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Try this link: http://web.mac.com/catpopa/ .

Thanks.

NEW BLOG

Hi everyone! this is Daniela! I am soooooooooooo sorry that I haven't or anyone else in my family hasn't posted! Well, I am not posting a very long blog, but i do have some very good news!!!
MY FAMILY HAS MADE A NEW BLOG
If you want to see it go to WEB.MAC.COM/CAPOPA BUT don't put www. because it doesn't work when you do that!!!

Thanks
Bye!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving! About every thing we planned went the right way! We ended up on having two families come and we had a great dinner of turkey, mandarine/marshmallow salad, mashed potatoes, pies, mouse, salad and all other different things!

We had a great time fellowshiping with other people and being able to just chat and hang out together. The kids had fun too, as well as hearing the Thanksgiving story from me and coloring pages of printed pictures!

I think that it went quite well and we had a great time!

Well I hope that your Thanksgiving was as great as ours!
Daniela

Celebrating Daniela's birthday in Constanta, near the Black Sea.

Daniela's 12th birthday

Here celebrating with her friends and classmates.

Thanksgiving is Coming!!!

Aren't you so happy that Thanksgiving is coming? I don't know about you, but I really like this holiday! It is so great to give thanks to God and be thankful for all the friends and family he has given us!

This year, we are planning to host a "Thanksgiving Feast" at our house. We are having about 2 or 3 families in our 1100 square foot apartment! It will be crowed, but we will have fun! I personally think that it will be really fun.

Last year, our dear friends the Opstrups gratiously offered their house in Romania (which was quite big) for a FEW families and teachers for a great meal! If you don't know who the Opstrups are, they are a embassy family who used to live here. My mom and Mrs. Opstrup became friends. Also, there was a little boy Naomi's age, a girl named McKayla who was about Lexi's age and a 4-year-old who I played with. Oh yeah, and the dads got along well, too!

Well this year, since they are not here to be with us, we decided to do it this year. Hopefuly, it will be a good day!

Well, I better go because this night is our "Family Game Night" and we are going to watch a really low-budget movie ($1,000 to make it), but I have heard that it is really funny!

Siging Off,

Daniela

Snowing In Bucharest

A few days ago, we were happy to recieve some snow!!! For the whole day, it snowed and snowed and rained! (Not to mention the us girls had "Pyjama Day" at school that day!)
It was fun to recieve a little gift!
Recently, the Lexi, my mom and I were able to serve about 25 teachers for a teacher appreciation day. It was nice listening to all of the "thank yous" and "it was wonderfuls"!
Daniela

Constanza

This week, the girls only had two days of school, which means they have a five day weekend! As some of you may know, Daniela's birthday is on the 22nd.

We decided to take a "birthday trip" up to Constanza, were the Black Sea is! We hope this will be a time to see lots of ruins and just have fun in the sand!

Also, not to change the subject or anything, but Catalin's dad will be having an important surgery in November. Please continue to pray for him for his health! Thank you so much!

Blessing,

The Popa Family

(Catalin, Shannon, Daniela, Lexi and Naomi)

Bucharest... closed!

Yes, Daniela has taken over the maintenance of our blog but she graciously allowed her mother a few moments of writing time.

The city of Bucharest is in a scurry. Streets are closed, helicopters circle the air and this week all federal offices and Romanian schools will be closed. The media has advised the city's 2.5 million residents to stay home or take public transportation. If fact they acknowledged that its citizens will live a nightmare this week as Bucharest prepares to host the 2006 Francophone Summit. Not familiar with this? I wasn't either. Basically all the "big wigs" from every French speaking country in the world will be gathering together in Bucharest to.....I don't know exactly.....speak French?? According to the World News Forecast, "The 2006 summit issues include assessing the goals set at the 2004 Summit in Burkina Faso where the theme was equitable globalization and sustainable development". So why cripple the entire city? Evidently each major hotel in Bucharest only possesses one presidential suite and since 63 nations will be represented, well you get the idea.....major chaos!

On the home front we had a fun but busy weekend as Daniela and some of her classmates thoughtfully decided to surprise their fellow classmate with a birthday party. Disguised as a mere sleepover at Daniela's, the unsuspecting Korean girl arrived at our apartment where her friends sprung the surprise on her. Interestingly enough our massive 1100sq. ft. apartment was voted as the "big" apartment in which this party could best be hosted. It was probably the other mothers who made that suggestion!! Actually it was great fun as 6 junior high girls made claim to our living room for the night while Catalin and I were exiled to our bedroom. :-)

Howdy pardners!

Recap

Hi Everyone!

This is Daniela typing. I am now in charge of updating this blog.

Our summer was great. We were fortunate enough to be able to go back to the States. It was a great time to see our extended family, friends and even go to a few churches and share what we are doing here in Romania. All in all, it was probably one of the most fun and action filled summers we have ever had.

I am sorry to cut this short, but I need to get started on getting ready for school.

Until I post again,

Daniela

... so, you wanna know a secret?....

EASTER 2006.

The Opstrup clan, our close friends - Kevin, Christy, McKayla, Kaya, and Keaton.

Our neighbors, Paul and Paula and their twin daughters.

Lining up for the Easter egg hunt.

So, there is a battle for Easter eggs? Nobody told me that before we got here!

Seconds after the start of the Easter egg hunt.

These woods hold great wealth... Easter eggs with candy inside.

Yes, they're all mine.

Catching a bit of sunshine with a good book in hands.

Naomi keeping company to Keaton, her playmate, after Keaton took a fall and injured his ear and head.

C'mon everybody, let's dance.

How cool I am... without my front teeth.

Hey everyone, look at me!

The before and after...

Daniela posing as an alien.

A dancing Naomi can barely wait for her 2nd birthday party to start.

Lexi, our little poet, at a poetry reading with her 2nd grade class.

Daniela and Princess

The neighbor next door

Our next-door-neighbor is an elderly couple who we have often greeted in passing and made attempts to befriend. When we first moved in I took them some cookies and this past Christmas I prepared another plate of goodies to wish them a happy holiday. They are always kind and appreciative but have remained very private. They have told us in our brief conversations that they speak some English so when my Romanian is inadequate--which it often is--then we try in English. And by now you should have figured that this is Shannon writing! :-

Last summer I enjoyed seeing them work in the small garden they have claimed in the front of our building. Such serenity it offered them right in the middle of a bustling city. On the 21st of February (Naomi's birthday) we passed the gentleman as were walking up the stairs to our apartment. "How old is she now?", he asked. "Two years old today!", I responded. "Oh, well many happy returns to her", he said with a nod. I thought about how rare it was to hear that expression used any more, but also how nice it sounded. Although I didn't know it then, that was to be the last interaction we would have with our neighbor.

Two weeks ago there was a big commotion at their apartment and I saw an ambulance but wasn't sure what had transpired. The next day we saw 3 little candles lit outside their door, an indication that someone had died. For a few days we weren't sure which one of them had passed away, but then learned that the kind gentleman was gone.

We asked a few Romanian friends what the proper means of paying our respect might be. Even Catalin wasn't sure if we should take flowers or food. Some people said that we shouldn't do anything because it wasn't expected but I know how much Catalin and his dad appreciated it when people brought food to them after his mother's passing. Finally I decided to give her a pretty plant and some apple cake that Daniela and her friend had just made. They had wanted to do something for her too.

When we knocked on her door I wasn't sure what to expect. She had never opened the door so much as to even see inside, but this time was different. We told her how very sorry we were for her loss and that we wanted to give her these things in memory of her husband. She opened the door wide and practically pulled us in. "Please", she said, "sit down and have some juice. I'm so sorry that I never invited you in before." At this point I was surprised by two things. First of all, I had no idea she spoke English as well as she did, and secondly she began to tell us all about their life together.

She said that they had been married for 58 years and that he had been a journalist. Up until 1977 they had traveled a lot and had even lived in various countries like Yugoslavia, Egypt and England. Their daughter traveled with them as well and they always put her in the best English or French schools, she said proudly. Some of the schools were so expensive that half of her husbands salary would be swallowed up just to pay for her education. Then in 1977 Causescu (the former Romanian dictator) really cracked down on foreign travel and they were required to remain in Romania.

Daniela and I sat for half an hour and listened as she recounted their life together. At times she would use the present tense in reference to him and then shake her head and with tears change it to the past tense. "I am so alone now", she said. As we left I gave her a hug and told her to please ask us if she needed anything that we could possibly offer her. I think our friendship will be the most valuable gift, and I assured her of our prayers.

Shannon