Recap - Friday, June 5th

Hi Everyone,

Today was a really good day, I think.  Practices went well and the food was pretty good. LOL I don’t know if y’all can understand how important food has become to the kids.  There is food aplenty, but most of our kids are pretty picky eaters and the food is not what they’re used to.  Sheaffer spoke with Claudiu and Zabet about why our kids were not eating a lot of the food, so now we are having roast or baked chicken more frequently. YUM!!! Bet y’all never saw kids so grateful to see an old baked chicken thigh. I took some pics at lunch so moms and dads can see that their kids really are eating.  Sheaffer’s folks, please note the photo where he is willingly and happily eating green peas.  He said you wouldn’t believe it without proof. (Editors note - photo coming soon - we're checking it for authenticity!)

This morning Susan and I went to take some pics of the practice and to have a morning espresso at the little café just down from the boathouse.  Unfortunately, the cafe wasn’t open yet.  The boathouse was flying the flags of the countries that are participating in tomorrow’s regatta.  The US flag was flying in the middle, next to the Romanian flag. It was such a pretty sight; I think I got some pretty good photos that I’ll share as soon as I can.  The various team buses were pulling in today and I have to tell y’all, I am impressed and envious!!  We are not talking cheap charters here; these are some gorgeous buses, though none have matched up to the beautifully painted bus owned by Club Orsova.

The internet went down before lunch, which is why y’all will be reading this late.  Most of the kids took a nap after lunch, but Heather and Holly took Hev’s computer to one of the Romanians’ room and watched a movie with the girls.  Both of our girls fell asleep during the movie, waking up just before the ending.  Three practices a day are making for some tired kids.  Sheaffer has the boys doing AB workouts almost every day and they are definitely feeling the effects.  Today, I think Blake moved the easiest of the four boys, so he was enjoying being the one telling jokes and making the other boys hold their Abs in pain.

Rebecca and Anna found out today that there is someone here who does the laundry.  The lady does have a washer, but she brings the clothes back wet for you to hang out to dry. I will admit to being relieved by this; I was not looking forward to hand washing all my clothes.

Heather, Holly, and Rebecca went in a K4 this afternoon with Heather’s K2 partner, Alexandra.  They looked pretty good by the end of practice.  The boys were in K1s this afternoon and they had a pretty easy practice, since tomorrow is a race day.  The kids are excited about the race, but we don’t have many of the details yet.  After the race, we are going on a cruise with the Club around the bay.

Susan and I finally got our coffee this afternoon, during the afternoon practice.  We sat outside the small café and had a perfect view of the practice area and the surrounding mountains.  Afterwards, we strolled down the walkway to a new supermarket called the Spar Mart.  We had a lot of fun looking at the various labels, all of which were in Romanian, of course.  I was looking for some milk for Sheaffer.  The milk at the club is served warm and, well, kind of chunky.  I don’t know if it is buttermilk or yogurt or what, but it has a very different flavor.  Sheaffer doesn’t care for it and hadn’t been able to find any milk that he did care for, so I thought I would give it a shot.  I found a milk I thought would work; it had a high milkfat percentage, which I thought might mean it was whole milk. WRONG!!!  It was half and half!!!!  Still, it gave Sheaffer hope, so he set off to the market after dinner to see if one of the other milks in that line was just normal milk.  He and Ricky did seem to enjoy the cream though.  Susan and I felt very European, walking home from the market with our bags in hand. LOL

Heather and Holly ate dinner with the Romanian athletes, then spent the evening visiting with their Romanian friends, practicing each other’s language and admiring each other’s clothes.  Anna and Rebecca went with the guys to the Spar Mart to see if they could find some ice cream and normal milk.

I haven’t had a chance to talk much about our surroundings.  The city seems to be surrounded by the mountains, with the river running through the valley.  Most of the buildings were built during the Communist era or just shortly after.  While the buildings are not necessarily picturesque, what the people have done with yard areas is.  There are roses everywhere. Big, beautiful blooms that smell divine.  Susan and I have had to stop a number of times just to sniff the air.  The people are very friendly and seem to be very patient with foreigners who don’t speak their language.  No one gets upset when it takes us a minute (or three) to figure out the money due, and we have to be careful or they won’t let us pay the full amount.  They wave us off when we go digging for the proper change.

The kids have found a number of small markets that they are comfortable going to. They have also found an older supermarket called Penny’s, and a number of ice cream and pizza shops.  I could tell they had been to Spar Mart recently because, when I hesitated getting my money together, unsure about how much she had said, the cashier pulled out a calculator and entered the amount I owed.  She put the calculator down where I could see it and smiled. Obviously, she had had to do this recently.

I know this probably won’t get posted until Monday, when the computers will be turned back on.  Apparently they were turned off for the weekend.  I am sorry if this causes anyone stress, but we didn’t have any warning.

Take care,

Marcy