Friday, August 22, 2008

Festival of Flowers: Oradea, August 21, 2008

After finishing at the hospital, I had arranged to meet up with Isabela (my old roommate) as she is currently home on leave. Isa is a missionary in Kenya with Food for the Hungry, and we had not seen each other in more than 2 years. We had a great time catching up, praying together and sharing stories of how God is working in our lives. Isa is a true inspiration. So after strolling through the city center, we stumbled across this festival and ended up staying for 2 hours. What a huge treat! I had really wanted to see some traditional costumes and dancing this year, but I had completely forgotten about this festival. Just another special gift before leaving...Oh how He loves to shower His children with such gifts!




















A little about the festival: Every August 21st the "Festival of Flowers" is celebrated here in Oradea, complete with elaborate floats, a craft fair, great food and amazing folk dance performances. Actually, this is primarily celebrated by the Hungarians living in Romania as it is really a continuation of "St Stephen's Day" (the most important Hungarian holiday, August 20th). Stephen was Hungary's first "Christian" King and is credited with "Christianizing" Hungary. But enough history.... I did however get to use my limited Hungarian and ended up having a conversation with a lady. Good practice since I am leaving for Hungary tomorrow. I will be in Budapest for 3 days before returning home on the 26th. So until then, thank you all for your encouragement and support! I look forward to seeing many of you and being able to share many stories and pictures (I have thousands!). May He receive all the glory and honor!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Rachel Titiriga said...

how on earth did i miss this festival! where was i??
:)
miss you already my friend!