Blogs from Bacau, Moldova, Romania, Europe

Just a few more days before my departure to Europe for the Big Build in Bacau, Romania. As part of my plan to visit 100 countries by the the time I reach 70 years of age, I am going on a pre-build tour through the Balkans. The first stop will be Ljubljana in Slovenia, then Croatia,Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia before arriving in Romania. (late breaking news, on a count back, I discovered that I am going to not achieve 100 by the end of this trip.) On September 20th, we left West Hawk Lake after the usual fall shutdown and drove to Winnipeg and then Lorette for a last visit with Aron, Fran and Xavier. Jan will be in the Winnipeg area for a bit, and then she will drive west to Ymir and on to ... read more

We started today with the unique opportunity to meet with the communication specialist at the Mayor’s office in Moinesti, the location we are actually building in (Comanesti is where we are staying). We learned a number of things about the community, their vision for the future and how they are working to inspire the youth in their community. We were recognized by the community and received our own certificate as official friends of Moinesti! Then we headed back for a full day at the work site...the normal painting, flooring, and trim, oh my! Dantes and Vasile did their best to get us going through out 4 work places (houses). We have earned their trust and teams were free to use the few power tools they have. The first day we had flooring issues with the floor ... read more

The day started with a plan for a half day of work at the site as we had afternoon plans for touring. We went in with enthusiasm to hit it hard and fast and get as much done as we could. We divided quickly into flooring (most of us) and painting. We soon were reminded that we are dependent upon the Romania counterparts and today the electric company showed up to set up the 4 unit apartment complex. We peeked in the power box and for the 4 unit complex and saw 8 circuits of 220 power. With the U.S. at 110 power, it isn’t an apples to apples comparison, but most U.S. single family homes have 15-20 circuits. We finished what we could and headed back to our place to eat lunch and shower up. ... read more

Here is our quote from the team lead(s) and attached is our team picture from Comanesti Romania. Names left to right Bottom Row: Karin Vukich, Becky Teschke, Deb Countney, Carrie Herrmann, Wende Arnoldussen, Ray Sorenson, Noreen Hannemann Back Row: Mike Martin, Paul Johnston, Pam Wilda, Dennis DeBoth, Heather Hesse,Don Stingle,Britt Lindley Quote from team leads... It's incredible to work for an organization that gives employees the opportunity to demonstrate to those in need, not only generosity, but also how to serve others. We are able to put to action both our values of faith and that of Thrivent Financial through our Thrivent Way mission and values. Our team is passionate about the need to demonstrate the values of volunteerism to those that have both personal need as well as the will to change the problem of ... read more

I had hoped to buy some tuica from the gazda daddy but the day on the mountain was so long I didn't have time to ask him and it seems he kept it stored at his other house. Tuica is the thing you want to get homemade and this was my last chance. I have to settle for the half quart I already have. God knows what he thought when N came to him at 11pm wanting a liter of it. Leaving Brus was somewhat of a challenge. I never have trouble waking up early, but the maxi-taxis can be very unreliable. The one I was catching was supposedly all the way to Bacau at 8:00. It showed up at 9 and was going less than halfway. It placed me in Comanesti and no transfer in ... read more