I did wash yesterday by hand. It was not as hard and didn’t take as long as I expected. A nice breeze and the perfect weather we have had since we arrived had the clothes nicely dried by evening. Fedi started to dig out the well mid-morning. He worked all day pounding through the rock at the bottom and gained about 18 inches. The water just seeps in. We hope it will be enough. He also put another 3-foot concrete ring on top of the existing one and Jozsu concreted them together.

Jino has settled in nicely. She chases and eats the lizards. She has started to bark if someone comes to the house. It was worth bringing her.

Fedi left again today to register us. We found out you can’t buy a car unless you are registered with an address. As our house doesn’t have an address we may register using Csilla’s address.

The girls went to spend the night at Czilla’s. I hope they are getting along okay.
Meanwhile the boys and I are having a quiet, nice and productive day. We cleaned, did some school, made some soup, I read them a chapter of “The Call of the Wild”, took a walk to get some spring water to drink, ate lunch, and did some more school.

It’s very quiet here except with the windows open we can hear the stream. I opened all of the downstairs windows.

Yesterday Fedi and I went to town to get cell phones and some other things. I was feeling sick so it was an ordeal. I gave some money to a gypsy boy and soon another came and then another. They wouldn’t leave easy- Lesson learned. I also bought some house shoes I found on sale. No big problem. But buying the iron had me a little confused. I handed the man twice as much money as I should have. One dollar is 33,000 lei, so numbers get big. The muffler of the car we borrowed fell off in the city. Fedi found a place to have it welded on -$8.00.

Csilla told us that the pastor, Leventa, has very little money and is behind on his utility bills. So Fedi is using the donation money today to go pay them. He went in town today to look at some cars and run some other errands. I get to stay home. This is the first time I had the house to myself.

The kids and I did some school and then went on a walk to get some water from a fresh water spring. Fedi and I like the water from the mineral springs, but not the kids.

The kids proudly made some butter from our fresh cow milk. It was good but too much work to do on a regular basis. And after that they took the walkie-talkie to try and find a fresh water spring close to us. They succeeded and again were very proud.

I got out the thawed chicken I bought yesterday to cook. After opening the bag, there tucked inside were the head, beak, eyes and all. Now I’m not sure if I should use it in soup or just what the Romanian wives do?

We use the generator sparingly to save gas. We only need it for lights in the evening about 1 hour and briefly on and off during the day to build up water pressure. It will be great when we get the water generator going so we can have electricity and water all the time. The generator now is also very noisy. When cold weather hits we definitely have to have the generator going to run the circulating pump for the heating system.

Oh yeah, Fedi’s knee is getting better. He always dreads getting the shot so he very slowly and carefully prepares the needle, finds any reason possible to procrastinate, then gives a sigh and rolls over. It’s a little funny.

I do wonder at times, what are we doing here, what in the world will we do with the house after we leave? We are mortgaged up to our ears and can’t possible donate it or give it away. I know it’s a good experience for the kids and God seems to have led us here. I have to leave it at that.

Yesterday was church. Agi lent us her car as we have none yet. We only went to the 6:00 p.m. service since Fedi’s knee needs to stay elevated. He hasn’t seen much improvement but at least he is not running a fever. He is one frustrated guy.
The church service was very nice. It is a small (about 25 people) but warm church. The kids sat nicely through the service. They welcomed Fedi and I and gave us a hand made (by Edith, the pastor’s wife) stitching of a mountain scene.

We got home about 10:00 p.m. It was hard to find in the dark.

This morning the excavator came with the tractor. Fedi wants him to dig out an area in the creek up stream to be able to control the water level for the water power. It went well. They also leveled out our very poor drive, and created a turnaround by our garage and dug a hole for garbage. The cost for the whole day - $75.00.

Csilla, Jozsef, and girls came about 1:00 with the pastor, Leventa. He stayed a couple of hours.

I made lunch for the workers. As I still don’t have a refrigerator it was a sparse meal of potatoes, bread, cheese, and tomatoes. It was kind of nerve-racking as I had no idea if it was acceptable.

Fedi’s knee is looking a little better but his bottom is getting sore from all the shots I poked in him.

Hi Mom & Dad & Everyone, I thought I would send this diary as a letter. Could you save it for me, please. We are fine!

Aug. 22, 2003
We made it to Romania. After preparing all summer and traveling for 2 days, we have enjoyed our first day here.

The traveling part was nerve-racking. Fedi had to drive the dog to New York over night. His knee had started to swell and became steadily worse. He made it though and waited all day with two big, two little suitcases and the dog at the airport. Some nice man gave him ice for his knee which helped a little. It was also very painful.
Meanwhile in Chicago, the kids and I and 12 pieces of big luggage as well as 10 pieces of little luggage made our awkward way to the ticket counter to security. There every hand bag was thoroughly checked.

Our plane was delayed which scared both Fedi and I since our connection in New York was close anyway. Well we all ran in New York, loaded down with luggage. To illustrate how close it was we were at the ticket counter for another 10 minutes after we heard the final call for our flight.

Well the kids loved the first flight. They had window seats and enjoyed everything about it. The second flight from New York was not as nice but the kids were very good then and also for the uncomfortable 6 hr. drive to our cabin.

The house is so beautiful and the area is outstanding. Two men came during our first day with their two horses to do some logging right in our yard. The horses and they worked hard all day. In the evening a herd of milk cows strayed in our yard. Their owner yelled and threw sticks to drive them around the other way.

We have a milk cow rancher who lives next to us. He said we can buy fresh milk from him every morning. It tastes so good!

Fedi’s knee has gotten worse and he started to run a fever. The cow neighbor drove him to the doctor. He came home with 10 penicillin shots, which I have to give him. It is very painful for Fedi to get these shots, but at least he can stay home. He can’t work on anything since he can hardly walk.

In the afternoon we walked 2 kilometers up the road to a mineral spring and filled our water bottles.