Day 4- June 18, 11:20 p.m Radauti, Romania

Road Trip!!!

Travel, Travel, Travel was the keyword today. Our team began the day at 8:30 with some pictures in front of the inn. We packed up and went to downtown Brasov for breakfast. Most of the team had omlets, but some tried for waffles or pancakes, which are considered dessert, not breakfast. It added to the confusion add breakfast-time.

Our intentions were to attend 10:00 a.m. services at a large Lutheran cathedral in downtown Brasov. Due to the breakfast fun, we were 5 minutes late, and very suprising to us, the congregation had locked the doors!!! If you are not there by the start of service, you do not get in!! Tough crowd. Our disappointment was short-lived. We decided to drop in on two Orthodox services, which was a totally new cultural experience for most of the group. The services are held standing up with no seats, with lots of chanting and insence. It was a very moving experience for all.

We quickly packed back in the van to begin our journey to Radauti, which was about a 7 hour drive with no freeways! Our journey held many adventures, including a rest stop and game of frisbee with the locals in the Transylvania mountains, a light lunch at a local eatery, and many many views of local people, agriculture, and terrain. We were amazed at the contentment of the local people, who seem to live lives much more simply than ours, as well as the very small farms who still use horses and man-power. We saw only 4 or 5 farm tractors on our entire drive across Romania......simply amazing. Most fields are only a few acres or less in size and livestock roamed freely in towns across Romania.

The team was troubled when we saw the recent aftermath of a bus/car accident in Suceava, which is about 20 miles from Radauti. The police had only arrived and we witnessed the victim that the accident took on the side of the road. It reminded us of how fragile life is and how dangerous we should consider our trip to be.........Romanian drivers are either crazy or completely in trust of one another....they pass with only inches to spare!!

We arrived in Radauti with amazement at a city that is trying very hard to reinvent itself and find progressiveness in the opportunities of the free world. They have more new construction than we saw in other parts of the country. The city is not large, only about 30,000 people, but seems to be a warm, inviting place with it's eye toward the future. We, our team, is excited to be part of that growth as we help Habitat and the Habitat families build a foothold here. A walk around town, followed by a dinner of appetizers closed the evening. The group retreated to either watch the World Cup or email home.

Kevin S. and I were offered the "palatial suite" at the Amnar hotel, due to our willingness to room last night with the 20 rowdy kids. A very nice reward, indeed, as you can see.

We look forward to Monday, tomorrow, when we travel by foot to the work site and begin our mission, meet the Habitat workers and the families. It is late, so I must get some rest.

Till tomorrow...........................