Cahul

 While volunteering at a camp out here last summer, I was put charge of a group about 10 different high school kids, all from a village called, Cahul. This past weekend, through the help of a friend I had made at the camp, I had the opportunity to visit the southern city, and see some more of the country. I ended up staying at a local pastors house, with his family. With their three wild boys, another American from Saint Louis, and myself, the place was packed out with testosterone. I felt bad for the mother, Nadia. Will, the guy from Saint Louis, was the family's first "guest - negro" as they called him. There aren't too many black people in Eastern Europe, so the locals haven't really had a chance to realize that certain terms aren't necessarily appropriate - haha. They actually refer to Will as, "negronegro", which is supposed to mean double black; since he is naturally pretty dark. Doubly black, or doubly offensive, haha I'm not really sure where the nickname lands. Will has been traveling all throughout Europe, preaching and helping out in various churches around the continent, so he's used to it by now. I feel like I did see him express a sense of relief when he met me, I must say. Anyways, I got in Saturday night, ate some more potatoes, and passed out. 

Sunday morning, I went to church with the family and watched Will give a sermon, which was awesome. After the service, I met an American missionary family from North Carolina. They had been in the country for three months, and were getting ready to head home. They invited me over for some lunch, which I was told would include cookies (chips ahoy) and coke - I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Although ff they had told me they had Sriracha, I would have sprinted to their house. Sunday night, I went with my host family to the birthday party of a local British missionary, who had lived in Cahul for a few years now, teaching English. The room was filled with people who spoke English. It was definitely nice to be able to use my own language freely again, as opposed to the caveman dialect of English that I seem to have adopted since arriving to Moldova. 

Monday morning - finally got to go to the local schools to see my boys from camp! I went to the first school to see my man chicu. Oddly enough, it was his birthday, and I had some peanut m&m's for him! We were stoked to see each other, so I think it made for a good birthday present. My guide (a woman named Nataly whom I also knew from the camp) then took me to the next school, where the rest of my buddies should have been. Unfortunately, we were told that Andrei, Dima, and Artom had decided to skip class to go to an internet cafe. I was a little sad that I didn't get a chance to see them, but at the same time I couldn't blame them. That school is known as one of the worst in the country, which was pretty apparent. Overall I had a great weekend, and a great experience outside of my normal routine. Aesthetically, Cahul is not too different from many of the other Moldovan towns. They did however have a pretty interesting Orthodox Church sitting in the middle of the city. Similar to the one shown in the background of this blog, these old traditional churches are scattered across the country, all of them painted in cool, vibrant colors. Although it's a cool sight from the outside, the inside as I found out, is creepy. As you walk in, you are welcomed by an erie, smoke filled sanctuary, with the sound of some weird, dark, deep, also creepy, hymn/chant, sung by none other than the old dude in the corner wearing a long black robe, and a strange tall black hat. I felt like I was about to be sacrificed to Satan, much less be in a place where people worship Jesus Christ. There was a sign that said no photos, and I hadn't even planned to take photos anyway, because I never think to take photos; but just because I didn't like that place, I took some photos. 

There is a chance that I might be moving to another city here in the next week or so, so I will keep you guys posted on what's happening! 

Love And Be Loved.

1 Corinthians 13:13