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Romania Trip - Marna's Journal
Marna Gisvold - Senior Project Manager, Communications, Thrivent Financial
First impressions from Team Cluj
“The bus only has 19 seats (there are 20 of us) and not much room for luggage!” said Andrea O'Keefe, as she took a look inside our transportation from the airport. Then Andrea, being the project manager that she is, directed the team and the bus driver to repack the luggage, load in the people and add more luggage in the front of the bus so we could make our way to the hotel. In a pretty uneventful trip across the Atlantic, this was our first coming together as a team and a test of our nearly sleepless 24 hours.
Team Cluj met in Chicago from Minneapolis and Appleton the morning of Oct. 6. At 3:40 p.m., we departed for Milan and arrived there at 7 a.m. the next day. At 11:10, we left Milan for Cluj in a turbo prop jet with a nearly empty business class and ate the best meal we'd had all day!
As we caught our first sight of Cluj, Katie Kloster noted the smallness—small villages, small cars and a very small airport. They have one baggage claim belt and we were the only flight of the day. We disembarked to the tarmac and into the sunshine!
Some other first impressions of Romania included the familiar logos (Coke, Puma, Reebok), yet many unfamiliar words and advertisements. It was clear to us right away that there were many friendly people here, and we didn't have to speak the language in order to communicate with them. Vicki Stumpf and the hotel assistant (who spoke no English) went on a shopping excursion upon arrival to exchange money and purchase a hair dryer.
The first evening we had dinner at Matei Corvin. We were joined by folks from the Habitat affiliate and treated to local fare. Dinner consisted of meats, mashed potatoes and rice with vegetables. It was perfect for our starchy Lutheran palates! Many of us wanted to try the chocolate pancakes for dessert. Well, chocolate pancakes come in two stages—first the toppings (chocolate, whipped cream, nuts and orange slices) and then the pancakes. Because we were tired and unfamiliar with the dessert, not to mention that the wait staff didn't speak much English, we ate the toppings first and then later came the pancakes. Wonder what the word is for “dumb Americans” because I'm sure they were saying it!
Rolling up our sleeves
 Saturday dawned cool and clear. At 8 a.m. we made our way to the Habitat site. Our 20-person bus (we managed to fit everyone in since we didn't have so much luggage) didn't venture up the steep hill to the houses. The bus driver dropped us off at the street. As we walked among the chickens and the wild turkeys, we were pretty silent. This area of town is not what we'd seen near our hotel.
After our safety orientation, given by Vio, the site manager, we dug in, literally! In fact, Mike Feiler, manager of Lutheran Community Services, had a great suggestion, “Let's rename this program Thrivent Digs instead of Thrivent Builds!” We spent the day hauling dirt (naroi as it is known in Romanian). We hauled it from the bottom of the hill to the site in a flat bed truck, then transferred it to the foundation area of the houses. We had to fill in, tamp down and fill in some more. We made great use of the shovels! In fact, Dan Shinnick wore one out! We hoped to get enough dirt in to get the concrete poured that day, but since the concrete workers quit at 2 p.m. on Saturdays, we didn't quite make it. Half of the team spent the remainder of the day digging a trench near the group of houses that's nearly finished. By the end of the day, Kathy Kaddatz was in the trench up to her shoulders. The other half of the team worked on the last group of houses putting up the second floor and the trusses.
The families worked side by side with us the entire day. Some speak English, but most do not. You can tell by their faces how excited they are to be getting their own homes. They are working very hard to put in their sweat equity and get these houses finished.
Through our intrepreter, Alina, we heard from our site manager, Vio, at the end of the day. “I'm so proud of the work you've done today. You are very efficient workers and I can't believe how much you finished! This is as much as another team would complete in one week!”
Experiencing the city
Saturday night we enjoyed a walking tour of the city with narration by Mihai, the Cluj affiliate's volunteer coordinator, and dinner that included an authentic Romanian lamb dish, along with polenta and some tasty appetizers. We celebrated our productive day by enjoying some free time at the Internet Cafe, the Diesel disco, or, for some of us, much needed sleep!
Sunday again dawned clear and beautiful! We attended a church service at the Lutheran church in downtown Cluj. I think we were pretty conspicuous—there were maybe 20 other people there besides us. We took up three pews and didn't sing along with the Hungarian hymns! We didn't get out of there without being noticed! We had a wonderful conversation with the Romanian Lutheran Church Bishop!
Sunday was mostly a free day, but the whole team enjoyed pizza at a local joint. Then some went to the Botanical Gardens and some the Transylvanian History Museum. We all met up later for a team meeting that included schedule updates, singing and reflections.
We will be working at the site again tomorrow and having dinner with the families tomorrow night. Look for more updates soon!
Team Cluj leaves the city for the country
 After three very productive days at the Habitat site, Team Cluj needed a little R 'n' R. We boarded a couple of buses and headed for the countryside. Our first stop was the Turda Salt Mines—a fascinating tour that included a lot of steps and wonderful acoustics for our singing. They started mining salt there 2,000 years ago, although today it is only a tourist spot.
Our second stop was Alba Iulia to visit the Citadel. Alba Iulia is the location of the reunification of Transylvania with the rest of Romania. There is a beautiful Orthodox Cathedral there and a Roman Catholic cathedral. We had lunch in town and got back on the bus for the final leg of our trip.
Our destination for the night was Hotel Diana outside of Sambata. It's in a beautiful location at the base of the mountains. We visited a monastery and took a long hike up the logging trail. After a wonderful dinner in the hotel, we enjoyed a campfire under the moon and stars.
A visit to the birthplace of Dracula
Thursday morning we loaded up for Sighisoara (Sing-a-sora), known as the Pearl of Transylvania. It's a beautiful medieval town, famous because it's the birthplace of Vlad Tepes a.k.a. Dracula. We spent a few hours shopping and touring and then got back on the buses to head for Cluj.
Harvest time in Romania
The round trip took us through many villages and the unique countryside of Romania. As the traffic zips along the winding highway, horses and wagons travel there, too. The wagons are hauling corn, potatoes, hay or sticks. Romanians fill the fields, harvesting corn, potatoes and onions. We saw sheep, cattle, chickens, ducks, donkeys and oxen.
The beautiful rolling hills and valleys are planted with grapes, hops and fruit trees, and each village we passed through was unique. The houses along the road are joined together with decorative fences and they are colorfully painted, with shutters and window boxes full of flowers. As we passed, we saw clothes on the line and women dressed in skirts and kerchiefs.
We left the quiet of the villages to get back to the hustle and bustle of Cluj. We noticed that it had rained while we were away, but hope that Friday will be dry as we go back to work on the Habitat site. Two more productive days will bring the houses more on schedule, and we'll have really made progress in getting these families into their new homes.
It will be hard to leave this beautiful country with it's warm, friendly, gracious people.
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