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Online Journal - December 2006 Archive
December
23, 2006 - Saturday
-
We
have been told that caroling is a widely practiced Christmas
tradition in Romania. This morning we received our first
carolers, a group of kids from another Christian organization
here (Global Hope) who
provide family homes for orphaned and abandoned children. The
president, Roni (standing at the back; he also serves as one of
the house fathers), is a friend of ours. They were all great
singers! We didn't get it on video to share with you, but we did
manage to snap a picture. Scott
December 22, 2006 - Friday - Tonight the children and teens of Emmanuel Christian Center presented their Christmas outreach program. Many guests were in attendance, and the program of music, games, and drama was great!
They have been
video-taping the drama for several weeks. It was designed to be
a news report about the birth of Christ. It included two "live"
reporters who read the news and then referred to "reporters" on
the field conducting interviews of the various witnesses. All of
these field reports, along with a commercial added for
authenticity, were video-taped over the last several weeks.
Paula and Stephen then edited them for the program last night.
It was great and well-received.
We're including a video clip below of one of the songs. The musicians are our kids (Stephen on cello, Lydia on flute) and two other teens (Josie on flute, Danny on keyboard) whose parents are serving as house parents with Oaza and are part of the church. Enjoy! Scott
December 21, 2006 - Thursday - It has been a busy couple of weeks with preparations for Christmas—family and church. The children of the church have planned a Christmas program but instead of taking place on Sunday they decided to have the program on Friday evening (tomorrow) so they can invite all of their friends and teachers, who might not come on a Sunday. They have been working on a play, much of which has been video-recorded by Stephen. Now, I am working on the production of the “film”. They have also been working on Christmas carols to sing with the accompaniment of Stephen (cello & guitar) and Lydia (flute) along with Josy (flute) and Danny (keyboard) Hicklin (teens whose parents are short-term house parents for one of the Oaza homes). It should be a fun event tomorrow evening!
I went to worship practice tonight but found I wasn’t much help as they have several Christmas carols with which the tune is very unfamiliar. I like most of the tunes but it will take a couple times singing them to really learn. Maybe next Christmas!
Last week, our ladies Bible study had a time of fellowship (and food) which included sharing about family Christmas memories. We had a really good time; and I enjoyed learning more about each family.
Well, for the pig tradition… It is tradition in Romania (and other countries) for families to butcher a pig at Christmas time. December 20 (St. Ignatius Day on the Orthodox calendar) is the traditional day for this event, but in our area people have been butchering for a couple of weeks. One evening a couple of weeks ago, we walked out back of Shalom House (one Oaza home) to find the landlord and Nellie (the pastor’s wife) finishing a butcher. As I rounded the corner to investigate, Nellie held up ½ of the pig's head by the ear for me to see…more than I cared to see! I didn’t mind seeing the organs…I just didn’t want to see the reminder that it once was a pig! The children were looking forward to chewing on the pig skin…apparently a delightful treat! (it is singed with a torch to remove the hair).
Last week in the center
of the city where the Christmas market is set up, we arrived just in time to see a large group of men
gathered to view a butchering demonstration. It was being
video-taped for TV. I was a little more prepared this time.
The
head and entrails were hanging on a rack and the body was split
in two. We were all glad we arrived after the killing…they
generally slit the throat of the pig and it squeals and squeals
until it bleeds to death...not something I care to experience. Today
driving through town we saw a very, very large pig being wheeled
down the street in a cage…that pig certainly didn’t know what it
had coming! I have nothing against butchering…I bought a pork
roast at the store today for Christmas. I’m just having to learn
to ease into this tradition a little bit at a time…
I have been baking as well. Friends have been enjoying our “American-style” cookies…chocolate chip especially. However, since they do not have chocolate chips here, we have to break-up candy bars into pieces. A lot of extra work…but well worth it! Romanian typically do not bake cookies (bisquit) at Christmas…they bake cakes (prajituri) of all kinds. (Click here for a description of traditional Romanian Christmas foods).
A couple of boxes of treats arrived from some of our supporting churches in the States. It was a wonderful Christmas surprise to receive some edibles and a few other things. Thanks for thinking about us!
We trust you will have a blessed Christmas and celebrative New Year! Craciun Fericit (Merry Christmas) and La Mult Ani (Happy New Year)! -- Paula
December 18, 2006 -
Monday -
This
morning Paula and I walked to the open market to buy some fruit
for a gift basket. On our way we noticed many people walking
home with various sizes of Christmas trees (pom de crăciun) in
hand. Several truckloads had just arrived, and the trees ranged
all sizes, from skinny 3-footers suitable for a small apartment
to huge ones that would easily reach the 12-foot-plus ceilings
of many older homes and apartments. We snapped this picture on
Scott's cell phone as we left the market. `Tis the Season!
Scott
December 16, 2006 -
Saturday -
We purchased and
decorated our "pomi de crăciun" today. We were not able to cut
our own as has been our family tradition in recent years, but we
found a very nice one at a local store. Here's some pictures
from
the
day
:
December 7, 2006 - Thursday - Yesterday an article appeared in our local newspaper featuring one of our church leaders here, Laura Andres. Laura is the oldest daughter of Pastor Nelu, and she is the Founder and Director of a charitable ministry to abandoned children, "Oaza" (meaning Oasis). The government held a news conference here on Tuesday about adoption, hoping to increase awareness and interest in Romanian families adopting some of the many abandoned children in every city of Romania. They asked Laura to share her story. With the help of my language teacher I have translated the article below. If you're an overachiever you can click on the headline to read the original article in Romanian! :-) And, take a moment and pray for Laura, her daughter Claudia, and the ministry of Oaza. Scott
ARAD – It is Laura Andres’ conviction that she became the mom of a little girl condemned to life in a train station.
“In the year 2000 I adopted a little girl who was then 5-years-old. I am not married and I never intended to adopt a child. But working with street children and frequenting the dark places where they spend their lives, I found an 11-month-old little girl in a horrible situation.
Her natural mom asked me to save her from the deadly situation of life in the train station. When I took her in my arms, she laid her head on my shoulder and sighed a breath of relief.
This breath touched my heart and I believe this began a bond between the two of us. The little girl grew up in the Association I direct (Oaza), and with time we grew very close to each other and…I submitted the application to adopt her.
I Love You
I know her natural mother, and I was afraid that she would come and try to blackmail me with her daughter. But this did not happen at all. On the contrary, when she gave her consent to adopt she said, ‘I believe this child was made for you.’ I also believe the same thing; this child was born for me. The little girl resembles me and is very much like my family: very boisterous, very open, very sociable. Now she is 10 years old and in the fourth grade in school.
Before she went to school I took her on vacation with me, only the two of us, and I told her about her adoption. I was a little nervous, but I let her ask me anything she wanted to ask. But she didn’t ask anything; she only just took my hand and kissed it. I also noticed that from then on she told me much more often, ‘I love you.’ I also tell Claudia as often as I can that I love her because I know this is good for her just as it is good for me when she says it to me.”
Translation of 12/06/2006 AradOnline Article re: Laura Andres
http://www.aradon.ro/engine.aspx/page/article-detail-page/cn/aradon-news-editor5-20061206-042845/dc/im%3Aaradon%3Anews-arad/ag/im-adevarul
December 5, 2006 -
Tuesday -
We are beginning to
hear and see some Romanian Christmas traditions. First of all,
to say Merry Christmas one would say “Crăciun Fericit” (kracheeoon
fereecheet). Another thing we have learned is that in Romania,
the Orthodox Christians traditionally fast during the 40 days
prior to Christmas. They do not eat meat and maybe not even
dairy products during this time.
Tonight and tomorrow
is a traditional Christmas celebration here in Romania. It is
called Moş Nicholae (Old Man Nicholas). Tradition has it that
the children wash their shoes thoroughly in the evening and
place their shoes beside their bed. Some time in the night Old
Man Nicholas comes and leaves a “treat” in their shoes for
morning. If the child has been good, they will receive “sweets”.
If the child has been bad, they may receive an onion or a clove
of garlic (like our lump of coal in our stockings, I guess).
On
the streets today people were selling brightly decorated poles.
One person told us that the sticks are purchased to place in the
shoes along with the candy. Another person tells us that the
sticks are given to a sweetheart.
This same person told me that during Communist times candy (especially chocolate) was not available, so a family could receive oranges to place in the children's shoes. Each family had a card to record when they received certain food allowances each month. At Christmas (the only time when oranges were allowed for distribution), they would receive one orange for each child and their ration card would be marked accordingly.
Many families, from what I am told, will have stockings to fill on Christmas Eve as well, but it is not considered true Romanian because, "they got this from the American movies.” :-)
We decided to have fun with Moş Nicholai as well. Stephen and Lydia don’t know yet, but they will each be receiving candy and a stick. They have been great kids this year! :-)
More Christmas traditions to come…including the pig tradition and our own pig story.
Crăciun Fericit…Paula
December 4, 2006 –
Monday -
Happy Birthday to my
Dad!
We
received a package from some friends from
Pearce
Memorial Church a couple of days ago. Thanks seems to say so
little compared to how much we appreciate the kindness. We all
enjoyed the huge bag of M&M candies. Stephen was feeling very
creative so he made a couple of maps for you to enjoy. The US
map is random…but on the Ohio map can you guess the city names
based on their locations? (CLICK
HERE to send your guesses to Stephen and Lydia) Stephen and Lydia were very
intentional about this…credit goes to their 3rd and 5th grade
Ohio history teachers. I’ll take the credit now for
“hands-on-learning”! :-)Unfortunately, Ohio was eaten away city
by city before the end of the day! :-) Paula
December 3, 2006 - Sunday - The Emmanuel Church youth are preparing music and drama for Christmas Sunday, December 24. Our kids have been asked to play their instruments. We captured this video as they practiced a couple of days ago and thought our web readers might enjoy. We're rather proud of them :-) Scott and Paula
December 1, 2006
- Friday -
T
oday
was a national holiday in Romania. National/Union Day, as it is
translated in English, is similar to July 4th Independence Day
in the USA. The day is set aside to remember and celebrate the
reunification of Romania on December 1, 1918.
Click here for more information on the unification of
Romania following World War I. This evening we went downtown for
some of the festivities. Concerts were happening at two venues
(the picture here is of our City Hall lit for the Christmas
season). Traditional Romanian festival foods and drink were
available in abundance. A fireworks display also went off around
11:00pm. Scott