A Day with the Ladies

Last Friday was our 1st ladies day since the summer.  About 27 moms and grandmothers showed up for a time of tea, cookies, craft and conversation.

I made an effort to learn the names of all the ladies who sat at one table.  Many were easy - Andreea, Roxy, Amelia, Maria; but some were difficult - Florinca, Imie and Pijii.  The trick now will be to see if I can remember when I see them again.  At least I made the effort!

They were also treated to a special story before we began the craft project - beaded angels.  I will have to say that there were many times when instructions in English would have helped tremendously, but then, how do I improve my skills in Romanian?  The ladies seemed to enjoy their handiwork and were able to take home something special for their tree.

As the ladies prepared to leave, each received a bag filled with soup mix, gravy sauce, and chilii, as well as a blanket.

Before she left, I was able to speak with Leti, the seamstress who worked on the quilt this summer.  She is willing to take the leadership position with the new quilting group that we will establish in January.  I already have 4 orders for quilts and hope to get them out by mid-February.  Can't wait to get a picture of our 1st one completed - they will be special in so many ways.  Be looking for a future post with pictures!

Last Mission Team of 2012

The last mission team of 2012 arrived in Targu-Mures on Friday, Dec. 14.  The team was comprised of 4 men from the IL area (Jim, Dennis, Kevin and Tim) and our own Kim, from Kingsland.  It was great to see familiar faces, as well as meet some new ones.

Saturday morning the men headed out to bauMax, our local Home Depot (same colors and they also have a "Homer" man).  A list was made of materials needed to complete the new conference room and library, and the men were on the hunt.  Kim and I helped Gabi load boxes of oranges, bananas, puff curls and other goodies that would be distributed to several group homes, a day center, the Point of Hope and the children's hospital.  Then we headed out to meet the guys.

When we couldn't find them in bauMax, Kim and I went to the bookstore in the mall (located right next to bauMax).  She was looking for painted eggs and I had seen a couple there.  After shopping a little, we headed back out towards the parking lot and met the guys.  Everyone turned around and went back into the bookstore, where the guys found some pottery and laminated maps of Romania.

From the bookstore, we picked up Gabi and headed to Tarnaveni.  Dropped off the containers then went to lunch at Pizza Motors.  Back at the center, Gabi took the team on a tour of the facility; first showing them the unfinished 3rd floor, then the completed areas.

 The rest of the time was spent unloading and separating all the humanitarian aid that was brought (including the aid brought to us - peanut butter, Tony Chachere's, and solid filled pumpkin).  Supper was back in TM, at a restaurant called Excalibur.  It reminded me of The Magic Time Machine.  Our meal was brought out on a wooden platter that looked more like a sled.  It spanned the width of the table and was loaded with ribs, liver rolls, chicken, pork chops, sausage, potatoes, tomatoes, slaw and olives.  A meal fit for a king (or at least his court and a few jesters).

Sunday was spent with the girls at the group home.  We played ping-pong and UNO.  One of the advent activities planned was to make salt dough ornaments.  I decided that we would make ornaments in the shape of Romania - to be sent back for sponsors.  So we kneaded dough, cut out the ornaments, baked them and then painted.  Everyone got into the action and we all had a great time.  Afterwards, Andi and Erika prepared a wonderful supper of chicken snitel and mashed potatoes.

Monday morning we went to the Rozmarin Day Center in TM.  There were helped the children with a craft project and passed out stuffed animals and gift bags.  The children serenaded us with a few Romanian Christmas songs.  What a great time with these children!!

Tuesday and Wednesday included some construction work, playtime with the kids and a Christmas program from the younger children.

Thursday we partied with the children before they headed off for break.  What a wonderful time!!!  As they  headed out the door, the afterschool kids were coming in.  They ate lunch, gathered their goody bags and headed off for a 3 week Christmas vacation!  The rest of the afternoon was party time for the staff.  Thanks to our friends abroad, we were able to treat the staff to some good ole Texas goodies - pumpkin log roll, cream cheese with raspberry chipolte sauce and wassail.  The raspberry chipolte had mixed reviews, and that's ok (I don't like sarmale); the others were a hit.  We shared pizza and time together before passing out gift baskets to all.  Each staff member at Point of Hope received a basket filled with chocolate zucchini bread, some chocolate candy, coffee/tea, a can of Tony Chachere's (if they like the hot stuff), a CD and various small tokens of appreciation for the work that they do.

That evening, Dennis and I went with the team to supper at Butouil (the restaurant with winery that I blogged about this summer).  We enjoyed our meal and the team was treated to a traditional Romanian dessert.  On our way out the door, the snow began falling.  What a wonderful end to a great week!

Friday morning I said goodbye to everyone, as Dennis took the team back to Bucharest.  This was the day that I had dreaded - when everyone leaves.  It's nice to have a bit of "home" with you for a while, but makes for a sad day when it's time to go.  Will it ever get easier?  I hope not.

Gypsy Dancing

Last week we were privileged to watch the dance group perform a taping for a local TV show.  The show was to feature students from the Roma school in a Christmas program, as well as 5 students from Point of Hope who participate in the dance group.  The TV program was to give some insight into the Roma community in Tarnaveni, as well as educate the community to Fundatia Buckner's role in educating some of the children.

Please enjoy the short video.

The Lighting of the Christmas Tree

Targu Mures has a park in the downtown area, nestled between 4 lanes of traffic.  There are vendors selling produce and flowers, benches are resting and watching, the usual statues saluting historic figures, and a large clock.  Rose beds border the entire park area, and people are always enjoying the beauty around it.  At this time of year, an extremely tall tree is the center of attention.

The annual lighting of the Christmas Tree took place on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 6p.  Despite being sick, I bundled up to watch with the other thousands of Romanians.  It was worth it!

Not only was the tree lit, but so was the entire downtown area……..every tree and bush, all the street lights, building, and even the busses!!  There was not just one tree, but two (the second one being a smaller silver tree).  Vendors were selling their food and crafts, politicians were campaigning (elections are Sunday, Dec. 9), and Santa was hanging around.  A free concert was held for all who wanted to stand in the cold to hear.

The Walkway of Lights in Marble Falls is great, but this was even better!

From our house to yours

Crăciun fericit

Oh the First Snowfall of the Winter........

has occurred.  It began with a light dusting on Tuesday evening.  Wednesday morning brought a heavier amount, which made for some nice pictures.  We even stopped along the way to the Point of Hope for this short video.

The day did have its drawback, as we were initiated into the “this is not how you drive in snow” club.  As we were driving home, the car had veered off the edge of the road….no big deal, until Dennis tried to get back onto the road.  When the rear tire hit the edge it put the car into a fishtail.  That wasn’t too bad until the car decided to go into a sideways slide across the road.  All I saw was a tree heading right towards my door.  My thought:  Oh crap, we’re gonna wreck the car!!  Thank goodness the ditch stopped us!  Yep, hit the ditch, but fortunately didn’t slide far down into it.  As we sat there wondering how we were going to get out of this mess, Dennis put the car in reverse and we were able to back out.  It was at this moment that traffic began appearing – thank goodness no one was behind us when we decided to fishtail, as they would have surely hit us.  We were also thankful that there was no oncoming traffic, as I would have met their vehicle face to face.  We backed out of the ditch and pulled into a driveway to wait for a clearing in the traffic.  My heart was pounding!!!  Thank goodness my bladder was empty, otherwise, I might have messed up the inside of the car.  The “funny” part is that we had gotten our snow tires the day before.  Guess we need to take a lesson or two on how to drive in REAL winter weather.  Just think, that was the 1^st day of a good snowfall………

The rest of the drive home was uneventful for us, but we did pass another motorist who also found the ditch, as well as an accident in Targu Mures.  Nice to know that we’re not the only ones who didn’t pass the driving test J  At least we can blame ours on living in Texas, where the amount of snow is barely measurable.

This is a town on the way to Tarnaveni where the train crosses the road.  Here you must stop and look, as there is no warning device.  On our way Thursday morning, we approached the tracks and noticed this 18 wheeler.  See the guy standing over on the right side of the picture?  That’s the driver of the rig.  Bet his heart was pounding too!!!!

Not everything was bad…………take a look at some of the pictures!  Romania is still a beautiful country, and we are so blessed to have this opportunity to live and volunteer here.

Across the street from our apartment

This is looking out our kitchen window

Red berries with snow

These trees are so pretty with the berries

Flocked by nature

Moș Crăciun

Okay, here’s my first post…..Swanna will be so happy!

The legend of Moș Nicolae goes like this.   Saint Nicolae is the most popular saint in Transylvania.  He is known here as Sin-Nicoara.  It is said there was a black-hearted man, poor and evil, who was going to sell his daughters in marriage to bad dudes.  St. Nic was able to get the gold to give to each daughter  so they could marry whom they loved.  Now, Nicolae comes on the night of Dec. 5th -6th and leaves candy, fruits and small gifts in the shoes of good kids.  However, being an old-time saint, he also favors the rod for disobiedent children and isn’t afraid of Child Protective Services in the use of it!

He is a historical figure in this area, was born in the city of Patara, an Asian province, and was buried at a monastery on Dec. 6, 352.

It is interesting to note that in most of the accounts I have read,  Mos Nicolae’s coming also brings snow fall.  Sure enough, yesterday Dec.5th, was the first snowfall and it’s been snowing all night.

Here, Nic and Santa Claus are two different guys with different purposes.  There is a ton of history about these legends in almost every culture in the world.  I guess folk are quick to understand the usefullness of a dude bringing presents to help keep the kiddo’s in line!

A Visit to the Spital

A trip to the hospital is never any fun, especially if you’re the patient.  They wake you up in the middle of the night to take a sleeping pill…….wasn’t I already sleeping when you woke me up?  They come in at all hours to take your vitals, they poke and prod, and they even bring you food that no one wants to eat (unless you’re in Austin Heart Hospital…….family members have told me that they have the BEST food).  Although you may have a private room, there’s very little privacy – ie. the gowns they give you to wear barely covers the front, which leaves the back side for all to view.  Let’s just say that hospitals are NOT on anyone’s top 10 places to visit.

But visiting hospitals is not an enjoyable task either.  It’s often freezing, with no way to change the temperature.  Most rooms only have 1 chair……..so if you take along a friend, someone has to stand L  Then there’s the noise from outside……no, not outside the building, just the room.  Many times there are children running up and down the halls, nurses chattering about the patient in room ???, doctors giving orders, equipment being moved from this room to that one, and the receptionist giving commands over the intercom.

Yes, there are many things we complain about when dealing with hospitals, and most are legitimate.  But all those issues seem very small when you visit the hospital here.  I can’t speak from the patient’s view, but here are a few observations that I’ve made the past few days.

Our sponsored daughter, Gabi, had an emergency appendectomy last Tuesday night. It began over the weekend when she complained of stomach pains.  Monday she was picked up from school and taken to the hospital, where they spent the next 5 hours trying to figure out what was going on.  They finally determined that she had appendicitis and was sent home……..what????  They wanted to wait and see how she felt the next day…..are you kidding me?  So home she went.  Tuesday aftermoon she was back at the hospital.  Yes, she would need surgery, but since it was late in the day, they wanted to wait until Wednesday.  When we were told of the hospital’s decision, I asked if I needed to stay with her during the night.  Answer: no one is allowed to stay with the patients (unless they are very small children).  This child had never been left alone before, much less in a hospital (something else new to her).  Can you imagine her anxiety?

Well, the surgery didn’t wait until Wednesday, but was performed late Tuesday night.  No one was there…..not because no one wanted to go, but because the hospital wouldn’t allow anyone there.  So what if there was another emergency that arose?  Who would make decisions for Gabi?  The hospital assured us that they would call if necessary.  I don’t know about you, but me making important decisions when awaken from a deep sleep is not a wise choice.  Anyway, the surgery went well and the appendix was removed before further issues arose.

Now let’s talk about visiting the sick in the hospital………..first, visiting hours are from 2-4p.  Yep, just 2 hours a day to visit, unless you are parents (they can visit from 9:30-10:00a).  When you arrive at the pediatric floor, you exit the elevators into a hallway that’s about 8’x30’ with 10-12 chairs along one wall.  You ring a bell at the wing door and wait for someone to answer.  When they do, and sometimes it takes 15-20 minutes (speed is not one of their requirements), you tell them who you’d like to see.  They will close the door and proceed to get that person for you.  Depending on how the individual feels that day determines how they will arrive to see you………walking, in a wheelchair, or on their hospital bed.  Yes, the staff will actually roll the hospital bed into the hallway (with everyone else to be visited).  You, along with 10-30 other folks, sit together in this hallway and visit.  It really does make for some quiet, intimate conversation.  Plus, you can see what everyone else’s medical issues were.  When 4p comes along, any remaining patients are returned to their room, not to be seen again until 2p the next day.  Rules are strict!!

On our visit Friday, the nurse informed us that Gabi needed some medicine.  Ok, so give her some.  No, the hospital did not have it and we needed to go to the pharmacy and purchase it ourself.  What??  A hospital without medicines??  Found out that this happens all the time.  The one good thing about having to purchase your own is that you’re not overcharged.  Today (Sunday) Gabi told us that they ran out of toilet paper in her room and the nurses didn’t have any to give them.  Seriously?  Well, add toilet paper to the list of things the hospital doesn’t provide.  Dacian shared with us that his wife (who is a surgical nurse at this hospital) often has to provide her own surgical gloves, tape, disinfectant, and other misc supplies.  Also found out that you must bring your own pajamas – open rear gowns not provided.

So, you thought American hospitals were bad (and some are), at least they provide toilet paper :)