Trains, trips and potatoes...

Okay, so the first day in Romania went really well.

View of the suburbs from the house we are staying in (Constanta)

We’ve finally mastered the transportation fiasco without being ripped off which I think is a rather great success. After an early 0530 wake-up Leanne and I flew from London Luton Airport to Bucharest Baneasa Airport on a Wizzair flight… which has to be the worst airline I’ve experienced, I don’t think I’ve arrived on-time for a flight yet, though the aircraft always lands in one piece, so I suppose I shouldn’t complain.haha.

Anticipating the late arrival we booked a later train to Constanta, which is in the south of Romania and is known for being a rather large Port on the Black sea. We bussed with the locals and had enough time to catch a comfortable lunch before jumping on the train. Constanta is actually a holiday town for Romanians, which I found hard to believe last time I visited as the Black sea was frozen over and it was bitterly cold… this time however I understood. All traces of winter have gone, replaced with green foliage and blue skies. I tell you I felt a little stupid in my snow boots carrying around my ski jacket. We met up with an English couple on the train who were holidaying in the city, it turned out to be a good thing for them too as the man we were meeting offered to give them a ride himself to the hotel (which they were hoping to bus on, though had missed the last one) which was very difficult to find and took him out of his way. I think it was good for them to see the friendly side of Romania too, and for all their offering to pay him, he asked only that they come back and visit Constanta again.

We met up with a couple who are doing amazing work in Constanta, they are involved in or work with organisations who provide shelter for street kids, help teens/homeless with drug addictions and the elderly who have no-one to care for them. They took us to their favourite restaurant which is perched just on the beach and is said to be a really nice place to relax in summer.

The Power Station we were told about...

After all of the travelling and helping out of tourists, it was about 9pm when we were dropped at the house of a family Leanne and I would stay with while here. The Romanian woman actually had previously worked for Next Level (the Voluntary Service Org. I am doing the trip with) for three years herself, first as a translator and then as a Short Term Missions co-ordinator. Although this might seem like a normal job in such an organisation it caused quite a stir in Romania, not because she was quite young at the time and was fortunate to work with an English company (jobs are hard to come by here)… but because she was a woman. When she talked about her role she mentioned that it was very hard to work with the leaders for quite a long time, because although they really wanted the work and help provided by Next Level, they were not used to having to work with woman, especially when it required her giving them direction. Romania is becoming more modern with its views, but still the majority are very “traditional” which includes the role of women… a female leader here is not just uncommon, it is thought to be an impossibility in most roles.

Still, she said by the third year, although she still felt uncomfortable in a few situations, they had learnt to tolerate her and would work together with her. Which is progress, and I suppose what has to be the first step, I’m proud of her for having stuck in the role so long, through what must have been a few very challenging years. No doubt we in the western world wouldn’t have understood what she was facing when she was given time frames to organise things with these leaders.

The canals heading to the Port... snap-shots taken from the car.

The next day brought a trip to Babadag, a town an hour and a half from where we stayed, to meet a young couple who were battling through difficulties while trying to help the community there. The trip was fascinating as we had Triane (the Pastor of the International University-based Church in Constanta) taking us on the journey and introducing us, which meant we got a commentated ride and learnt a lot as we gazed out the window.
 

The first interesting passing comment I heard came as we exited the city and passed a large run-down water works (which to me looked a lot like a nuclear plant). The comment went somewhere along the lines of “that’s where we got given hot water in Nicolae Ceaușescu’s time” when asked what exactly he meant by “given water” he commented that only the street blocks (filled with high-rises full of people) who were good received the hot water, if you had upset the leaders or government, your block would go without, even through the bitterly cold winters, until they were again happy with you. This blew my mind a little, I  mean I’ve spoken with other people here who have told me of the communist days, where they would never know when they would receive power or heating for their homes in the country, and how near the end of communism it became less and less frequent… but hearing that it was distributed depending on how the dictator (or corrupt leaders) felt, is a slightly different and less human concept than them just running out of finance.

The drive turned out to be beautiful, we passed massive green plains where you would sporadically see goat herders tending to flocks, I saw one small and rather dirty river where there were motorcycles and cars scattered beside it, with about 10 guys each fishing casually in the middle of nowhere… I can’t imagine they were catching much, and I sure wouldn’t be thinking about eating anything from the water I saw. Perhaps it was just to relax… unemployment is very high and still rising, they might have been escaping the pressure they were getting on their hunt.

I was continually surprised by the old ladies, layered in woollen jumpers and vests, always with a head-scarf, hoeing vegetable plots, a man using a scythe on the corner of this massive field… things seem to be done on a different time here.

The beautiful tree-lined drive through the country

As we entered the town of Babadag we were warned that although it is a beautiful place (as we passed through rolling hills and lush forest on the outskirts) the town is very poor and has a large gypsy community, followed by the quote- “two bag of potatoes, one wife.”

So we prepared ourselves yet again to hear of a place of great need. We were greeted by the young and very welcoming couple in the building they are currently renting and using as a youth centre and church. Paul and Mimi were both University educated and came from well off families but had a heart for helping others, they both met while studying Social Work in University and after marrying moved to Babadag to work for an Organisation who were running a centre which provided food, shelter and clothing for about 15 orphans, they both took care of the kids and Paul (who is an English teacher) taught them among other students, they loved the children and their time there but unfortunately the project fell through for some reason and the building shifted to being used for the elderly, the kids were distributed into foster homes or out into the world.
 

It was here Leanne and I received a bit of a shock, up until now we had been told that Romania had dissolved all of its orphanages (which if you youtube used to be in absolutely horrific condition) to get into the European Union, where they had instead opted for a Foster-care system, which although was still not ideal (those taking the children in were usually just doing it for the money and were not taking care of the kids but frequently abusing them instead) but at least the children were in a home where they stood some chance of having a future.

Not true. Today we were told that they still do exist, Pauls hand waving in a general direction… “nearby but very bad conditions, the children and beaten and not taken care of” but what can they do? At the moment they barely have enough to keep the centre they have running, which is a place for the young people to come, with table tennis, fooseball, a row of computers for those who don’t have any to do their homework… Paul teaches them guitar, piano and English to help them in the future… trying to encourage a generation who believe that jobs are now so hard to come by, that they shouldn’t bother to try in school.  The town is apparently 75% unemployed at the moment, mostly because after gaining ties with the EU the factories nearby all shut down to instead trade, with no alternative jobs the working generation either left the country or went to the city, leaving either the elderly or unemployed to inspire the younger generation.
 

The couple recently took 10 teens to Brashov to open their eyes, most had never left the village, let alone been on a train or seen the mountains… they hoped the trip would open their eyes and encourage them to keep studying and work toward higher education.

One of the many horse and carts seen, behind him a modern Windmill-farm.

Sadly, there’s not much hope for some. They mentioned recently they lost a 12 year old girl from their youth centre, she is now “married” and living with a guy who they think must be about 25 years old… apparently this happens over here a lot, if a girl can be arranged (or sold) in marriage to someone who can provide for her, it’s seen as a good option. The girl is now no longer in school.

Apparently these “marriages” are really only seen as a convenience, we were told divorce is quite common and some girls will have three children to different men each time. What a way to live.

Speaking of leaving school early, the gypsy community (which is the discriminated race in Romania and throughout Europe) are extremely poor, when Paul spoke about the gypsy children he said most only attend until the end of Primary school, and this is because it is paid by the government. The families do not send their girls to high school because they literally are afraid they will be “stolen”, as most girls have arranged marriages from about the age of 5, if a man or a man’s family see’s a girl he wants they literally will kidnap her away. This has meant a lot of girls are left with only a primary education to support themselves later in life.

OK, sorry team… I began writing this in the afternoon (after a day of travelling and meetings) but ended up going to an international dinner thing hosted by some University Students, and although it was good fun, it’s now after midnight and I’m toasted. I was scribbling notes down about today as I went though, so fear not, I’ll continue the story tomorrow :)

Much to say in so little time!

Talk to you soon…