RICK AND ROSE DO ROMANIA - PART II

So we were back in good old Roman Romania for another week while David worked. And work he did. Taking full advantage of the fact that I had my parents here to keep me busy and happy, he would work 11 hours a day, come home and eat dinner, then work another 2-3 hours upstairs. I kept telling my parents that he doesn't typically work this much and does participate in the family life more than this but I think they still wondered.
I pretty much ran out of sites to show my parents in this town after the first week so this week was going to be more about relaxing and spending quality time together. Swimming was a popular one but it turned very exciting when Evelyn's tooth got knocked out while rough housing with Grandad. She was so proud. She lost her first tooth! We played and enjoyed walks in the park

My Mom and I tried to go shopping again but the heat was just too uncomfortable. I can't imagine trying to peel my damp clothes off to try on new clothes. Or for that matter, trying on clothes that other people have stretched over their damp, sweaty, non-deodarized bodies. No thanks.



My Mom continued with Gabrielle's reading program, trying to establish a routine for her. My father continued on his quest to clean up Roman. He moved out of the gates and cut the grass on the boulevard and pulled all the weeds lining the gates. It looked a whole lot better I must say. We also decided as a team that we would clean the gym together. This gym is not what many people would picture. It's no Goodlife for sure. It is essentially a large storage area that they have carpeted in one area and placed a number of workout machines. Half of which don't work. The room next to the machine room hosts a huge kickboxing bag. This is my favorite room by far. It is where I go to release all my frustrations out. It turns out I have some serious agression issues. My Mom was watching me punch the hell out of this bag and yell at my Dad to punch harder like I was a seargent in the Army. I could see her think, "What is happening to my daughter?" Truth is I have always been like this and only now have realized I could have made a pretty good boxer. That said, I do like the fact that my nose is still in one place so... que sera!



We got a phone call from David's cousin Simon earlier in the week asking us what we were doing for the weekend. He explained that he was actually going to be in Bucharest (capitol of Romania) for business and thought her would come early for a visit. We tossed around the idea of bringing him to our house for the weekend but realized quickly when you factor in the 5 hour drive to Bucharest and back, it didn't leave much time to relax. Instead David and I decided we would all go to Bucharest for the weekend and tour the capitol city together. The only trouble now was how to get there.

We rented a full sized van to carry us all to the big city. It promised to get us there with lots of room to spare. A nice large van.. comfortable? ... not so much.

Friday came with the weather man promising one of our hotest days yet. They were saying at least 40 degrees in the shade making the sunshine feel like flames hitting your face. This hasn't ever been a problem for us except for the fact that today we were travelling in a van that has NO AIR CONDITIONING!!! That's not even the best part. Only the 2 windows at the front of the van open, the rest is an enclosed hot box. Great. I ask myself why in the world people would even consider buying a vehicle without AC in this climate and then I remember I'm in Romania. The place where people are terrified of getting a chill.

The big girls got stuck in the very back of this hot box which evoked enormous guilt on my behalf. I knew though, that they would be distracted enough from the heat by their DVD player which would definately be playing all the way there. As I sat in the middle row beside Ruby and my Mom I could feel drips of sweat running down my neck. I watched Ruby in discomfort as she napped. The bridge of her nose was glistening and her cheeks ruby red. Her car seat, which is typically comfortable and lined with soft velour like fabric was proving to be far too hot for her little body. She ended up sitting in my lap for half of the drive. Not too pleasant for either of us I must say. Not to mention incredibly unsafe. I fight the constant inner voice that rings in my brain when life gets really hard or uncomfortable here. "Why are you here? Get me out of here!" I fight that voice with another, telling my subconscious mind that I will look back on this with some great memories and that it will soon be over before I know it. If I don't end up a schizo by the end of this it will be a miracle!

My Mom did fabulously well to my surprise, keeping herself quiet and busying herself with nurishing us all. My father, who hates the heat, dozed unconsciously in his Gravol coma making his trip to Bucharest feel very short! David, who had just had a hum dinger of a day at work which had made him 3 hours late was not fareing so well. I knew he was fighting an inner voice in his head too but his included many curses with teeth grinding and deep breathing. The fact that we were 3 hours behind schedule meant that his cousin would be waiting for us for 3 more hours in a foreign country which I'm sure made David uneasy. Turns out Simon, on the advice of David, got sent on a wild goose chase in Bucharest that found him walking in 44 degree heat for 3 hours straight. He sweat so much that his socks chaffed his ankles so that they looked red raw. He had just come from England of course and was wearing jeans, socks and running shoes. Poor guy! Welcome to Romania!:)

We arrived late but were re-energized by the night life of Bucharest. It reminds me of the old distrisct in Paris. Many of the old buildings in the capitol having been designed by French architects. Again you get the sense that you have left Romania and entered a new country.

The weekend was spent doing a bit of touring of the monuments and buildings. Romanians hate the large Parliment Building built by the Communist Dictator Ceausescu but to foreigners it is an unbelievable site. This building is only 30 years old which reminds me that the people walking down the street may have been involved with the Revolution. We enjoyed some delicious cuisine and treated ourselves to dessert whenever possible. We were sweating off most of the calories we were consuming by walking around the city. We had a terrific lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe where they, like their North American counterparts, subscribed fully to ice cold AC. It felt like someone had just doused me with cool water the moment I stepped into the resturant. My inner voice cried "Alleluhia!" as I drank a real Strawberry Daquari. Paradise in Romania! I had found it. So did the kids! A face painter with talent, dressed as a pirate, came around offering. They were pretty thrilled!

We also found that Bucharest had many beautiful parks in which they work very hard on to keep colourful and clean. In one of the parks, a man had set up 4 trampolines and was charging people 3 lei or 1$ for 15 minutes of jumping. Not caring much that it was at least 40 degrees outside the girls pleaded to give it a try. Gabrielle was getting a lot more height than she was comfortable with. They came off needing a big drink. And this is what happens when you have walked your kids all over the city. In one of the parks is found an outdoor museum. It has all the different types of buildings you might see if you were to take a trip around Romania. The girls were convinced this was where the Teletubbies came from. Unfortunately the Teletubbies were not home.

Being the capitol, almost everyone speaks English in this city making touring so much easier. This was something that came as a relief as I had an appointment to see a Pediatrician at the Children's Hospital about Ruby. Ruby had been suffering from explosive diarrhea for closing in on 6 weeks. It seemed to go hand in hand with the fact that I had transitioned her over from formula to whole milk right around that time. Ruby was waking up through the night 3 or 4 times with terrible cramping, gas and explosive acid errupting from her. Her bottom got to the point that she had open sores from the constant diapers changes and acidy diarrhea. I obviously wondered if she was having difficulty with lactose but I also knew that the formula she had been drinking was made with lactose. That being the first ingredient. I would have put her on lactose free milk but that does not exist in my little town. I could have put her on Soy milk but all my literature said to avoid that unless she had a milk allergy. That was not the case.

I was nervous about this up coming visit as it would be our first time accessing medical treatment here. We were told to go to the ER and ask for this certain doctor. URGH! How many times has that happened in my emerg when people come waltzing in off the street and say "well Dr. Summeroff told me to come to the ER and I thought he would meet me here." Then we have no choice but to tell them their doctor has just handed them off, punted the ball, passed the buck and made their problem ours.

The ER was tiny with 3 exam rooms and 1 resusitation room which had 2 trauma beds. Happily it appeared clean and virtually empty. We did as we were told and the nurse called the doctor on her cell phone. Maybe it was going to work afterall! The nurse got off the phone and told us the doctor that we were waiting for had a "family emergency" and would not be able to see us today. GREAT! There you go! I knew this would happen! Surely her emergency isn't as important as my kids leaky bum!

Happily she had called another pediatrician who was working in the hospital to come down and assess Ruby. Thank god.

We met the doctor about 15 minutes after our phone call but unfortunately she spoke not a word of English. I could feel my inner voice again, "Where did you get your degree, DeVry Romania?" I calmed myself and new that I was armed with a medical English-Romanian dictionary and that they weren't going to do anything to my baby unless I new every step. The doctor examined her as any Canadian doctor would. She asked me questions through the nurse who spoke very broken English. Ruby was weighed and her weight charted on a growth chart. So far I was impressed! Ruby even got in the mood and managed to provide 2 very fresh stool samples during the course of the exam. The doctor agreed that she thought Ruby needed to have a lactose holiday. For 3 months, she would need to stop lactose intake so her little body could have a chance to make more Lactase. With such a long period of diarrhea, likely stemming from a gastro, she had essentially pooped out all her lactase making her temporarily lacotse intolerant. She would start a Lactose Free Formula and I was going to have to think about food I could make without cheese or yogurt. Not easy!



In the end we all had a nice time visiting with each other. We didn't tour at break neck speed only did what we could handle and let the children play if they wanted to. We found another lovely park with an awesome playground. With equipment that had long been made illegal in our Canadian playgrounds by "safety crazy" people armed with lawyers. The kids had a wonderful time trying out the see-saws, the spinners, the slides, the swings and even some new equipment that I had never seen in a park that would never pass code in Canada. The kids of course, loved it! As we waved goodbye to Simon and started on our journey back to Roman a distinct feeling of dread came over me. My parents were leaving for Canada the next day. I kept trying to fight the feeling of sadness, telling myself that this goodbye would be easier than when we left Canada. But it felt very much the same, just as painful. I knew, from the distant look in their eyes, that my parents were feeling the same.
That night as my parents sat on thier sofa bed and I talked to them on the couch, my Mom had some tears. All that time I had been trying to fight that dreadful feeling of sadness and trick myself into thinking this goodbye would be easier, was suddenly chattered as I saw tears in my mothers eyes. I remained composed, trying to sell my lie, that this should be an easier goodbye. I told my parents that this will be the longest period of time that we will be away from eachother and then never again. They were not convinced.
The next morning was D day. Departure day. The driver was coming to get my parents at 1 pm. The time slipped through my fingers like water. Precious time. Gone. I attempted one last time to put a positive spin on their departure by challenging my mother with a weight loss challenge. It allowed us a moment of light heartedness but that too swooped away quicky. David came home at 12:30 so he could say goodbye and I am sure he had no idea what he was walking into. Like time had passed in a blink, the door bell rang and it was the driver. I could feel a rush of emotion and I tried to stop it but it was no use. I saw my fathers chin quiver with sadness and I was an instant mess. They kissed their "best grand daughters" goodbye, choking on the enormous lumps in their throats. Barely able to get words out. I was unable to speak. I knew if I opened my mouth, it would be all over. I had to consider that all three of my children were at my side, looking at me and their grandparents with concern. I kiss my parents and watched them pull away through clouded eyes. They were gone.
I turned to David and was surprised at what I saw. He too, had enormous tears in his eyes. His lips were curling to fight his emotion and chin quivering.
"What the hell are you crying about?" I asked him. This is a man who never cries. Not a wimpy guy. Not someone who get teared up easily by watching other get teared up.
"Well," he said slowly, trying to compose himself. "You are making me sad." I was immediately annoyed and challenged him.
"David, you have seen me cry a number of times and never joined in. Why now?"
"Well, you saying goodbye to your parents. You being so sad. Them being so sad. You're doing this all for me!"
I realized at that point, that finally, he got it.

See you all at Christmas. Can't wait.

Alison xxxxx

RICK & ROSE DO ROMANIA!!!

Due to the fact that we were driving home from Bulgaria and my parents were flying there, we knew they would arrive first. To avoid confusion at the time of their arrival, David had arranged for a car service to pick my parents up from the airport and drive them directly to our house. They had our house key so all they had to worry about was being able to unlock all the locks, gates and doors to get in.
My mother, who drives from the backseat, got the ride of her life. The trip from Iasi to Roman takes approx. 1 hour and 20 minutes. It is a drive that takes you from a "highway" to city streets to back country roads. David had hired this particular driver knowing that my mother was a bit nervous about speed. He was confident he wouldn't go too fast.... Really he didn't for Romanian standards. 120kms down winding, hilly roads where you come across horse drawn buggies very frequently is quite normal in this country. Its not fast! My parents probably made a mad dash to the liquor cabinet to settled their nerves on arrival.

We arrived 4 hours later after our long drive from Bucharest. My parents were singing our praises on our arrival for how lovely our house was and cozy. They were so impressed that we had it set up the way we did and said it seemed as though we had been living here for years not months. I was and am very proud of what David and I have been able to accomplish in such a short period of time. I took them on a proper tour and made sure to point out every little thing I liked about this house.
They were commenting that Roman seemed so much nicer than Varna, Bulgaria. I was annoyed.
"It is not nicer at all!" I said to them. I seemed to want them to think I live in an absolute dive.

The next day brought cold weather and rain and I feared that weather might be miserable for their whole trip. I've been telling them how hot it was here for so long and now it's mid July and cold. I took them on a walking tour of Roman in the rain. I don't have a car and didn't have any food so I didn't really have a choice. We walked to the open air market and got fresh veggies and fruit. Then stopped at the bakery and got fresh bread. My mother couldn't believe the prices of these things.

1 kg cucumbers = $0.40
1kg carrots = $0.70
2 loaves of fresh French Bread = $1.25

On our way back to the house we passed "The Hole". You can't miss it really, it's in the center of town and the location of my gym. It's the place I had taken Trevor to where he realized this city has quite a bit of work to do. We decided to take a picture to capture the beauty. There was no one around and typically on a clear day this place is overflowing with people and Gypsies. Except of course for some wild dogs having fun in the empty streets and sidewalks. "Hans" is a dog I have gotten to know who hangs out a lot down here near the hole and lives on the church grounds in front of David's bosses house. He's lovely and friendly. I would take him home but I know I'd end up like Angelina and Brad. I'd have at least 7-8 dogs by the time we were to leave. If not more. Then what? So instead I travel always with dog cookies and treat the nice dogs every time we come across one.

The weather cleared the next day and the temperature started to climb as usual. On a walk in the center of town to get an Ice cream we ran into an unpleasant sight. It was a pigeon chasing a large rat in front of a restaurant. This rat was probably 20-30cms in length not including its disgustingly thick tail. My mother was able to hold back her horror so the children would not be a witness to her fear. This was not the first rat I have seen here in the town. I know that rats live just about everywhere but actually seeing them with your own eyes is different. ICK!

My parents also got to experience the starring that goes on in the town as I walk down the streets. Not being afraid of being the center of attention I'm sure they thought it wouldn't be that big a deal. Stare after stare, winced up eyes after winced up eyes, people looking at me up and down, construction workers stopping their work and starring at their only daughter. They quickly became uncomfortable. The reason these people all stare at me is mostly due to the Chariot Child Carrier I push down the street everyday. (See above picture) With Evelyn and Ruby sitting in it and Gabrielle sitting on the cross bar, I look like I'm pushing a reverse Rickshaw. I walk down the same street everyday, pass the same people everyday, buy from the same vendors in the market but still after 3 months they all still stop and stare. "They stare in an unfriendly way!" my mother whispered to me always worried she may upset my children. I don't think they are trying to be unfriendly, they are just not used to seeing such foreign sights. I guess?! They do look awfully unfriendly. I have recently found myself avoiding the market if I have all 3 kids with me. The last time I was there on my own with the girls I saw a gypsy mother sick her gypsy daughter on me. Told her to follow me around the market which she did. Like my bloody shadow. I felt very uneasy and just hoped my kids didn't sense it. It will be the Supermarket for me for the next little while.

I had great pipe dreams that I would entertain my parents wonderfully. I would take them to the gym 3 times per week and train them the way Brittany had trained me. I would take them on tours of the town everyday discovering all kinds of new things and shopping the sales. I would put on lavish lunches and superb suppers. They would find my new home a relaxing paradise surrounded by third world charm. Only it didn't quite work that way. We did work out 3 times a week and I happily made my fathers knuckles bleed as Brittany did for me. As expected, the temperature climbed to an uncomfortable 36-39 degress celcius making hiking trips uncomfortable and shopping impossible. No one here believes in AC. It's the breeze thing again. In fact most of the older generations are still wearing scraves around their heads and long sleeve shirts. The stores are hot, humid and stink of body odour. David is convinced they love the smell of their own sweat. Why else would you wear a long sleeve shirt and no deodorant on a 38 degree day???
My mother ended up making most of the suppers and lunches and baked cookies for the girls. She taught Gabrielle how to read and set up a reading program for me to follow during the fall and winter. My father cut the grass three times, weeded the gardens, cleaned all the patio furniture and vacuumed my house every other day. He also made sure there was plenty of wine at the dinner table. My parents became big fans of Romanian wine:) They assured me that they were here to give us a break and so I took it. Soaked it up and went with it!

By the end of the week though we were all getting a bit stir crazy. The temperatures outside were in the mid 30's everyday making staying indoors the only option. I could sense my father discomfort as his bare head would be hit by the sun and immediately start to burn. Hats were a constant must... especially for my Dad:) The plan for the weekend was to drive through the mountains and visit the Medeval town of Brasov. I had booked a hotel for 2 nights so we could change it up and discover Romania with my parents. We decided to rent one large car that would fit us all. Since David was quite used to driving here and my Dad wasn't, we thought it might be a better option. The only problem is my Dad gets car sick if he's not driving so he popped a couple Gravol before the trip. The beautiful scenery, winding roads, mountain views were all missed by him as he sat in the front seat slumped over and passed out from his Gravol side effects. Oh well, I guess he missed out on my mothers white knuckles too as David seemed to really enjoy the drive and hug every turn in the road with uncomfortable speed. He says he's just keeping up with the Romanians but I think he loves it. Especially making my poor mother nervous!

We were told that Brasov was the Niagra Falls of Romania. To anyone from Ontario, you know that means it's tacky but we wanted to go at least once and see it for ourselves.
I don't know where those people went but where we were was just beautiful! Our hotel rooms ended up being right in the center of the walled city sitting on the edge of a huge square. The mountains in the backdrop were breathtaking along with the view of the oldest Gothic Church in Europe! We toured the town looking for the tackiness we were told about and couldn't find it. Just loveliness everywhere. Were we still in Romania?
Everywhere we turned in this little town you find interesting and beautiful sites! The iron gates and courtyard were too much to resist. We sent the girls in a few to take their pictures.
We decided to go to the most famous tourist site near Brasov. Bran Castle. The castle that Vlad The Impaler (otherwise known as Dracula) ruled from. I was a bit worried it might be too scary for the kids and was on high alert. The closer we got to the castle, the more billboards we saw with monster, mummies and blood sucking vampires all over them. This was obviously a place that freaky deaky vampire lovers come for their vacations. Blood drinking bars, Dracula Hotel etc.... Not my bag for sure! That is saved for weirdos who paint their faces white and lips red and get extentions put on their eye teeth. Freaks! I wonder what they think of themselves when they find out that Vlad The Impaler, better known as Dracula, never drank blood or bit beautiful virgins in the neck. He was simply a man who took pleasure in torturing people who wronged him or his people. He became know as the guy who would impale his victims and display them for the common people. He was such a lover of making people bleed and suffer and essientially was a psychopath with money that people called him "blood thirsty." Which turned into drinking their blood. Which turned into sucking their blood from their necks. Not sure where the virgins came from but I imagine it has something to do with Hollywood! The castle was very cool and the view from the castle even greater.
The entrance to the castle was chaotic with Romanians clammering to get their tickets. They are very bad a queuing in a line. There is non-stop cutting! People walking by 30 people in line and just pushing themselves towards the cash. The receptionist taking the money doesn't tell them to get the hell back where they belong, oh no. She serves them which gives you 5 more Romanians pushing up to the front. Urgh!
As soon as we got through the gate the entrance was beautiful. This was a small cottage converted into a restaurant. I imagine it was used in the past as the house that housed "The Help" in the castle due to it's proximity. I believe that is what I read. No Dracula mumbo-jumbo. Just pretty and natural. This was followed by very steep path up to the castle. Had to laugh! I saw so many Romanian women with their stilettos on trying to get themselves up a steep ancient cobblestone path. God forbid not be sexy!! Indeed, they were so sexy twisting their ankles all over the place. Running shoes rock ladies! Try them on!
The massive steep walls were impressive!
Our legs were burning by the time we reached his front doors.
This was a very steep and narrow stair way that led us to the watch tower. The air was stale and stagnant and I was feeling a bit clausterphobic in here.
It was worth it. The views from the watch tower were fabulous.
The inner sanctum of Vlad's castle. It was beautiful. I wonder if the Dracula/Vampire junkee's come here and find themselves disappointed. No blood trickling down the walls. No dudes dressed up in capes and make up that scare you when you come around a corner. Its not a hauted house, it's history!

We came across a children play park in the town of Brasov with a blow up slide. The girls immediately wanted to go on. Fairs are all over the place in Romania but we don't go because we don't trust that the equipment is properly maintained. This was a blow up slide so we figured you can't go too wrong with that. Evelyn took to the slide right away and enjoyed every minute. Gabrielle on the other hand was not so sure. Even though she thought she wanted it, once at the top, my little girl would not go down. Evelyn dragged her down the first time which didn't scare her enough to walk away. She looked like her arms would pop off coming down the slide on her own. Finally! She loved it! Classic Gabrielle laugh :) Priceless!

On our return back to the hotel we found a concert happening in the square. I think they were a pretty popular group cause everyone around us was singing all the words. It was very well done and taped for TV. It could have been live to TV but I can't read Romanian so I really don't know. I have 3 girls who love to dance so the square was there dance floor. Gabrielle dances with thumbs and bum wiggles. Ruby is a dance machine. As soon as she could move voluntarily, she would sway to music. It makes her very happy!! She also has jazz fingers!

All in all, Brasov was a big surprise. Happily a very pleasant surprise. Our hotel was lovely and served a terrific breakfast. The scenery was gorgeous and shopping was good too! We finally found the girls some solid hiking boots and bought some souvenirs. (I got a new North Face rain coat! ;) My parents were so happy we made the stomach lurching drive through the mountains and so were David and I.

So we were on our way back to Roman for another week at home with my parents while David worked. I couldn't have been happier that they were staying longer than 1 week. This coming week was going to bring us a change in our itinerary though. And another exciting excursion. But I'll save that for next time.

Stay cool Canada cause god knows were not. 40 degrees everyday and no rain!

Alison xxxxx