MONDAY MAY
25th
Not a very busy day but good!
We began by sleeping much later than expected and then having a proper shower
with hot water (!) in the pensioners home. It had been
our plan to have a lazy morning, see Flori off to her
dialysis and then potter until Alex came at 1 o’clock (he had an appointment in
the morning); we knew we needed a couple of hours business meeting with Alex
about various things as well as arranging the programme for our time here.
But Alex arrived in the
morning so as we went to have our breakfast at approaching
The discussions with Alex went
well and we covered much of the ground we needed to, including getting the
beginning of a list of needs (which I will insert at the bottom of this diary
entry), also hearing of the recent death of several of our pensioners, learning
of the funeral
procedure in Romania and we have finalised our programme more or less:
Tuesday
– morning and early afternoon with Flori – go to
Wednesday
– we will spend with Nelu and Cristina of FI.
Thursday
– we will be with Alex going to visit projects at Saceini
and Voivez, also visit Gurau
family and purchase a commercial or semi-commercial washing machine for the
pensioners home ( – the present one flooded over the floor while we were
talking with Alex this morning!!).
Friday
– this can be a tying up loose ends day for Phil and me, visiting people we
have not yet seen, going back to Geo’s, etc. At
Saturday
– the official opening of the pensioners home at
Sunday
– we will attend church with Alex and everyone at Cefa
in the morning, have lunch then we must say Goodbye and head for the border.
This afternoon we went to see
Kathy Langston and here Phil and I amazed ourselves at how we managed to
navigate to Kathy’s with just the map and the street name! Kathy was amazed too
and had her mobile ready for our SOS phone call to say we were lost!
We had a great time with Kathy
and the girls Codi and Andrea. Kathy was very pleased
at how the younger one related to us so well, while the older one did her
school homework as sometimes she can find it hard to relate to unfamiliar
adults and usually just goes into her shell and plays alone! Their adoption is
finally finalised and the girls are starting to realise they cannot be taken
away from Kathy.
After a good meal and 2 hours
play in the nearby park (well the girls played while Kathy, Phil and I talked
and gave the occasional push on the swings!) we said Good bye and came back home.
On our return we found Flori is not feeling too good after her
dialysis – headache, sore throat, been vomiting and has a very sore arm and
swollen hand; this is apparently quite normal after dialysis. She cheered up
when we told her what we have planned for tomorrow and said she hoped to feel
better.
We are now back
in the hostel (which will shortly be the house of the site supervisor) and we
will head for bed very shortly. We are both saddened and concerned to see Flori suffering like that.
List of needs identified so far:
·
Trailer for tractor
– Phil thinks he can source one, but will check on his return, so if George and
the other loaders read this they know it will be a fascinating and challenging
load this time!!
·
Implements to go
behind a tractor – plough, scarifier, sprayer
·
Bikes – including
those in need of repair
·
Hand tools – flat
hoes, etc.