Tuesday: Farm, Glodeni, and WOMAN'S DAY

On Tuesday Attila took Floyd, Zech and me to Glodeni to visit the kindergarten classes sponsored by the mission.  There are two; each has between ten and twelve children ages four to six.  It was lunch time in Zozo’s class.  You have never seen such little ones pack away so many sandwiches!  For most of them it is the only food they have each day.  They sang and recited colors and numbers.  They have learned the days of the week and the names of the months.  Annamaria the other teacher was out sick  so her group was watching a movie with the substitute teacher when we popped in to see them.

After visiting the classes we went to visit the farm land.  It is beautiful property just outside the village. It consists of 16 hects. (Due to the rain we had to walk about a mile or so after we had driven for a way) Attila shared the plan for developing the land to produce crops.  This will provide income for the mission work as the produce is sold.  Jobs will be created for the gypsies as they help work the fields and bring in the harvest. There was evidence of the presence of wild pigs and groundhogs but we did not see any.

 We also went and saw the tractor that had been purchased last week with funds from the Teleios Christmas catalog. It is kept at a church member, Attila Ratei’s, home in Glodendi.  As we drove through the village many of the children from camp days saw us and began waving a shouting to me. It was a very special feeling seeing their smiles and hearing “It’s Bonnie”!

Traveling back to Reghin, we stopped in the village of Peris to look at the newly purchased house and land there.  This location is the site of the latest partnership project. It will serve as a group home for foster gypsy children.   The house is large enough to accommodate foster parents and up to 10 children. The house requires some renovations but is spacious, solidly built and has beautiful parquet flooring. In the courtyard is an old building that will be torn down.  At the rear is a small barn, some stalls and lots of area for gardening. The property is located on the main street of the village and the kindergarten is just across the street.  Very convenient to everything!  Cleaning the courtyard and demolition of the old out building is projected to begin around the first week in April. It is so exciting to see this dream becoming a reality! We would have lingered but a hail storm with cold rain began to pour down on us down on us so we hurried back to the van and continued on to Reghin.

 When we arrived back in Reghin Attila dropped me off at his house saying the guys had a project to do.  It wasn’t too long before they arrived back to the house bearing gifts. Adel, her mother and I received bouquets of beautiful flowers!  March 8 is Women’s Day throughout the world.  It is celebrated big in Romania.  It is a day when women are treated special. Women are showered with gifts of candy and flowers. Their contributions to family and community are recognized.   In the cities restaurants are packed giving women a break from cooking for the day.  Some businesses reserve the entire restaurant for their employees and families.  We tried three before we found one that could take us for dinner.  Prior to eating we went bowling in Targur Mures.  We were alone at the bowling alley because there was a free concert in town for Women’s Day. None of us are pros but we sure had fun!

The weather had turned cold and rainy again so Zech decided to forgo the nightly soccer game. We were all tired from the walk around the land and celebrating anyway.