Diary 6 Friday June 4th 2010
I did not expect I would have much to write today as we left Caminul Felix and moved on to Cefa but it was a most
enjoyable and informative morning and a good day generally.
We were given a conducted tour of the farm at Caminul
Felix and the hotel and workshops. It is a long time since we were on those farming
premises and we were really delighted and most impressed with what we saw. The
dairy farm has improved HUGELY – quite unbelievable how it has developed. The
machine for selling milk is impressive, the standards
very high and the farm machinery in good condition.
On the same site is the Noble House Hotel that Caminul
Felix built and runs – that is excellent and I would certainly consider using
it if we had a group staying in the Oradea area. In the Sunflower workshop
(think I have the name right) to our surprise the supervisor is Mariana who
used to be at Casa David so it was seriously lovely to see her again. Also (and
this last will only be of interest to people with long links with Caminul Felix) we met several of the young people who
recognised us and remembered us from 6 or 7 years ago, also we met 2
house-parents from Caminul Felix Village 1 Mircea Toca and Dan (of Dan and
Veronica at Casa 2). As we walked back from Ohio House where we had had coffee
and played with a totally enchanting little girl called Alexandria, Phil and I
agreed it had been a brilliant morning and one of the most rewarding and
interesting times of the whole trip.
We were shown round by one of the orphanage housefathers and accompanied
by one of the children as teachers at her school were on strike, but other
children’s schools were operating as usual. In the reaction against the 25%
reduction in salary for all state employees, there seem to be daily strikes on
a rota basis. On Tuesday it was the trams, the next day some of the schools,
etc. It is very concerning and this is an on-going topic of conversation –
inevitably the subject came up over coffee.
We packed our bags and loaded them into the car with difficulty. (We
will have to be better organised for the long trip back home). We drove past
Cefa to a restaurant we like where Phil had his favourite tripe soup (yuck!). I
investigated the motel attached to the restaurant and was impressed at the
prices and standards – if we have a party of supporters for while we are based
at Cefa I would hope to use that hotel – it is so very much better standard
than the one up the road from Casa Mabel and is only 10 miles away.
On the subject of Casa Mabel that is where we are now. It was very quiet
when we arrived mid afternoon but livened up once Flori got back from dialysis
and Maria got back from work. Adela gave me a head and shoulder massage which
was really good – she has a real talent I reckon (apparently she has been
taught by Maria one of the old ladies). It was a bit of a shock to see that in
sympathy with Flori Adela has had her head shaved! She now wears a yellow cap.
Flori and Adela are very close friends and Adela is such a sweetie I can imagine
to have her hair shaved off too would be just the sort of thing she would do to
show her love and support her friend.
The old ladies seem to spend most of their time in their rooms by choice
appearing for a chat half an hour before meals which are eaten together, then
they all go back to their rooms.
Recently there have been numerous complications with Flori’s
dialysis and she has had several surgeries and is in constant pain or strong
discomfort during dialysis as the areas have got so swollen. But she got
chatting about how when she is feeling really low and miserable (like when she
was in hospital the opposite side of Romania) she has on several occasions heard
a voice saying “Flori don’t worry” and she is certain it is Jesus Christ or an
angel speaking to her to encourage her. As she talked about this a big smile
appeared on her face. At other times she told us she has been aware of a
dazzling bright light that nobody can see and again a sense of joy and peace.
When you think how tough her life is with the pain-filled dialysis 5 hours 3
times each week in hospital, it really is quite inspirational how happy and
cheerful she is.
For supper tonight we had “marmaleaka” that is
how it sounds. As far as I can understand it is yellow corn flour cooked with
water to a thick consistency and can be eaten sweet or savoury. It is very
traditional and in some parts of Romania it can even be used in place of bread
apparently. I shall try to buy some to take home and try at home as it was
really very pleasant.