Community Center for Youth

During the past year that I worked at Albertsons, I had the privilege of working with the volunteer program for the company. Albertsons associates from across the country logged more than 2 million volunteer hours in their local communities. Part of my job was to arrange volunteer activities for the corporate associates. It involved finding volunteer opportunities in the town, meeting with representatives from the organizations, coordinating details, publicity, recruiting volunteers, attending volunteer activities, following up with the organizations afterward, etc. I had the best time meeting people from all over the city involved in hundreds of meaningful projects and programs such as Habitat for Humanity, The Ronald McDonald House, Boys & Girls Clubs, etc.

Out of these amazing volunteer experiences came the dream of volunteering in Romania…I didn’t know where it would be or what I would be doing, but the desire to volunteer was strong. I knew that through it I would meet great people and get a chance to build relationships with people I might not normally come in contact with. I prayed almost everyday for God to open opportunities for me to volunteer...and I am thrilled to report that God has answered my prayer! I am volunteering at the local Community Center for Youth. I taught a couple classes on the art of balloon twisting and am currently teaching a weekly two-hour conversational English class.



















The class is a lot of work…preparing each week for a two-hour lesson takes me about 15 hours. The students want me to focus on verb tenses, vocabulary building, and idioms. I start each class with an ice-breaker activity aimed at getting them up and talking and enabling me to get to know them better. These activities vary each week and are a lot of fun. I also end each class with about 20 minutes of conversation around specific topics. The students all speak English and are more at the intermediate level, so I have had no problems in communicating with them despite my limited knowledge of the Romanian language. There are approximately 12 teenagers aged 15-18 in my class, although I have new kids popping in all the time so the numbers fluctuate each week.

Last week almost every student in the class came up to me after class and told me how much they were enjoying the class…they said they liked that I made it fun for them and they really felt like they were learning. Even the director said she was pleased with the job I was doing…apparently, she had been listening outside the door for the past 3 weeks to check up on me – ha!

The best part of all is that I am building relationships with some great Romanian kids! I have run into several of them in town and they are always excited to see and talk with me. I’m also helping a couple of them with their English homework outside of class. This opportunity has truly been a dream come true for me and I am so blessed to be here!!

Hungary

I am planning to apply for a visa after the first of the year. Until then, I am only allowed to stay in Romania for 3 months at a time before being required to leave the country for a few days and return with a new stamp in my passport. In September, I went to Hungary for a few days with Narcisa since we both had to leave the country. It was just before my birthday and was the perfect birthday excursion.












We flew on a new airline called Wizz Air…don’t laugh! Okay, do…the name cracks me up too! They had promotional fares, so we were able to fly for a little over $100 to Budapest! It was cheaper than driving across the border since gas prices are over $5.00 a gallon here in Romania. We stayed with the David Family…Tom is the assistant pastor at the Calvary Chapel in Budapest. He and his wife, Kathy, are both Hungarians who speak perfect English. Although born and raised in Hungary, they are only there because God asked them to return from the States a few years ago. For my sake, I’m glad they were there! Hungarian is the second hardest language to learn (next to Mandarin Chinese), so I was so thankful they spoke English!! They were so warm and hospitable it was like staying with old friends.












Narcisa and I quickly learned to navigate the city by ourselves when Tom came down with a 24-hour stomach flu the day after we arrived. We caught the bus in front of their house to the train station…rode the train into town…transferred to the subway…then jumped on one of the many trolleys to get down to the center of town. We had to laugh at how many forms of transportation we used on this trip since we also took a short boat ride down the Danube River. We were able to list the following forms of transportation on this short trip: car, airplane, van, bus, train, subway, trolley, boat, and escalator – ha! It was great! We got really good at navigating our way around…it totally reminded me of New York…figuring out the subway and getting around town without taxis or cars. It was great!












Budapest is an amazing city!! I loved it! It is located in the heart of the Carpathian Basin on both sides of the Danube River (the longest river in Central and Western Europe). Budapest is actually two cities divided by the Danube River…Buda is on the hilly side of the river and Pest is on the lowland side. Budapest is known for its natural springs and bath houses. Although we didn’t visit any, we heard the hot-water springs are a highlight for most people’s visit. There are about 120 of them and many of them are famous for having therapeutic effects.












We did see some amazing things in Budapest including the parliament building which cost as much money to build as it would cost to set up a town complete with roads, homes and infrastructure for 30,000 people! The red carpeted stairs led up to magnificent rooms filled with stained glass, gold overlaid ornamental woodcarvings, chandeliers, painted ceilings, etc. It was truly majestic! As we ascended the stairs, Narcisa turned to me and said, “I can’t wait to see heaven!” I knew exactly what she meant…it was absolutely breathtaking and if man could make something that spectacular, just imagine what God has planned for us!!

















We also saw the largest synagogue in Europe located in the Jewish district as well as a poignant memorial along the Danube embankment…a line of iron shoes set in stone commemorates the Jews who were summarily executed and whose bodies were then dumped in the River.








Other highlights for me were:



The Chain Bridge, the first bridge to connect Buda and Pest over the Danube River.






















The Fisherman’s Bastion is turn of the century neo-gothic and neo-Romanesque style buildings in the castle district on the Buda side of the river. It was built to provide a worthy setting for the famous Matthias Church, where Hungary’s last two kings were crowned. The Matthias Church suffered extensive damage in WWII…so much that it took two decades to repair it! After climbing flights of stairs we were rewarded with a close-up view of the church and a grand panorama of almost the entire city.








Heroes’ Square features at its center a monument that is a 160 ft. high column with a winged creature on top and the statues of 7 famous conquering chiefs on pedestals. Behind these there is a semicircular colonnade with the statues of the most outstanding Hungarian kings, princes, and commanders between the columns. On the sides of the square is an art gallery and Museum of Fine Arts. Behind the square is a huge park…complete with a zoo, circus, amusement park, bath houses, playgrounds, and another castle.















Budapest truly has some amazing architecture…grand and old buildings are everywhere. We truly had an amazing time in this ancient city on the Danube. If you ever get the chance to visit, I would highly recommend it!