Just Sayin' is feeling nappish, I'm afraid. This coming Sunday, it will turn four, and well, it's a little tired. I'm thinking about letting it rest it's weary head for a while, although I may still post opinion columns and the occasional photo or recipe. We'll see.
While I mull this over, here are some more photos from Romania. The Young Ones, those other volunteers I worked with, are home now, all except one who will still be there for another week or so, and they are starting to post pictures. I've borrowed some to fill in the blanks, although I'm afraid I can't credit the photographer because I didn't keep track of who posted what.
First, I've described how our food was prepared in one location by a few hard-working women, and it was our responsibility to fetch our meals from this kitchen every lunch and dinner. Here is where the women cooked in kettles over open flames. By American standards, this may not look too sanitary, but I was never concerned about the food, and no one was ever made ill by it:
Here are Sammi and Eustacia (with Katharine in the background) bringing back a meal in our pots and bowls. It was just a few minutes walk in either direction, but the hot pots of soup could be difficult to handle, especially with the sloshing over rough paths:
I described how we hauled wood planks one day—here is what the job looked like. We carried as many planks as we could hold safely down this muddy path, passed the stinking barn and to the woodshop. It rained, and the man stacking the wood was trying to cover it in plastic as quickly as possible—that's Eustacia in the pink shirt:
I described how shepherds at the sheepfold slept in boxes built for one—here is a photo of one of those boxes. I didn't want to invade their space by crawling into one, but I'm curious how it would feel to sleep in such a box. I imagine it would feel a little like a coffin, but maybe it's more like a cocoon:
And finally, just up the road from Pro Vita is the village of Valea Screzii, and some of us walked up there to buy stuff at little shops. They were small store fronts set up like magazine stands with the customer on one side of the counter and the merchant on the other, and the merchant would have set up the shop in his own yard, it seemed. One day, I went to this shop and bought a bottle of wine, two small bottles of Coke and a bar of soap for 21 leu, which is roughly the equivalent of $7:
While I mull this over, here are some more photos from Romania. The Young Ones, those other volunteers I worked with, are home now, all except one who will still be there for another week or so, and they are starting to post pictures. I've borrowed some to fill in the blanks, although I'm afraid I can't credit the photographer because I didn't keep track of who posted what.
First, I've described how our food was prepared in one location by a few hard-working women, and it was our responsibility to fetch our meals from this kitchen every lunch and dinner. Here is where the women cooked in kettles over open flames. By American standards, this may not look too sanitary, but I was never concerned about the food, and no one was ever made ill by it:
Here are Sammi and Eustacia (with Katharine in the background) bringing back a meal in our pots and bowls. It was just a few minutes walk in either direction, but the hot pots of soup could be difficult to handle, especially with the sloshing over rough paths:
I described how we hauled wood planks one day—here is what the job looked like. We carried as many planks as we could hold safely down this muddy path, passed the stinking barn and to the woodshop. It rained, and the man stacking the wood was trying to cover it in plastic as quickly as possible—that's Eustacia in the pink shirt:
I described how shepherds at the sheepfold slept in boxes built for one—here is a photo of one of those boxes. I didn't want to invade their space by crawling into one, but I'm curious how it would feel to sleep in such a box. I imagine it would feel a little like a coffin, but maybe it's more like a cocoon:
And finally, just up the road from Pro Vita is the village of Valea Screzii, and some of us walked up there to buy stuff at little shops. They were small store fronts set up like magazine stands with the customer on one side of the counter and the merchant on the other, and the merchant would have set up the shop in his own yard, it seemed. One day, I went to this shop and bought a bottle of wine, two small bottles of Coke and a bar of soap for 21 leu, which is roughly the equivalent of $7:
Comments
The photos of Romania are terrific and they do illustrate some of the difficulties you dealt with while you were there. I found the shepherd's sleeping box charming; a shelter from the storm, rather like a fancy dog kennel.
I love to read you blog and hear about what you are working on. You are such and inspiring person and someone to look up to.
I totally understand you taking a break but I don't know that you'll take much of one because writing is a part of you and you'll need to put your thoughts down now and again, :)
Probably when the cooler weather comes we'll settle down a bit.