Basketball Tourney

The hub school's gym teacher decided to challenge the girls and the guys of the Peace Corps to a little basketball. Nils and his group of guys started practicing Saturdays to give the middleschoolers some serious competition. It was a good game to watch. The middle schoolers seriously almost "schooled" our guys but luckily the CP (Corpul Pacii) team pulled ahead by one point by the end of the game. At one point, the middle school team was ahead by 15 points. Now that's a Jazz-like comeback!

For us girls, we didn't even know who would be playing until the "day of". But come on! The kids are only in middle school. No big deal, right? Uh, unless the coach plays.... That's right! The coach had played on a professional women's team back in the day and had a great time "spanking" us all. The end score was 44-16 (I think)... I made a 2-point basket though!

The guys played first, so here's a picture of my team warming the bench. We did a little cheering, and of course lead the WAVE :)

New Looks

Okay, we were out on the town celebrating a trainee's birthday when suddenly someone said it would be really cool to have all the guys in the group grow a mustache for the swearing-in ceremony. A few girls were behind the idea and they even went to the trouble of asking my permission for Nils to grow one. So Nils started growing his. After a few days, it was looking pretty good, but every guy tends to say how much they hate mustaches, how creepy they look, while secretly harboring a deep love for them. Definitely one of those complex "love-hate" relationships. So here's what Nils looks like with a -stache....

As a note, Nils also got a really nice hair cut. Cost him all of 7 RON. Great price and a nice job.

For me... I thought I had lost my glasses at the hotel. Luckily the Peace Corps requires you bring a second pair, so I wasn't too bad off. When we made a trip to Bucuresti later, I had the chance of picking out a new pair. Peace Corps gives you up to one free pair of glasses. Here's the new pair. Lilian, one of the staff at Peace Corps helped me pick them out. I like 'em. They're trendy and something I would have never thought to pick out myself.

Even in Romania....

Nils and I enjoyed General Conference this past Saturday and Sunday. Of course, we watched it at 7:00pm so it felt kinda funny leaving the church building when it was dark outside. But I am so grateful we were able to watch it, even in Romania.

Romania is a truly wonderful place of opportunity and learning. There were several talks that reinforced a lot of what we've been learning here. The talk by Cheryl Lant about traditions reminded me that there are many precious traditions pass down in families that are worth preserving. It's important to respect and learn from others' traditions. Elder Wirthlin talked about leadership; how leaders should be concerned for the ONE as much as they are concerned for the WHOLE. He celebrated diversity and reminded us that we shouldn't try to all be the same, but appreciate differences. I especially liked how he said sometimes the "slowest" end up going the "farthest". It made me think of language classes.... It's not always about catching on and being able to speak perfectly as much as it is being creative and connecting with people. I was filled to the brim with the beautiful messages and feelings of joy and peace.