Day 13- Tuesday, June 26. Home

My thoughts about the past 12 days are a blur right now, with little sleep in the past few days. I treasure the cultural exchange we were able to participate in, the friends that we made, the beatiful countryside that we enjoyed, and the lives we were able to impact with new homes. The team I traveled with, I would trust as brothers and sisters, and will always treasure the time we had and the bonds we built as a team.

We leave Romania with only having made a small "dent" in the housing problem there. Hopefully our time and energy spent on site will help those families start a new chapter in there lives. I know it has started a new one in all of us.

Don

Day 12 - Monday, June 26, 2006. Day Trip to Constanza, Romania and the Black Sea

We have parted with all team members, except for David Gregg, Debi Brace, and myself. The three of us determined that we would go to the Black Sea for a day, regardless of the fact that we just spent most of the previous day on a train from Radauti to Bucharest.

The train ride to Constanza is about 4 hours and 250 miles. The city is a resort community on the Black Sea. We were up at 4:30 for our long journey to the sea!! Upon arriving, we were deluged with taxi drivers and hawkers hoping to sell hotel rooms, however we thought it would be more fun to figure out the city bus system. We met a boy, Adrian, who did not speak English, but was able to help us find the right bus, but then decided that he would ride with us. He got us where we were going, only to find out that he was another room hawker hoping to guide us for the day and then sell us a hotel room. We informed him that we were day-trippers and sent him on his way with a small tip for his trouble.

The Black Sea is beautiful, but looks grey, and is not very clean (in case you were wondering), with lots of algae. We took a walk in the waves, then spent the remainder of the day in a historical and archeological museum. Deb and I then split ways with Dave, expecting to meet him at the train station before it left. Unfortunately, our bus did not go the way we expected, and after a 20 minute ride to the wrong side of town, everyone got off the bus and the driver shut the bus down!!! We panicked a little, since we did not know where we were and did not have anyone with us that spoke Romanian. After lots of hand signals and broken Romanian and English, we realized that the driver was taking a break, and that the bus would leave soon. Such was the case, and eventually bus 43 got us to the train in time, but not after a worrysome hour on the bus. Chalk it up as another exciting travel story.

The ride back to Bucharest was relaxing and rewarding, with beautiful views of the country. Today was David Gregg's birthday, and we topped the day off with two rounds of pool (I lost) and final packing for our trip home on Tuesday.

Day 11- Sunday, June 25. Radauti, Romania to BucharestTravel Day

After a long night of packing and final team announcements, we awoke at 3:00 a.m., and left at 3:30 a.m. for our journey, which started at the train station in Suceava. Suceava is about 30 minutes from Radauti. We were in culture shock at the condition of the train station, with many people sleeping on the floor in a dimly-lit station. Our group proceeded quickly to the train, and without a Romanian-speaking guide, struggled to find our train and seats.

On the train, the conductor was not pleased with the amount of baggage that we were carrying. Ours was spilling over into the hallway of the train, and he charged us 80 RON (about 40 dollars) for the overage. With the language barrier, we really did not know what was going on, but an English-speaking passenger was found and helped clarify. The remainder of the ride was uneventful, and we enjoyed a beautiful morning watching the Romanian countryside pass by. One surprise was Brian presenting us with jam and chocolate pancakes, made earlier at the hotel. This was our favorite treat during the week!

We arrived in Bucharest around noon, much earlier than we had originally expected. James left us at this time, as he was planning to fly to Prague to meet his wife. The remainder of the team proceeded to the hotel to finish our stay, where we later said goodbye to Sarah and Brian.

The afternoon was spent on a walking tour of Bucharest, until we were traumatized by the heat. We were able to see the "Peoples Palace", which is the second largest building in the world, next to the Pentagon, as well as devouring a lunch at a McDonalds, our first hamburgers since leaving home!!

Don

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

Day 9- Friday, June 23. Radauti, Romania

Friday was another full workday, however, on a slightly changed schedule from “normal”. This is our fifth day on the jobsite, and team members are each feeling the stress of a long week with late bedtimes. There are lots of tired muscles, many thoughts about “what is happening at home”, and at least one cold.

After breakfast, we (our team) decided to go to the local bazaar, which is held all day, each Friday in the downtown Radauti area. The bazaar is a primary location for townspeople to get fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as other domestic supplies. While there were concerns from Habitat officials on whether we would be safe from pickpockets or otherwise be crime targets, we decided that it was worth the risk. The bazaar is a wonderful cultural exchange, where many different types of people can be found and observed.

While Radauti is a small city, only about 30,000 people, there are many gypsies and beggars that one needs to be wary of. Americans can be targets of crime since they usually carry large amounts of money (by Romanian standards) and typically “stand out” very easily in a crowd. In many cases this is simply due to standard of dress, casualness with wallets, money, and purses, height and light complexion. While I never felt unsafe, we were continually warned of the hidden dangers that can lurk in a poor area, much as might be the case in a deprived area of an American city.

The team did work a full work day on site, ending at 7:00 p.m. due to the late morning start following the bazaar. Today’s challenges included additional painting, installation of floor insulation, and installation of laminate floors. The ten homes are nearing completion, and the dedications should happen at the end of June. All that is left on most homes is final touches on flooring and paint, and then the installation of trim, cabinets, and fixtures. Our team was very instrumental in getting the building schedule back on track, one that was slipping in weeks preceeding our arrival. It is very gratifying to see these homes near completion and the excitement and anticipation on the faces of the families, especially the children. All of the team members are bonding in wonderful ways. We are working well as a group, leaning on each other, and putting egos aside.
Tomorrow, Saturday, is our last day on the worksite. We are not sure what, exactly, we will do tomorrow, but our feelings are mixed as we

Day 8- Thursday, June 22, 10:30 p.m Radauti, Romania

Today was a split day, with the morning dedicated to work on the site and the afternoon for a respite of touring northern Transylvania. After meeting for breakfast and walking to the worksite, teams were split on painting tasks, floor insulation tasks, and laminate flooring installation tasks. I volunteered to install insulation on the floor, where we laid 1 inch of foam underneath the laminate flooring, using a mastic-type adhesive to attach.

We toook a break, late morning, for a "light" snack of Romanian pancakes, which are similar to crepes and filled with jam or chocolate.................yum, yum. The workday ended at that point, with team members cleaning up back at the hotel, where we left for an afternoon of touring. After a long week of work and lots of sore muscles, it felt good to take a break.

Our first stop was in the Orthodox monestary in Rasca, which was about 1 hour south of Raudauti. This was a very unique cultural visit for all of the team members. At the monestary, we were treate to a wonderful, several course meal, prepared by the monks and nuns who reside there. It was a completely vegitarian meal, due to the fact that we are in an Orthodox lenten period, currently. All of the food was grown at the monestary, and the wine and spirits were prepared there. One of the monks, of the 20 who reside there, is English-speaking, and was able to answer all of the questions we had on the Orthodox faith, as well as explain the details of the various frescoes and artwork in the church. Several services are held each day, with the main one starting at 10 p.m. and continuing to 3:00 a.m. The monks sleep from 3:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. each day.

The monestary, which was built in 1542, had the exterior fresco work completed in 1550. In 1830, all of the frescoes were painted over in oil-based paint. The church is currently undergoing restoration to recover the hidden frescoes. This process will take about three years to complete.

After one other monestary visit, the team closed the day with a prayer, dinner and a team meeting. We are looking ahead to working on the homes again tomorrow.

Don

Day 7- Wednesday, June 21, 11:59 p.m Radauti, Romania

Today was another long work day, as the weather was warmer (mid 80's) with less wind than yesterday. The team is getting tired and meeting for breakfast on time was more difficult than in previous days. Our group is bonding well and really is beginning to lean on each other for help and support during our visit, here in Romania.

The work day began again, around 9:00 a.m. with the announcement that we would switch jobs! After the poignant family meetings last night, everyone was eager to get to work with our new family friends. Today entailed installing floors and painting. The floors needed to have mastic installed, with 1 inch of styrofoam glued to the concrete, with laminate flooring sheets on top of that.

Brian, James, Dave Francis, and myself had a miscommunication with staff over the installation process of the floors. During the communication with Romanian Habitat staff, one staff member left the house in anger. We have been discussing the event as a team to help assure that we have the proper communication channels open during the workday. It is very easy to miscommunicate directions, commands, or questions on these type of builds where multiple languages are spoken, or to get the wrong impression when someone, who's language we do not understand, is working along side us.

Pizza was enjoyed at lunch and we dined in the evening at another local restaurant, the "Antiqe Restaurant". Many traditional dishes were tried, including wild boar, the daily special.

Day 6- Tuesday, June 20, 11:30 p.m Radauti, Romania

Day 2 of our build - We awoke earlier today with breakfast at 7:30. It was another traditional breakfast of eggs, sausage, as well as vegetables, cheeses, and breads. Brian Boyle also remembered the peanut butter!

The walk to the work site is about one mile from our hotel. We chatted about what we would experience during the day, while walking. Would we continue our previous day's work, would we switch roles (painting vs. drywall mudding?) or would we end up with our most feared job.........digging trenches by hand. Everyone but Kevin, Kevin, and myself painted, while we finished the drywall installation and mudding on Vasily's house. We renamed ourselves Larry, Darryl, and his other Brother Darryl for some reason. The humor was tough to describe to our Romanian friends. Lunch was kabobs and straw fries. Portions went to the pet dog ( large German Shepard named Major) of one of the families.

Today was a transitional day for many team members, with relationships and bonds being created between team members and family members, as well as with Habitat workers. Kevin, Kevin, and myself had much more communication with our Habitat work leader Christi (he is also a Habitat home owner) as well as with Vasily, the new home owner of the home we were working on. We were able to chat with him about his family, his four children and joke about the work and whether or not I was big enough to break a cheap step ladder that was used on site. This was also shopping day, where we purchased tools for the local Habitat chapter.

The day ended emotionally, as we were scheduled for home visits with 4 families. We collectively brought several gifts for the children and presented them as we visited each family. These visits were clearly the most emotional part of the trip, observing first hand the types of housing that these families live in and the struggles that they face. Most families in Romania make less than 300 dollars per month and less than that for many Habitat families. The first family we met lives in a two room flat (kitchen, living room, and tiny bathroom. The entire flat was less than 300 square feet and the 10 X 10 living room also served as bedroom, dining room, etc. for all of the families activities. The couple has two daughters (12 and 9), with a baby on the way. The wife, Larisa, was also the first Russian-speaking person that I met. I was very excited when she asked if anyone spoke Russian and I was able to have a short conversation with her.

The last stop was even more emotional and troubling......Vasily's home. He, his wife, and infant son live in a 1 room house with no running water, no bathroom, and worse yet, no other children. Their other 3 children need to stay at a parent's home 35 miles away due to the lack of room in the house. The one room is only about 9 X 12 feet. Vasily spoke about his feelings about working with us and his appreciation for our help. We feel like we have a new friend in Vasily.

Dinner was appetizer platters at the "National" restaurant and only dessert since no one was very hungry. The desert was papanashy, a traditional fried cheese "donut" with jam, cream and sugar. Very tasty, indeed.

The team closed the evening with a brief devotion and discussion of our feelings on the day's events. It is apparent that the family interactions, bonds, and friendships are creating deep feelings in team members and drastically changing our views of what is important in life and how that impacts our Christian beliefs and how we act on them.

More details will come tomorrow. I will post photos later so please come back.

Don

Day 5- June 19, 11:59 p.m Radauti, Romania

Today is Monday, and is our team's first work day on the worksite. The team met for breakfast as well as orientation with Amanda, our Romanian coordinator. After getting safety rules and information on Habitat in Radauti, we walked to the worksite for the first time. Habitat is creating an entire neighborhood in the north end of the city of Radauti, and several houses are already constructed. Introductions were made with both the Habitat staff as well as the recipient families.

Some of the housing in Radauti is literally, horrible, some homes nothing more than shacks with boards for sides and tin for roofs, something we might consider fit for animals. While there are also very nice homes in Radauti, the standard of living for some is very poor, indeed.

The team worked on either painting or "taping and mudding" drywall on four separate duplexes. I worked on mudding, an interesting experience given the lack of tools that we would normally use for this work. Kevin S., Kevin P. and I nearly finished the first coat on one unit today. I assume more of the same tomorrow. (maybe we will paint!)

We were joined at dinner, in the evening, with local Habitat official. The meal included pork, rice, mushroom gravy, as well as other traditional Romanian dishes like polenta, a grits-like side dish. Desert was pancakes and jam, which was delicious, indeed.

We look forward to more time with the families tomorrow. Hopefully the rain will end and we will have nice weather.

Don