Thanksgiving Romanian style was a huge success. We certainly had our desperate moments, but fifty people, missionaries and American families, were well fed with turkey, potatoes, yams, green salad and homemade rolls. We were especially glad to think that the parents of these good young missionaries would be pleased to know their children were taken care of. The turkey cooking got off to a cold, slow start that morning. The burner wouldn’t stay lit due to the breeze and liquid LPG in the fuel line (we said it was cold!), but after shortening the fuel line and building a wind block, we were cooking, literally. The result was some very tasty turkey (actually, eight of them), thanks to Jacque’s secret dry rub recipe. Overall, the meal was a tremendous team effort and we will hang on to the memory of a large room full of happy people eating. There are many lessons if we ever do it again, but we can’t even think about that!
On Monday morning, we learned that the bus we hoped to travel home on was full since it was a national holiday. After an hour of panic, our amazing taxi driver from Saturday drove us back to Bucharest. We encountered snow for the last two hours and knew that he had a 7-8 hour drive home that night. We insisted he call when he got home, and we heard from him a little after midnight. We never cease to be amazed at the great generosity of these wonderful people. They are so willing to give and to help! We have very much to learn from them, and are happy to be here.
We have completed some huge projects (Thanksgiving, missionary business cards and creating a Christmas DVD for the missionaries) and now look forward to taking a deep breath and getting back into our routine. We are grateful to be entering the Christmas season and for all that means.