Random Thoughts

          The Cluj to Bucuresti train was so Agatha Christie-Globe Trekker! From the rain dripping down the windows to  the overheated compartment to the uniformed conductorimagine, my first ever train trip and I am doing it in Romania.

          Oradea to Bucuresti is a 12 hour train trip. We were fortunate to share our compartment with 3 young women for most of the way and then an older man joined us after the girls left. The compartments are designed for 8 so we were fortunate indeed.

          Dup in Romanian means after

          Duppa in some parts of the US is slang for posterier

          Dupu in Hungarian is a bad wordplease do not ask how I found out!

          The line between road, sidewalk, and parking lot is very blurredyou may get run over in any of the three!

          Vegetable gardens in the country side are guarded by dogs top revent the Rom (also known as Gypsies) cannot steal the produce. The Rom are the poorest of the poor and are looked down upon by most Romanians (and many others). They live in hovels, gather food and plants where they can and sell it in the markets. In a sense they are the recyclers in Romania because they pick up anything that might be useful and use it in creative ways.

          Children and dogs do not care if I speak Romanian!

          During the train ride to Bucuaresti sometimes I would look aut the window and the countryside would remind me of the stretch between Wisconsin Dells and Madisonsame types of trees and hills, etc. and then someone would speak adn the illusion was shatteredI confess I became a little homesick!

          There is a story told about Eleana Ceaucescu that goes like thiswhen the Ceaucescu dictatorship started to bull doze villages and move the people into apartment buildings (called blocks in Romania) the apartments had balconies. The apartments were so small with large families often forced to live in 2 or 3 rooms that people began to close in the balconies. When Eleana saw this she was enraged (apparently because it didn't look good) and soon a law was passed forbidding people to close in their balconies.

          We were told by Cristinas brother that we should be back to the hotel no later than 10 p.m. because the area was not the best. We decided that I should not speak on the way back to the hotel because as long as I keep my mouth shut I can pass for Romanianas soon as I speak, even if it is one of my few words or phrasesit becomes apparent that I am NOT! So it was a very quiet walk back to the hotel for us.

When we got back to the hotel Cristina and I started getting ready for bed. I pulled back the bedspread, found what appeared to be the usual sheet folded in half lying on the mattress. I picked it up to unfold and make the bed and thought that there was some mistake. It looked more like a table cloth than a sheet and when I tunrned it over there was an opening that reminded me of the tarps that we use to cover furniture. I turned to Cristina and said Look at this! She (bless her heart) calmly (and without laughing) came over and proceeded to put the accompanying blanket in the tablecloth producing a mighty fine quilt! I hate being ignorant in two cultures-languages!

          The train ride from Bucuaresti to Piatra Neam was only 8 hours on another rainy day. This time we were on one of the newer trains which had room for moving around. I had some fun conversations with people who spoke no English (or at least very little) and played peek a boo with a delightful little girl.

          One great lesson I am learning is that nothing is easy in Romania. It seems as though the Communists built everything to be as uncomfortable as possible, as difficult to access and use as possible, and as forbidding as possible. The goal appears to have been to keep the people so tired and occupied with the very basics that they had no time or energy to oppose the government. It is a miracle that the people of Romania survived the communist and Ceaucescu regimes at all.

In Romania Easter is celebrated on the 23rd so I will be celebrating Palm Sunday as you celebrate Easter. I have had some interesting devotional times as a result of the focus on Easter while I am a week behind. Then I begin to wonder how often I have been behind when it comes to the things of God.

Food for Thought:

My lack of Romanian seems to lead people to believe that because I don't speak the language I am unable to understand other aspects of life...like how to cross the street or carry a bag or use a telephone. I can't help but wonder if I have every treated someone who didn't understand English real well as though they were ignorant about other things.

I am posting separately the text of an email from Flavia, the student at Emanuel who is working on a survey project. She explains how to access the survey. Please take a few minutes to do the survey and perhaps even pass the information to a friend or six. Thank you!