A Drive to Cluj

Hello everyone! No I haven't disapeared or forgotten you but my days have been full of everyday happenings that I have already told you about but now I have a subject worthy of a post;) I believe I have told all of you about Sora Aneta, one of the ladies in the church here, she has a daughter that due to a sickness as a baby has lived most of her life deaf. A while back she had the opportunity of trying some one elses hearing aid and was able to hear and yesterday Curtiss and I had the opportunity of taking her and Sora Aneta (and another guy who happens to have a daughter who works in the clinic, is the one who had Mina try his hearing aids and due to these things knew how to get where we were going;) to the city of Cluj (a three to four hour drive depending on traffic and what you are driving) where there is a clinic that tests and makes hearing aids. We left here a few minutes to eight yesterday morning and since it has been rather rainy here and since the forcast called for rain all day we were loaded with umbrellas, rain coats of various sizes and descriptions and a change of clothes in case all else failed. The trip out was uneventful with only one stop for gas and a pepsi for the driver, the conversation a mix of Romanian and English. We arrived on the out skirts of the city after only three hours drive and proceeded to make our way to the clinic, and once we got there had to find some where to park which proved harder then it usually is in any of the other cities I have been to here (probably because it is the biggest) eventually we found a parking garage which we scared the Romanians by parking in it as they had never even heard of such a thing let alone use one, it was so funny to listen to them, even I who really can't understand a word that they say knew exactly what was going on and that they were doing some thing that was completely new for them. After that it was off to the clinic which is actually a large hospital for diagnosis and treatment of all kinds of things, at least that is what it said on the sign. Once inside we all made our way to the bathrooms where there was no toilet seat, toilet paper, running water or soap (which I guess would be useless without water) but it met the need and I can't complain since I had some tissues and hand cleaner in my purse (Curtiss said that the most important thing you can have in Romania besides your passport is hand cleaner;) By now it was almost noon and Curtiss and I were getting hungry so we exchanged phone numbers so that they could call us when they were done and we went in search of a restaurant. Now in Romania it is not an easy matter to find some place to eat in a city that you have never been in before in a country where eating places aren't plentiful in the first place and the local people tell you not to eat any where that hasn't been recommended to you by some one you trust. Now when you are in a foreign city there is no one around that you trust to recommend some place and so we just started walking to see what we could find. Scary you might say but definitely invigorating:) (I think I should mention here that all the preparation we had made to stay dry wouldn't have done us a bit of good as we left it all in the car, so I guess that it was a good thing that it didn't rain all day we were almost back to the village before running into any, but not near as exciting) At first we weren't too successful as we went the wrong way and there were no eating places any where in sight, we did find a very pretty park though that had a nice big pond with ducks in it and rowboats you could rent, mind you they looked like they would sink if you set out in them but they were there and the grass had been cut at some point and the walks were well cared for all in all not usually what you find when in a park in Romania. We then headed back the other way and within five minutes of going the other way from where we started in the first place we came to a little diner that served burgers and things of that sort. As it was getting late and we didn't know when we would get a phone call we decided to try it so in we went. Now picture a hallway that is about ten feet wide, tables set for four running down each side with a small aisle in between them and you have the restaurant. As it became increasingly hotter the further you went into it and because they don't have non smoking areas here (by the time we left I think every other person who ate there smoked at some point or another) we sat at the table closest to the door where I ate my very first Romanian hamburger(after praying really hard that we wouldn't get sick from them). Allow me to decribe: a beef patty (I think, it didn't look like beef) shredded cabbage and french fries all on a large bun dripping with (Romanian)ketchup and mayo. Yes, the french fried were on the burger. It was quite tasty. Curtiss got almost the same thing only his patty was breaded and fried. After leaving the restaurant we came across a sight that was quite surprising and that Curtiss and I are both kicking ourselves for not getting a picture of, I guess we were too shocked to be thinking cleary. A band of Native Americans in full costume playing on the sidewalk! Not a normal sight in Europe. And from there we went and looked at a huge stone Catholic cathedral that had it's beginning in the 14th centery, you can't ever find some thing like that that old in America, it was beautiful. While we were in there we got the phone call that Mina was done and that we could meet them at the gate of the hospital and we could then go to the car. The only thing to note on the way home was eating our second lunch;) Aneta had packed a lunch for everyone that we didn't know about until we got to the city but as we didn't know how long the apointment was going to last we still went and got those burgers but since the others hadn't eaten and because Curtiss was hungry again we stopped at a little road side park that had a few tables and ate lunch for the second time;) because I knew that we were going to be eating again I only ate about half of my burger and then half of my sandwich and so again I was able to avoid the overly full sick feeling! Exciting isn't it?

Now for a brief update on Mina. She was able to get hearing aids but can't really use them until a part is made that had to be ordered and she goes back to get them fitted to her. But she will be able to hear!!!! and we get to make another trip to Cluj in a week or so:) How fun! Please keep Mina in your prayers as she adjusts to life with hearing aids, she does have a very small amount of hearing in her one ear so she can speak a little but not much, and she has kind of lived her life in the background not taking part in much that has gone on around her so this will be an adjustment for her, but I think she is excited and looking forward to being able to hear what is going on around her.