Day 10- Saturday, June 24. Radauti, Romania

Today, Saturday, is a special day. 1. It is our last day on the worksite in Radauti, and 2. We are only working a half day, as we will hold a barbeque in honor of the partnership we have built with the families over the past week.

The workday consisted of finishing the laminate flooring in several of the 10 houses. We are getting very good at laying flooring and are enjoying the work. Naches, the site supervisor, has shared that he is very pleased with the quality and speed of our work, as well as the fact that we have helped get the homes back on the work schedule, which was falling behind. The Thrivent team set a new site record, by flooring 6 rooms in one day!! I was thrilled to see the happy face and satisfaction of Larisa, whose home Sarah and I floored today. She was estatic at the outcome!

After the half work day, we joined the families and Habitat staff for a barbeque feast on site. The amounts and varieties of meats and food were incredible…….pork, 2 varieties of chicken, two varieties of sausages, fish, potatoes, salad, bread, as well as enough refreshments to keep everyone happy all afternoon. Our team presented the families with group photos of ourselves and we received t-shirts and gifts from Habitat in Radauti. The fun was still going strong at 8:00 p.m., when we determined that we must bow out to prepare for our journey home, as we planned to leave at 3:30 a.m. There were many hugs and kisses in many emotional good-byes, as we temporarily broke the bonds that joined us the past week. We had a separate goodbye for our friend and guide, Amanda, who we presented with a parting gift of earings.

We will always treasure the time spent in Radauti and hope we can return soon. Best wishes to all of the families as they start this new chapter in their lives.

Don