Pics- Transfagaras

(Long, windy Transfagaras road; Gondola; random campers in a beautiful place; Luna waiting for the gondola)


 

Eurojournal - 29 July 2006 (Roadtrip-Vlad Tepes castle, Transfagaras Rd,Happy Birthday Sloane!)

We head out early to get to the Transfagaras road. It’s a long way. We drive the freeway, the established one to Pitesti. That was quick and smooth. Pitesti has a very depressing but interesting history. There is a prison there where they did a “student re-education” experiment on psychological abuse of political prisoners from 1949-1952 during communism. One of the prisoners implemented this under the orders of the Securitate. The prisoners became torturers of other prisoners. The victims became torturers. If they refused they would be locked in a coffin-like box standing up for weeks. The torture methods were insane and awful. In 1958 the implementer and 21 other prisoners were secretly tried and sentenced to death for the murders of 30 prisoners and abuse of 780. The Securitate denied involvement in the experiment. Former political prisoner Dimitru Bacu writes about this in his book, The Anti-Humans.

We leave Pitesti and get to the Transfagaras road. This is a pass through Romania’s highest mountain, the Fagaras mountains into Transylvania. This was my favorite part of the trip. It was hot at the base and when we reached the top it was snowy. We hopped on a gondola to the top. Camping is permitted just about everywhere in Romania so there were a lot of tents in random but beautiful places in the mountains. I would have loved to have camped here. It was green with rocks, conifers and waterfalls. Pristine. We saw sheep being herded and stopped for a few crossing as we headed down the long windy road.

Before we went all the way up we stopped in Poienari, where the real Prince Vlad Tepes castle ruins are. We walked up 1480!! Steps to the castle ruins. Liam played leader and made it all the way up with energy to spare. The views were astonishing. Byron liked this one more even though it wasn’t decorated or even formed as it was 700 years old.

The drive home was smooth. We laughed at how people set up camp on the side of the road. The drive down was much like the road to the coast at home except with families playing badmitten and having a barbecue on the turnouts!

We stopped at Metro in the city to get groceries. It is like Costco but with so much food we can eat! Tofu, tvp, soymilk, veggie burgers, etc. There are different chains of stores like this. They call them hypermarkets.

We arrive home at 2 am gladly falling into a warm soft bed! It was also our nieces 3rd birthday so we tried to call as soon as we got home where our cell phone worked.

Happy Birthday Sloane!!!!!! We love you!

(Snow at the top of the Fagaras mountains, sheep and shepherd, fagaras mountains, Transfagaras Road)

 

Eurojournal - 28 July continued

We make it to Buchuresti and the driving steps up several notches. I am comfortable driving in the cities at home. I am comfortable driving really fast. I am comfortable passing. I am burnt out driving and arrive to a city where really anything goes and people are grumpy with their horns. Some intersections do not have any signs indicating who has the right away so anyone goes and if you are too slow everyone honks at you. I had to go and hope for the best. I’m tired and hungry and can’t deal. It’s my birthday and I have been driving all day. The kids are arguing about whether it is my birthday or not. I have to tell them that yes, it is in fact my birthday. *sigh* I remind myself that I am in Europe for my birthday and to be happy.

We find a great Lebanese restaurant. We had hoped to make it to our final destination area to stay the night but it’s getting late and I am tired. I decided before we arrived to Buchuresti we would stay in a hotel with a hot shower there. I didn’t care how much it cost. I’m done. After dinner James checks out a suite for twice as much as we budgeted. I had dropped him off and drove around. I had several people honk at me and the same old chaos. I pick him up on the verge of tears and declare we are getting out of the city now. The suite sounds amazing but no parking. We just go. We get lost getting to the freeway out and the on-ramp is not separated form the off-ramp. Both a semi and I are driving down what could be considered the middle of the road, no lines. I swerve and miss thank goodness. We find a motel outside of the city. James has me go with him to see what the rate is. I hug him and break down. We take a walk and he buys me a Fanta. Yep I’m hooked on the silly Portocale (orange) fanta soda.

Now this is funny. We walk to the motel and look at the posted rates on the building. 3 beds for 160 lei (about $50). Someone comes out and asks what we want. James starts babbling in English. I interrupt and ask Vorbeti Engleza? He goes back to three other men and they are laughing at us. One man comes back and speaks to us in English. He offers us the room for 60 Euros ($75) and breakfast. We ask to see it. It’s fine for all of us. I am adding up the Euros and confused about the posted price. He wants Euros and no credit card even though they advertise that they accept VISA. We tell him we only have lei. He is not happy. He tells us then it will be 210 lei ($75). I point to the posted sign and ask why it says 160 lei for 3 beds? He pretends he doesn’t understand so I attempt to take the sign off the wall and show him. He then writes, 175 lei and no breakfast. Fine. We didn’t want breakfast there anyway. I ask why the extra 15? He says the kids. Fine. I go to the car to get more money and return. The manager was there offering James a “discount” to 160 lei. The worker was disappointed and rude at that point. James thought maybe I figured out they were taking advantage of us and the owner was afraid I was going to call someone like the anti-corruption hotline when I left. Great we got the posted rate. The worker asks for my passport and money and will not give me my passport back. I ask for it back and he says he will give it back when we return the key. No way. We tell him give me my passport and money and we will go elsewhere. The manager looks at him and signals for him to give my passport back. We get the keys. We walk out laughing. What just happened here? The same 4 men including the disappointed worker but excluding the boss followed us out. I move the car to the side of the hotel where other cars are parked and they run out and tell me to park directly in front. I park there and we get the kids out. The boss runs out and tells us to be careful with the tv with the children as the first few channels are adult. We thank him for the advice and the discount and go in. This is funny. We decide to call the four men the Romanian Mafia.

We get in the room and Luna and Liam hand me a folded piece of paper with Luna’s writing. On it are coupons : 1 day to sleep in until 10am; 5 minutes of silence in the car; 1 chore; many kisses and love. They sang Happy Birthday to me and James and Byron return with a vegan dark chocolate bar. Now that was the best birthday present ever!

Pics- The real Vlad Tepes castle

 

Eurojournal - 28 July 2006 (roadtrip-Black Sea)

28 July: I woke up at sunrise to pee. Bathrooms at the campgrounds so far in Romania are pretty bad. I check out the beach. The campground is quiet. Everyone is asleep. I could watch the sunrise if I stay up longer. I go back to see if James is awake. He and Byron had puppy duty last night so I knew they were exhausted. He was up, the kids were all asleep. We check out the beach. It’s cool with overcast. I realize I am there either a bit too early to see the sunrise or the clouds are too heavy. It is pretty cool to be at the Black Sea and maybe see the sunrise on my birthday. I’m pretty tired and decide I didn’t want to wait longer for the sunrise. We go back and sleep a few more hours. I wake up and James took the kids to the each. Byron and the pups are still asleep. It looks like rain soon so I hurry to the beach to get a little sand. We wait out the rain in the tent and go back to the water. After a few hours Liam went in far and loved the water. It was shallow and warm. Not blue like Jamaica or the Mediterranean. Luna loved the water. It is time to get lunch and leave. We were heading to the real Dracula’s (Vlad Tepes) castle tomorrow and the Transfagaras road.
I am pretty tired of driving at this point as it is so much work here. There are patches of freeway from the coast to Buchuresti. They only have one short freeway in the country and are working on another here. As a child I never understood what life could have been like without freeways when I learned about Eisenhower and his interstate project. Here it was. Patches of new freeway. We can drive on it without the lines. New rest stops with signs. The signs have areas for potential businesses to advertise. We stop at one rest area and that was the most surreal experience ever. They advertise a WC (bathroom) on the sign along the freeway. The kids have to go bad. The doors are locked and there is a bed next to one of the locked doors with cloths, blanket, newspaper and baseball bat. There is a man inside one of the doors. Maybe he is building this? Maybe he is a guard? He comes out and I ask in Romanian if we can use the WC. He says NO! Okay. Hmmm… now what? I wait to see what other drivers are doing. They walk to the back of the building. I follow. Maybe that is where the bathroom is? After driving I decide it would not surprise me as just about anything goes here. Uh well yes anything DOES go here! The bathroom is the area behind the building. I walk back to the car knowing it’s along way to Buchuresti and there are no other stops.





 

Pics

(At Peles castle, Luna's point of view, Liam's point of view, Inside courtyard of Peles castle)

Eurojournal - 27 July 2006 (roadtrip-Peles castle, on the way to Black Sea)

Today we drove to the Black Sea. It was going to be a long drive so we stopped at Peles castle on the way in Sinaia. We skipped the touristy Dracula castle (it’s not the REAL Vlad Tepes castle!) in favor of going to Peles which we read was much nicer. It was a very pretty castle and fairly new (built in the 1800’s). Byron was pretty disappointed that it was so new. He felt it wasn’t as authentic as the ones he had seen that were over 700 years old. Peles castle was the first to have electricity and housed King Carol I, the first king of Romania. We ate in a great little ski village, another place we could order off the menu.

I had this intense experience at this restaurant. I am reflecting on my own internal conflicts around class, social justice, privilege, race, and my observations in this country. The levels of poverty are different than at home and distinctions less clear. In the village people are much poorer than in CA but most have property and are well fed. Our table at the restaurant was outside on a deck. Next to the rail was the sidewalk which was about 5 feet below us. A man approached me from below the deck and spoke at me in perhaps Romanian. He was dark, there was an intensity in his eyes. An intensity which brought fear over me. A fear where I felt the need to protect myself and family. It was almost like he was reciting something like scriptures, not the same as talking or asking for food or money. I looked up at James who was sitting across from me and told him what was happening. I looked back down and the man was still looking directly at me talking. I said “nu” (no in Romanian) and motioned for him to go away. He stayed. I ignored him. He left. We watched him walk down the street. What was he saying? Maybe he was just asking for money or food. In that case I could have given it to him. Am I too privileged to recognize that? I am too removed where I fear the poor instead of feel compassion? I know when I moved away form San Francisco I became less connected with the homeless in the city. When I lived there, I would sit and have conversations with people who were homeless. I had no fear. I saw them as people. When I would return to SF from home, I became more and more fearful. Am I like that here? But there was something different about his man. Or I am making excuses for my reaction?

After dinner we drove to the Black Sea. Oh these drivers are crazy! Like I mentioned everyone passes, even on small roads, even when there is an oncoming car. The oncoming car just moves over. It’s insane. I got the hang of it after a while and passed like any other Romanian … but in a monstrous van. There are horses and carriages on the road. The roads are so small that we have to pass to get anywhere. Every trip takes along long time. In the US 50 km should only take about 30 minutes but here it is more like an hour or more. We arrived at the Black Sea around midnight. The towns looked like Las Vegas. It was surreal. Surely there must be a LaSalsa somewhere here! Yep, still craving that burrito. We found a campground and spent two hours setting up the tent Csaba loaned us. Everywhere along this patch of coast is like one big party. Our campground is about a 2 minute walk to the beach which is why we chose it. But there was dance club with loud music. We didn’t care. We were too tired.




Peles castle pics (more to come on next blog entry)


 

Eurojournal - 26 July 2006 (Roadtrip-Sighisoara, Brasov)

The puppies were doing great so we decided to try this road trip to the Black Sea with the understanding that we may have to go home at anytime. We left at 10 am to get to Brasov, a ski city about 150 km away but a long 3 hour drive. We stopped for lunch in Sighisoara and visited a citadel. It was amazing. In the square it was like stepping back 700 years. High up on a hill were cobblestone streets, dresses for sale. I felt like I was at a renaissance faire. The kids climbed the fortress walls. Byron informed me of the difference between walls from the Renaissance and Medieval times. The more recent walls are shorter to withstand cannons while the tall ones are older because less technology was used, like arrows. We walked around the citadel and got some lunch. I really liked this city a lot. We headed to Brasov. Driving here is pretty crazy as the roads are primarily two lane roads (or smaller!) and everyone passes. We walked around Brasov to the piata which was very charming. We toured the Black church. It was raining so we enjoyed the square with raincoats on. We hiked past the citadel wall and rode the gondola overlooking the city. The children loved that. Dinner became a misadventure. We found what sounded like a great Mexican restaurant in our guide book. I have been missing burritos!! First we walk through town following the map. I looked at the wrong icon and took us a few blocks off, never finding the restaurant. We are all VERY hungry at this point and I feel awful for my error. We follow the map again this time looking at the correct icon on the map. No restaurant! The address in the book was someone’s house. Just as we were about to give up on Brasov we found a great Italian restaurant. We could order vegan food from the menu and it was absolutely divine. All the children ate the bruschetta and loved it. Even Luna and Byron who often refuse to eat raw tomatoes! Very happy and full we drove to the campground. We rented 2- 2 bed cabins which were quite cute. Byron did night duty with one of the pups.


Brasov with Black Church , Brasov, Sighisoara (last two pics)






 

Puppy pics

Puppy 2
Puppy 1 

Puppy updates

I want to thank LoraKim for all of her support and advice over email. She is a UU vet/minister and member of UFETA (Unitarians for Ethical Treatment of Animals). Thanks to her, the pups are doing much better. After I bathed puppy 2 on Sunday she seemed more content. We went to a vet supply store yesterday and got some de-worming medication and some other meds to get rid of fleas, ticks and other bugs. The place had just about everything we needed and was staffed by a vet who spoke some English. There is also a village vet here. We will get pups into one of them this week for a check up. Both pups are doing really well and I hoping to take puppy 2 out of quarantine soon. We are already seeing results from the meds today. No more worms inside and out. I feel so relieved!

It's funny I am doing things I would never do at home and using chemicals I would never do with our own dog. We do what we need for our dog Andie and the rest is natural remedies. I went on a search for bleach (bad! I know) to sterilize the whole house. Perhaps this whole worm thing is making me OCD but we also need to have excellent vector control. I want to take pups in for every test imaginable and give them anything they need. heartworm, whatever as they are likely to have something we can't see.

The village is more supportive. The same family that brought us milk from thir cow offered to help with food (meat). i still don't know if we wil be able to adopt them out here but we will try our hardest. Otherwise we will adopt them out at home.

We rented a car for the remainder of my stay here. We have this monstrous mercedes van. It's obnoxious but we got a good deal through a friend of Csaba's. I feel odd driving it in the village hoping we are not feeding into the idea that Americans are excessive (we are!). It's nice to have the freedom though. We are hoping to attempt a trip out to the Black Sea and the castles(depends on how puppies are).

Be careful what you wish for...Please Help!

Last week I was wanting a little more to do here in the village. Well, I got my wish. Yesterday on the way to the village football (soccer) game after a very long day of festivities, we passed a VERY tiny puppy drenched in the rain. It was orphaned or abandoned as no mother was in sight. It was freezing so instinctually I picked it up to warm it up. No one claimed it at the football game. Guess we were stuck with a puppy for a while until someone adopts it here. It is about 3 weeks old. eyes still closed. scoots a few inches but can shiver when cold and pass stool and urine on its own. It cannot however eat. We have been feeding it fresh cow's milk with vitamins with a tincture dropper. We warmed up the puppy. She stabilized and is quite cute, just a little bigger than our hands. I made sure the little ones did not touch her as we didn't know what she might be carrying. We accepted by later last night that we may end up keeping her and bringing her back if no one adopts her. We talked with Csaba and he said no one will adopt her here. Not in the plans but it is what it is.

James and I go out to the village dance that night and what is lying at our gate door? Another puppy! cold and crying and about the same size. Someone, apparently the person who abandoned the first one thought we should have another and literally left it at our doorstep. James and I look at each other. "What do we do? We can't take care of two. And what if there are more?" We can't leave it there either. So in it goes, to get stablized. Only this one was in terrible condition. The whole body was covered with a parasite egg/larva or something. We quarantine it from everyone and only I am allowed contact with it with strict handwashing, etc.

We hurry to the dance to see if Csaba can help us find a vet. There was someone from earlier in the day that was a vet. Csaba, having a little to drink immediately says to let it go and let it die. No one will care for it here. We can't do that. We need a vet. We need medication! He didn’t get it. I return home disappointed and feeling like we will have no support from the village. Yet we can't just abandon these puppies. We just can't. I could never ever live with myself if I did. I thought if we tried hard enough, we could. Maybe in the city. So we decide to find someone the next day who can speak English. I met a woman who used to live in the village that translated for me at the festival. She is here until September.

It was a long night. Puppy 1, the well one slept through the night. Puppy 2, sick one woke every 10-30 min and was not hungry. It was in pain or itching. It could only be comforted with my hand. In the night it crossed my mind to find a vet and just euthanize it. Understand that I have never supported euthanizing animals and here I was thinking, wishing I knew what this pup needed. James stayed up all night researching natural treatments, vets in Hungarian, translating and seeing what this parasite was. Meanwhile my hands are sore from washing so much.

Puppy one seemed clean today, content with no external parasites. This is good. Then I find a few in her bed. Damn it! Though we should never bathe pets this young, I go for it as it’s our only option right now. We have no vet, no medicine, no support only instinct and everything I learned form Willow and my years volunteering at the Humane Society and a wildlife refuge in high school and college. I think through my natural pet book and see what James finds. I make a soap out of dishsoap, lemon juice, olive oil, and echinacea goldenseal tincture. I bathed puppy one and got the eggs off easily. This one only had a little but they came off well. That gave me hope for puppy two. I call my American friend I met in Cluj and ask if she knows any resources in the city, vets, anything. She says she will try to find something as she has a friend in mind but warned me that strays are usually put down in this country. There is a different relationship to animals here. People are poor enough and trying to get by. They don’t have enough to have a luxury like a Humane Society.

At this point after no sleep I was seriously considering the alternatives. I sent an email to a Buddhist nun asking for her guidance. I am still waiting on that. I am exploring deep within what I need to do with this pup. It is so miserable. Do I leave it to die? Do I euthanize it? Do I do everything to help it? And if it heals what if it becomes orphaned again? What if no one adopts here and I can not bring it to the US to adopt out? James is as confused as I.

So back to the bathing. I try to clip and shave puppy 2 with no luck. The eggs are right at the edge of the hair and the skin covering her. It’s awful. I try bathing and it worked! Almost everything came off with some scrubbing. Puppy hated it but I told her she would feel so much better. She (actually I have no idea what gender it is!) looks great now and it out in the yard napping in the sun. I will need to bathe her again later to get any stragglers. I know she must have this parasite internally after having so many externally so she is still quarantined unitl we see a vet and get medication.

James and the kids went to a village festival picnic while I stayed to bathe her. He promised to find someone to help us find a vet. We really need to get her in. We are supposed to rent a car tomorrow for a week or two. It was for our trip to the Black Sea (I don’t think that will happen now.)

At this exact moment I think she will make it if we can get rid of the parasites. Then what? I have hope and determination that we’ll adopt them out here. If not, we may bring them back and adopt them out at home.

Please everyone help us. Talk to your friends and family. We need homes for these two sweet pups. We’ll pay all vet expenses and have them in perfect condition before we leave. We have to! Please.

I’ll get pictures soon. I guess I have a job now and more than plenty to do. I hear a pup crying. Feeding time!

I passed!

The director of my graduate nursing program just informed me that the CA Bureau of Registered Nursing said that I passed the NCLEX! Hooray! Fini!

Eurojournal - 21 July 2006

We have had 3 days of sun. Yesterday we had lunch with Csaba and his family at our house. That was fun preparing food for them. Lunches are the main meal here. We had pasta with homemade sauce, veggie soup, fresh baked bread from the store, tea and red bell peppers (paprika here). Liam ate the entire bell pepper and loves all the sweet peppers here. Everyone eats the yellow bells (paprika) here. I made some oatmeal raisin cookies the night before. I have been withdrawing from processed treats. I think I have baked something 3 times this week! We have been giving most of it away though.

Earlier in the week James and I witnessed some interesting behavior among the storks. When they are eating they make this creepy sound. One of the storks left the nest, circled it and stood at the other telephone pole. It turned it’s head backwards and upside down and clacked it’s beak. Almost like a victory dance. We were perplexed at what was happening. The nest looks crowded full of big storks, the babies must be small. We asked Csaba at lunch about the storks and he told us about them. The ones we saw with the dark beaks were the young even though they were giant. They nest for 3 months here beginning in June and leave for Pakistan or Africa in August. In that 3 months the babies are born, grow and fly. There are 3 babies born and one, the weakest, is usually dumped out of the nest immediately. We saw one baby fly well. It circled high in the sky and glided as if it were experienced. The other one was still trying to jump up and spread its wings in the nest. The parents remain a couple for a lifetime and travel south together and return to the exact same place next year. Because of the ponds here, our village has the highest concentration of storks than even Holland.

The children have been playing cards, dodgeball, making a mini-cave outside out of dirt and having tea parties complete with British accents. We have been playing Go fish with them too. Byron has been spending about 1 hour a day teaching Luna and Liam Spanish and learning about teaching methods as both children learn in a very different fashion. Right now they are outside making a teeter totter out of sticks and rocks.

Recently, they have been getting squirrely and fighting and it is driving us crazy. We had a family talk last night and established some guidelines. I am trying to focus a lot of attention on the children today to intervene before they fight and encourage them to take a “breather break” (space from each other with some nice deep breaths) when they start to feel frustrated. I saw that Liam took a voluntary “breather break” before things got difficult between he and Luna already.

James goes to Csaba’s everyday for a few hours to learn Hungarian. I have been working on a Soduko puzzle book someone from our church at home gave us. My type A personality is starting to surface as I need something else to do. Last night I thought I’d take up jogging setting goals each morning. We’ll see how far that goes as I absolutely loathe running. Cycling on the other hand I love. I’d love to bike up the hills here.

We have been trying to figure out the bus schedule or rent a car but things keep coming up. I am hoping to take the kids to the castles and Black Sea soon.

Eurojournal - 16 July 2006

James did his sermon at the Transylvanian Unitarian church today. It is such a radically different experience then at home. He spoke about the differences between his church at home and here. The primary difference being the use of “God the father” which is used here but not at home where perhaps spirit or the divine is used. In the village, people are born into and later confirmed the Unitarian faith whereas at home many of us are searching for something other than what we grew up with. The attire is what fascinates me the most. James wore his suit but with a long flowing black cape/robe. I for total shallow reasons thought he looked great. He went to the next village to do another sermon. He is scheduled to preach in other villages during his studies here. Again the children did a tremendous job sitting very quietly in church today.

We walked through the village a few times today. Everyday it rains. We thought there was a definite pattern but it’s unpredictable when. Sun may shine in the morning only to find dark clouds looming overhead. Is it going to pour or not? The children and I briskly walked home from church as we raced the dark cloud. We got inside and nothing more than a sprinkle. We ate lunch and went back out when James came back form his second sermon. We got the raincoats and rainboots and trekked the village ready to get soaked. We stopped in the little store to return our glass bottles and buy some orange drink. It’s fun to see everyone and say hello. I wish I knew more language though to really communicate and ask questions. I want so badly to really know some of the people here. What makes them tick, what inspires them, what are their worldviews? What do they think of us freaky Americans in our silly raincoats?

geese and backyard pics

What's a picture without the geese?
Our back yard in the village 

More pics from village

Ah I can upload mutiple pics...hooray!
Below are the storks. There are giant stork nests on top of telephone poles and chimneys.


Luna was feeding a kitten crackers.



Luna and Liam in our yard






The view from our kitchen window where the geese live 

Picture 2

Our home in the village 

Picture 1

Luna and Liam in the kitchen window watching geese 

Eurojournal - 12 July 2006 (a bit lengthy-4 days worth of fun!)

We are adjusting to the village well taking in everything, thus the first chance I had to journal. Today we went for a hike up the hills to see the cows in the pasture. With picnic supplies in hand, Luna and Byron left before us on their own adventure for the day. James, Liam and I left later in hopes of crossing paths with them. We passed the lakes and headed uphill only to meet a very dark storm cloud. Every afternoon since we have been here there is some rain followed by clearing. We negotiated with Liam to turn around if we felt raindrops because it was a ways back home. He wanted to go further as we were so close to the cows. The dark cloud was getting closer and we were feeling some raindrops. We headed back home. The cloud quickly crept upon us and we were soaked in minutes. Fortunately it was warm. Liam thought it was funny at first until after a few winds and a long walk at which he was very tired of it. We kept a positive attitude and did silly things in the rain to keep his spirits up. He was pretty frustrated at this point. We wondered where Byron and Luna were. I had made it very clear to them to make sure they came home to avoid any rain. But would Byron figure it out? We sure didn’t! We arrived home and the gate was unlocked – a sign that Byron and Luna were in fact home. We ran into the mud room and immediately stripped down. A dry Luna greeted us. There was no electricity. We think the village disconnects it before a storm. We had a relaxing afternoon playing poker and go fish. Luna and Byron are regulars at poker now. The electricity returned and it was time to make dinner.

Later Eva dropped by and we had some vegan cake that the children and Imade yesterday. She said that she went to order us some more bread at the village store but we had already done it and the store owners were impressed with how much the “Americans” could speak Hungarian. That would be James. After she left, Esther Neni dropped by. Somehow we can communicate despite the language barrier. She dropped off some kindling for the water heater. She saw James washing clothes and said something in Hungarian like “A priest should not be doing laundry!” and said something about a wash machine pointing to a place in the bathroom. We have no washer and have been handwashing our clothes and line drying them. Everyone in Europe line dries the clothes but the handwashing is not so common. We also have a wood fired water heater. Yep, we get to start a fire anytime we want hot water to shower. I am getting accustomed to cold showers as of late. The kids get the warm baths and showers. It’s not too bad though. If we had a hurried life like we did at home it would be bad but life is very relaxed here so waiting for our clothes to dry or heating the water is no big deal. Our big errand today was walking a block to the store and picking up our bread we ordered last night which by the way only cost a total of 4 RON (less than 2 dollars) for 2 loaves of fresh bread. I wait for the cows to come home in the evening and love hearing the sheep in the morning. We have geese outside the kitchen window. The children are building a town out of dirt in the garden and building a wall out of bricks they found. If I actually knew Hungarian or we were in this exact village with English (or French or Spanish) speakers I think I’d want to stay.

On Sunday, we attended the Unitarian church service. Csaba had James sit next to him while he did most of his sermon. It was like no other service I have attended and definitely nothing like UU services in the states. Eva schooled me on where I need to sit with the children. The men sit on one side of the church while the women and children sit on the other. The minister’s family sits in the front row if the children can be quiet. Otherwise they sit in the back as the service is very quiet. Oh dear, now here’s a challenge. Luna and Liam have never sat through 1 hour of a service. At home they sit through 10 minutes with a lot of wrestling to be quiet and then go off to the park with the children. So I had a long talk with them and talked up sitting in the front row where they could see Daddy and Csaba and how col it will be to see Csaba in that little pulpit above them. They promised to be quiet and still. Luna did a fabulous job and even sat up straight. Liam was very quiet but a bit squirmy so we held hands most of the time. Csaba introduced us to the congregation and had us come up front. We received 2 bouquets of flowers from the congregation welcoming us. Eva played the pipe organ ( a really big pipe organ) and sang with the voice of an angel. She is pregnant with their second child and I can’t help but think about how much of a positive effect her singing will have on baby’s brain development. Csaba also sang with a very intense beautiful depth. He wears a black cape/robe for the sermon and speaks from the raised pulpit. James will do the sermon next week. I wonder if he will wear the robe.

Later we had lunch at Csaba’s. Eva made a scrumptious 2 course lunch with veggie soup, salad and rice and mushrooms. The mushrooms looked like crimini. They were yummy. The first day we were here, the villagers and Eva made this multi course feast for us. All vegetarian but all cheese and eggs. We didn’t know what to do other than, *gulp* eat it. I ate the eggs and loved it in the moment. I justified to myself that they were free range and organic and no one died for them and most important, it was worse to be insensitive to an entire village’s kindness. However, I could not encourage the little ones to eat as I would be either deceiving them or creating confusion for them. They only wanted bread anyway so it was a mute point. In the moment I thought I would only do eggs (I didn’t much care for the cheese) in the village. Later I felt very sick and spiritually I felt really awful. Not guilty but completely out of balance. It was painful enough psychically and physically to recommit to not doing this again. Eva had asked what we liked and disliked and since then everything has been vegan and absolutely divine!

Monday we went to the bigger town, Szeklyudvarhely to get groceries and supplies and 2 other villages to get the rest of our luggage. Two people offered to take some of our luggage from Cluj as they would not all fit in Csaba’s car. Liam and Byron stayed behind. Luna came with us. It was nice to have some time with just Luna. Szeklyudvarhely is a very quaint town of about 34,000 people. We got most of our groceries and kitchen supplies, even TVP (texturized soy protein-fake meat product). We still need a source for soymilk. We went to the farmer’s market and got lots of produce for next to nothing. It went fast as Csaba kindly translated for us. We came home and prepared our first meal. It was so nice to cook our own food! We had pasta with fresh sauce from the tomatoes and TVP we bought that day. All 5 of us were so happy.

On the drive back from our excursion we passed a sweatshop. Csaba said they made clothes for a very aggressive German company. I asked if it was a sweatshop and he said it was. According to him, the workers work 10-12 hour days and take home $100 per month. The conditions are poor and the company is ruthless. It was surreal driving past it. I have been thinking a lot lately about how close we are to things here and how isolated we are in the states. While sweatshops definitely exist in the states, even in San Francisco, they aren’t obvious to me. This one here was so obvious. With regards to how close things are here, I was reading last week about women and the war between Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia over a decade ago specifically about the ethnic cleansing by means of widespread rape and impregnation. I had this visceral reaction as Serbia is one country over from us. I could easily hop a train and go there and wonder if the children around Byron’s age I come across are products of the ethnic cleansing. Quite the eye opener.

On a different topic, here it is an agrarian society. Families go out every day and farm and return home. Most everyone grows their own food. It is self sustaining. People work very hard here. The church is the center of it all as we have villages lined up along the road only a few kilometers from each other. When we hiked up the hill yesterday we could see 6 villages all with the church steeples almost in a line. James and I were talking about what has happened elsewhere. The corporations force family farmers out essentially destroying the family farm. That is what has happened in the states and man other places in the world. The soil here is rich and the land is beautiful. All of the food is naturally organic as no one here sprays. If a multinational corporation gets a hold of this place the villages will no longer be able to sustain as farmers could be forced to sell to corporations and people are forced to buy from the corporations. That would be the end of the village, the end to the church. I would like to think that it won’t happen here.

On Tuesday we had a relaxing day. We ordered some bread from the village store and went for a hike in the hills. We passed some of the most beautiful wildflowers I have ever seen. Liam savored every bit of it by pointing out some flowers with amazing colors. There is a lot of Yarrow, Calendula, Milk Thistle and Queen Anne’s Lace. There is also a lot of plants I have never seen. I wish I had my herb guide. We saw where the cows go to pasture. We also saw some sheep in the distance with a shepherd. At the top of the hill we could see 6 villages in a row and our little yellow house in the midst of our village. We have this very bright yellow house, the only one in the village and you can’t miss it! We passed some farmers on their way back from harvesting hay. The children loved saying good day to them “Jo napote!” I am fascinated by how they get these enormous stacks of hay on their carts. One person drives the horses while another stands on top of the hay in the wagon with a pitchfork holding it in place. The stacks are about 10 feet from the ground. We headed back to the house in hopes of meting with the cows on their way home. We made it home first and a few minutes later we heard them outside the gate. We went out to greet them and watched them come in. One lives next door to us (apparently the one that moo’d and woke up Luna too early one morning). They come back and wait outside their house. The person lets them in.

The cows really do come home here

8 July 2006
In the village where James will stay for 5 ½ months and the children and I stay for a month. The drive was beautiful- rolling green hills, small villages and small cities. As we left the city we passed the occasional horse-drawn wagon. As we got further out, horse drawn wagons were prevalent on the road. Some were filled with families, others with stacks of hay as tall as a small house and wide as a lane of traffic. People were on the side of the road selling fruit and what looked like chanterelle mushrooms. We stopped and bought a watermelon. We arrived at our place early afternoon and met with the host family/landlords. The house is so much more than we ever imagined. After 5 of us living in one dorm room, the house is spacious with a giant living room and large bedroom. We have a kitchen too! The best part is the yard. It is perfectly safe for the children to go out and explore. There is a garden and the views are amazing. Byron can spend a day hiking the hills totally free.

The host family and Csaba’s wife, Eva prepared lunch, a feast, for us. Everyone is so kind and warm. I was able to communicate with Ezther Neni (the host mother) even though she knew no English and I know minimal Hungarian. I really like her a lot. She is like a loving doting grandmother. We met another neighbor who also prepared some food and her son who wants to practice his English. “neni” is the term we use like Auntie used for elders as a form of respect. I think it is a lot like “dona” in Mexico.

The children are very happy here. The three of them spent a few hours outside digging and making walls in the yard. A village girl close to Luan and Liam’s age came over and played for a while. It was fun watching the children communicate. When we were out Luna wanted to know more Hungarian. This little girl reminded us so much of Liam’s dearest friend, Miara back home. Earlier, Luna and Liam played with Csaba’s daughter. They immediately started playing together. I have heard there are a lot of children in the village.

James and I have been in a fog since we arrived. Initially it was great but very overwhelming. After being in a very loud and busy urban environment where we were anonymous, being in a remote village where everyone is curious about us is a drastic change. It does remind me a lot of North Dakota where Byron’s father’s extended family lives- farming families. I love the warmth.

On the tops of telephone poles are giant nests full of storks. We have one right outside our door at our gate. I have to say I have never seen a stork in the wild in my life. They are big birds and make this interesting clacking sound.

Out in the pasture was a herd of cows. Csaba said that hey know exactly where to go at the end of the day. They are trained as calves where their home is. Soon after on our street were cows walking by. Yes, truly the cows were coming home!

Now I’m not sure if I will be able to post many pictures while here. We have a cell internet connection which makes uploads really slow. I may have to get online in the next town and see if I can figure it out there. Otherwise occasional pictures and more when we have better access.

Eurojournal - 6 July 2006

Romanian beaurocracy. I had heard all about the post office from several sources as the bain of everyone’s existence here. At some point I had to face it. I had to go. I had about 16 postcards to mail and needed to do it this week. All I could imagine was the movie, “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” So we prepared. Got up early and went with the kids early before their naptime -- before any of us could reach our grumpy time. We had a long talk about how boring and awful it will be but we all must remain strong. I promised the kids a pretzel if they could maintain.

We walked down, entered the building and took a deep breath. Ah! Not crowded at all. There were windows everywhere specific to some need written in Romanian. There it is! The window marked “internationale.’ That’s my window. Words of a friend echoed, “even if you end up in the wrong line they will send you to another and you still have to wait. Another line and it may still be the wrong one. It takes me at least an hour at the post office.” I’m thinking to myself, should I just go straight to the information line and ask? I should, but there is only one person ahead of me in the internationale line and the other lines are small.

Not so bad. I made it early enough. Ha! I’m good, we’ll be outta here in no time.

We waited and waited and waited. This woman’s needs seemed endless. The person behind the window disappeared for a long time. Other people are trickling in wandering in front of me. I am about 2 feet behind this person in front of me. I look around and the lines aren’t so much straight behind the red painted line on the floor. The people stand next to the person and wind around. Perhaps they don’t think I’m in line. I scoot closer. This poor woman in front of me -- I hope she doesn’t think I am breathing down her neck. The wandering people find other lines. Luna and Liam are doing great. They are playing with each other and being quietly silly.

It’s our turn. I tried to look for needed postal phrases in my Lonely Planet Romania book. Nothing on trips to the post office. Oh dear, I bet I am going to take long as that woman just trying to communicate that I need stamps for postcards to go to the US. The habitual phrase comes out of my mouth, “Vorbiti Engleza?” She communicates a little. I show her the postcards and she gets right to business. She opens the book, counts the postcards and gives me the stamps. Fabulous. Then she shows me on the calculator how much. 496,000 lei. There is new monetary system here with far less zeros but most still reference the old. Okay, so I think I remember James saying that 100,000 lei is actually 10 ron/leu? Or was it 1? I hand her a 10 bill and she smiles and says “no, not enough.” I have a 50 which we have treated like a really big bill. She can’t possibly need the big bill? Yep, that’s what she needed. It was 49.6. I look puzzled and she shows me the stamps and the calculation. 3,10 per stamp. I get it. We stamp and send them off. Kids were excited to put some stamps on and put the cards in the little red box. I am walking back trying to do the ron/us dollar conversion. That’s over $1 per stamp. Yikes! Oh well, the experience itself was worth it and we all got pretzels.

I am still trying to figure out the old and new money here. I have given too much money countless times and everyone has returned it and shown me which one. It’s nice that everyone is so honest as I would have no clue. Food is extremely cheap here. We can get falafel sandwiches for the 5 of us for 12 ron (less that $5)! Our very fancy expensive dinner last night, the most we’ve ever spent on a meal for all of us was about $30. Clothes are cheap too. New men’s pants are about $3. Phonecards and stamps, however are not.

Money seemed to be our theme today. After the post office I got confident and decided to go to the bank to get a wad of cash since we leave for the village in 2 days. Romania is on the banned list at our bank for withdrawing cash with a pin number. The only way we can do it is if we go into a “reputable” bank and do a cash advance on our debit card or use credit cards. We can use our debit card to make purchases at the grocery store or any other store that accepts VISA. The first bank does not accept VISA. The second one does but I am in the wrong line. I get to the right line and they speak English. They tried using the pin but it got rejected. They gave me some suggestions on other banks. Grrr. Our reserves are gone and kids are ready for a nap now. I lay them down for James and Byron and head off to PATRIR to do some work there for a few hours.

They are tearing up the sidewalk outside to replace the asphalt with bricks. They did this last week across the street and now it looks great. It looks like a war zone. We walk across piles of broken concrete and rocks to get to where we need to go and walk dangerously close to the tractors and diggers. Liam loves that part.

Eurojournal - 5 July 2006

Today we went to the square, emailed and blogged. Luna brought Byron’s skateboard while Liam brought his recycling truck. Luna and Liam skated and pushed each other on the skateboard up and down the square. Earlier we bought postcards. That was pretty funny as I went through about 5 languages to say “no” before I got to the correct Romanian “nu.’ I might have even made up a few versions.

We got vegan pizza for lunch which was pretty tasty. Crust with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and yep, peas and corn. Dinner was phenomenal. We found a nice restaurant in a little alley. I ordered curry rice and breaded zucchini. We also had baked potatoes, and rice and veggies. I have been longing for potatoes and rice (other than white). We left feeling really full.

We met, Csaba, the minister with whom James will be working in the village. James knew him from school as he spent a year in Berkeley. He made a wonderful impression on me as a very warm, solid, friendly, wise man. I am looking forward to going to the village.

Pics of Kolozsvar from children's eye

From Luna's perspective...











From Liam's perspective...

Eurojournal - 4 July 2006

Just as I am feeling ready to depart Cluj and do something else, I meet these fabulous people. I volunteered a little time at PATRIR, the peace center, organizing the literature. Their resources on gender are amazing. There is so much information on trainings and education from around the world. It was interesting categorizing and deciphering in Swedish, Romanian and other languages. They want me to reorganize the literature on their server. We’ll see what I can accomplish in 2 days. Later I had tea (and dessert!! A raw vegan dessert I might add! Fresh fruit on a nut crust.) with the American woman I met at PATRIR. We ate with some Romanian friends of hers who were really warm and friendly. Later a man at the next table heard our accents and asked where we were from. He was Romanian but just graduated from Berkeley. Great conversations. I’ve been missing the connections with other people. At home I enjoy just observing conversations and hearing others’ stories.

James has been attending the ICUU symposium. I have walked past the lectures several times and they sound so stimulating. I peeked in once and I could see James on the edge of his seat. This is a far more academic conference in comparison to the one in the states we have attended. I can see he is in his element.

The children and I played games learning colors in French and Spanish. Liam’s favorite is bleu and azul as we did an exaggeration of the bleu pronunciation “bleeeyewwww” with tongues hanging out and the like. Luna preferred to say “rojo.” They had to find four things in the room with the selected color and say in the language. It was quite fun.

Earlier this morning the housekeeper in the dorm, Elizabeth came in and offered us breakfast. Of course we could not eat it. She insisted in Hungarian and brought it to us. Byron had a feast of sliced meat and cheese. I didn’t have the heart to tell her we were vegetarian, so I told her she was very kind and thank you in Magyarul (Hungarian). Thanks to Byron! Luna and Liam learned to address older women as “nini” so they said “koszonom, nini!” (thank you, auntie) to Elizabeth many many MANY times. It became a game and she seemed to enjoy it as she picked up Liam and hugged him and tickled Luna.

I have observed that initially the people here appear very stern and rarely smile but when they connect with you they are very warm and friendly. They are open to making physical contact with children and adults. Personal space is different than in the states. On the street people will walk past you and stand close. If one walks slow, they will pass and perhaps bump a little but it’s not personal. No one takes offense. I had a hard time negotiating the meaning of all of that last week. Now I can walk down and pass someone up in a space about 18 inches wide like there’s no tomorrow. Some sidewalks, or lack thereof are so thin with cars parked there is about a foot between the car and the wall of the building.

Eurojournal - 3 July 2006

I saw a Transylvanian Unitarian church for the first time this evening. It is next to the dorm. It was the opening of the ICUU symposium and they had the choir from the Boston church singing. I stepped into the church and my senses were so alive. The age of this building is demonstrated in the stone tiles and the slightly musty smell. The walls are painted in white and lined with a spring yellow. The ceiling is high, arched with so much detail. The pews are similar to those I have experienced in Catholic church but much older and far less space between. The wood is preserved but obviously hundreds of years old. In the pew are the hymnals in Magyarul (Hungarian). There is no crucifix in the front. The event began with the minister in a long flowing black cape stepping up into the pulpit. The pulpit was not in the center but off to the side and up in a small space like seats in an opera. He said an introduction and a prayer with a translator. A Magyar song was sung with organs. That was intense. I felt this rush of energy inside, a similar feeling I have when I hear drumming. For the first time I felt what people must feel spiritually in a Unitarian church.

Earlier we all went to the big park, now our daily excursion. I am still fascinated by the hand teeter-totter. This would be banned at home as a child could easily get his or her head bashed and land in the ER. At the same time it is SO much fun. Most of the equipment at the big park is what I had growing up. Nice metal equipment with a few plastic structures here and there.

After the park we went to the Piata Mihai Viteazul which had rows upon rows of produce and crafts. Basically a giant farmer’s market that occurs daily. We bought a half kilo of strawberries for about $0.60. The produce is essentially organic as they really don’t spray or if they do the quantities are substantially lower than the states. We also got a half kilo of cherries. James and I were dreaming of a kitchen.

Did I mention the tractor in traffic? That is the picture I attached. We were walking to the piata and there was an old tractor with a trailer of old tied-up books navigating his way through the traffic at the intersection. No one noticed and he seemed comfortable with it. We almost didn’t really notice him. We are in a very urban area with about 300,000 people. Interesting juxtaposition.

Pictures

Eurojournal - 2 July 2006

This morning we woke to the sounds of distant cathedral bells. If the traffic was quiet, every now and again we could hear the faint sounds of the choir singing. There are a variety of churches in Cluj. Some are Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, etc. The Unitarian church started at 11 a.m. Then the cathedral bells were not so distant since we are next to the church. We could hear the singing and at times I could hear the minister doing the sermon, most likely in Hungarian (Magyar).

Byron’s birthday went well. It was simple but sweet. We went to the park and rode on paddle boats. We rented two boats and Byron wanted to ride with me and race with James the children. Afterwards we got Chinese food (Byron’s choice). He arrived at the decorated dorm to a fruit salad and the divine chocolate goo. We gave him two phone cards as a gift. He seemed pretty happy. My baby is 15!

I received and email from one of the coordinators at PATRIR. They have a few spots left for the Peacebuilding and Development training in late July. At This will be really valuable in that I can use these skills when I return home. They are also looking for someone to help in the gender center on the 16 day campaign to stop violence against women. So I emailed them and said YES! Tell me when to be there this week! Woohoo!

Eurojournal - 1 July 2006

Today is Byron’s 15^th birthday and his last day of language school. After school we will meet him and go to the central park and ride the boats. Then pizza for his dinner. We decorated the dorm room. The children and I will be going to the supermarket to get some fresh fruit for a fruit salad after naps soon. Since we have no access to an oven, we need to be a little creative in the birthday cake. So fruit salad and chocolate goo. I bought a bar of dark chocolate with orange in London last week. Filling a small bowl with peanut butter, oats, walnuts, almonds, I lined it with the chocolate squares and a little honey nut sauce drizzled on top. Of course I tasted it and it was divine! This honey nut sauce we thought was the closest thing to nut butter when we arrived. It is like candy. Liam loved it on a sandwich and Luna thought it was way too sweet. Fortunately we found some real peanut butter hidden in another aisle days later. It’s not like home. It’s somewhere in between the unsweetened and Skippy.

As the children nap it is silent in our room with the background noise of an urban outside. The windows are open. It’s cooler today than it has been. It has been a humid high 80’s low 90’s since we have been here. The rains cool things off and I heard the temperature will be in the 70’s next week. Rare sound of silence outside with chirping birds. Bus driving by. No more guy whistling every other second from 5am until 10pm today. I wonder if he will be back on Monday. There is construction on our street. We wake up to the whistling guy, with buses and cars beeping and hammers going. I find it soothing. I have always liked the city that way. I don’t necessarily appreciate being in the midst of it but I like it as background.

I am easing into the Romanian and getting by fine. Lately I have been thinking in French and Spanish. We were doing colors and math yesterday and some phrases slipped out instead of English. The children understood. I was counting in French inadvertently. Liam tried to play the Hungarian language game on the computer but something is wrong with the sound cards on our computers. He still saw the numbers and counted to eight perfectly. I even mixed a few and he knew them. Impressive.

A few days ago after the park we walked to the Resource Center for Roma Communities. I have been reading up on the history and current European policy regarding Roma communities. The history is pretty awful as well as the existing discrimination throughout Europe. I remember a French friend of mine many years ago referencing the Roma (gypsies) as “You have to know who the gypsies are as they will steal you blind!” I asked “How do you know who they are?” She says, “They have a look to them. All of them.” “What look?” I ask. “They look different. You will recognize them. They are dark.” Needless to say that conversation never really sat well with me. So I see the Roma center in my Lonely Planet book and drop by for some information. I read some research on the plight of Romani women in both the community and society. I want to write more as soon as I finish my readings.

After the Resource Center for Roma Communities I just so happened to pass the Peace Action Training Research Institute of Romania (PATRIR). It was a little house with a poster of Gandhi on the fence. I went in with the one phrase I had down, “Vorbiti engleza?” “Ah yes!” So I asked what the center was and what they did. She tells me that another worker can tell me more. From there, I meet Jay from New York. She asked why we were here. I tell her about James’ UU internship. She originally came to Romania to study UU as well! We spent a while touring the library. Oh! Such great books (women’s issues, conflict resolution, world trade issues, politics galore) I was in heaven. They do peacebuiding trainings internationally. They focus on peacebuilding and conflict transformation, gender awareness and equality, training in conflict transformation and peace education. I hope to do some work with them next week.

Argh. can't get my photos to upload. Low wi-fi signal here.