I am in Romania

The past few days have been packed full of all kinds of activity. I am so thankful that I have been able to get so much done in so little time. My first full day in Romania was spent looking at apartments and getting to know the metro system. My new roommate Cath and I decided on a place to live and got the details figured out all on my first full day in Romania! Cath is from England and will be teaching kindergarten.

Since I took it pretty easy on my first day...;) I decided to go ahead and increase my activities for my second day. I started out by visiting an orphanege with some of the missionaries. The orphanege is state-run and in pretty deplorable condition, however the kids loved seeing us and some of them even practiced their English with me, while I tried out my Romanian phrases with them. Some people from my school go there every Saturday, so I am praying about joining them on a weekly basis as well.

Afterwards, I was able to get some more errands run. I now have Romanian money and a bus pass...I can go anywhere. In the evening, I got to go to a string quartet concert in the park. It was very lovely and made me miss Susie.

On Sunday, I attended services that were translated into English for the benefit of all the Americans in the crowd, and in the afternoon I got to move into my apartment. My place is the very top of this building with the pillars at the windows.

Here are the dogs that watch the place...see they love me

already. 

Getting my stuff up the staircase was a bit of a challenge, but we managed.

The apartment is owned by an American/Romanian family who currently live in the states. They keep their apartment here, but like to have someone living in it to take care of it.

It's nice for us, since it is already furnished and filled with the things that we need, but sometimes it is a little bit too furnished and I had difficulty finding space for my things. Also, I now have Bob the builder sheets.

I spent Monday exploring the city center and the area around my new place. Cath and I also figured out where the nearest grocery stores are and filled our fridge. I am glad we were able to accomplish so much in so little time. I started teacher in-service on Tuesday and finally found out exactly what classes I will be teaching next Monday. My first few days here have been very busy, and there are no signs of it slowing down anytime soon. I don't feel as if I am really oriented to the city yet, but at least I haven't gotten lost yet. At some point I will have to explain my daily commute to school...