THINGS ELDER COOPER LOVES and DOESN'T

Elder Cooper loves the skies in Romania, especially the clouds. You will see throughout his posts on the blog many pictures of the clouds.  "Not going to lie Mom, I am a little obsessed with the clouds here". 

What the money looks like. Everyone likes a little $ right? :) 

ELDER COOPER LOVES THE FACT THAT WHEN IT STARTS GETTING HOT IN ROMANIA YOU CAN ALWAYS BUY ICE CREAM!

EUROPEAN SUITS!  "Best Purchase I've ever made!"

THE ANIMALS -The love and the danger

From the moment Elder Cooper entered Romania he fell in love with all the animals and he felt so bad for them.  The problem was that the "wild dogs" are very dangerous, but then again some are not.  Elder Cooper has had to beat off dogs chasing him with his scriptures, but he has also had friendly relationships with the wild animals in each of his areas. His cat, would come to the window each night in Arad, and although he and the cat had a few disagreement, it soothed his heart and soul for that space of time to feel loved by something. There could be a whole blog on the animals in Romania.

11/4/2013  Food - I guess it's better than not eating. :) 
There has been some language mishaps this week as well.... :) haha mainly when it come to food.  I ended up buying a gigantic pizza instead of just a small one for me to eat for lunch.  So I decided I didnt want to waste food or money, so I ate the entire thing! haha :)  Also at the end of this week I just want a plate of mici.  Basically it is just sausage, but it is good....  actually its nothing like sausage except it is meat shaped like sausage :) so I thought I order that.  Which I did, I guess I also just ordered this gigantic cylinder of meat along with it!  Imagine a hot dog.  Now put three together vertically and horizontally   Now stack one more layer on top of that.  Next change the color to tan and there is the monstosicity I ordered... with a piece of bread haha :)  SO MUCH FOOD THIS WEEK! 

10/28/2013 I love the forest!  It is so peaceful sometimes.  However this is the place where the people threw rocks at us.  I still like it though.

10/28/2013  What he mostly ate in his first area

This is what I have been surviving off of.  Breakfast: Bowl of honey nut cheroies, an apple, and a protein bar or granola bar grandma sent... Im almost out :) Oh and if Im feeling wild I will make an omelet  Lunch:  Most days I will have a peanut butter and banana sandwich.  Some times Ill switch it up with some pasta.  Dinner:  I might have pasta for dinner depending on what I ate for lunch.  There are the chicken patty things I throw in the oven for 15 minutes that I have some times.  And depending on breakfast I might have an omelet for dinner..... This is the only food I have had Basically for my entire time in the country... Dont know how to switch it up much more haha :)  (Mom note: It got better in his next area)

"THESE ARE THE BEST LITTLE COOKIE THINGS"

10/21/2013  Salata de beof and sarmale

First tie bought in Romania. Perfect for a dinner appointment.
Yes, he's lost 20 pounds. 

So I have told you guys that this language is difficult.  Something I do every other night is call this nice old lady named sora G.  She just speaks with me in Romanian and we try to have a conversation. Haha (some nights work better than others )  Anyways.  She lives in Bucarest.  This past Wednesday we were there beacause of transfers.  She really wanted us to stop by, so we did. She had a meal prepared for us! It was my first Romanian cooked meal!!  We had this stuff called Salata de beof and sarmale.  What we didnt find out until after we ateeverything was she had cooked this for the other missionaries on Sunday.  So really her two options were to feed it to us, or to throw it away.  So she fed it to us!! haha :)  Salata de beof is an interesting thing.  It is made out of all sorts of veggies, and it is just a spread you put on bread.  Something that helped me get through this first part of the meal, was there was this taste of cheese that it had that made it taste decent.  I found out later that there was no cheese in it.  So I have no idea what it was.  Now we she brings out the sarmale.  I dont even know how to describe this thing.  Basically it is some sort of meat ( I think.... and hope!) wrapped in cabbage and then soaked in oils.... Bless Sora's heart... she wants to help the missionaries so much.  It was kinda one of those times I wish I brought a zip lock baggy.  But I made it through!  I ate everything on my plate!!... turns out my stomach didnt appreciate that very much.... ya...  So it was a great time and a very fun experience!

9/30/2013  DRINKS 
The juice here is fantastic!! it is called suk :)  So good!  I discover little vending machines all over this place... You put in one leu (money) which is 1/3 of a dollar, and I get a nice steamy cup of Nesquick hot chocolate!! The Romanians know where it is at with Nesquick!! :) 

9/23/2013  VIVA SNACKS
MY FAVORITE THING! I love Viva snacks!  I will send some home they are sooooo good!  and it is basically breakfast!  Basically it has fudge in the middle and something around the outside.  You put them in the freezer for a little bit.  You take them out, put them in a bowl, and pour some milk on them!  It is cereal except better!  They are my favorite!