“A man without a timezone.” Famously quoted by my dad at a late night game of cards, as he described his jet lag proudly. We had the privilege of mom and dad coming to visit us in Timisoara for a week at the beginning of October. We have been here for 10 months and we were excited for them to see what our life here in Romania looks like.
As we have said before, there is a 18-24 month window that is crucial to bonding with another culture. This is why we do not plan to go back to the US before 2 years, and we greatly weighed how this trip would affect that bond. We decided it would be best to have them visit, with the knowledge that it could be very hard after they left. It was hard, but Jeff was very supportive and we gave ourselves space to miss them. Everyday Jeff would ask me, “1-10, how are you feeling?” and sometimes multiple times a day. I think the best parts were just getting to spend time together. Quality time is one of my love languages if you can’t tell. The week flew by and we wish we could have spent more time together, but it was filled with joy!
We tried hard to wear them out to help with jet lag by walking all over Timisoara. We went to Opera square to see the Orthodox Cathedral, the construction of Liberty and Unity square, the revolution museum, the areopogus (where we take classes), our favorite places to shop, a large open air market, the mall, our church, and to some friends’ homes for great conversation and games. We took them to places by tram, bus, and taxi.
We even rented a car for two days, and Jeff and dad both chauffeured mom and I around. We took the car for 36 hours to see Sarmisegetusa (a place of Roman ruins from 106-109 A.D.), Corvin Castle, Alba Iulia (another city with a large citadel), Cisnedia (a small village outside of Sibiu with a beautiful fortified church), Cisnedoara (a fortified church on top of a hill), and Sibiu (an old german town and citadel in Transylvania).
And of course, we had to feed them sarmale, shoarma, salata de vinete (an eggplant spread), inghețata (Romanian gelato), gogoși (fried dough) , and other yummy goodies. We even got to recreate their first date by going out for pizza, although their pizza from their first date didn’t have corn on it and was not served with ketchup. By the way, pizza should always have corn on it. Anyway, in conclusion, my parents are awesome, deeply missed, deeply loved, and tireless. Check out our pictures from the trip below.
The Cardells on the Move 
So happy to see you all together! You really packed in a lot of sights! Beautiful pictures! Our Life Group (and Doug and I, personally) continue to pray for the Holy Spirit to share God’s grace powerfully through you both!
His love and mine! Jamie
Thank you Jamie!