23 May 2004 -
Howdy friends!
Spring in Beius brought vacations, volunteer teams from Habitat for Humanity, visits from friends, and views of Romanian tradition, along with the customary rain, shine, flowers, and green. Yet despite new growth all around us, our numbers have been pruned down. Jana and Jeff departed as forward scouts of the homeward trail on May 10th. They will begin work in Boise this next week, after a few days of adjustment and family time.
Before Jeff and Jana left to join American efficiency, they enrolled with Mom
and I on a quest to add a few more stamps to our passports. Our circular route
through Eastern Europe hit Budapest (Hungary), Krakow (Poland), Prague (Czech
Republic), and Vienna (Austria), before returning home by way of Budapest.
Despite rain or snow 9 of 10 days, we had a wonderful time sight-seeing and
calculating the local currencies. Sue Phillips joined us for the Prague
through Budapest portion of the trip, spreading love from home. While many of
the countries in that region joined the European Union this month, differences
such as the devout Catholicism of Krakow or the business-like manner of Vienna
still are evident. Strangely, the atmosphere of Prague’s wonderfully blackened
Gothic architecture was almost swamped by the flood of Italian high-school
students present.
Also in March, the first Habitat for Humanity teams rolled into Beius to
construct houses. Good Samaritan (GS) is contracted to provide breakfast and
lunch for these groups. This job and its training possibilities for the GS
orphans prompted Jana and Sheila to return to the restaurant scene, assisted by
Jeff as well. For three weeks they coordinated and cooked, planned and
purchased. The Habitat teams were pleased, the orphans learned some new
skills, and we all got to converse to new people in English.
Noah’s Ark, the small farm and group home for developmentally-disabled young
women, in the village of Finis has been the site of much of our energy this
spring. In our first months here, we noticed that the girls at Noah’s Ark
badly needed a supervisor who would provide love, discipline, and instruction.
In March, a “mama” for Noah’s Ark was finally located and hired! After three
months of having a mother, the positive effects are evident in the girls’
behaviors.
Noah’s Ark is a partnership between Good Samaritan and the Minimum Sisters.
These Italian nuns and their Romanian staff are filling a key role in Beius and
the surrounding villages, daily providing after-school programs for the many
children that are neglected by their families. The children receive assistance
on their homework, get instruction on personal hygiene, sing and pray, and
receive much-needed attention and love. We have spent many days in the last
few months doing landscape, construction, and maintenance work at the Sisters’
centers. Of course, working for Italians, we are fed very well — no small
perk. Pasta cooked perfectly, homemade sauces, imported products from Italy,
coffee and cookies, yum yum!
Eating at the Sisters’ fed our desire to travel to Italy, so in late April, Mom,
Dad, and I took a two week vacation to visit friends and family in Italy, as
well as to indulge in the Italian culinary efforts. Sue Phillips also joined
us for the first leg of this trip, after her and Karl celebrated Easter with
our family in Beius. Across the country, the flowers were in full bloom,
making every walk a field trip in fragrances. Coincidental experiences, such
as stumbling into the middle of the Florence marathon, filled this wonderful
trip. Strangely, as I traveled about, I found that I could understand Italian
better than I could Romanian, perhaps an indication of my poor Romanian
language skills or the quality of the one Italian class I’ve taken.
Clark, however, continues to amaze me with his handle on the Romanian language.
Often, a member of the family we live with will speak to Clark. He will reply
to the question or run off and do some chore, as I sit trying to fill in the
gaps between the few words I recognized. Furthermore, Clark now sometimes
serves as our translator when people come to visit; perhaps we all should have
enrolled in the first grade here. Clark has a 10 year old neighbor friend who
speaks some English. Watching them play, I’ve noticed that they speak to each
other in the other’s native language. I suppose this keeps the conversation on
a level they both can understand.
Our ignorance of Romanian tradition is perhaps greater than our language
deficiency. One startling example comes to mind. Jana was walking Clark home
from school one afternoon. As they were strolling along on the sidewalk by a
large apartment building, a large quantity of water splashed the concrete a
step in front of them. Quickly looking up, Jana glimpsed a bucket retreating
through a fifth-floor window. For a week, this incident remained a mystery.
Then while talking with Adi, the 18 year old son of our host family, we brought
up this near drenching. Laughing, he explained that the day must have been the
feast of Saint George. Tradition on this day, at least for young chaps, is to
throw water on cute girls. Adi, of course, has matured beyond this juvenile
practice, he assured us. However, he was unable to explain the origin of this
tradition, so if any of you knowledgeable (or creative) readers can explain (or
hypothesize) the connection between falling buckets of water and St. George, I
would like to know.
Throughout our stay in Romania, we have been alerted to many weddings that were
occurring in Beius as lines of decorated cars, horns blaring, parade down the
street. Last weekend, we finally got the insider’s look at the Romanian
wedding traditions. Nini, the older son of our host family, and the lovely
Rebeca, were married in the city of Cluj. As close friends, our family got to
tag along through all the day’s events. Meeting up with the groom and his
family at 10:00 at Nini’s apartment, we decorated the cars with ribbons and
flowers before heading in convoy to pick up Rebeca at her home. Nini greeted
Rebeca with her flower bouquet, before they loaded into a borrowed Audi A4
convertible for the ride to the courthouse. After the legal marriage, the
singing of “La Multi Ani” (the Romanian greeting and song used for birthdays,
name days, weddings, and many holidays), and a brief reception, we went to the
largest botanical garden in Romania to take pictures. Following pictures was
the two-and-a-half hour wedding ceremony at a Lord’s Army Romanian Orthodox
Church. (The Lord’s Army, started in the 1920’s, is a revival movement among
the Orthodox that has a predominantly evangelical feel.) Beautiful singing by
a enthusiastic choir preceded the entrance of the bride and groom and their
godparents. (Godparents are a married couple chosen by the couple to be
mentors.) Unlike the typical American wedding, this entrance wasn’t a dramatic
event. Sermons and prayers by lay preachers and more singing led into the
marriage ceremony, which was performed by an Orthodox priest. This involved
the couple getting crowned with wreaths of flowers, circling the altar three
times while joined by a ribbon to their godparents, and having the godparents
place the rings on the couple’s fingers. The whole ceremony seemed very
faith-filled and alive, even though I understood little. The following
reception was held at an American restaurant, lasting from 15:00 to 22:00. In
the first six hours, the equivalent of three full meals were served, disguised
as both warm and cold appetizers, a main course, and the cake dessert. The
bride and groom getting cake smashed up their noses is a Romanian custom as
well, although with the difference of close friends being the perpetrators as
the couple attempts to eat from the same slice of cake. At night’s end, I
could safely say I had never eaten so much in my life. Socializing was the
only activity in between courses, so I wasn’t even able to dance and digest.
Almost forgot the kidnapping of the bride, with the ransom paid by the
godfather, as part of the traditional reception.
Now, only 6 weeks remain before the jet plane takes us westward. Today we
compiled a to-do list for the remaining time; we have no lack of projects, it
appears. I apologize for the long span between updates. Translating Good
Samaritan donor relations documents from Romanian-English to American-English
has taken the edge off my writing urge.
Although we hope to see many of you shortly, we still enjoy all contact and
correspondence we receive. I doubt any more general updates (bearing my name
at least) will be sent your direction from Transylvania, yet I plan to write a
final chapter to be sent out before the summer ends. For the epilogue on my
Romanian experience, I guess my life will display more than a few words could
hope to.
Peace and Joy,
dominic
P.S. Remember the website:
http://barney.gonzaga.edu/~dbruno
There you can currently view pictures from March, including an amazing display
of pollution and some fun dentist pictures. I’ve selected the Eastern Europe
and April Pictures, but have yet to post them (scheduled for late this week).
Note: Frank, Sheila, Jana, Jeff, Dominic, Clark and Aurelia are on a one year mission to Romania.
They need our prayers and support. Links to Dominics website:
