#11: After the two teams returned from the hunt, we tallied up the points...it was actually a tie! Aside from a really neat cultural experience, the scavenger hunt allowed each of our teams to really gel and work together before we headed off to our first orphanage. To celebrate, we were treated to the most traditional Romanian cuisine...at McDonald's!! For the most part, standard McDonald's fare with a few different items (e.g., Doug's chicken wrap-type thing). Pictured (in black) is our awesome guide and foodie expert Victor. Typically, how we would order at McDonald's would be simply to tell our guides what we wanted and have them order for us (most menus in Romanian).

#12: There was one other way to earn points on the scavenger hunt: photography. We could get a point for a photo of a famous building, one for a certain landmark, and (the most interesting) taking a picture (the entire team) with one Romanian person. Our team (who, by the way, were the TRUE winners of the hunt) took our picture with a pickle seller. She actually gave us the pickle for free! We thought she seemed kind enough, and so we asked (if you could call our broken Romanian that) her to take a photo with her. It was really great! All of the traffic in that part of the market came to a standstill! Our lady was calling to her friends in nearby booths to come and watch!

#13: On the second day, it was time to visit the orphanages. On our schedule from CTL, we noticed a fairly ambiguous event planned for the morning: "scavenger hunt." What in the world was this? Despite our constant questions, Victor very mysteriously and silently escorted us to McDonald's. We found Nelu sitting alone at a table. We sat down and he explained. Just outside was a huge outdoor market. Hundreds of booth-keepers sold all manner of knick-knacks and paraphernalia. He had a small pile on the table: a chocolate bar, a camera battery, a dog biscuit, a bowl, a string of safety pins, a nail, a pickle, a bag of live maggots (used for fishing), etc. We were split into our two orphanage teams. We had 1 hour and 10 lei (about 3 dollars) to bring back as many of the items as we could. Each item was worth one point...and the nail was worth 3 points. The idea was to force our teams to interact with real, live Romanian people and to get down and dirty in the Romanian culture. So, with "fear and trembling," we ran out the door...

#14: Each morning, we would have morning devotions and then receive a briefing from CTL about the orphanages we would be visiting that day (usually one in the morning and one in the afternoon). Sometimes we would be split into two groups to cover more ground. At the orphanages, our teams would put on a five minute skit about a Bible story (my team did the story of the lost sheep; the others did the story of Jesus loving the little children), usually followed by a craft and a few games. Although we had our plans in place, we really had to remain flexible, relying on CTL to tell us about the type of kids at particular orphanages. They would tell us what they thought would be the most effective craft, game, or Bible story questions to ask so as to maximize our limited time there. Pictured is Bogdan and Meredith engaging in one such conversation.

#15: Yay! CTL Staff! As many of you know, the ministry group that coordinated all of our orphanage visits, handled all logistics, and kept our bellies full was Children to Love International, a 17 member staff of Romanians who regularly serve (at least once a week) a chain of orphanages in Bucharest. It was so encouraging to see an organization that functioned so well. Each person served using their gifts, contributing their part for the good of the whole be it music (e.g., Nelu (pictured with guitar) and Fibia provided our morning worship music), translation (everyone, really, but especially Madalina and Victor), purchasing food and supplies (e.g., Gianni (pictured behind Nelu) always purchased bottled water or anything else we needed from the store each day), or cooking that food (e.g., everyone's favorite: MAMA MARIA).

#16: Here is one more picture from our time on the mountaintop. Pictured are the members of our team who were too chicken to go sledding (although after I got snow in my gloves and down my pants, I am beginning to see the prudence of their decision). The plastic bags they are holding were the type we used for our "sleds."

#17: 5 anxiety-filled minutes later, we stepped off the gondola into a winter wonderland. Snow was everywhere, people were skiing down the mountain slope, and (for our dog lovers) there was even a real-live Saint Bernard! Breathtaking view: the sweeping forests, tree-laden mountains, and tiny houses down below. I even got to live out my dream of sliding down a snowy slope (I had always wanted to do this, but with the weather in Texas, had never really had the chance). We used plastic bags for our sleds, lifted our legs up, and hoped for the best! Great, great fun! Pictured is one of the slopes we used.

#18: Our Romanian guides told us that in order to get to our next stop, we would be travelling via gondola. While a certain member of the team (Meredith!) had images of Italian boats floating along the canals ("Where's the water?"), we soon discovered that this type of gondola involved packing at least 25 people into a small, standing-room-only cable car held by a flimsy-looking wire above. We got a great bird's eye view of the area, although some of us (Mariel!) were quickly confronted with our fear of heights!

#19: This photo was taken standing in the courtyard of Peleş Castle. Way off in the distance, we could just barely make out some buildings nestled on the top of the Carpathian Mountains. Our guides informed us that THIS was our next stop!

#20: Here's a better view of the castle in its natural surroundings. I really wasn't sure what to expect from Romania in terms of landscape and natural vistas. Definitely looks like something out of Snow White or Beauty and the Beast!

#21: Peleş Castle was the main attraction of the day! Heavily influenced by the German and French architecture, Peleş was a summer getaway for Romanian nobility. And what a summer house this would have been! The inside was filled with room after room of intricate wooden detailing, dazzling mirrors, and even a hidden passageway (in the library, one section of the bookcase was really a door covering a path leading up to the master bedroom). One of the kings had a particular fondness for weaponry, and we (the guys especially) had a blast oohing and ahhing over armor, swords, and shields. Doug and I especially loved the tiger-hunting knife used by an Indian maharaja!

#22: Here are pictures from our first major stop on our uphill journey at Sinaia: The Church of the Sinaia Monastery. A gorgeous building with intricate and ornate architecture, this church was simply breathtaking. To our surprise, a service was just starting inside! We got a quick glimpse of what a Romanian Orthodox service was like: very crowded, the priests in their robes, incense burning... A very eye-opening experience.

#23: Once we reached Sinaia (we dubbed it the "Mount Sinai" of Romania), we started walking uphill. While parts of the trek were on cobblestone streets (as pictured), other parts were up icy paths. As you might imagine, we immediately learned to rely (literally) on our teammates! The entire trip was indeed a great bonding experience for our 9-person team. Also, we really got to know our Romanian guides on a more personal level. On the train ride back to Bucharest we laughed and joked as we taught them some American "travel" games and learned some Romanian ones. Madalina even taught Doug a thing or two about the deceptively complex game of tic-tac-toe!

#24: For those of you who followed the blog during our time in Romania, you'll remember that our first day was one of sightseeing in the beautiful mountains of Sinaia. To get here, we had to take a two hour train ride. Below, our college pastor Curt looks out the window at the rustic vistas of the Romanian countryside.

Pictures!

Hi! I hope to update this from time to time with some pictures. I'm sure you've seen many pictures and heard many stories, but I do this with the hope of having a permanent electronic record. So, without further ado, let's begin the countdown!

#25: After a long flight via Amsterdam, we arrived in Romania! (Just a note: you can click on the image for a bigger view.) The language was not so much a barrier in places like the airport, but once we got into the city, we were really thankful for our Romanian tour guides! They helped us with everything from "walk faster" to "get on this bus" to "don't touch that dog!"