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