I was struck by a couple of powerful thoughts: 1) The Mass was beautifully done with Romanian carols, and lots of singing; 2) Aside from the sung parts, I was able to keep up with about 65% of the service, and the homily was really wonderful in a foreign language. The church was tastefully decorated with simple trees and a beautiful manger scene.
Afterward, I found a small supermarket that was open (basically all the businesses were open because of the difference in dates -- kind of handy), and bought oranges, then found a stand with some tangerines and bought a half kilogram of those as well, and headed to Trușeni to spend the day with my first host family.
Mariana made traditional Christmas fare (not) of pizza and a roast chicken. It was delightful and later, some of Gelu and Mariana's friends came over from their church group and had a small prayer gathering and sang traditional colindas -- carols. It was fun to spend the day with my adopted family, bring them some gifts and receive the gift of inclusion.
After a full day, I headed back to Ialoveni, met up with some of my new friends and current adult students who showered me with gifts of food and alcohol, and lots of hugs all around. Then I got back to my room about 10pm to Skype with my family who had all gathered at my older brother's house for the holiday. This was a marathon bout of Skyping as the family is large and I still didn't get to chat with my nieces and nephews.
So, on this second Christmas -- the 7th of January, I wish all the world, but especially Moldova, a very happy holiday and much joy and light in the new year!
