society ladies.

shaorma. and french fries! food here is always an exciting occasion.

free concerts in front of the cultural palace. voltaj! bahaha.

packed plaza means seriously priceless people-watching. i can't even begin to describe. haaaa.

an excellent church meeting. these members are indescribably incredible. i love this branch. and i love when i can understand what they say in sacrament meeting/testimony meeting. the gift of tongues is real, though not always for speaking. sometimes it's for listening, i'd say.

singing hymns in copou with the missionaries.

transfers were last week, so there's a new elder and new sora.

we like them. and feel bad for the elder straight out of the mtc. welcome to romania! haaa.

concerts in the metropolitan cathedral. it's a beautiful place. with beautiful sounds.

texting laursy (through email on my end, of course) as she drives to the oregon coast with her family,

and deciding that sometimes i miss the wertz's as much as my own family.

and.

skype dates with brother steve who leaves for peru tomorrow. (bon voyage!)

what better way to end a weekend?

there's just a few slices of this edition of my romanian weekend.

all of which occurred on beautifully breezy overcast days that have been around the past few days.

just a little taste.

obviously everyone reading this should be super jealous right now.

and roslyn just drew a big donkey for part of our fhe tomorrow night. his name is ed.

and he's hilariously beautiful as he hangs off the side of our fridge.

our party for rebecca's birthday will obviously be cooler than cool.

this place is cooler than cool. almost every day i end my journal entries with "i love this place."

[ p.s. sorry i'm totally becoming the kind of blogger i hate. the kind that stops blogging. but seriously. i don't have very much time. like ever. especially because naps usually take precedence with these states of constant exhaustion. but i promise i'm trying! ]

mai vorbim mai târziu, da?

vă iubesc!

o zi (sau noapte) buna!