We arrived at the orphanage 17 hours after leaving Cluj, having spent four and a half hours at customs! Our friend Norman Fraser suggests that it is all about patience. Prove that you are more patient than the custom officer and they give up. As it turned out, Silvia's advocacy of us won out, and we arrived here around midnight last night, had a late dinner/tea here in the school dining room, and as we settled in to sleep (in the caravan – we may sleep in a dormitory tonight) a tiny dog began to bark; a high pitched yap that did not cease until the early hours.
Today we have eaten breakfast and lunch courtesy of the orphanage with Horia and Silvia. We have been the only ones eating, and they have prepared beautiful meals for us in an extremely basic kitchen. Our mumbled thank yous (mes-u-mescht) don’t seem to do the hospitality justice.
We have brought a smattering of rain with us, but no one seems to mind – it has not rained here for a long time, unlike home! Unfortunately, that has slowed our first work – repainting the orphanage’s gates brown and white, because the brown and white paint is rather tired. This morning we attacked the gate with scrapers, screwdrivers and hacksaw blades to smooth it out after many previous coats of paint. Now we are setting to applying the paint.
During the rain we befriended the beast of barking from last night, a cute little bag of bones that everyone on site seems to have soft spot for – its excursions into the dining hall are lightly reprimanded, and then someone takes it some scraps. We have also learnt how to shell walnuts straight from the branch; for someone who can’t stand the dried nuts, I found these delightfully watery and gentle tasting. In general the food here has been delicious; the vegetables are really gorgeous.
Sadly, the customs debacle is not over. The head of the orphanage is off today in town trying to finish the declarations that will allow us to donate the sports equipment. Also sad is the fact that we see the orphanage so empty of children, but we are reassured; they are on holiday camp, mixing with other Moldovan children from all backgrounds. Hopefully they will return to some great new equipment.
Meantime, I should be painting!
1 comment:
Only you lot could travel all that way to an orphanage whose children are on holiday! Hope the painting's going well. Did you visit any of the churches with the outside wall paintings in Romania? Well worth doing so if not. Hope the journey back is as exciting.
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