Fall Feelings and Halloween Happenings

I hit my half way mark! 8 weeks down and 8 weeks to go. As I reflect on the time I have spent here and the time that I have left, I can't help but wonder what my life would currently be like if I had decided to not come to Romania. The month of October is my favorite month out of the entire year for many reason. In the past it has been full of changing and falling leaves, carving pumpkins, hot chocolate, scary movies, haunted houses, football games, and many of my other favorite things. This year I have tried to incorporate as many of those things into my daily life as I can, but it sometimes proves to be quite difficult. I have found myself more homesick and envious of my friends back home this past month than any other time while in Europe. That is why I have decided to use this blog to compare and contrast what my life would be like back home vs. what it is like here in Romania.

The first thing that I miss most is beautiful thing that happens in Oregon and Utah during the fall. The leaves all turn vibrant orange, yellow, and red and fall to the ground creating a complete canvas of color to spend your days in. I love bundling up in scarves and hats and rain boots to take a walk outside and smell the rain and enjoy the beautiful world be are blessed to live in. In Romania, a similar phenomenon occurs. There are also many tree's that change color and I am constantly greeted by a new beautiful sight to see and picture to take. The thing I love about the beauty in Romania is the culture surrounding it. Along with color changing tree's, there are flower shops on every street corner adding to the vibrant fall colors around me. As I walk down the street bundled up in my warm clothes I not only smell the rain, but also the sweet scent of freshly made pretzels from my favorite nearby pretzel stand. When I was in Germany I saw not only thousands of breathtaking views full of tree's and lush green fields like I see in Oregon, but views of castles and palaces as well. The thing I love about the scenery here in Europe is that it isn't like the scenery at home. It is different and unique to what I am use to, yet still beautiful. That is reason enough for me to love it just as much.

Another thing I miss most about home is the excitement and atmosphere that leads up to Halloween. Halloween is not a largely celebrated holiday here and many people don't see it as a big deal. This has been strange for me because in my family, Halloween is a huge deal. The other night I was looking on social media of everyone carving pumpkins and dressing up for costume parties and I couldn't help but envy them. I love carving pumpkins and I thought about what I would have carved on mine and what I would have dressed up as for Halloween this year. Then I thought about how I get to dress up in scrubs and spend my days with my precious babies every single day. I am willing to sacrifice giving up one night of dressing up for pretend, so that I can dress up for real everyday and bring smiles to my kids faces. As for the pumpkin carving-I don't care if I have to carve an apple, something will get carved this week before Halloween.

Another thing that I have been missing out on is going to all of the haunted houses, scary corn mazes, and watching scary movies with my friends. I am a girl of very little fears and I find "scary" and "haunted" houses and corn mazes much more amusing rather than terrifying. I enjoy the thrill of making it to the end without getting scared and I look forward to seeing if I can find one that makes me jump. Since no such things exists in Romania, I have had to do a bit of compromising. That is when I realized that I am living in a real life haunted house also known as my lovely apartment. I have already told you stories of exploding pipes, broken toilets, and a washing machine with a mind of its own, but there have been many other events that I have not mentioned. Between my lights shutting completely off all on their own (sometimes for days) and my bathroom light flickering like straight out of a horror film, I can find my amusement right here at home. There is our demon possessed bird, strange tapping noises that continue throughout the night, and don't get me started about the many strange pictures and drawings found on the walls of my apartment. I realized that living in a real haunted houses is much more appealing than having to pay a lot of money to spend an hour or two in one created for the sole purpose of causing teenage girls to scream more than humanly possible. (Disclaimer: I love haunted houses and I know a lot of work and energy goes into creating them).

This thing is above one of the girls beds and it is freaky. You can't really see the face on the butterfly but it would definitely give me nightmares!

There are things at home that I simply cannot participate in here such as attending football games and attending the annual center street Halloween party. However, I will be spending the weekend before Halloween in Transylvania exploring Dracula's castle which is pretty darn cool. I will get to experience the fairy tale version of Halloween with vampires and castles and I get to spend it with the many friends I have made here, This will be a once in a lifetime holiday for me and an experience I would not want to trade for the world. No amount of my moms homemade pumpkin pie or candy corn or other American Halloween novelties could change my mind about where I want to spend my Halloween this year. So although I miss my American home and Halloween; I look forward for the next few festive days (and weeks) to come.