Hi Everybody,
Today was much cooler than yesterday. There was a strong breeze, which felt wonderful, but was rough on the athletes on the water. Luckily, the girls only had one practice today, and it was before the wind picked up. Sheaffer took the boys back up the mountain to the monastery, but this time he let them go a bit slower and stay long enough to buy souvenirs.
This morning, breakfast conversation consisted of what everyone wants to have for their first breakfast when they get back home. Blake and Sheaffer’s description of their grandmothers’ biscuits and gravy had everyone drooling. Don’t get me wrong, our breakfasts here are wonderful – cereal, fresh bread, a meat platter, Nutella, etc – but there is just something about home cooking, know what I mean?
All practices were finished by noon, but our kids weren’t sure if the nap in the afternoon rule still applied. Most spent the time napping, but some just read quietly. By 3 o’clock, everyone was up and ready to go. Susan and I walked to one of the cell phone stores to see if they had wireless modems, but the store had closed at 1:00 pm. We continued on to the Spar Market for a coffee and a Coke, then some shopping. On the way back, we stopped and sat in the neatest little park and watched the children play. We were feeling very nostalgic about our babies, but that ended when the crying began. LOL The park was so pretty, with lots of roses everywhere. When I think of Orsova, I will definitely remember the roses.
Apparently the ladies who handle the housekeeping and cooking here leave early on Saturday. We came in sometime after lunch, which was wonderful, to find little bags with picnic fare stacked on the table. While the food was good, we decided to take this opportunity to go out to dinner. We went in groups so as not to overwhelm any one restaurant, but, strangely enough, we all ended up in the same place – the pizza/ chickenburger place. YUM! The kids came in during the evening and ate their picnics.
I am going to tell y’all about the game the kids played with the RO athletes tonight, but I understand that the description can not possibly convey just how much fun they had playing this. I know it will sound bizarre, but they played it for HOURS, laughing loudly the whole time. Only the boys played; the girls sat on the side and cheered. Heather filmed a lot of it, but I don’t know if the video turned out.
Ok, first athlete stands with his back against the wall and a pillow held over his stomach and “parts.” Second athlete bends at the waist and puts his head against the pillow. Third player puts his head, well, between the second player’s legs and holds on to the second player’s hips. This continues until the first team has formed a chain several athletes long. The second team’s athletes, one at a time, get a running start and jump as far up the chain as they can, landing on the backs of the other team. The first team loses if they break the chain and the second team loses if any of their athletes touch the ground. Weird, huh? Honestly, they played this for hours. Stanton and Blake were talking about how fun it was and how they hoped it would be played again before we leave. They wondered if Claudiu had ever played this and if he would let them play it at our club. Yeah, I promise to get pictures if they play it again.
(Editors note: Having played this with members of my highschool band, I immediately recognized this as the game called 'Buck Buck' made famous by Bill Cosby. Check this entry on Wikipedia for more info, or click here to hear Cosby's version.)
Because no one has any practices tomorrow, Sheaffer allowed everyone to have until 11:30 before they had to be in their rooms. All of the athletes were literally just outside the Club building and easily in view of Susan and me. I have to admit, there were times we just stood on the balcony and stared at them, wondering at the game and how much fun they were having. The only thing needed to play was a pillow, and Stanton said they didn’t have that at first. Forgive me if I go on and on about it, but it just tickled me to see them all out there, laughing and cheering for each other, no matter if the person was Romanian or American. Just kids, having fun on a Saturday night.
Take care,
Marcy
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