What’s In My Suitcase?

Upon returning to Romania last month, I had 2 full suitcases. Both weighed in just under the 51-pound limit. My suitcases weren’t full of peanut butter, cookies, and candy as they had been when I came as a student in 2001. No, I filled my suitcases with practical items – those things which I cannot easily find here in Romania. And, believe it or not, having these items is much more satisfying than having my favorite cookies from the US.

Here are a few of the items I brought back with me:

• Smoke detector & carbon monoxide detector (just in case!)
  
• Oven thermometer and digital timer (ovens here don't have them)
  
• Sunday school curriculum and balloons for children’s ministries
• Several books (both resource books and books which I’d like to read)
• A year’s worth of vitamins and medicines (which are cheaper in the US than here)
• Weather stripping for my drafty doors & windows
• Serving spoons, pitcher, & measuring cups
• Brita filters (the water's safe...but better with a filter)
  
• Games (great for youth game night)
  
• Family portraits
• Ink for my printer (much cheaper in the US than here)
• Zip-Lock bags
  
• Boots & bedroom slippers
• Squeegee for the bath tub

All of these items have now found a home in my apartment here in Sighișoara, but I still often wonder what a customs official would think if they had opened my suitcase at the airport.

The process of finding, laminating, cutting apart, and sorting children's Sunday school curriculum materials: