On Monday, July 16, Dany drove us out to the property where the horse ranch will eventually be. We met Gabby and Samina there and they took us on a hike up the hill where they plan on building the house for the girls. It is beautiful there. It is on the edge of the Carpathian Mountains. Since it is kind of in the middle of nowhere, you are surrounded by nature. It is a wonderful place for healing to begin.
Gabby's grandparents lived in a small village (I'm sorry, I can't remember the name of it) just down the road from the main part of the property. He is working on restoring that property. It is a very traditional layout. It was common years ago (and many of the older generation still live this way) to have a small house that you lived in and then a larger house for guests. Not only is the guest house larger, it has the nicer furniture, decorations, and the most comfortable beds. For many of the owners, the only time they will ever stay in the guest house is during their funeral.
Let me try to give you a mental picture of the property. As with all properties it is fenced in. As you walk through the gate, the guest house is on the left and the main house is on the right with a little bit of grassy area in front of each. There is a small courtyard between the two houses. Hanging overhead, stretching from the guest house to the main house, were grapevines. Immediately behind the guesthouse was the old pig pen. If I remember right, it had three stalls. The stalls open into the courtyard. At a 90 degree angle to the pig pen was a wine cellar that created the back corner of the property. Immediately behind the main house was the storage area (a barn basically) where they would keep everything from animal fodder to fire wood. In this area was also a huge barrel (I could have easily sat in it) that they used to use to make whiskey. There was a gate connecting the barn to the wine cellar. This gate opened onto a field and also led to the all important outhouse. It was as quaint and as rustic as you can get.
The guest house (from what I remember) was basically two large rooms connected by a small entry way. It had an old straw mattress in one room along with old photos and papers still lying on the desk. It really was like stepping back in time. The main house is 3 rooms laid out in a straight line. The front room will be a bedroom once it is updated a bit. A door leads from there into a smaller room that houses the old stove - which also heats the house in the winter. From this room, you walk into the last room which for now is the kitchen (I don't know if that was the original use, but I'm guessing it served as the pantry at least).
I wish I had pictures to post here so you could see it. But, I don't, so hopefully I described it well enough. That afternoon, us girls worked on getting the window frames ready for a fresh coat of paint while the guys worked on tearing off the old mud & straw plaster from the pig pen. The pig pen will eventually be torn down and replaced with more housing for teams that come to help on the horse ranch. We enjoyed a picnic lunch before we got to work and then enjoyed some fresh watermelon during a break.
The neighbor next door is a bee keeper. I am very grateful for the yummy honey fresh from the hive that we got to bring home to Kansas.
That night we ate at the apartment. While Charlie, Keith, and I sat at the "kids" table in the kitchen, Lisa, Randy & Tammy sat at the "adults" table in the dinning area. Let me just say, that the "kids" table was more fun. We got in "trouble" by Adina for distracting the girls while they were trying to eat. I don't know what they talked about at the "adult" table, but us "kids" sure did have fun at our table.
The next day we went to work with Jackie. She visits the mental hospital - Mocrea - once a week and Scott & Carolyn often join her. Almost the only time some of the residents get to come outside is when Jackie and crew visit. Though some of the residents have family that visit, many have become forgotten by the world. I admit - this was a really hard activity for me. I think it would've been easier if I spoke Romanian. Although by this point I knew a few phrases I found myself very frustrated that when someone tried to talk to me, I couldn't respond. It was also very uncomfortable. Some of the people definitely needed to be there, but there were some who looked and acted like anyone else I would've met on the street. It made me wonder if they really needed to be here. We talked a little about it later and I think Carolyn said it best. She said that even if you didn't need to be there in the beginning, staying there would have the potential to make you mentally disturbed.
We stayed at Mocrea for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours then we went to Dud (pronounced dude). The guys went to Ghita's house (pronounced Geetza). Ghita is a widower that Jackie has begun helping. After his wife died he was basically helpless. He didn't know how to take care of himself. Recently he had a fire in his house (a small 3 room mud/straw house) which caused some damage though it thankfully didn't destroy the house. A couple weeks ago, Scott and a couple other guys helped him out by rebuilding his fence (all properties in Romania are surrounded by fences. Basically - if something is out in the open - it's free for anyone to take, but if it's behind a fence it's your property). But his house still needed a lot of help because of the fire and also because the housework and upkeep have overwhelmed him. So, we planned on working on his house Wednesday & Thursday. However, before going in, we needed to try to kill the THOUSANDS of fleas that had infested his house.
Upon arriving in Dud, the guys went to Ghita's to try to kill some fleas while the girls went around the village handing out flyers saying that we would have a VBS the next two afternoons. Ghita is kind of ignored and looked down upon because he doesn't take care of himself. You can literally smell him across the room. One of his neighbors said they would help him out once he started taking care of himself. The problem is he is depressed and until someone starts showing him that he has some worth, he's not going to take care of himself. Well, when his neighbors saw the Americans building him a fence a couple weeks ago, they started to wonder what made him so special that Americans would help him. So, Jackie figured that since our presence would be noticed as we worked on his house, we should take advantage of the opportunity and also have a VBS for the kids.
After we got back to Arad, Me, Keith & Charlie headed back to the apartment. The rest of the crew was tired &/or not feeling well, so they stayed at the hotel to rest up. We taught the girls (Ramona, Alina & Adina) how to play Spoons. Ramona decided that we needed to change it up a bit so at her suggestion the winner got to give the loser a penalty. We were a rowdy bunch that night. The penalties ranged from having to sing "I'm a Little Teapot" to doing the Chicken Dance, to standing out on the balcony and barking like a dog. It was hilarious. We had such a good time. Well, that is until "Dad" (aka Scott) told us it was time for Ramona to go to bed (she goes to work at 5:30 most mornings).
Well, tomorrow will probably be my last post about Romania. Sorry it's taken me so long (and so many words!) to tell you about it. :) I hope you have enjoyed it. It has been good for me to go back through my journal from the trip and re-live the memories. There are some parts I had forgotten about until I started looking back. Thanks for listening as I relive it.
So... until tomorrow...
Thanks for sharing and serving my dear friend.
ReplyDelete