Our Adventure Begins....

Buna  ziua!

We finally made it to Bucharest, Romania and are currently on a train to Sighisoara, Romania where we will live for the next 3 months. Yesterday we began our adventures arriving to the Columbus airport, checked our luggage in and spent the last hour before we boarded our flight with our families. Before we left we all joined hands as our parents prayed over us and our journey for the semester. Needless to say the power of prayer saw us safely to Romania.  It should be no surprise to those who know us that we had some hilarious/ interesting experiences during our travels.

·         Thanks to our paparazzi parents we felt famous!

·         To start off all 4 of us left our laptops in our bags and held up security. But to our relief we didn’t feel so bad after finding out that the woman in front of us had a bag full of fried chicken in her carry on (also holding up security).

·         The first plane was so small that even Veronica had to duck to get into her seat.

·         Veronica tried to ask the flight attendant a question but apparently, her inside voice was his outside voice and she terrified him.

·         We saw the only WWII German aircraft that still flies, take off while waiting for our first flight to depart because we were delayed an hour.

·         We saw the statue of liberty before landing.

·         When we arrived to New York all of the fire alarms were going off.

·         We killed time playing Euchre on the floor in JFK airport.

·         Darbi and Sarah spent way too much time on the flight to London trying to play their movies at the same time…THEY DID IT! J

·         Veronica and Ashley sat with a sweet younger Bulgarian lady named Alex who gave tips about traveling abroad.

·         We saw the sun set and rise during the same flight.

·         They fed us A LOT on this flight—snacks and two full meals.

·         LONDON IS EXPENSIVE! First of all the airport looked like a mall. Second, they are very EXPENSIVE. Sarah and Ashley bought a drink and candy each which ended up being $15 a person in American dollars. Ashley is still bitter about not getting the right change back but wants you all to know she drank every drop!

·         The last flight from London to Bucharest was the worst for all of us. It had the most turbulence and Sarah, Ashley and Darbi had had no sleep yet.

·         Throughout our travels we all had a smooth trip. We had no problems finding our way around. If we needed help we found it right away and everyone was more than willing to show us. Nobody’s luggage was lost, and we found Dorothy right away!

Once we arrived Dorothy took us to the Hostel where we would be staying after eating dinner at IKEA! Yes, you read this right. There is in fact an IKEA in Bucharest. Darbi says, “Aunt Deb! I’m so sorry our first IKEA trip couldn’t have been together. On the bright side, I got to go before school started! ;)” Our first experience in a hostel went well with one exception….Darbi almost lost her pointer finger. She woke Sarah up at 8:00AM (which still feels like 1AM for us) freaking out because her pointer finger was huge and purple. She fell asleep with her ring on and she couldn’t get it off. They tried soap, lotion, ibuprofen, a frozen rag, and raising her hand above her head for an hour…NOTHING was working. Finally, before she was about to leave to a clinic she was able to yank that thing off. Her finger is now back to normal for the most part! Afterwards, Dorothy took us to the only mall in Romania to get a Starbucks, which is a luxury here, before we headed to the train station. We got lunch at a Romanian fast food place called Spring Time and all had Soarma (similar to a chicken wrap but better)!  Once we finished lunch, Dorothy took us to our seats on the train that we’re currently on and left to go get the other students from the airport. We’ve only been on board for an hour and it’s been interesting to say the least. We’ve experienced the most culture shock here. It’s been hard being on our own and not being able to speak Romanian let alone understand it. Ashley wanted to use the very few words she knows but then they think she knows Romanian then that causes more problems.  Before the train left, people were constantly walking up and down the train isle trying to sell all kinds of things. Including a guy who came scooting by on the floor, who we assumed couldn’t walk, begging for food and money. We couldn’t understand him until he realized we spoke English and then he said, “Food for the starving children.” We told him we didn’t have any money and he continued to beg. We all were very surprised and felt bad but we are quickly learning that in this country you have to be firm. He finally scooted away but then 20 minutes later he came quickly walking by our seats. It turns out that he can walk!

As we continue our journey we will keep you updated through our blog. Photos are soon to come! Continue to pray for us. We appreciate all of your love and support!

 

Love,

Ashley, Darbi, Sarah and Veronica

Right before we left Columbus

Killing time playing Euchre

We did in fact stay up all night...like champs!

This was the beginning of the sunrise in London. This has to be the coolest/most horrifying view.

After the sunrise...It was gorgeous!

IKEA


Our stay in the HO(s)TEL!

We did in fact get a Starbucks, but were told this will be the only time

Train station in Bucharest

Soarma

View from our train ride to Sighisoara