After a short break I am back to give you an update. As usual I get 2-3 ideas of things to write but don’t have the time and motivation to sit down and write. Fortunately for you the time has come for me to sit down and scribble some thoughts.
It’s hard for me to believe that I have already been in Romania for a month. I was sitting down at dinner with my friend and host and I counted the remaining sundays (eight) and they are already all planned. Time flies fast when you’re having fun in Romania.
The past couple of weeks have been pretty busy. I preached two messages out of the three that I had planned in the church where I am doing my internship. I also preached a few other times at other churches. Overall it has been a blessed time, not too busy and if it was busy it was not stressful as it was mostly interacting with people or preparing messages.
God has been really blessing me and does not cease to amaze me with his faithfulness. So far I have stayed in two places. It so happened that my hosts were away for a while so I basically had both apartments to myself. Even though I am not a huge fan of living by myself, it has been a tremendous sign of His provision.
Bucharest is a busy city. I had forgotten about it or I had never really noticed. I lived in Bucharest for 10 months back in 2002, but maybe I never really noticed the crazy rhythm of the city. Maybe my impressions are different because now I am contemplating making it my home town once I move back to Romania next year.
Even though I am not excited about the city I am enjoying the community I am serving among this summer. The people are very welcoming and I am encouraged to see in them a desire to grow in their understanding of the Gospel and how to make it contagious.
One of the things I have tried to do in this month is observe the people. I like to observe the people in the subway. I remember riding it from the place I am staying to a place across town. On the way there we passed the downtown stop. A lot of people were in a rush to get off and others were impatiently waiting and pushing each other to make it into the train. I was wondering why the rush, what were they all doing downtown. Do they, like the singer, believe that things will be good when you’re downtown. Where are the people going. Wherever it may be, it must have been serious, because none of the were smiling.
The smile issue is something I have written about in the past. I am once again surprised, not shocked, but I guess I forget every time I go away. It’s not that people don’t smile. But they seem to be caught off guard when I smile at them. They don’t really know how to react. Nobody smiles, who do I think I am to smile at them. Well, I am from America, over there people smile, sometimes for no apparent reason. Other times they smile to brighten your moment. But they won’t have it, they are sad, in a hurry and determined. A smile will not change that (they say).
On another note, Bucharest is under sever storm watch with lots of thunders. One just went off and with it 20 car alarms.
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