Irony

Eighteen years ago, before the revolution, Romanians stood in lines like this to get bread, a couple of eggs, a little bit of sugar. And what do they wait for today? To pay their bills...for cable television and internet access. I dare say they didn't even dream of this 18 years ago!

I intended to pay my own internet bill on Thursday morning, the first time I spotted the line. However, I know that the line inside is only half as long as the line outside, and I've waited inside for up to 45 minutes before. With temperatures below freezing, I wasn't particularly interested in standing in line outside for up to an hour and a half and then inside for another 45 minutes. So, I went back later in the afternoon. The line was still outside. Yesterday morning? Still outside. Afternoon? When I finally took this picture. Although lines to pay bills aren't unusual, the length of this one definitely is an aberration. Truthfully, I can't figure out why they all stood there and didn't just come back later. When I was there just after they opened at 9 o'clock this morning, I was the 5th person in line (and still waited for almost half an hour!). My bill is paid, I had some amusement for the week, and I dare say I'm not half as cold as those people who stood there forever and are probably still wondering if they will ever feel their toes again.

Bureaucrazy

Is that a typo? Well, kind of. It was a typo this first time I typed it. Then I realized it was pretty accurate, so I left it. Bureaucracy. Craziness. Put the two together, and you have an accurate description of the process I have gone through the last 2 days in order to reregister my car.

Here's a recap of the process (as best as I can remember it...honestly, I'm trying to forget it all in order to lower my stress level):
1. Call the police station. Verify that my new visa has arrived.
2. Walk to the police station; move fast so as not to freeze in place.
3. Look for the officer who has my visa in his desk. Not there. Go through doors marked "access forbidden", "authorized personnel only", etc. looking for said man. He's taking a break (with all of the other personnel in the building, apparently, precipitating the need to go behind said doors). Sign my life away, get my new visa (complete with no-smile picture...cuz if I smile, he'll make me take the picture again until I can keep a straight face).
4. Walk across town to another police station (we have different stations for every different police function, all in different parts of town).
5. Take a number, wait my turn, and ask the man behind the glass exactly what documents I need in order to register my car so that I don't run around like a chicken with my head cut off. Make a list.

Stick with me. This is where it gets good.

6. Go home. Gather all documents on aforementioned list.
7. Return to the police station (visit #3 today, if you are keeping track).
8. Take a number, wait 45 minutes for the 3 numbers before me to be called.
9. Give the man behind the glass all of the documents he told me to bring. "Umm, where is this? and this?" Umm, I don't know, since you never told me I needed those!
10. Go back home, pick up another document.
11. Go to the office next to the police station, pay them to type up a request asking that my car be registered and to make copies of my passport, visa, etc.
12. Go back to the police station (visit #4). Take a number, wait in line, blah blah blah.
13. Give my stuff to the man behind the glass again. "Why isn't this document stamped by the mayor's office?" Umm, I don't know. Maybe cuz no one ever told me that it needed to be. And there's no actual place on the form asking for the signature or stamp of the mayor's office. Apparently, my mind-reading skills have failed me.
14. Walk across town to the mayor's office. Stand in another line. And then another. Get the stamp that I need on my papers (Romanians have a love affair with stamps...I need to get my own!).
15. Stop at home to take the old plates off of my car (during visit #4, the man behind the glass told me to bring them with me).
16. Back to the police station again (visit #5). Take a number, wait in line.
17. Talk to the man behind the glass. "Where are your tax receipts?" What tax receipts? "Go to this office, pay this much for this tax and this much for this tax, then come back." Thanks, think you could have told me all of this the first time I was here? Or the 2nd? Or the 3rd? Or even the 4th?
18. Go to said office. Stand in line to pay taxes. Actually, there was no line. I just stood there, waiting for the clerk who was clearly bothered by the fact that she had to help me. I told her what I needed to pay. "You can't pay those here." This is where I was told to come. "Well, you can pay the first one here, but then you have to go over there to pay the other one." Pay tax #1. Go stand at another window. Wait for clerk who is clearly ignoring me while filing her nails. Eventually, pay tax #2.
19. Return to police station (visit #6). Take a number, stand in line. Man behind the glass sees me standing there, tells me to come ahead to the front. "Okay, everything looks good now." Wait. "Come back tomorrow morning." Guess I shouldn't have been surprised by that. Wouldn't want to make it TOO convenient!
20. Walk home...
21. ....and the next morning, walk back to the police station (visit #7). Take a number, wait my turn. Show my receipts, tell them what I came for. Wait. Wait. Ah, there they are. Sign for the registration paperwork for my car. Wait some more. They can't find my license plates anywhere. 15 minutes later, someone else comes out and tells me I have to come back next week to pick up my plates. Boy, that's a shocker!!!
22. Walk home, scan old plates (which the man behind the glass decided he didn't really want after all yesterday), change the number, print them, cut them out, cover in clear Contact paper, put fake plates on the car (This is legal...really! I have all of the legal paperwork for the car, including the number assigned to my plates, so I can make temporary plates with that number until the new ones are ready. Most people use a black marker on a piece of cardboard.).
23. Next week I'll go back and pick up the plates. Not bad...by the time the process is completely done, it will have only taken 1 1/2 days, about $60, and 8 trips to the police station.

Can't wait to do it again next year...

Christmas Caroling

Unless you've been Christmas caroling in Romania (or elsewhere in Eastern Europe), just forget whatever mental picture you might have based on the title of this post. I promise the experience here is different than anything you've experienced.

This is my third Christmas in Romania, so I've learned some important lessons. First of all, Christmas caroling here is an all-night experience (for the purists, at least). The first year, I showed up at church at 6, expecting to be home by 8, 9 at the latest. Since it had been a busy day, I figured I would eat dinner when I got home. Big mistake! This year, I made it home by 2:30 am (we're a little bit older and have a little less stamina than the purists!).

I've also learned to dress in lots of layers. Two years ago, I wondered if I would ever warm up after a long night of caroling. Last year we had a very mild winter, so it wasn't so bad. This winter is FREEZING! I was as prepared as possible...boots, scarf, gloves, long wool coat, 2 pairs of socks...and I still felt like an icicle. I came home and shivered for several more hours. Not sure if I can call that a lesson learned or not???

So, here's the night in pictures:

We drove around a lot in our caravan of 6 cars,



...we did some singing,




...and we were served lots of Christmas goodies and drinks.






I walked around all night with my big camera bag & alternated between the digital camera, the video camera, and my mp3 player (which makes decent audio recordings). Once in a while, I even put all 3 away and actually sang. I love Christmas caroling Romanian-style, though I must confess that one night a year is sufficient for me!

Remembering

Dad entered the presence of his Savior Jesus Christ 4 years ago today, December 20, 2003. I found this poem earlier today, and I think it might be the poem that we included in the funeral program. But, honestly, those days are a blur & I'm really not certain. And in the unheaval of moving to the other side of the world the next year, I'm not sure what happened to my copy of the program. Maybe it's tucked away somewhere.

Christmas in Heaven
I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below,
With tiny lights, like Heaven’s stars, reflecting on the snow.
The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away the tear,
For I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year!

I hear the many Christmas songs, that people hold so dear.
But the sounds of music can’t compare with the Christmas choir up here.
I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring,
For it’s beyond description, to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me, I see pain inside your heart.
But I am not so far away, we really aren’t apart.
So be happy for me, loved ones, you know I hold you dear,
And be glad I’m spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year!

I send you each a special gift, from my heavenly home above.
I send you each a memory of my undying love.
After all, Love is a gift, more precious than pure gold.
It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.

Please love and keep each other as our Father said to do.
For I can’t count the blessings or love He has for you.
So have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear,
Remember, I’m spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year!

- Wanda Bencke

'Tis the Season

What's up with YOU?!?

I'm not a big fan of December around here, so I'll spare you the details. But, you can click on "comments" below and let me know who you are and what's going on in your corner of the world. It'll brighten up my gray December days!

Till then...here's some snapshots from the first 10 days of December.

December 1 is Romania's national holiday, not so much an "Independence Day" as a "Unification Day" when the three provinces were joined to form one independent nation.





During that same weekend, we took a group of teens and college students to a youth conference in Alba Iulia. Maybe someday I'll write about the somewhat traumatic process of getting there...


As part of the conference, each group was sent to a village church or church plant to minister during the Sunday morning service. Our kids did a great job in the little village church in Daia. For many of them, it was their first opportunity to minister in a church other than our own.



Also during that same weekend...the first mall in Targu Mures officially opened. It took me a week to finally get there, and I won't be rushing back anytime soon. But then, I'm not a big mall fan anywhere. Rumor has it that KFC might be coming to the mall someday soon, but I'm not holding my breath.


Last week we had our annual team meetings, talked about dreams & vision, and worked on next year's budget. Just as we were wrapping things up, the courier arrived from the publisher with student book #8 - The Exile and Return, hot off the presses.


Saturday we started rehearsals for the teens'Christmas program. Last night (Tuesday) they recorded the soundtrack for the program.


Some took the process a little more seriously than others. :)






And that's all I've got for you tonight.

Doing The Winter Shuffle

No, it's not the latest dance craze. Rather, it's a "new" way of walking that I rediscover with the first significant snowfall of each winter. Sidewalks are rarely cleared or salted here, so snow turns to mush, which turns to uneven ice, which in turn makes for a somewhat tenuous walking situation.

Unless you learn the winter shuffle.

It goes something like this: lift left foot (careful, not too high!), carefully slide it forward a bit, establish somewhat sure footing, lift right foot (remember, not too high...you can't be TOO sure that the other foot will stay exactly where you put it!), carefully slide it forward, establish somewhat sure footing, repeat as many times as necessary to arrive at your destination. NOTE: Multi-tasking while doing the winter shuffle is strongly discouraged. This is an activity which requires all of your attention. Failure to focus properly could have painful (and potentially embarassing) consequences.