Romania 2008 ~ Family

My family I had no idea how close I would get to my host family (Gita, Mia, and their son, Dorin) when I met them that first night. They became family, and I truly felt their home was my home. The hospitality and love they shared was incredible. I lived with two other girls from the team, Cari and Lindsay. We shared one large room and quickly became close friends. (We didn't know each other before the trip.) We walked the town and shopped together, did each others' hair, had some great talks, and survived many other bonding experiences. It was encouraging to hear their stories and the work God is doing in their lives, as well as to have two others of the same heart and mind that I could pray and share with.

My most treasured memories with my host family came from the evenings and Sunday afternoons we spent together. Mia and Dorin were our teachers. They let us practice the Romanian we had learned and helped us expand on it. They also taught us how to operate the toilet and shower; I'm ashamed to say it wasn't a one time lesson. =)
Mia was my mother hen. She saw to it that I was well fed, warm and dry, and knew how to get wherever I was going. Both she and Gita went out of their way to make sure we got to our destinations safely. In the evenings the girls and I would sit in the kitchen drinking tea and talking with Mia while she cooked. She never let us help, but she did share some of her recipes.
Dorin was like a brother to us. He loved our attention and was such a patient Romanian teacher! We normally spent at least part of the evening playing with him. If we weren't tickle wrestling, we were playing "red light, green light," "duck, duck, goose," or "hot and cold." And yes, I can STILL play all 3 in Romanian!
Gita treated us like daughters. He did his best to include us in everything. He invited us in to watch TV with himself and Mia, and he made sure we were included in all the meal conversations. He doesn't speak English, so communication was a bit more difficult. Thankfully both he and Cari speak Spanish. With Cari translating we were able to sit and talk. He told us about the family farm, the years he worked in Spain, and about life in Romania.
It is impossible to put into words everything my host family meant (means) to me or even why we grew so close in such a short period of time, but I know the kinship we share in Christ and the time we spent praying for each other before we met had something to do with it. I miss them dearly!