Another day off and another day of rain. So let's just eat!

Our second R&R day was a rain filled one. Rain soaked at times but beautiful!

We still managed to get to the Bear Cave.....

......and to explore a gorgeous wooden church.  

We headed up to the Bihor Mountains where we were supposed to spend the afternoon hiking but the rain kept us indoors.

Other than the rain, the only real theme of the day was food.  If we weren't sitting in the bus, we were eating.  Why is all the food in this country so good?  And why does everyone want to keep feeding and watering us?

Obviously we HAD to eat breakfast.  Then we drove about an hour to the cave and did the tour.  Leaving the cave there are lots of stalls selling trinkets, homemade palinka (moonshine... basically), baked goods, etc. And then there are a number of stalls selling Kurtos Kalach which is being freshly baked/roasted on open coals.  It is a sweet bread wrapped around a wooden cylinder and baked.

And served piping hot.  Emil Barna -- the Volunteer Co-ordinator for HFH Beius bought us a couple of "loaves" and we devoured them right there.

We made our way to the wooden church. And as only a group of tourists can do, we inadvertently crashed a memorial at the church. So...they fed us!  First giant shots of Palinka followed by homemade cheese bread and 2 different torts.

Then it was on to lunch at Ana's house.  Ana is a HFH home owner and she hosted us in her new Habitat home that Kim (our group leader) worked on last summer.  The house was lovely and here 3 year old daughter even more precious.  She unveiled a feast: Fresh baked bread, homemade cabbage rolls, sweet peppers with ripe and homemade goat cheese, hot peppers, bacon, roasted eggplant spread.

Really?

We dragged our stuffed selves onto the bus to head up to the mountain lodge. Most of us passed out from palinka and food induced comas.  We awoke thick in the cloud and mist and rain of the mountains.  The hike was officially canceled so we cozied up in the lodge. Some people played cards, I read a few maps and then decided to climb stairs in an effort to do something more than just sit.

Ana and her brother Bogdan with the help of their friends prepared us a dinner.  And a few more shots of palinka.  Dinner was served just after eight and included BBQed chicken, homemade sausages, homemade french fries, salad and more homemade bread.  Followed by angel wings which are basically homemade donuts covered in sugar.

We are all convinced there is a conspiracy to feed us to death!  "Why is all the food we eat here so good?" we keep asking each other!

Back to work tomorrow and not only do I hope the rain stops but I better get to make concrete or dig foundations...I know there will be more food in my future!

Welcome to Beius, Romania

The next week of our Habitat build takes place in Beius.  We arrived in town just before noon on a very rainy Saturday.  It has been raining since Friday evening.  It is our off-day today so definitely better to rain like this today rather than a day on the work site.

Beius is a small market town which was first mentioned in official documentation in the year 1263A.D., when it was noted as being burned to the ground by Mongol invasion earlier in 1241 A.D. Between the late 18th and early 20th centuries, during the reign of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Beius became one of the most important Romanian language learning centers in Transylvania at a time when Romanians had little or no political or religious rights.

Habitat for Humanity Romania began in Beius in 1996 when a group came together to start a Romanian affiliate.  Over the years, seven affiliates have been started throughout Romania, and several other short term projects have been undertaken to serve the needs of specific communities.  The housing need in Beius is extensive and has been brought on by a lack of re-investment and impoverished families living on the margins of society.  In addition there are a dozen Roma communities that live in semi shanty towns scattered throughout the cities and countryside.  The Beius affiliate is very active and is doing great work using social media.  If you are on Facebook, explore their page Habitat for Humanity Beius or check out their website.

We are staying in a family home in the town. It is a lovely house with small garden and multiple rooms with two beds in each.  There are lots of dogs and roosters in the neighbourhood as well.  Since it is a rainy day our originally planned hike is postponed until Sunday and we are having a very lazy day. We got settled in our rooms and got laundry started. Hoping the rain settles since we need to air dry it on the line. We are living on Mihai Viteazul.

We went to lunch and then took a wander through town.  Must admit it is nice to not travel as a group.  We broke up and found our own areas to explore.

And of course that meant a visit to a cafe shop for good coffee and treats.

Definitely enjoying the lazy recovery day.

Week in review: So sore...but so worth it

Just returned from our last dinner in Oradea and tomorrow we make our way to Beius to work at another location and on other houses.  We will also move into different accommodations. In addition we have Saturday and Sunday "off" from work so we will be enjoying the Romanian mountains and hopefully hiking on Saturday with some sight seeing on Sunday.  And then back at it on Monday.
Living and working at Caminul Felix has been wonderful.  The accommodation and people here have been brilliant so I mixed emotions about leaving.  Although I am thrilled we will get to visit and absorb another torn and work with a new crew in Beius.

I can confess to being absolutely spent today and sore all over. But it feels amazing. Of course the two giant bottles of Ursus beer with dinner have helped tremendously with the muscle tightness.

The last few days have been physically demanding and I have loved every minute of it.  There was a certain sysiphean element to the last three days.  It seemed we were constantly shoveling rocks into ditches we just dug, and then shoveling sand with more rocks to make concrete...and as soon as we went for our lunch break or a short water break, more rocks and sand appeared!  So much digging, so much concrete...so many wheelbarrows!  There is a great sense of satisfaction though when you end your day with physical exhaustion brought on by being outside for hours being highly productive.

This was our team as we set off to work on  Day one -- clean and eager!

In our short time here we finished installing vapor barrier and insulation in the transition house project as well as installed dry wall boards to the ceilings and to 5 rooms in the house.

We built and  installed the molds for walkways, prepared concrete and poured the concrete for the walkways surrounding the first set of studio apartments.

We then removed the molds and filled the edges with gravel and sand to ensure proper run off.  This included pounding down the sand and gravel. The wood framing was started as well.

Foundation trenches were dug (by a machine ...thank goodness) for two more blocks of studio apartments.  On the first, we cleaned the trenches, filled them with 20cm of rocks, prepared concrete and poured it into the foundation.  We lay cinder blocks to prep the start of the wall construction for the exterior walls.

On the second we also filled the foundation with 20cm of rocks and prepared concrete finishing 2/3 of the foundation.

Considering we worked about an 8 hour day and worked Tuesday to Friday this week, we did pretty well I think!

In addition we met some great people.  I mentioned Mircea and Lydia who will be moving into the transitional house.  They started adopting children 19 years ago and have a family of 18 children and are now grandparents as well.

We met fantastic children and families who are part of Caminul Felix.

We worked with great Romanian crew: Ionuts, Mihai, Dan, Benny as well as some of the young families who will be moving into the studio apartments.

And of course my team-mates!  Great people who continue to work hard and make each other laugh!

Looking forward to a good night's sleep, the chance to sleep-in a bit...and the next Chapter as we head to Beius.

Start the day with a run and end the day with a warm heart!

A truly fantastic day!  I packed my running shoes and resolved to run on this vacation. While somewhat sleep deprived I still managed to get up and get out at 6:30am for a few kms around the farm.
It made for a great day!

It was a very physical day that began with driving stakes in the ground with a sledge hammer to build frames for what would become walkways around a small apartment we are also working on.  After that, I worked with Dane to build the actual frames with 2x4. We had to ensure the lines were level and the walkways sloped slightly to ensure water run-off when complete.

Teams worked to gather sand and rocks with wheel-barrows and then we shoveled gravel into the frames.  I then pounded the gravel with a very handy tree-stump fashioned with two handles to pound the ground.

All hands were on deck and we worked in two teams to mix the concrete in large concrete mixers-- 1 bucket of water, 3 shovels of powdered concrete, multiple shovels of sand and gravel. Empty into 3 wheel-barrows led by others in the team.  Repeat for about 3 hours!

And now the walkways are complete!

For dinner we were invited to the Caminul Felix compound number 1 which is where the family, whose transitional home we are working on now, has lived for 18 years with their ever-growing family.  They prepared and overwhelming feast and welcomed us warmly into their home, their lives and their world.

We heard about the importance of family...for life.  At Caminul Felix adoptive parents adopt abandoned children of all ages and not only provide them with a place to live, but with a family that is their's to love and and give love to for their entire lives.  They do not "release" orphans when they are 18 years old.  The family continues to grow as children marry and have families of their own.  This is the foundation they create and provide instilling the need for and importance of a family, and a community, that cares.

There is a lot of love that needs to be shared and many who remarkably give unconditionally.  My heart was overcome to see them all together, listen to how much they do and provide.

We build rain or shine!

I know where the rain we were needing in Toronto went!  It's in Hungary and Romania. Specifically it is following a group of Canadians volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.  We are now in Oradea, Romania at Caminul Felix Orphanage and so is the rain! Which I'm sure means it is sunny in Budapest now too.

The day began with very little sleep ( I seem to be a bit of an insomniac lately) and lots of rain!  But that didn't hold us back.  We dove right into the work and got familiar with the Transitional House project we are working on.

After a quick review of Health & Safety and hardhats, we got to work putting up Vapor barrier and cut and installed dry wall on the ceilings and some walls.  With so many of us there we made fast work of it.  But there will be more to keep us busy. And if weather allows we will work outside digging and pouring foundations, setting molds and pouring concrete for walkways.

We are working here in Oradea at the orphanage until Friday. Then we move to Beius to live and work on a different build and see a different part of Romania as well. Taking it all in -- the people, the work, the country -- it never ceases to amaze me what you see and what you learn when you allow yourself the opportunity to engage in a new place with new people.  Fascinating!

Another day...another country

Spent the morning in Budapest preparing for our road trip and sneaking in some last minute tourist spots with a few people. Did a quick trip up to Castle Hill on the Funicular with Bev. 

Now you shouldn't really "do" Castle Hill quickly but better than to not do it at all. I had the very good fortune of spending a half day on Castle Hill with my Dad in 2008.  I hope I pointed out the highlights to Bev.

Sadly we did not have time for Dobos and coffee but perhaps we can sneak some in before we leave Budapest.
Then it was aboard a mini-bus for a 5 hour drive to Romania which included an hour time change as well. It is midnight as I write this post but really can't sleep. Not entirely sure how I will function on the work site tomorrow.  I am somewhat overwhelmed with my surroundings.  Although I've only seen it in darkness, it's not so much how it looks, but where I am that is got me energized.

A little bit about where I am:

In addition to having the great opportunity to again work with Habitat for Humanity in eastern Europe, I am living and building in a city not far from where my mother was born and her family originates.  Yes, I have Transylvanian blood in me! And there was a time, not that long ago, that was also a part of Hungary.
Romania is a country about the size of the state of Oregon, situated in South East Central Europe on the lower Danube. It borders Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the Northeast, and the Black Sea and Bulgaria to the south.

The areas of Oradea and Beius (where we are working) was founded in the 10th century, when a a small citadel was established by King Ladislaus I of Hungary. Until the end of World War II when Romania was awarded this region of Transylvania, possession of the city and the it's surrounding environs, alternated between the Hungarian and Austrian empires and Romania.
Here is a map of what Hungary once looked like.

This a VERY simplified version of the history.  But when it was still considered Hungary, my mother was born in  Kolozsvár.   (Read more by clicking on the link) And I am now on the same land that once was where my Mother called home.

Looking very much forward to the sun coming up and getting a look around, meeting the families at the Orphanage and getting to work.

The views in Budapest...and meeting the team

Finally correcting my internal clock...I think. Slept until 10am after being awake for almost 24 hours. A very sound sleep after wandering  the streets of Budapest and enjoying the amazing way it is all illuminated.  Definitely feeling like vacation mode.

I moved from my apartment in Budapest to the hotel where the rest of the team is staying. The hotel itself is an uneventful Communist-era building with decent accommodations.  The hotel is just down the road from the apartment and in the midst of the theatre and Opera district.  The majority of the buildings are gloriously old in Budapest (save the Communist-era ones which are not so nice!) but there is something about being surrounded by old playhouses and being down the street from the Opera House. History and culture all wrapped up into one!

The view from my hotel looks onto a small park and a number of bars, coffee houses and small grocery stores.  But I won't grow too accustomed to it as we head for Oradea, Romania tomorrow at 2pm.

Had our first team dinner tonight:  Kim, Bev, Sue, Heather, Pete & Sarah, Gabe & Joanna. We are still waiting for 3 more people whose flights have been delayed but if all goes well, they will arrive in time to catch our bus tomorrow.

As much as I am enjoying the city and all the great indulgences it has to offer, chatting tonight with everyone about their previous Habitat builds and thinking about my last build in Szarvas, Hungary, I am anxious to get to the orphanage and get to work.

Magyarország...the land of blue cakes!

Arrived this morning in Budapest, Hungary. Nice to be in a country where I can actually speak the language and generally understand road signs, menus etc.

I spoke Hungarian before I spoke English; or at least that is what I am told. I guess growing up with a family of Hungarian-speakers it does follow that Magyar would come easily. I do have memories of being about 3 or 4 (when I assume my English was kicking in more full-time) confusing Hungarian words and English words.

Here was my language dilema:

A good Hungarian family we often had cakes (called Sütemény) and tortes and other amazing homemade things. And when we spoke about these we called cake Sütemény. But depending on where we were, we also called cake, well...cake.

And as most 3 years old do, I painted, drew with crayons, etc. and used the colour blue. And if I was with my grandparents I called the colour Kék (in Hungarian...pronounced CAKE). And elsewhere I called the colour blue.

One perplexing afternoon, probably in need of a nap, I was sitting on my grandmother's green sofa trying to understand the relationship between Sütemény, cake, blue, Kék...and finally determining that all cake must be blue.

Perhaps this is when the english lept forward to be my langauge of choice and my hungarian vocbulary slipped away. We did continue to speak a magyar-english hybrid very regularly until all my grandparents died. I try to use it when I can with my parents too.  Ironically I think my Hungarian is still better than my French when forced to use either language.

So I'm in the right place I guess; I can speak the language. (And there is more behind my choice of destination...but more on that later).

For now I need to find a Kávéház and a blue piece of Sütemény.

The team officially meets on Sunday and then we head for Romania on Monday. Will spend the next day or so trying to get over the jet lag.

Blueprint for a home...for a family

We recently got an email from our team leader letting us know the details of the build -- where we would be working, what we would be doing and a little bit of information about the family we would be helping.

I was excited to learn that we would in fact be living and working in an orphanage to build a home. Caminul Felix is located outside of Oradea and creates family environments for orphans. The compound has various family homes and families are as large as 18 children varying in age. We will be spending 4 days working there on the house in the image above.

What we heard from Mircea and his wife Lidia: 18 Years ago we have decided to help the orphans of our country. We got a big housefrom Caminul Felix organization where are 16 Family homes. We got a beautiful house and in one week we got 16 orphan children from the street and state orphanages. We have become their mom and dad. Then we got our 2 biological children. Since 18 years ago we have lived together as family. As our children grew up, the older ones have become adults and today we have 6 of them that got married and 2 others have moved out on their own working abroad.Right now have 10 teenagers that are 14-20 years old. Two of them are studying in university and 8 of them are still in school.Transitional House. The house we live in, is 12 bedrooms house. A good house for a family of 20 people living together for 18 years. Because we are right now a family of 12 people.

This to build for our family a smaller house with 6 bedrooms as a transitional house where we will live till all our children will be able to live on their own.Then the for the big house of 12 bedrooms bring a new couple of parents that will take 16 orphan children that will create a new family. In Romania are still many orphans that we believe that they need to grow up in a family environment. Our believe is to give to the orphan children a family for life

Looking forward to meeting the family and getting to work!

Thank you for your support...over $1800 raised so far

When I was selected to join this team of volunteers, Habitat for Humanity sent me a bunch of information ...what you need to wear, what you need to sign, what you can expect....and they also sent along all sorts of fundraising ideas.

Volunteers are encouraged to fundraise to help cover the costs of the in-country expenses. So back in February I created an online donation page for anyone wishing to assist me with raising funds for Habitat for Humanity and the build in Oradea, Romania.

The donations help to fund the home building in the host country and supports the Global Village program. Costs are kept low through volunteer labour (that’s me!!) and donated building materials. The families replay a non-profit, geared to income mortgage. As mortgages are repaid, the funds are used to build more homes.

I have had the good fortune of much support from various people. So this is a giant thank-you to the kindness of strangers, friends, relatives...I trust you have invested wisely.

Houses made by hand

In a few days I am heading off to Romania to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and help build houses in two Romanian towns. I’ll be joining a small team of Canadian volunteers and we will spend the next two weeks living together, working together and hopefully having loads of fun together!

I was recently reminded that we'll be building houses with our hands. And not much else.  Seems like a simple enough concept I guess and not overly mind-blowing I realize...but got me thinking just how much someone can accomplish just using their own two hands!  I mean we're going to help bring a family closer to moving into their own home. Pretty powerful hands.

Houses made by hand.....stories told by me....handmade tales.