Awww, the humanity!

First, let me preface this by telling you a few things about me or at least reminding you if you already know them!

1 - I am an only child.
2 - I grew up on a farm with lots of land space.
3 - I was the only child on our road until 5th grade.
4 - I liked the above three things about my life!

Now, picture me, here in Bucharest. First it is a very populated large city. Second, this culture doesn't require much "personal" space.

In the morning as I wash my face I can hear our next door neighbor hacking up his "old man stuff" out of his throat. I can hear our other neighbor in the kitchen when she washes her dishes. We can hear the squeaky door of the apartment above us. I can hear the toilet water go down the wall from the floors above us. You get the idea right? So let's just say I NEVER really feel alone.

Anyway, all this is common but this week it just really bugged me. Yesterday, we got on the bus to go to gymnastics. At the first stop this woman got on and she must have run to catch it. She ends up standing facing my side while I was seated. And she literally, BREATHED DOWN MY NECK, for the rest of the ride. I not a "germ-a-phobe" but the fact that I could feel her hot breath going down my collar drove me insane!

Then on the tram it was tight to say the least. By the time we got to our stop I could feel, no joke, 5 people touching me. Granted, one was Maria but then there was a person on each side bumping me and someone behind me with his belly pressed into my back. Then an arm was over me head holding the pole and his elbow kept tapping my head. It was simply too...much...TOUCHING!

And to top off the morning as we rounded the corner into the gym driveway there was a man turned 90 degrees to the sidewalk tinkling! Here as long as the "anatomy" is hidden then it is irrelevant that EVERYONE knows you are standing there tinkling. Then he finishes and turns just as we pass him - literally three feet away. What am I supposed to do? Politely look away? Wrinkle up my nose to his face (which is what I was doing)? Or say Buna Dimineata (Good Morning)? My Southern hospitality won out and I wished the man Good Morning. He responded with the Romanian greeting for ladies which translates, "I kiss the hand". I was thinking you're getting nowhere close to my hands - I KNOW where yours have been!

So tonight I opted out of the skating rink to spend a few quiet moments alone in the apartment. I can still hear the neighbors and the traffic outside but at least I can't see them and more importantly...they can't touch me!

We also had some interesting days at gymnastics this week. I'll try to post about that this weekend. Let's just say I was even on the floor more than once this week and the coaches were actually yelling at ME!

A Week of Ups and Downs

Another week has passed here in Romania. It has been an odd week of ups and downs. But I guess they're all like that! Since some of you seem to like to hear the "daily grind" stuff I'll give you a recap of 5 lows, then 10 highs. You know it's best to be positive!

Lows:
1 - Maria came down with some sort of virus/cold thing and napped on the sofa all day Friday. No eating, no energy.
2 - I saved the vacuuming and mopping to do on Friday then didn't because Maria was napping all day!
3 - I had to wear my silk long johns for the first time this week as we saw snow two days.
4 - I haven't been able to find icons for the homeschool website I'm "mistressing" from here.
5 - Mihaela's brother has inoperable cancer and needs treatment in the US and they are having trouble getting him into the program.

Highs:
1 - I made TWO homemade cheesecakes and they were outstanding! Even the Bucurs liked them. The kids too!
2 - I didn't fall on the icy sidewalks going to gymnastics on Tuesday. I also had remembered to bring the silk long johns!
3 - Maria is feeling better and is at least eating a little and reading on the sofa now instead of napping!
4 - I got all the coats washed since we were "home bound" all day Friday.
5 - Stephen posted his funniest blog yet. Check it out here.
6 - The website went "live" on Thursday and people seem to be enjoying our hard work. You can check out the visitor's page at http://www.familytouch.org/.
7 - Aurelia is coming today, to the apartment, to give us massages. Thanks honey!!
8 - We'll get to go to church tomorrow since Maria is on the mend and hasn't been sick to her stomach since Friday morning.
9 - Steve's parents have quit smoking. This is something I have prayed for them for years. We want them to be around for a LONG time. Maria is delighted! Well actually all of us are delighted. Keep at it Gramma and Grampa!
10 - My Lord Provides all my needs. I've felt a little "between" things in my Bible study, and low and behold, I got an email this morning that a friend from home is starting an online Bible study. I already have my first Assignment! Thanks Maggie for letting the Lord minister to me, through you!

I am OLD!

I awoke at about 4am and literally couldn't move in bed! I had this massive, painful catch in my upper back. I made it through the rest of the night and then took a hot shower. Thankfully we actually had hot water this morning!

We went to church and out to eat Chinese for lunch. Then I rested and Maria and Stephen went ice skating.

When they asked what was for supper I told them we were planning on having pancakes and sausage, but I just couldn't stand and mix and flip and all. So they decided to cook.

While Stephen was in the shower, he had run 7 miles after ice skating, Maria decided to get all the ingredients out. Then she started measuring. One thing led to another and by the time Stephen got to the kitchen Maria had everything ready except for lighting the stove. (Our stove is a little scary here!)

They sounded so happy in there together I had to sneak in for some pictures!

So even though I feel very old since I can't MOVE, at least I'm being served like a queen.

Ha ha!

Dana and Maria's day "on the town"

We needed a day off of gymnastics so when Maria slept past 6:45am I decided that today was the day!

After a leisurely breakfast, we got our school work done and got ready to "go to town". This is what we say in the states. Of course here, we actually live "in town", but you know what we mean!

We walked to the metro and bought a new pass then boarded the metro to go to Cora. Alexa had a cool doll house, made from a book so it folds up, in language lessons last night. Maria and I loved it and since it is actually portable, we can bring it home too! We decided to try and find it at Cora.

We had success! Then we ate at KFC - I told you it was a big day on the town.

We left from there to take the Metro back to Titan Park and try out the new outdoor ice rink. We have tried three different days this week. One day we were late and couldn't rent skates, the next try was after a day of rain and they were still clearing the water off the rink. Today we got Maria some skates and hit the ice. It was cold and damp and for some reason people kept wanting to give Maria pointers and asking if I wanted her to have lessons.




It drove her crazy! Maria likes to be left alone when trying something new and this wasn't working. After 45 minutes we called it quits and headed for the apartment.

We set up the doll house and cut out all the pieces to make the furniture. It is so cute!

Then we made brownies. Not a bad day at all!

Ice Skating

Maria and I arrived back in Romania on Thursday. We went to gymnastics on Friday morning since we had equipment with us and presents. It was so much fun to see the girls get their equipment they had been waiting on!

This morning we went to church and turned in over $1600 USD to the Pastors. They were so excited and amazed. Thank you again for making this possible.

This afternoon we went, with the Bucur family, ice skating. There is a public skate at the local hockey rink and we met Gabi, Florin, and Alexa there. We had to wait about 30 minutes for a match to finish and then we were in. It only took me two tries to find Maria's size in the European numbers - not bad! They all had a ball - I was cold since I wasn't skating. By the end of the two hours Maria was actually getting a little comfortable on the skates. We'll probably go again.

Thank you

Thank you so much for your loving support of our family and our church in Bucharest, Romania. You have helped to raise over $1500 for Bibles in the Romanian language. There have been days this past year when we felt very alone living in Romania, but through your prayers, the Lord always strengthened us. You will always have a special place in our hearts!
Thank you again for allowing the Lord to work through you to reach Romania,
The Jutton Family



Maria and I will be reuniting with Daddy on Thursday afternoon this week! We still have two active "to do" lists on the kitchen counter but they are rapidly dwindling down. We are all ready to be together again. Maria and I will be in Romania until May 31st, when we will take our summer trip to the states. We will be meeting Daddy in NY again to visit with that side of our family during the summer.

More from Romania in the weeks to come! Thank you for all your prayers and support during this past year and for the assurances that they will continue on our behalf. We are all very grateful for our friends and family here in the US.

Ooops!, The New "Last Post" of 2006

Due to the chaos of the last couple of weeks alone here in 2006, I actually failed to blog a really fun event. I was invited by a couple of the young guys at our church for a Sunday afternoon game of Risk.

Risk in Romania

If you haven't lived in a bubble for the last 50 years, you should know that Risk, "The classic Game of Global Domination", is probably the most famous strategy board game ever.
The players from left to right were Marian, Dan, and Jamie. Marian and Dan both work full time in ministry at our Romanian church, Cavalry Chapel. They are Romanians and grew up together in an orphanage. Among other things, both of them basically set up and break down the equipment for Sunday services at the rented building each week. Jamie is one of the assistant pastors and he is from the USA.

We played a "quick" game first which was won by Marian. The second game we played was the typically LONG and sometimes "heated" global domination version. It was won by me after about 3 hours. The game was decided when Dan had a series of unbelievably bad rolls of the dice attacking me. With his army depleted, this gave me a golden opportunity to ruthlessly eliminate Dan from the game and acquire a full set of risk cards (the keys to victory).

Apparently, my viscous play didn't make anybody really mad (this may be a first for me), and the guys have invited me to go skiing this Saturday. Stay tuned! When my chance of injury increases, so does the chance for a good blog post.

Steve's Romanian PRE-Christmas continues...

After yesterdays food fest at work, I rolled into my car and headed home. After a run to build up my appetite, I headed out for another fun night with the Bucur Family....

Good friends, good food, Christmas decorations....and rabies shots - don't they all just go together?

I arrived at the Bucur apartment to see Christmas preparations in full swing. Miheala was held up at work, so Gabby and the kids (Florine and Alexa) were busy putting up the Christmas Tree (called "Brad" in Romania) and other decorations around the apartment. The first two pictures show the work in progress and the end result.

After that, we had supper. It was a whole mixture of foods (potato salad, soft boiled eggs, sauteed mushrooms, fried potatoes, and a Greek vegetable spread with bread). The mixture was mainly for Gabby who needed some non-meat options. He's doing the short version (7 days) of the typical Orthodox fast from animal products.

On with the "Spectacul" ("show" in Romanian)

Finally, this last sequence of photos is specifically for one sick-o person who commented on my running blog. We won't mention her name (cough)...Allison...(cough), but she wanted to see actual photo's of me getting rabies shots. Miheala served as my "guest injector" for shot #3 last night.












So you see, I was not only the guest for the evening, but I provided the entertainment as well. By the way, my band-aid has pictures of cute little doggies on it - how nice....

OK folks, this should wrap up the year 2006 in Bucharest. If I don't die of boredom today at work (there's hardly anyone here), I will be picked up by Mimi (Romanian lady that usually rides home with me) tomorrow morning for the trip to the airport. I'm really looking forward to seeing as many of my Carolina based friends and family as I can next week. I'll return to Bucharest on Jan 2 (with Dana and Maria coming a couple weeks later) to start the 2007 edition of our Romanian Adventure.


Crăciun Fericite şi La Mulţs Ani
(Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!)
Steve