Craciun Ferecit! (Merry Christmas!)

Wow. I have thought since stepping off the plane in July that Christmas here in Romania would be the hardest time of the year for me. Honestly, it couldn't be further from it. One of my favorite things about living in Romania is that everything is so unexpected. I love exploring the differences that are inevitable when living in another culture. There is something magnificent about sharing life's most treasured time of year (so I think) with other people who are willing to open up their life with a "stranger" and guide them through the unfamiliar territory. So let me fill you in on my Christmas story...
Our Christmas tree. Fashioned by a well-known 4 and 6 year old. Complete with flashing colored lights.
Our pretend fireplace made of cardboard, construction paper, and tissue paper. Turns out I miss having the real thing. =] The boy's stockings hung neatly in front of it.
Our little Christmas elves. Or maybe they're santas in training. Either way they are all decked out and ready for their school's Christmas party. Where they both said poems aloud and sang colinda(s) (carols) in Romanian. It was adorable.
Christmas morning. We actually slept in til 8:30! Amazing, huh?
And here is what I am marveling at in the above picture. Karen and Maurice got me a watercolor of the citadel. It is definitely one of my favorite gifts!

Okay so here's how our Christmas went...
Christmas Eve we were invited to go caroling with a family from our church (the Ludu family). We were super excited, since caroling with the family is a Romanian tradition that we weren't sure we would have the honor of participating in. Alas, we did! With a wonderful family, too. We arrived at their house unsure of what to expect...would we just sing together at the house and enjoy some traditional food? Would we actually be going around to houses to carol? In fact, it was the latter. We spent almost 4 hours going around to about 10 houses, singing Romanian carols that we had just learned with the family. At each house we went, we were invited in for some suc (juice) and prajitura (sweets) of some kind and then encouraged to sing some more! It was a fun night and a wonderful time of fellowship with the Ludu family. Once we reached home, the boys and I crashed-excited for Christmas morning.
Christmas day was quite a rush. We woke up at the decent time of 8:30 and after opening a fresh box of Lucky Charms (woot!) began the fun of gifts. Watching the boys get excited over each one they opened was funny. And opening mine, was a blessing. Some had been sent from friends and family (and I restrained myself until Christmas morning) and others were from Karen and Maurice. It was amazing to me the provision God has for you when you least expect it (or are even asking for it). Thanks to all who sent their Christmas blessings to me!
After opening gifts and lazing about for a bit, I made my way to Roberta's to help with Christmas lunch preparations. We worked together for an hour before the guests began arriving and then all of us enjoyed a wonderful meal together. There was about 12 people there and it was a lot of fun to eat and celebrate. I left Roberta's feeling stuffed (although I had been forewarned not to stuff myself) and immediately the Hopkins and I piled into the car and headed for the Ludu household.
After caroling with the Ludu's we were invited to Christmas dinner at their house. Karen tried to politely decline, mentioning that we would be dining at Roberta's. But the response was simply "Oh that's okay, come after you're done there!". Sometimes Romanian hospitality blows me away. What wonderful people! And what an honor to be asked to their house for dinner! So we couldn't refuse and off we went.
We had a beautiful second meal that included Romanian potato salad and bread, homemade sausage and sarmali (with smantana, or sour cream), homemade grape juice, and homemade cozagnac (a traditional Romanian sweet bread). The finale was marshmellow fruit salad that Karen had made. And since you can't get marshmellows here in Romania, that was a huge hit. Eveything was absolutely delicious and again the fellowship with the Ludus was great fun. We shared with each other different wonders of our own cultures and delighted in simply having time to sit and talk.
Straight from there we headed off to Christmas service at the Nazarene Church here in Sighisoara. It was absolutely gorgeous. It was similar to the one at home, with carols and scripture, and lighting of candles. The candles are stuck in oranges, which is again a Romanian tradition (I think). The whole service was very peaceful and joyful, reminding us that even though we are basking in the wonders of having a "different" Christmas, it is truly all about the little baby boy- Jesus Christ.
So I praise God for the many blessings this Christmas season has brought into my life.
And also thank him for the ultimate gift of Jesus Christ, his son.